Group Buy for OLIVE Media players for VMPS'ers

Gordy · « **Reply #60 on:** 17 Jul 2006, 07:03 pm »

Here's a direct link to the manual.... http://www.olive.us/downloads/manual_symphony_musica.pdf

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #61 on:** 17 Jul 2006, 07:26 pm »

Quote from: Gordy on 17 Jul 2006, 07:03 pm

Here's a direct link to the manual.... http://www.olive.us/downloads/manual_symphony_musica.pdf

Which SHOULD BE include in the box !!

OK...So far, so good. Played a cd...imported a cd...Ben Harper "Fight For Your Mind". It works...I hear music, and the cd is on the hard drive...one down, more to go. I've gotten farther with the Olive than I have with the SB3....good !!

Questions:

How does one know that the HD is 250GB's ?

When your "importing" a cd, does it go to FLAC automatically?

I know very little about this computer "stuff"...so any answer's are of great help. And I don't want to screw anything up.....Thanks...

Chris

Gordy · « **Reply #62 on:** 17 Jul 2006, 09:28 pm »

Push the info button on the top right side of text screen, it will display disc size, memory remaining, # of cd's imported etc!

Flac can be selected by scrolling down to SETTINGS and selecting IMPORT FROM CD then selecting ENCODER... in this case (FLAC)you'll need to use one of the right side buttons IIRC.

John Casler · « **Reply #63 on:** 17 Jul 2006, 09:50 pm »

Quote from: lonewolfny42 on 17 Jul 2006, 07:26 pm

When your "importing" a cd, does it go to FLAC automatically?
I know very little about this computer "stuff"...so any answer's are of great help. And I don't want to screw anything up.....Thanks...
Chris

Check out pages 25 and 26 in the online manual, starting with sedction 4.5

ryno · « **Reply #64 on:** 17 Jul 2006, 10:20 pm »

The conversion to flac takes about a half hour after it's done importing. Don't shut down during this time. Sleep mode might be OK, I haven't tried it, but a complete shut down is bad. It took 3 cycles on/off to come back. They should tell you this in the start up guide.
Ryan

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #65 on:** 18 Jul 2006, 02:20 am »

Thanks guy's !!! Seems the few I ripped before did go MP3, so I hit delete....and I have set it to FLAC and will re-rip. And, using the buttons, I found the HD info, 250GB. I have to print the instructions out, so I can have them handy. But so far...pretty cool. Thanks again !!

Chris

BarrelChief · « **Reply #66 on:** 18 Jul 2006, 01:41 pm »

So that I can get a jump start in preparing myself; I'd like to look at the Opus' owner's manual, while waiting for my Opus to arrive. Does anyone know a link to the Opus manual?

Does anyone have an Opus yet? If so, please share your initial impressions.

Thanks!

John Casler · « **Reply #67 on:** 18 Jul 2006, 04:37 pm »

Quote from: BarrelChief on 18 Jul 2006, 01:41 pm

So that I can get a jump start in preparing myself; I'd like to look at the Opus' owner's manual, while waiting for my Opus to arrive. Does anyone know a link to the Opus manual?

Does anyone have an Opus yet? If so, please share your initial impressions.

Thanks!

I think you'll find that 99% of the instructionsfor the Symphony and Musica will be applicable to the Opus.

I can't really think of any "functional" difference, that would lead to operational change.

taofu · « **Reply #68 on:** 18 Jul 2006, 11:08 pm »

John was kind enough to include me in the group buy although i was not an AC member. i picked up my Opus from Olive last Friday. it is packaged in a wood crate. thus far i have ripped about 70 Cd's to FLAC. i am in the process of upgrading my wireless network and have not activated that functionality so i can't speak to how well that aspect works. the Opus is simple to use. i did read the 43 page Users Guide first even though my tendency is to dive into things. my Opus is currently connected to a ModWright 9.0SE(cryo'ed 5687 tung sol), Musical Fidelity A5CR, ProAc 2.5, BPT power conditioning, all Harmonic Tech cabling - 25x16 room, long wall, nearfield listening set up. i simply disconnected my Jolida JD100 (PartsConnexion mod w/Mullards) and dropped in the Opus. the only thing that threw me was that the EIC is on the left rear panel and on all my other gear the EIC is on the right side. the Opus runs very hot compared to my other gear. as pointed out else where on this thread, the CD rip takes about 10 minutes and the encoding to FLAC takes about 20-30 minutes. right out of the box the Opus outperformed the Jolida. the soundstage has better depth-the width didn't appear to change. the HF is clean and crisp without being bright. the bass taut and controlled. the mids are sweet but not exaggerated. PRAT seem right. i am not an 'expert' and these are just my feelings. in short, i 'get off' when the music is playing. i do intent to try the Opus direct to the amp and candidly, i am considering different set ups using the Opus as the starting point because of the convenience factor which is necessary given the demands of my life situation. if it matters, i listen to everything except country and hip hop.

John Casler · « **Reply #69 on:** 19 Jul 2006, 12:12 am »

Just spoke with OLIVE a few minutes ago, and the OPUS are all shipping.

Mine shipped today, and several more are shipping tomorrow.

All should have shipped by weeks end.

If you do not receive your unit by mid week (next week) either contact me or OLIVE directly.

Most reports, I have been getting are that the units easily outperform the CDP's they have been replacing.

Gotta love that.

Tim S · « **Reply #70 on:** 19 Jul 2006, 01:13 pm »

I've just started looking at these types of systems more seriously with an intent to buy. I have a couple of questions about the Olive units.

1. So far as I can tell the only difference between the Musica and Symphony is the size of the hard drive. Are there internal differences?

2. Can these be setup to work with Pandora?

3. I was looking at the MSRPs noted early in the thread and now the ones on the Olive site are way below that. Is it still possible to get in on the group buy and if so are the prices still well below the new MSRP?

Thanks.

Tim

John Casler · « **Reply #71 on:** 19 Jul 2006, 04:49 pm »

Quote from: Tim S on 19 Jul 2006, 01:13 pm

I've just started looking at these types of systems more seriously with an intent to buy. I have a couple of questions about the Olive units.

3. I was looking at the MSRPs noted early in the thread and now the ones on the Olive site are way below that. Is it still possible to get in on the group buy and if so are the prices still well below the new MSRP?

Thanks.

Tim

Hi Tim,

MSRP's have remained the same. What you are seeing is the pricing on the older smaller HD's (160G Musica and 400G OPUS) which I beleive are to be phased out soon.

The Group Buy was on the 250G Musica and the 500G Opus.

Just introduced (but not yet shipping) is the 750G OPUS.

I may be able to "grandfather" you in before the end of the month. check your PM's

ehart · « **Reply #72 on:** 20 Jul 2006, 03:47 am »

To answer your other questions:

1. My understanding is that the Symphony has features specifically aimed at Classical Music listeners, mainly way more categories for describing the music (like "conductor," "orchestra", and the like). I'm not sure why these features weren't carried forward into the Musica (which I have) and the Opus.

2. With just the Olive unit alone, the answer is "no" on the Pandora question. The only "radio" option supported by the Olive units themselves is Shoutcast (with something like 500 stations). The Olive units will, though, act as clients for at least two types of music servers that you can run on your PC. So you could conceivably run Pandora or other services on your PC, and have the Olive stream from that. I have not tried anything like this myself, and don't know if it can be done with Pandora. Perhaps others can say.

BarrelChief · « **Reply #73 on:** 21 Jul 2006, 03:25 pm »

I have received word that my Opus has shipped...very excited!

I am looking to hear from those who have recently received their Opus:

How does it sound?...can you compare it sonic character to other CDP's that you have experience with?

Are you finding that the sound is improving as the unit gets more time on it?

Are you finding it's functionality to be fairly straight forward or is their a hefty learning curve?

I'm a music guy, not a computer guy; so this is a pretty big step forward for me.

Thanks for any feedback that you can offer. I will post my impressions, once I am up & running.

blackhook · « **Reply #74 on:** 21 Jul 2006, 06:07 pm »

As I breathlessly await the arrival of my Opus, and as someone who came relatively late to the digital era, I have a few questions:

1. What is the real advantage of the Opus' digital output? Is it to bypass the onboard Opus DAC's (presumably to use a higher-quality preamp DAC)?

2. According to the Opus spec sheet, "Digital output ensures lossless audio streaming to your stereo system." But the bits have to be converted to analog anyway. So why not just go analog out to preamp analog in? Is something lost in that translation?

3. I have an older preamp (RGR) that was all the rage 20 years ago, raved about in Absolute Sound, etc. It still sounds very musical to me. But it has no digital in/out or of course no DAC of its own. Do I have anything to gain -- specifically sound quality with the Opus -- in upgrading my preamp to a newer one? If so, what features might be most advantageous (such as digital in, etc.)? My CD player currently is the Arcam FMJ23; power amp is Bryston 4B.

Thanks in advance for any & all thoughts ...and apologies for my digital ignorance.

Also ... John, thanks again for organizing the group buy!

Phil Brandt
Seattle

John Casler · « **Reply #75 on:** 21 Jul 2006, 07:33 pm »

Quote from: BarrelChief on 21 Jul 2006, 03:25 pm

I have received word that my Opus has shipped...very excited!

I am looking to hear from those who have recently received their Opus:

How does it sound?...can you compare it sonic character to other CDP's that you have experience with?

Are you finding that the sound is improving as the unit gets more time on it?

Are you finding it's functionality to be fairly straight forward or is their a hefty learning curve?

I'm a music guy, not a computer guy; so this is a pretty big step forward for me.

Thanks for any feedback that you can offer. I will post my impressions, once I am up & running.

Just got my OPUS last night and wish I had more time to play with it.

Did get it hooked up and playing.

Too early to make "rash" statements, and I had to listen with my daughter sleeping in the next room, but if it doesn't get any better than it is right now, it has surpassed the combination of the ONIX X99 as a transport and the Bryston $1000 onboard DAC in my BP26.

AND THAT IS THE CDP NOT THE HD!!!!

I will try to burn some CD's to the HD for evaluation. In my 45 minute evaluation I was amazed at the old cliche of hearing things in my reference cuts, I had "NEVER" noticed before.

Even at a very low level, I heard that Ricki Lee Jones has a "male" backround singer singing with her on "Dat Dere"

Never noticed that guy before. Why? I guess he just wasn't that clear, but now the sonics are so clear and distinct, that he was just "there".

Had several instances of that, which always impresses me when they are cuts I have heard hundreds of times. (if not more)

95bcwh · « **Reply #76 on:** 22 Jul 2006, 05:16 am »

John,
How noisy is this Opus? I was told that it's dead quiet, whereas the musica can produce some audible HD noise... can you confirm?

Thanks
barry

taofu · « **Reply #77 on:** 22 Jul 2006, 07:43 am »

i've had my Opus for 7 days now. ripped a total of 100 CDs so far. the HD is dead quiet. i have about 30 hours of play time accessing FLAC files on the HD. the sound just keeps getting better. i currently run analog out to pre. it sounds so good that i have bothered to try direct to amp yet.

John Casler · « **Reply #78 on:** 22 Jul 2006, 02:16 pm »

Quote from: 95bcwh on 22 Jul 2006, 05:16 am

John,
How noisy is this Opus? I was told that it's dead quiet, whereas the musica can produce some audible HD noise... can you confirm?

Thanks
barry

Hi Barry,

Well when you first put a CD in the drive, it makes noises, and the first 3-4 CD's I played I could hear the CDR drive, now it is silent and I sit only 5-6 feet from the unit.

HD noise is only evident, when it is "converting" to FLAC or what ever the process is after "importing" a few discs.

I can't speak to the MUSICA HD since I don't have one in my system.

And by the way, I finally got my "internet Radio" hooked up and it is fabulous!!!

I sat for at least an hour, just listening to the unbeleivable "electronic soundstage" of a HITS station. It has been a long time since I enjoyed radio over my system. It was magical. And the system "sorts" the stations by "bit" quality/quantity which helps you select the better sounding stations.

John Casler · « **Reply #79 on:** 22 Jul 2006, 03:40 pm »

Quote from: blackhook on 21 Jul 2006, 06:07 pm

As I breathlessly await the arrival of my Opus, and as someone who came relatively late to the digital era, I have a few questions:

1. What is the real advantage of the Opus' digital output? Is it to bypass the onboard Opus DAC's (presumably to use a higher-quality preamp DAC)?

2. According to the Opus spec sheet, "Digital output ensures lossless audio streaming to your stereo system." But the bits have to be converted to analog anyway. So why not just go analog out to preamp analog in? Is something lost in that translation?

3. I have an older preamp (RGR) that was all the rage 20 years ago, raved about in Absolute Sound, etc. It still sounds very musical to me. But it has no digital in/out or of course no DAC of its own. Do I have anything to gain -- specifically sound quality with the Opus -- in upgrading my preamp to a newer one? If so, what features might be most advantageous (such as digital in, etc.)? My CD player currently is the Arcam FMJ23; power amp is Bryston 4B.

Thanks in advance for any & all thoughts ...and apologies for my digital ignorance.

Also ... John, thanks again for organizing the group buy!

Phil Brandt
Seattle

Hi Phil,

I think the only reason to use the OPUS "digital" out is is you have one of the handful of DAC's that might be better than the onboard DAC.

The phrase "lossless audio streaming" is likely not refering to the "digital output" but the ability to "stream" music throughout the house via the network.

So I would suggest using the "analog outs" of the OPUS directly to your preamp.

The DAC in the OPUS is incredible (so far), and equal or better than most anything I have heard critically, to date.