[Bill Baker]

I have been going back and forth with this digital thing for some time. I like the idea of being able to store so much music within a single component. I spend hours a day at a work bench and it would be nice to have such convenience and versatility.
 I know there is a lot of talk about here at the circle and wondering if other users find it an easy machine to figure out.
 Maybe if I really like it, I will have Wayne do some magic on it.
 Any reason I shouldn't consider it?

[PaulFolbrecht]

Are you into SACD?  That's the only reason I haven't done it.

[Bill Baker]

I am into SACD but do not focus primarily on any given format. I think a music server such as the Musica would be of great convenience and potentially a good digital source as well.

[LightFire]

Very interesting devices those Olive Musica! However I think they still too expensive for what they are and I believe in a near future more competitors will appear driving the price down. Besides I have some questions about functionality:

Does anybody knows if this device suffers from hard drive crashes because of software and/or hardware?

Is it possible to copy files to it instead of ripping CDs (copying from a data CD for example)?

Is it possible for the owner to upgrade the hard drive by himself (similar to upgrading computer hard drive)?

[John Casler]

I have been going back and forth with this digital thing for some time. I like the idea of being able to store so much music within a single component. I spend hours a day at a work bench and it would be nice to have such convenience and versatility.
 I know there is a lot of talk about here at the circle and wondering if other users find it an easy machine to figure out.
 Maybe if I really like it, I will have Wayne do some magic on it.
 Any reason I shouldn't consider it?

Hi Bill,

You might want to give Mathew a call at OLIVE.

I have the OPUS and it is stellar, and functional for my purposes.  It is a cross between a CDP, and a Computer to "figure out".

That is, it is not as easy and as a simple CDP, and not as difficult as a full on computer.

It is relatively intuitive, and once you get the CD's loaded it is a blast to use.

I have over 300 Cd's on mine and it is less than 30% of the 500g drive.

Of course you have other options, but to me, they are substantially "more involved" and if you go with equal quality, performance, and flexibility, they can be as, or even more expensive.

As a dealer for other equipment, it is great to have "playlists" that you can access "instantly" to demo what you want.

I have several Play lists including Reference Cuts, Classic Rock Ref cuts, Classical Reference Cuts, Jazz Ref Cuts, etc.

And the Internet Radio is very cool.

[John Casler]

Very interesting devices those Olive Musica! However I think they still too expensive for what they are and I believe in a near future more competitors will appear driving the price down. Besides I have some questions about functionality:

Does anybody knows if this device suffers from hard drive crashes because of software and/or hardware?

Is it possible to copy files to it instead of ripping CDs (copying from a data CD for example)?

Is it possible for the owner to upgrade the hard drive by himself (similar to upgrading computer hard drive)?

I have only heard on one HD problem and I have an idea, it was related to user error, but do not know for sure.

The units must be treated as "computers" and not a CDP's, since they have processors, that sometimes take a few seconds to complet a task, and pressing a button two or three times if a task is slow might eventually cause a problem.

I think you can copy data files, since there is a selection of "music/data/automatic" in one of the menus.

I know at this time it is not possible to "swap" or change HD's yourself, but you can add "external" HD's as needed for back up, or extra storage.

[Hi-acuity]

I tried an Olive Musica and wasn't overly impressed with the sonics. The user directions suck too.

Cleaning and changing CD's in a single drawer is a PITA, but it is worth the effort for better sound. This is just my opinion.

Hi-acuity

[Wayne1]

The Olive is a great unit for folks who do not want to deal with computer networks.

It is VERY easy to rip your CDs into the Olive HD.

I do still find the Olive's display too small and the user interface is not all that intuitive. At this point in time, the unit must go back to Olive if the hard drive fails. If your unit is modded, this will invalidate Olive's warranty. Each hard drive will only work with a certain processor/circuit board.

I would not suggest using the Olive direct into an amp. There is no separate display for volume and the lowest volume level may not be low enough for some users. It does not lower the volume all the way to off.

The modded Olive's do sound VERY good. I just completed one with Sonicap Platinums and Bybee Purifiers. It sounds fantastic.

I, personally, prefer the interface and operation of the Squeeze Box.

[maxwalrath]

The modded Olive's do sound VERY good. I just completed one with Sonicap Platinums and Bybee Purifiers. It sounds fantastic.

...sweet. No more i-Pod Nano feeding a Modwright pre for this guy. 

[HT cOz]

I just received one of Wayne's Modified Olive Musicas and am really happy with it.  I think it sounds fantastic.  It is a big improvement over my DVD player.   

I have built many computers and am very savvy with networking, but sometimes you don't want to have to fool with all that just to be able to enjoy your music.  A deciding factor for me is that I wanted my wife to be able to enjoy this setup.  Mission accomplished in five minutes.  It's that easy.

It really comes down to what you want, if you are willing to spend a little more for a standalone solution this is awesome. 

They soon will allow control with a PDA, which solves the small screen problem.


Cheers,
Robert

[reddmadder]

Hi,
 I got my first Olive last March. The first one gave me a clicking sound on each track. After a few days of trying to fix it on the phone with Matt I returned it and received a new one the next day. The new one also gave me clicks but was fixed with the software upgrade. Customer support is top notch either by phone or e-mail.
My player has been working fine with an occassional (crash maybe a total of 5-10) since I got it in March.I never lost any music but I did delete and re-import to be safe.No big deal you just reboot and then try a software check.Works everytime.The player is alittle noisy for the first 20 minutes of play then becomes almost totally quite.
If you think of it as a computer first,then you won't stress.
AS far as the display goes it can go into larger read mode with double clicking or just set it up within your settings menu.There is a seperate volumme reading under play mode,so you can see and set the level for headphone or loudspeaker listening.
I'm also using a virtual dynamics IEC plug so I can use my Cardas power cord which akes a difference.
Personally I think it delivers very good sound(I've owned Naim,Audio Research,AH Tjoeb,players)and sounds really good with my outboard dac.
Personally I wouldn't mod it for 2 reasons
  1.I don't want to void the warranty
  2.Computers like cd players should be kept on all the time,given that the Olive is a computer the sleep mode function is just as important to this unit as to any computer.
 Just my 2 cents.