Olive Opus ... pretty ...

[Jammrock]

http://www.olive.us/p_bin/?cid=01_07_opus

I think it was Helevitia that posted the Olive symphony a while back. Olive has updated their line of CD players with HDDs and digital playback with a lovely new device salled the Opus. The Opus sports four 24-bit Burr Brown DACs, a custom crystal clock and near jitterless operation, plus a 400 GB HDD that can hold 1100 lossless (via FLAC) CDs.

I think this would be an excellent addition to my stereo Though I would slap a set of these on the bottom to keep undue vibration off the HDD from high volumes and bass hits. Now ... how to talk the wife into thinking that we need to shell out $3000 USD for it.

Specs:

The Olive® OPUS in brief.


Harmonious circuit architecture.
• Hand-designed audio board with double-sided assembly provides clean signal
path and considerable reduction in parasitic inductance and capacitance.
• Extensive use of separate analog and digital planes as well as separate power
and ground planes reduces ground impedance, crosstalk, and noise floor.



DAC design.
• Features 4x Burr-Brown 24-bit/192 kHz DACs
• 8X oversampling with 352.8 kHz sample rate eliminates ultrasonic noise and
allows the use of gentle analog filters.
• Ultra-low jitter master clock eliminates timing error-induced distortion.
• Precision analog output section maintains linearity and low noise.
• Passive anti-image filter avoids slew-induced distortion and power supply
modulation.



Clean power.
• Independent power supplies for analog and digital sections, including toroidal
transformers, prevent corruption of analog signal.
• Low noise linear regulators keep noise levels low while supplying tightly
regulated power.
• Large reservoir capacitance provides current reserves for transients and
extended bass response.
• Power-line EMI/RFI filtering reduces noise induced from mains.



Audible design.
• Solid chassis and closed front plate eliminate noise of CD & HD mechanism.
• Special 8X bearing for Hard Drive lowers vibration and operating noise.
• Power efficient components allow fan-less design.



Convenience.
• Ultra-quiet 400GB hard drive stores up to 1,100 CDs in lossless quality.
• Integrated CD database provides music information.
• High-resolution LCD and intuitive jog-shuttle for convenient navigation.
• Play, burn or copy audio CDs.
• Update an Apple® iPod™.
• Stream music to multiple rooms (build-in Ethernet hub and 802.11g access point)

Jammrock

[az]

This looks suspiciously like a Hermstedt Hifidelio.

[Fat Tone]

Just wondering why you wouldn't be able to achieve the same for a lot less with a Media PC? Take the Silverstone LC11M-B case for example - looks just like a hifi component. They do larger cases with a touch-sensitive colour LCD on the front too...

[az]

The hifidelio is just 600 Euros (with an 80GB HD). And looking at pictures of the two, it is clear the Opus is just a relabeled (and maybe slightly changed) hifidelio with a slightly different faceplate.

[Jammrock]

Interesting indeed:

http://www.hermstedt.de/english/hifidelio/press/ar_cnet_30_01_06.html

Note from Hermstedt: The Company Olive distributes the Hifidelio and Hifidelio Pro wireless music centers in the USA under the brand names Symphony/Musica.

No word on whether the Opus is Olive's own design, or another Hermstedt rebadge. Though there is no mention of an Opus like device on Hermstedt's website, and Olive claims the Opus is made in the USA. So maybe it is, and maybe it isn't.

Here we go:

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/03/01/olive_unveils_400gb_opus/

Past Olive products were developed and made in Germany by Hermstedt, but Olive claims the new model was "designed and custom-made in the USA".

Looks like the Opus is Olive's first in-house product. The other two are just rebadged hifidelio's

[az]

I'm sceptical. The design is very very close to the Hifidelio. Maybe they used more expensive components for the audio circuitry, but it clearly is not "designed and custom-made in the USA" (because the case and design are from the hifidelio, and at least much of the media server electronics will be from it, too.). I don't see a reason to believe that a firm that just imported and branded a product suddenly has the know-how to develop such a product itself, and then without reason make it so strikingly similar to the older, important models.

[Nowhere]

Blah, they just have to say it's "made in USA", or else it will sell worse (still, not as bad as if it would be not from Germany, but France )

And yeah...can this be really that better that silenced PC with, for example, digital out of good quality and high quality external DAC.

[az]

Define better. It will be worse in many respects, but better in terms of price (which might change with PCs getting cheaper and cheaper), power consumption, and potentially ease of use.

[Nowhere]

Uhmmm...quite capable PC with good quality digital out can be had for what, 700$? 800? That leaves over 2000$ for external DAC and still ending up cheaper.
Anyway, I was talking mostly about how good qualityof output you can achieve - that's the main thing which differentiates (or...should) audio equipment. Rest, taken for granted for a PC - irrelevant here.

[az]

I was talking about the hifidelio. There's no way I'm paying through the nose just to call myself an "Audiophile" (this has almost become a swear word meaning "gullible idiot with too much money").

Can one take ease of use for granted with a PC? I mean being able to navigate through your music collection without a TV?

[Nowhere]

Well, I wasn't - hifidelio is the one of the two that's reasonably priced

As for taking this thread off with ease of use...depends what one expects/uses, I guess. Matter of software after all, too. And for me it seems it would be hard without the function "play few songs, let the app guess what you want to listen for the next 2 hours"
Same for navigating...I have 5,5 weeks of music (yeah, I adapted practise of astronomers - when numbers are huge, desribe in time ). I can't imagine how I would menage it on hifidelio class stuff...