What OLIVE dont want you to know about the OPUS....

gostan · « **Reply #20 on:** 27 Jul 2006, 01:10 pm »

The reports in the East are that there is a heat wave out west. This thread sure confirms it.

MM, we all thank you for all of your time, effort, expertise and thoughts. I am completely on your side of things here. If you are correct, there are serious issues with the Opus,and a lot of false advertising, claims and consumer violations/issues going on here. All I am saying is that it would be nice to keep things sane and be able to continue this thread by receiving responses from both Olive and John Casler. I always like to hear "the other side of the story".

And, (I have not seen the Olive limited warranty) - remember, when you opened up the Opus (whatever your business or personal reasons were); you may have voided the limited warranty and your ability to return the unit(s) to Olive.

Keep cool in all of this heat.

sts9fan · « **Reply #21 on:** 27 Jul 2006, 01:19 pm »

Just when AC was getting boring

MauiMods · « **Reply #22 on:** 27 Jul 2006, 01:23 pm »

Quote from: gostan on 27 Jul 2006, 01:10 pm

The reports in the East are that there is a heat wave out west. This thread sure confirms it.

MM, we all thank you for all of your time, effort, expertise and thoughts. I am completely on your side of things here. If you are correct, there are serious issues with the Opus,and a lot of false advertising, claims and consumer violations/issues going on here. All I am saying is that it would be nice to keep things sane and be able to continue this thread by receiving responses from both Olive and John Casler. I always like to hear "the other side of the story".

And, (I have not seen the Olive limited warranty) - remember, when you opened up the Opus (whatever your business or personal reasons were); you may have voided the limited warranty and your ability to return the unit(s) to Olive.

Keep cool in all of this heat.

Yea we got some 115 degree days here .... but it ain't that bad.... not like back home... Long Island NY. HUMID!
No clause in opening the unit. (they just might put it in now)

This aint a Warranty issue anyways! It's a Bad Joke!
Some well respected companies, such as Exactpower, I put on the map, Encourages you to pop the top.
TacT Audio dont even care. Teac Esoteric don't care. The ones that care are the ones you avoid!
It just tells ya something... there is shame in their game! cause they may come up short

Na not in to ANY Olive... Just the Opus caught my eye,, I guess it was too good to be true....
AC97 Chip outputing SPIDF, used as a DAC and ADC aint going to cut it.

Give me Esoteric Neo drive, AKM DAC and ADC, with a DCS purcell in a Chassis of a wadia. Then add a external NAS.... now we are in talking..
RA did say if he had is way, it would have AKM's on the mainboard. The Opus was a major Compromise.

You allways can go the Musica or Symphony Route and use a decent outboard Dac....

I would rather swap these units out for Musica and Symphonies.... Anybody in for a "group" Trade?

Like I tell my group, I should take my own advice! Stay on the side lines what till CES, they be bustin' out some cool stuff..

CornellAlum · « **Reply #23 on:** 27 Jul 2006, 01:41 pm »

Quote from: sts9fan on 27 Jul 2006, 01:19 pm

Just when AC was getting boring

I agree, good to break up the monotony that had been prevailing around here. Where's Brian Cheney when you need him

95bcwh · « **Reply #24 on:** 27 Jul 2006, 01:44 pm »

I keep reading JC name being mentioned in this thread (not by Mauimod), but to be fair to him, why does he need to answer to anything said on this thread? He's a dealer not a modder, he bought an Opus and liked the sound so he recommend it to people, he has no time and no equipment to measure and verify manufacurer specs. Whatever price JC got from Olive doesn't bother me (although I do believe that Olive should give him a lower dealer price because he ordered more units), we all have a rough idea what typical "dealership markup" is, and I appreciate John's effort to sell customers the Olive without charging full MSRP.

What we should worry about is, whether Olive has cheated the whole world by selling units knowing that they do not meet the published specs. In that case, all the customers (including JC) have been betrayed.

sts9fan · « **Reply #25 on:** 27 Jul 2006, 02:04 pm »

I think that is where the whole "group buy" comes into play

gostan · « **Reply #26 on:** 27 Jul 2006, 02:37 pm »

Quote from: sts9fan on 27 Jul 2006, 02:04 pm

I think that is where the whole "group buy" comes into play

You got it.
Small world out there. I use the same Red Sox avatar on another forum that I am active in. Who do you think we should trade for today?

sts9fan · « **Reply #27 on:** 27 Jul 2006, 02:42 pm »

Quote

should trade for today?

Thats a tough question.

GHM · « **Reply #28 on:** 27 Jul 2006, 02:46 pm »

Quote from: sts9fan on 27 Jul 2006, 01:19 pm

Just when AC was getting boring

I couldn't agree more!!

This is good stuff like a soap opera..only real. This is one of the main reasons I prefer separates. Trying to pack ungodly features into one box at a price point seems unrealistic too me. I planned to buy one in the future..I think I'll pass for the time being.

Thanks Anthony for the heads up..great read!

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #29 on:** 27 Jul 2006, 02:54 pm »

Quote from: Dr. Krull on 27 Jul 2006, 06:00 am

I wonder why no other "modder" has seen (or reported) this problem with their units? Have they not measured their units, or was your unit an isolated case? Are you certain your results are correct? Seems there are a lot of unanswered questions...

-Krull

Hi guys,

I cannot speak for any of the other Olive modders out there (I don't know how many exist, but they sure seemed to come out of the woodwork after lots of Olive mod posts appeared on the RWA forum

), but I haven't had the chance to get my hands on an Opus. I have become an Olive dealer, but I have not sold or tried to sell an Opus because I have no knowledge of the product. There was one JC group buy member who was going to send me one soon to look into, but based on what MM has discovered, I think I'll pass.

I have been really busy with Symphony and Musica mods and I stand behind both of these units (which are essentially identical except for the built-in hard drive). To my knowledge, these are both Hifidelio units (Hermsted), built in Germany and shipped to Olive for North American sales. The toroid is configured for 120Vac, the software is in English, but other than that I was told they are the Hifidelio units. The motherboard design layout is very clean, the built quality is very good, and they appear to be very reliable. Again, I fully stand behind the Symphony and Musica and the modifications that I do to these units. They are both very good values and their performance when RWA modded is fantastic! IMHO, the Symphony is the best value of them all (if you use an outboard USB HD for more storage if needed). BTW, I don't get $0.01 of a price break when I buy the Symphony to mod (there is no dealer margin for them at all)

Based on MM's posts regarding his findings with the Opus, it is Jeff at RA's version of a modded Musica in a new enclosure. Splitting the spdif out of the AD1981B to feed a custom dac board AND to send to the digital output jack sounds pretty scary! (I commented on this on the "Olive Group Buy Thread" when I learned about this from MM's post). Without seeing an Opus for myself, I have nothing else to say about it.

Best regards,

Vinnie

Al Garay · « **Reply #30 on:** 27 Jul 2006, 03:36 pm »

This is good timing for SlimDevices to introduce their new high-end, take-no-prisoners music player-server called The Transporter (good movie by the way)... http://www.slimdevices.com/

John Casler · « **Reply #31 on:** 27 Jul 2006, 03:48 pm »

Quote from: 95bcwh on 27 Jul 2006, 01:44 pm

I keep reading JC name being mentioned in this thread (not by Mauimod), but to be fair to him, why does he need to answer to anything said on this thread? He's a dealer not a modder, he bought an Opus and liked the sound so he recommend it to people, he has no time and no equipment to measure and verify manufacurer specs. Whatever price JC got from Olive doesn't bother me (although I do believe that Olive should give him a lower dealer price because he ordered more units), we all have a rough idea what typical "dealership markup" is, and I appreciate John's effort to sell customers the Olive without charging full MSRP.

What we should worry about is, whether Olive has cheated the whole world by selling units knowing that they do not meet the published specs. In that case, all the customers (including JC) have been betrayed.

Well, I had decided last night that I wouldn't post to this thread since, I find the "conspiricy" and "planned cheating" accusations really in bad taste.

Anthony called me up the other day, all freindly and such and said he had found a problem with the OPUS. He said it was "filled" with Jitter.

I told him, mine sounded great.

He told me that he had contacted OLIVE and they "didn't even know about the problem".

He explained a lot of "tech mumbo jumbo" and that he was going to find a fix. I told him if it made it sound any better I didn't know how it could.

As far as the "group buy", I didn't know that I had to adhere to a specific "protocol" to be a real group

I saw the products, became a dealer, wanted one for myself (which I couldn't afford) and organized a group buy. Plain and simple. I told OLIVE I was doing so, and communicated how it was going several times.

There were no special pricing breaks beyond the normal dealer price list. Even my demo unit was the same price.

I talked with OLIVE yesterday about this, and they said that they would stand behind their units and their initial check did not show the same problem. Of that I don't know.

They said that if there was a problem, it would be addressed.

I think MM has even said that his units, which display this, are "easily" fixable.

I fail to see how, splashing this all over the forum like this has helped anyone, especially if it is a single problem in a single model.

There seems to be a lot of inuendo and projection going on.

I jumped into the OLIVE program because it looked like a product I would like to have.

I have one, it works, it sounds great (Maybe I like jitter) and I am happy with it. If it can be made to sound better, then I'm on board.

But, I don't think we need to create some "grand scheme" to cheat, defraud and fool people.

I do this because I like the hobby, like the toys, love the sound, and enjoy helping others do the same.

We all know that very few products (especially new ones) are completely developed and trouble free. We also know that in the higher tech equipment, it is almost obsolete before it gets out the door.

I've seen that with several lines, I carry. I've also seen the "master plot" theories on a few of them.

Hey, this "IS" supposed to be fun.

And I will say again, I have the OPUS in my system, and it sounds great.

woodsyi · « **Reply #32 on:** 27 Jul 2006, 03:56 pm »

So, analog out is good but SPDIF out is a mess? To be fair to Olive, I would not spend the bucks to get an Opus to NOT use their built in DAC.........

fredgarvin · « **Reply #33 on:** 27 Jul 2006, 06:46 pm »

Maybe it would be best if MM takes a nap. He needs to deal with Olive himself rather than spew out what may be red herrings all over the board. I don't blame him for being pissed about his Opus but I don't think we hobbyists or any dealers need his approval for "group buys" or any other avenues we may choose to negotiate. Frankly, it makes me suspect his offer of "free fixes", after his scattershot blame fixing and innuendo.

Bill Baker · « **Reply #34 on:** 27 Jul 2006, 09:16 pm »

Quote

Well, I had decided last night that I wouldn't post to this thread since....

First things first. Very well written response John.

Now I have a question that may take this topic off subject a bit. I just finished reading the latest review of the Musica CD Player/Music Server in the August issue of TAS. I was intrigued but obviously not much into this "computer age" audio.

My question is if John or anyone has or has played with the Musica. Is it a decent product for the money? EVen the review mentions a few shortcomings but again, I am not that deeply into the technology. There are no tubes in it so I am lost

Don't worry guys, I am NOT at all interested in getting involved with mods for these products. It's just not my thing.

JoshK · « **Reply #35 on:** 27 Jul 2006, 09:20 pm »

Quote from: MauiMods on 27 Jul 2006, 08:07 pm

UPDATE: Robert from Olive refuses to honor the 15 day return policy. Even on the units not opened.
And I Just got off phone with Jeff on the phone with him for an hour.
*He said he will post a responce to the forum, to make me look nuts.
*Then I Called him back to tell him I recorded him using a Flash memory recorder for an Hour.
*Lets just say,,,, I dont think he will post.... I leave it at that.

I'm not a lawyer, but I was under the impression that that was illegal, to record someone without their knowledge.

ooheadsoo · « **Reply #36 on:** 27 Jul 2006, 09:31 pm »

Don't quote me on this, but it is a state level issue. Often times, it is illegal only if it is a third party recording or if neither party in a 2 way conversation know that they are being recorded. In these cases, as long as the recorder is one of the parties partaking in the conversation, then it is legal. In some states, both parties must know.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #37 on:** 27 Jul 2006, 09:33 pm »

Quote from: JoshK on 27 Jul 2006, 09:20 pm

I'm not a lawyer, but I was under the impression that that was illegal, to record someone without their knowledge.

If he called Jeff in California, it sure is...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060713/pl_nm/financial_telephone_disclosure_dc

ooheadsoo · « **Reply #38 on:** 27 Jul 2006, 09:40 pm »

Talk about complicated...MM could countersue over a variety of issues.

John Casler · « **Reply #39 on:** 27 Jul 2006, 09:52 pm »

Quote from: Response Audio on 27 Jul 2006, 09:16 pm

Quote
Well, I had decided last night that I wouldn't post to this thread since....

First things first. Very well written response John.

Now I have a question that may take this topic off subject a bit. I just finished reading the latest review of the Musica CD Player/Music Server in the August issue of TAS. I was intrigued but obviously not much into this "computer age" audio.

My question is if John or anyone has or has played with the Musica. Is it a decent product for the money? EVen the review mentions a few shortcomings but again, I am not that deeply into the technology. There are no tubes in it so I am lost

Don't worry guys, I am NOT at all interested in getting involved with mods for these products. It's just not my thing.

Thanks Bill,

There should be several units out there, since all of the Group Musica's have been delivered. I assume most are burning in.

I think the MUSICA is a good choice if you are going to be using an "outboard DAC" like the Musical Fidelity, BenchMark or better.

Been loading CD's each day and the convienence of being able to simply access a CD, or cut on a CD, is great.

I was listening a few minutes ago and thought things sounded a little "thin", then I remembered that it is 1:30 ish here in LA on one of the hottest days of the year, with more airconditioners running right now than any time in the history of the world

and I realized, that this is the worst my system would ever sound (and while a little thin, it was still darn good)