[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Re: Olive Musica
larsth Wrote: I looked at the German version of Olive (http://www.hermstedt.de/english/hifidelio/hifidelio.html) before deciding on SB. The showstopper for me regarding the Olive/Hifidelio is that you do not have free access to the music/data on the device. If you rip music on it, you cannot copy that to your own hard disk (wihtout hacking the box)! You even have to buy a back-up hard disk from them - you cannot connect a standard USB disk. You can access the ripped music files - you just have to telnet on to the box and change the Samba configuration file to expose the /audio/music directory - you can then copy them off as you wish - or you could even have a SlimServer running on it to connect a Squeezebox - this is what I am doing. - Simon. -- brookheather brookheather's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=4317 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=21135 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Re: Olive Musica
hahaha, okay that tops robin's mispost last night. -- snarlydwarf snarlydwarf's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=1179 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=21135 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Re: Olive Musica
gobikey Wrote: i'm still laughing. That's the kind of email error that can kill product lines. If that turned up in a magazine of newspaper it could do a lot of harm to their reputation. I guess you could always forward it to the parent German company... -- CardinalFang You're only young once, but you can be immature forever... CardinalFang's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=962 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=21135 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Re: Olive Musica
Wow Gobikey, looks like you have a bit of leverage at this point... Use it. -Dan -- dwc dwc's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=1892 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=21135 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Re: Olive Musica
You know, I have a feeling that email may get around a little :) -- radish radish's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=77 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=21135 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Re: Olive Musica
gobikey Wrote: update: still hadn't heard back from Olive about an $253.05 unexplained difference in my refund until today. i got this. must have been an internal message mistakenly sent to me. i'm still laughing. - - - From: Sales [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Mar 2, 2006 2:44 PM Subject: Re: rma To: (my name and email) should i tell him to go F--k himself? this is the jackass who wrote the horrible review On Mar 1, 2006, at 12:41 PM, (my name) wrote: I haven't heard back from anyone about this. Please clear up the recent billing mistake and the shipping billing error from months ago. (my name) - - - i guess they read my cnet review. ; ) OT How is the mdhtlabs Paradiso DAC sounding compared the the stock and/or modded SB3? -- rajacat rajacat's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=4156 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=21135 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Re: Olive Musica
joncourage Wrote: Yes, exactly! Well said. agreed. ; ) side note: today, my refund was processed, and it was quite a bit less than the %15 difference they had stated i wrote to find out why. o.O i also looked up the names of the management. their previous venture was formac.us which has a bad name with the BBB for ripping off customers. shaith! /rant i'm very happy with my sb3 -- gobikey gobikey's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=3804 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=21135 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Re: Olive Musica
Short, dirty story: (longer one with details to follow) Do not buy the first generation Musica. It is buggy, and the features are far more restricted than advertised. Olive sent me two faulty units. The first failed to boot (and could not be re-imaged), and the second had a faulty CD player. Besides these warrantied, returnable issues, there are major issues with stability and functionality. The OS crashed or froze often. The networking was unreliable and often dropped or failed to connect (I used my network diagnostic tools to investigate). You CANNOT retrieve files once they have been written to the Musica's hard drive! (at least not without buying their proprietary external backup hard drive) Olive claims that you can attach your mp3 player to the Musica. The Musica will not recognize any mp3 player or other device that connects as a hard drive (like my iRiver or most mp3 players). It will only recognize iTunes players (iPods). Longer version: (still writing it...) -- gobikey gobikey's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=3804 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=21135 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Re: Olive Musica
I'm not sure I get the value proposition of the Olive stuff, particularly for a crowd that would even consider the SB. It appears to me to basically be a computer in an audio-component form-factor with a built-in DAC of implied higher quality than a typical soundcard, with digital and RCA stereo outs. While well-executed, the concept appears to be a bit half-baked to me. (I'm not sure I see what the Musica does for me other than operate as a dedicated computer/music server?) The main reason I wouldn't be interested is the proprietary nature of the operating system and hardware. Control over storage hardware choices and scalability/flexibility and control over my music collection - the whole ripping and tagging process as well as backup (and portability), are vital to me and I believe critical parts of a digitized music strategy. The physical design of the Musica sure is sharp tho. -- joncourage joncourage's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2837 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=21135 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Re: Olive Musica
I'm not concerned about hard drive noise, as my stereo actually is in a different room from the speakers. For the same reason, I don't worry about the size of the display (I'll be standing in front of the unit when I use it). This actually brings up one of my major concerns: I wish there were some controls on the front of the SB3, as I'd rather not have to use the remote. I really like the jog wheels on the Musica. I've just been playing with Pandora though, and this may be what seals the deal for me. Tons of fun! -- pedalvet pedalvet's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=3901 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=21135 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Re: Olive Musica
gobikey Wrote: Short, dirty story: (longer one with details to follow) Do not buy the first generation Musica. It is buggy, and the features are far more restricted than advertised. Olive sent me two faulty units. The first failed to boot (and could not be re-imaged), and the second had a faulty CD player. Besides these warrantied, returnable issues, there are major issues with stability and functionality. The OS crashed or froze often. The networking was unreliable and often dropped or failed to connect (I used my network diagnostic tools to investigate). You CANNOT retrieve files once they have been written to the Musica's hard drive! (at least not without buying their proprietary external backup hard drive) Olive claims that you can attach your mp3 player to the Musica. The Musica will not recognize any mp3 player or other device that connects as a hard drive (like my iRiver or most mp3 players). It will only recognize iTunes players (iPods). Longer version: (still writing it...) Longer version: (Sorry that it's a bit of a flame to Olive) I am a network engineer with research time and without many expenses. My system so far consists of a Krell 400xi amp and Vienna Acoustics Beethoven speakers, Audioquest Diamondback interconnects, high-end speaker cables and power regenerator, etc. I wanted a decent CD transport and a way to play my ogg and flac files without needing to use my noisy computer. I did a fair amount of research and ordered the Musica, 2nd day air, Nov 15, 05. Delivery issues - After not receiving the tracking number by email, I called into support. They said the Musica was out of stock for another month or so. (doh! I wish they had stated that on the online order page.) I asked for the 2nd day air option to be cancelled, and I waited. They charged me for 2nd day air anyway a month later when it was available but then refunded the extra charges when I called again. Weak Networking - The Musica arrived at my work, and I attempted to set up the networking. The networking options were not as robust as most generic wireless routers on the market today, but they *may* be sufficient for the Musica to be used as a wireless client, not as a configurable wireless LAN bridge. After configuration changes and testing, I feel that the wireless functionality is VERY unreliable. I have network diagnostic tools at my disposal which rule out other points of failure. (This conclusion was made after testing both Musica units.) After approx 45 min of checking out the network capabilities, I restarted the Musica, but it froze at the boot-up logo screen. I followed directions to reload the OS from CD, but the process failed to fix the boot-up problem. I worked unsuccessfully with Olive support for about an hour to re-image the Musica. They said that the hard drive must be faulty and asked me to return the unit for repairs. I returned the unit late Dec and received a new one mid-January. An Olive rep told me that the returned unit worked after being re-imaged. (Thanks, that's nice. o.O ) After playing the Musica at home and testing the various functions, I found several shortcomings. CD player issues - The CD tranport and DAC were actually pretty good. It was the best sound I had heard out of my system up until that point. Problem... Many CDs could not be played. I tried CDs from my collection and found that approximately 1 out of 10 CDs (purchased new within the last two months, no marks or scratches whatsoever) failed to play. I could hear parts of the songs which would randomly pause every second or two and were mixed with severe digital noise. Again, these were new (recently unwrapped) CDs from reputable record labels.. ie. Emperor Norton Records - Lost In Translation Soundtrack, Capitol Records - Mazzy Star - Among My Swan... When I attempted to play one of these, I had to power off the Musica (hard power off) because the OS would freeze. Those CDs could be played perfectly with other CD players. Remote Incompatability - Use of the Musica's remote control did not work in my sound system because I have a Krell amplifier. The remote codes interfere with each other. For example, the volume up on the Musica remote triggered the volume down of the Krell. Track forward on the Musica remote changed the Krell input to tape. Approximately half of the remote buttons for either component caused a configuration change on the other component. There is no way to change the IR signals to a different set of codes. (It is amusing to note that a Krell amplifier is displayed with the Musica in the Musica datasheet. (http://olive.us/p_images/download/musica_datasheet.pdf) iPods only! - The Musica would not recognize my iRiver H120 mp3 player. This is because iRiver mp3 players connect as an external hard drive (as do many mp3 players) in order to update. After speaking with Olive support, I found that no external drive device will
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Re: Olive Musica
gobikey Wrote: Longer version: (Sorry that it's a bit of a flame to Olive) Wow, your story gave me a flashback to the year 2000 when I was debugging the first-ever network component player, the AudioRequest. There were endless problems and glitches, including a proprietary OS partition that would get corrupted upon hard reboot (not good in Florida where we get thunderstorms almost daily in the summer). The sound chip in the original model was so bad (I think it was rated at 40-12000 hz or something) that every unit was recalled for an audio chip upgrade after several bad national reviews panning the sound quality. The 17GB hard drive was laughably small, the CD info lookup was flaky and inaccurate, the mp3 encoders were average at best, the Windows software was extremely buggy, file transfers to and from the player were maddeningly slow, the system bogged down with anything resembling a large collection (though adding more RAM usually helped). In short, it was barely beta-quality. AudioRequest eventually addressed most of these complaints, but the price of the units jumped from $800 to multi-thousand dollars (even funnier is the pricing structure, like $3000 for a 120GB model, $4500 for a 200GB model - only difference is the slightly larger hard drive!) From your tales of the Olive Musica, it seems that these all-in-one units are still suffering from some of the same problems. The Slim philosophy of de-coupling the player from the CPU/OS/storage is extremely elegant. No need to re-invent the wheel when CPUs, drives, ripping and tagging schemes, etc are so cheap, flexible, and constantly evolving. -- Pale Blue Ego Pale Blue Ego's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=110 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=21135 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Re: Olive Musica
Pale Blue Ego Wrote: From your tales of the Olive Musica, it seems that these all-in-one units are still suffering from some of the same problems. The Slim philosophy of de-coupling the player from the CPU/OS/storage is extremely elegant. No need to re-invent the wheel when CPUs, drives, ripping and tagging schemes, etc are so cheap, flexible, and constantly evolving. Yes, exactly! Well said. -- joncourage joncourage's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2837 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=21135 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Re: Olive Musica
I looked at the German version of Olive (http://www.hermstedt.de/english/hifidelio/hifidelio.html) before deciding on SB. The showstopper for me regarding the Olive/Hifidelio is that you do not have free access to the music/data on the device. If you rip music on it, you cannot copy that to your own hard disk (wihtout hacking the box)! You even have to buy a back-up hard disk from them - you cannot connect a standard USB disk. -- larsth larsth's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2099 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=21135 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Re: Olive Musica
pedalvet Wrote: Hi guys- Why should I go with an SB3 over an Olive Musica? I would start with the fact that you can get 3 SB3's for the price of 1 Musica and put them around your house and have high quality music wherever you go. Then I would worry about having the hard disk (although called extremely quiet) in the room where I was wanting to listen seriously to music. I'm not sure if there is also a fan in there. Finally I would ask what happens when you fill up the 160Gb HDD which, if you are serious about music and rip losslessly to FLAC, you surely will. It is not clear if you could use the USB port to hook in additional drives but then, of course, you'd have 2 potentially noisy HDDs next to your stereo (one of which will probably have a bright blue flashing disk access light). Just my $0.02 davep -- davep davep's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=61 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=21135 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Re: Olive Musica
davep Wrote: I would ask what happens when you fill up the 160Gb HDD davep You can stream music from your networked PC or Mac. -- pedalvet pedalvet's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=3901 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=21135 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Re: Olive Musica
I looked seriously at the Musica, but with my setup it would have had to sit inside a cabinet, whereas the SB3 is small enough to sit out and still comply with my WAF. One of the great features of the SB3 is the screen, which you can read from across the room, whereas the Musica has a very small display. I can't remember if you can have Musica display over your TV screen, but I didn't want that, either. Other factors for me were open source software and plugins which are regularly adding functionality to the SB3 (I'm really hoping for a true IR pass-through soon), the ease and low cost of adding storage to my system and being able to back up my data to a separate hard drive (after you spend weeks ripping your collection, you don't want to lose it). Then there is the access to internet audio and data streams, etc. Cost was a bonus, but not a showstopper. And I've now got an SB3 at home, an SB2 at the beach and music backed up on two separate 250 gb hard drives for less than the cost of a Musica. -- Kyle Kyle's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2541 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=21135 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Re: Olive Musica
pedalvet Wrote: You can stream music from your networked PC or Mac. Might as well use slimserver and just do that for your whole collection, then. For the price of the Olive, you could buy a Squeezebox and a terabyte of storage. The Olive is a nice component, and for someone with a modest music collection it might make sense, but I much prefer Slim's philosophy of separating the interface/music playback device from the brains/brawn of the cpu/storage unit. -- Pale Blue Ego Pale Blue Ego's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=110 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=21135 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Re: Olive Musica
)p( Wrote: The lastest ir-blaster plugin in combination with firmware 29 has complete repeater functionality. Works with all the devices I have in my cabinet :) Yes, but the plug-in requires that the server be on, doesn't it? I was hoping for a solution that would work whether the server was on or not. -- Kyle Kyle's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2541 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=21135 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Re: Olive Musica
Kyle Wrote: Yes, but the plug-in requires that the server be on, doesn't it? I was hoping for a solution that would work whether the server was on or not. Before I bought the SlimServer, I too had concerns about needing a server running. I assumed that my Server would be the same box that is now my Computer. (It is, in fact.) It doesn't have to be, though. Many people have some box in a closet somewhere. I gather the alternative you are considering costs more than a Squeezebox and a new computer combined. So, buy both if you don't want to use your other computer. As has been pointed out, there are advantages to not having them in the same room. -- tom permutt tom permutt's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=1893 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=21135 ___ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
