[Vinnie R.]

All,

Olive Media Product just recently began to branch out to the retailer market.  

I am in the process of being a reseller for Olive music servers, so they can be purchased from me and modified in a "one-stop-shopping" fashion!  


Other Olive news:

They are in the process of updating their SW to allow control from a PDA (ex. nokia).  This would allow you to see all your music and access all your music without having to get up.  Who needs exercise anyway?  

I will also post this info here:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=27667

[Vinnie R.]

I am in the process of being a reseller for Olive music servers, so they can be purchased from me and modified in a "one-stop-shopping" fashion!  

I'll do even better....

Purchase your Olive Symphony or Musica from me with the mod package and I'll give a $100.00 discount  


EDIT: (I just added this on page 2)

To avoid confusion:

Olive is releasing a new 250GB Musica (MSRP $1,499) and the new 500GB Opus (MSRP $3,499). These are not yet posted on their website. The Symphony remains the same at 80GB with MSRP of $899.00.

The Musica and Opus currently posted on the Olive webpage are 160GB and 400GB respectively, which MSRPs of $1099 and $2,999 respectively.

I have become a certified reseller for all the Olive units. Purchase the Symphony or Musica from Red Wine Audio with the mod package listed on my website and you will receive $100 off.

I just posted this here (where it says pricing info):
http://www.redwineaudio.com/Olive.html

Cheers!

[Loftprojection]

Very good move Vinnie, I'm quite sure the Olive will be a big hit, no more reason to buy a conventionnal CD player.

[Vinnie R.]

Thanks, Loftprojection.

Looks like other parties are looking into modding the Olives as well....reminds me of the squeezebox days  

Best regards,

[miklorsmith]

Yeah, but you're the only one doing it with battery power, Vin.  I have two of your SB's and they're killer.  No superduperextraamazingplatinum power supplies to upgrade next week.  $1k power cords?!?!  Well, they'll do the trick, but wait until you spend even more.  Don't get me started on how great power conditioning furthers the analog goal.

You've got your own deal going, Vin.  I wouldn't worry about the dirty line suckers.

Ever thought about doing a dual-battery deal like Dodd?  You guys aren't directly competing with this, so. . .   I'd think this might be the last barrier to battery ownership.

[Dmason]

Like a 12V summed-signal Octal tube linestage pre amp, or even buffer. Like sports nutrition for battery powered T amps from ...you.

That design would get ALOT of attention everywhere.

[WilliamL]

Huge news. I am gonna get one. Just a matter of when.

Vin, Will you mod and sell the Opus too? Thats probably what I would want.

Oh...if we buy from you, will you do the CD preload?  

Cheers,
Bill

[Loftprojection]

Thanks, Loftprojection.

Looks like other parties are looking into modding the Olives as well....reminds me of the squeezebox days  

Best regards,

Well for us consumers it's nice to have multiple offerings, specially if they are different, like your way of using batteries vs regular PS for others...  What is  kinda strange though is the pricing    strange in the sense of higher than msrp!

[davidada]

I have had my Vinnie modded Olive for over a week now and it sounds superb better than my $5000 Audiomecca Mephisto IIX, I would love to hear a comparison between Vinnies modded Olive and the stock Opus - I think it may surprise many!!

[Vinnie R.]

Huge news. I am gonna get one. Just a matter of when.

Vin, Will you mod and sell the Opus too? Thats probably what I would want.

Oh...if we buy from you, will you do the CD preload?  

Cheers,
Bill

Hi Bill,

Yes, the Opus will be next.  I'll leave the fun of preloading to you...just insert CD and press import and it will automatically rip to WAV, FLAC, or whatever you want, and will import the artist, album, track names, etc.

What is kinda strange though is the pricing  strange in the sense of higher than msrp!

Hi LP,

Well the mods naturally add to the cost, but the unmodded player shouldn't cost more than MSRP.....where did you see this?  I am certainly not selling the stock units over the MSRP price.  I am even giving a $100 discount if you buy the stock player from me and have me mod it  

Best regards,

[Vinnie R.]

I have had my Vinnie modded Olive for over a week now and it sounds superb better than my $5000 Audiomecca Mephisto IIX, I would love to hear a comparison between Vinnies modded Olive and the stock Opus - I think it may surprise many!!

Hi David,

Glad you are enjoying your modded Musica.  

Once I get my hands on the stock Opus (soon), I'll let it burn-in and will then so a detailed comparision.  

Thanks again,

[Jon L]

"Yes, the Opus will be next. I'll leave the fun of preloading to you...just insert CD and press import and it will automatically rip to WAV, FLAC, or whatever you want, and will import the artist, album, track names, etc. "

Vinnie, I assume Olive has to have an internet connection in order to import artist/album info from CDDB, etc?

The comparison I would truly like to see is modded Olive vs. VRS.  Oh, yes, we need to get that going somewhere.. I'm sure Vincent at VRS takes great pride in HIS work and wouldn't mind a little friendly competition

[Vinnie R.]

"
Vinnie, I assume Olive has to have an internet connection in order to import artist/album info from CDDB, etc?

The comparison I would truly like to see is modded Olive vs. VRS.  Oh, yes, we need to get that going somewhere.. I'm sure Vincent at VRS takes great pride in HIS work and wouldn't mind a little friendly competition

Hi Jon,

The Olive actually has a built-in database, so you can get this info even if you are not connected to the net.  Mine wirelessly connects every time I turn in on, and I've noticed that it finds the artist/album info a lot faster (I am using freedb.org) than when I'm not connected.

Best,

[Vinnie R.]

All,

To avoid confusion:

Olive is releasing a new 250GB Musica (MSRP $1,499) and the new 500GB Opus (MSRP $3,499).  These are not yet posted on their website.  The Symphony remains the same at 80GB with MSRP of $899.00.  

The Musica and Opus currently posted on the Olive webpage are 160GB and 400GB respectively, which MSRPs of $1099 and $2,999 respectively.

I have become a certified reseller for all the Olive units.  Purchase the Symphony or Musica from Red Wine Audio with the mod package listed on my website and you will receive $100 off.

Thanks,

[brj]

Besides the increase in hard drive size, do the new versions have any additional upgrades?  The price difference between a 400GB and 500GB hard drive is most definitely not $500!

(Actually, I think the new 750GB Seagate internal hard drive has a $500 MSRP.)

[Vinnie R.]

Besides the increase in hard drive size, do the new versions have any additional upgrades?  The price difference between a 400GB and 500GB hard drive is most definitely not $500!

(Actually, I think the new 750GB Seagate internal hard drive has a $500 MSRP.)

Hi brj,

According to Olive, there are no extra features or upgrades with the larger hard drive versions...except for the larger hard drive.  
I hear ya about the difference in price!  I just wanted to let everyone know their options.  

Luckily, they are still selling the previous versions (80GB, 160GB, and 400GB for the Symphony, Musica, and Opus respectively).  

The lowest cost, best value way to go is the $899.00 Symphony.  (Too bad I don't make a penny as a reseller with the Symphony   )
Sure, the internal drive is 80GB, but you can spend $99.00 at Best Buy and get a 160GB USB Drive.  Fill that drive up with music that you may already have ripped from your computer, connect it to the Olive via the USB Port, and life is good!

I just finished modding a Musica for a customer today.  He bought the 160GB USB drive and also wants it to be free from the AC power line (he will be connecting directly to his custom Clari-T dual-mono amp), so I made him a cable that will connect from his Squeezebox battery supply that I previously made for him to the USB hard drive    

If you don't want to have to use an external drive, the added hard drive size of the Musica (160GB) and "super Musica" (250GB) is nice but they ain't givin' it away  

If you guys have any other questions that I cannot answer, I am more than willing to ask the guys at Olive and post here for all to learn.

Thanks,

[Jon L]

What are the main "audio" differences between symphony, musica, and Opus?  What I mean is, once they are all modded, will one sound better than the other regardless of features/storage, etc?

[Vinnie R.]

What are the main "audio" differences between symphony, musica, and Opus?  What I mean is, once they are all modded, will one sound better than the other regardless of features/storage, etc?

Hi Jon,

The Symphony and Musica are the same unit except for the hard drive used, so in terms of the audio differences they sound the same before and after my mods.  

The Opus is something new and I will be posting about its sound once I receive it.  They haven't begun shipping them yet because they are waiting on parts.

Best,

[WilliamL]

The Opus is something new and I will be posting about its sound once I receive it.

Thats what I am waiting for.  

Keep us posted on this development. The possibilities keep getting better and better. 500 gigs in Flac is like 1300Cds!  

Cheers,
Bill

[Vinnie R.]

Here is a new option that I am offering:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=28159.msg250903#250903