Olive Symphony and Musica all-battery mods are here!

konut · « **Reply #20 on:** 1 May 2006, 10:58 am »

Do all the Olive units use the same DAC chip? What's the brand and model #?

Paul_Bui · « **Reply #21 on:** 2 May 2006, 06:03 am »

Vinnie,

If you can replace the existing, relatively small HD with larger affordable ones (currently external 300GB can be had for $150, 550GB $250, internal HD of comparable capacity should be lower in price), there will be many Musica and Symphony units flowing from Olive to RWA.

The Audio In feature is one nice feature that I find very beneficial to most music lovers, who have collected a number of SACDs and other recordings on tapes and vinyl. With an Olive music server, one can easily transfer those non-Redbook formats to HD, then enjoy and preserve the music.

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #22 on:** 2 May 2006, 02:01 pm »

Quote from: konut

Do all the Olive units use the same DAC chip? What's the brand and model #?

Hi konut,

I know the Symphony and Musica use the same dac chip... it is built into the Analog Devices SoundMAX CODEC. The Symphony/Musica are pretty much identical units except for the hard drive being bigger in the Musica.

Hi Paul,

I bought a 320GB drive last night to try and replace the 160GB drive in davidada's Musica. He just needs to mail me the Musica Recovery CD. I HOPE I can simply run the full recovery and load the operating system to the new drive and it will boot up like a fresh out of the box unit...but with 320GB.

Something tells me that there is addional data that needs to be installed on the HD that they don't put on the recovery CD. It can't be that easy

I'll keep you posted...

Regarding the analog input, we'll have a really nice Vinyl setup at VTV and I plan to record some records to the hard drive.

Paul_Bui · « **Reply #23 on:** 2 May 2006, 03:59 pm »

Thanks and good luck with your efforts, Vinnie. We look forward to hearing good news of your success.

WilliamL · « **Reply #24 on:** 2 May 2006, 08:22 pm »

Yes,

Keep us posted. I will most likely get one of these units. Its just when I decide to pony up for it. If we could get a bigger HD I think lots more would be sold.

What about the audio quality of the most expensive unit. Is it much better than the Musica?

Cheers,
Bill

Loftprojection · « **Reply #25 on:** 3 May 2006, 01:00 am »

Vinnie, if you tested it, would you mind sharing your evaluation of the headphone out on the unit? I suspect it must be a very cheap headphone out like we find on a lot of receivers and integrated but hey, maybe not! Also I assume there is a volume control for the headphone out?

Last question, I assume considering the extent of your mod that there would be no warranty after?

Many thanks. And by the way, congrats on this mod, it looks pretty exciting, hopefully it sounds as good as it looks! haha

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #26 on:** 3 May 2006, 12:05 pm »

Quote from: Bill Laurent

What about the audio quality of the most expensive unit. Is it much better than the Musica?

Hi Bill,

I have not heard the Olive Opus.

Quote from: Loftprojection

Last question, I assume considering the extent of your mod that there would be no warranty after?

Hi Loftprojection,

Yes, modding another manufacturer's equipment voids that manufacturer's warranty. I warranty all my mod work, but for non-mod related problems (e.g. the CD drive dies), I do not cover this. However, I can still do the repair....parts and labor charge would apply. This goes for all products that I mod (iPods, Squeezeboxes, Teacs, etc)....I can repair them.

There is a volume control for the headphone output, and the headphone output sounds pretty darn good, but I haven't evaluated it as critically as the line out. I will do this soon enough and share the results.

All,

Looks like the Musica that I am modding for davidada uses this 160GB Seagate drive: http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/manuals/ata/useries9_pm.pdf

This drive sucks more power than the 80GB Laptop drive in my Symphony. I'm letting it run today to determine max play time between charges...

I have my 320GB drive waiting to try out as soon as his recovery CD is shipped to me (should be here today!).

WilliamL · « **Reply #27 on:** 3 May 2006, 02:09 pm »

This is getting good! Great info. Keep us posted.

Cheers,
Bill

kbuzz3 · « **Reply #28 on:** 3 May 2006, 02:28 pm »

Love these types of developments. Ive had my eye on this player for a while now that vinnie has got his hands on it, things should get very interesting.

One hand youve got your single driver set retro movement and the other the SOTA digital front end. NOw thats what i like...

WilliamL · « **Reply #29 on:** 3 May 2006, 05:36 pm »

I just spoke to Olive. There was a software release that just came out TODAY that will let you play and save from an external HD via USB.

This is good. Very very good!!!!

Bill

brj · « **Reply #30 on:** 3 May 2006, 05:53 pm »

Quote from: Bill Laurent

I just spoke to Olive. There was a software release that just came out TODAY that will let you play and save from an external HD via USB.

Thanks for the info, Bill!

USB is a start... any chance they mentioned support of these abilities over Ethernet? Network storage and backup are what I'd really like to see.

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #31 on:** 3 May 2006, 05:55 pm »

Quote from: Bill Laurent

I just spoke to Olive. There was a software release that just came out TODAY that will let you play and save from an external HD via USB.

This is good. Very very good!!!!

Bill

Hi Bill,

Are you talking about any USB external hard drive, or one that you must purchase from Olive? And you can back up music and store music for playback?

SAY IT IS SO!

This would be a very smart move on their part and I know their sales would really zoom if they offered this ability!

I tried to update the software on my Olive (it connects wirelessly to the Olive database) and it said I already have the latest SW (Ver 2.2 PRO). Once they post it so I can download it, I let you all know.

WilliamL · « **Reply #32 on:** 3 May 2006, 07:15 pm »

Yes,

This is what I "thought" I heard. I must say that the sales rep was a little uninformed, he had to go get answers--although he was very helpful and nice. Somebody may want to take a few minutes and call them toll-free to verify this as well.

I also asked how I would move files from the Musica to Opus if I ever upgraded and he said that a networked sollution was available. I am a little busy and distracted at work so I may have missed something.

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #33 on:** 4 May 2006, 01:29 pm »

All,

VERY GOOD NEWS!

I spoke with Olive yesterday.

The newest software version (2.2 PRO, which I already put on my Olive a few weeks ago) allows you to connect an external USB Drive!!!

I tried it with my 300GB Seagate USB drive (filled with .flac files) and it WORKS! As I type this, I am playing .flac files off of my Seagate drive plugged directly into my Olive Symphony.

You can also back up your Olive's internal hard drive with the external USB drive.

They also mentioned that they are working with Apple on allowing the playback of Apple Lossless files... this is coming soon! This will allow me to plug in my iPod stuffed with Apple Lossless files to the Olive as well.

I also tried to install a 3.5" 320GB internal HD into the Musica and it did't take. I installed the new drive and ran the Recovery CD to load the operating system, but it won't boot. I'm sure there is a way to do it (and I will investigate this soon), but now that we can connect an external USB drive directly to the Olive if we need more storage, I'm happy!

This is getting very interesting....

zybar · « **Reply #34 on:** 4 May 2006, 01:45 pm »

Great news Vinnie.

Is it possible to connect multiple drives or access a NAS device?

George

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #35 on:** 4 May 2006, 02:06 pm »

Quote from: zybar

Great news Vinnie.

Is it possible to connect multiple drives or access a NAS device?

George

Hi George,

There are 2 USB ports on the back. I connected my 60GB iPod to one port and my 300GB Seagate to the other and it recognized both of them at the same time, so I'm sure it can handle two USB drives.

As for a NAS device, I'm not sure. It has a built-in 4-port Ethernet hub on the back, so I wonder if these can be used for a NAS device.

Via the wireless connection, I am able to connect to my PC (more .flac files) with no problem, so I would think that it can access NAS. This needs to be looked into...

Loftprojection · « **Reply #36 on:** 4 May 2006, 02:32 pm »

Quote from: Vinnie R.

The newest software version (2.2 PRO, which I already put on my Olive a few weeks ago) allows you to connect an external USB Drive!!!

Interesting, so basically now the only "real" difference between the Musica/Symphony and the Opus is sound quality. Would be really interesting to have a contest between your "modded" Symphony and the stock Opus!

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #37 on:** 5 May 2006, 01:51 am »

Quote from: Loftprojection

Interesting, so basically now the only "real" difference between the Musica/Symphony and the Opus is sound quality. Would be really interesting to have a contest between your "modded" Symphony and the stock Opus!

Yeah....and price

If anyone has the Olive Opus and wants to bring it to VTV in NJ this weekend (see: http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=27072)
to do a shootout with the modded Olive, come on down!

Cheers!

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #38 on:** 8 May 2006, 07:19 pm »

Quote from: Loftprojection

Vinnie, if you tested it, would you mind sharing your evaluation of the headphone out on the unit? I suspect it must be a very cheap headphone out like we find on a lot of receivers and integrated but hey, maybe not! Also I assume there is a volume control for the headphone out?

Hi Loftprojection,

I tried the headphone output with AKG K1000 headphones and it didn't drive them to a loud enough level for my tastes. The K1000s generally need a headphone amp with some good power, so this isn't the best test of the Olive's headphone output. The sound that I did get was clean and smooth, but the volume was maxed out and not loud enough.

It would be nice to be able to try it with some Senn 650s or something like that. I'll see what I can do about getting a pair...

Yes, there is a built in volume control for the headphone output.

Best,

Vinnie

Loftprojection · « **Reply #39 on:** 9 May 2006, 01:48 am »

Quote from: Vinnie R.

Hi Loftprojection,

I tried the headphone output with AKG K1000 headphones and it didn't drive them to a loud enough level for my tastes. The K1000s generally need a headphone amp with some good power, so this isn't the best test of the Olive's headphone output. The sound that I did get was clean and smooth, but the volume was maxed out and not loud enough.

It would be nice to be able to try it with some Senn 650s or something like that. I'll see what I can do about getting a pair...

Yes, there is a built in volume control for the headphone output.

Best,

Vinnie

Hey thanks Vinnie but man, you are not fair with this poor little Olive!

I mean, K1000, jezzz, you can't drive those without a very powerfull amp. I personally have AudioTechnica W1000, those are extremely easy to drive and will sound very well with any quality headphone out. If you do find a more "regular" headphone, would be nice to know how the Olive headphone out compares with the Squeezebox headphone out! I know, I'm starting to test your patience! haha Thanks much, your mods are certainly very interesting and I might let myself be tempted by one of them soon!

Cheers.

Ho, and by the way, if you do some "headphone" testing, I will post your results on the head-fi forum, the guys there will go nuts, I'm sure you already have lots of them as your customers...