OLIVE O3HD

[4krow]

  I'm sure no one here has made a snap decision as quickly as I, but here I am possible going to own a O3HD. Yup, I bid on the damn thing, and with a high bid, I'm sure to win. Now,  this was W/O knowledge that Olive has put these things sale for $500(I bid $650, and the high bid at the moment is 405). But lets forget all that nonsnese, and assume that I will soon be the proud owner of one of these babies. I have actually heard bad things about the first gen player but seems that Olive has worked out a few bugs. OK, so do any of you have experience/opinion of this unit?

 

[galyons]

Buddy had one.  I have no idea on generation. Was about a year ago when purchased. IMO, not really designed for, or aimed at, music lovers wanting high fidelity.  I think that it is designed as a music appliance for the non computer folks.  I would be concerned with the limited functionality, no WiFi, no digital out.  These didn't seem like showstoppers to him, when he bought, but now....it has been sent away to college with his daughter.

We hooked it to a WiFi bridge, additional expense.  The Olive did not like the wireless bridge and it took quite some time to get DNS settings that worked.  The SQ is that of a consumer CD player, with no way to use an outboard DAC, ( the unit itself is far heftier than the typical consumer CD player). Once working, it did the job.  He tried the android app for remote control, but never found it to work that well. I thought the stock remote was fine.

As always, YMMV!

Cheers,
Geary

 

[4krow]

Heh heh, Yah, I kinda got the feeling that you expressed. it might be ok for some applications, but not a hi-fi thing. I wonder if it will take info from my SACD player and still sound good.  And of course, I wonder if there is a unit out there that does justice to this concept, but doesn't break the bank. I will keep ya all informed.

 

[John EH]

From what I see it does internet radio streams but not Pandora?

I guess the problem with appliances like this is they are duplication of effort.  Any computer can rip a CD Library and make it accessible to the stereo via wireless these days.

And any computer can do internet radio and Pandora and MOG and Spotify and all the other things. 

As a stand alone appliance I agree it is a great idea but a great idea that never caught on with the masses that spend dollars.

I glanced briefly at the new Olive stuff and it looks like it has expanded somewhat to be more like what you're looking for.

For my money my Raspberry Pi is the media center.  It does everything and I can hang a portable hard drive off of it (or network router) and access all my ripped CD's and my music library at home.

Only thing I'm missing is a fancy touch screen and remote however I have a fancy touch screen remote in my iPad or iPhone that controls it or I can control it from my computer browser.

I've been waiting for years for the killer appliance but it just never came along or was too expensive so I just built my own.

John

 

[4krow]

  All I am really looking for is a stand alone device that will store my CD collection. I don't care about anything else really. Good quality sound is important of course, but that about covers it.

 

[earwaxxer]

Hey Greg - welcome back from Istanbul or wherever the hell you were! Seriously, I know where you were, I'm jealous! My question is, why do you want a do it all music server? Use a laptop. USB is getting frickin good! Then you can go with the DAC du jour and sleep well at night. Seriously dude, those things are dinosaurs, thats why they are on sale. If you get it cheap than no harm done, after all I have a $2K Squeezebox Transporter that sits in the corner.

peace, love, dope, hamburgers, and other shit you didnt get in bumb fuck Egypt, or wherever you were...
yours, Eric

 

[2wo]

Well for a ready to go box you can get a Vortexbox Appliance, Vortexbox.org. I have used one for the past 4 years and can recommend it. Real easy...John 

 

[4krow]

Earic heh heh, yah, thats yer new handle. Just want a box that stores cd's THAT YOU PHYSICALLY PUT INTO IT. It would play and record them and store them No computors, no nothin, just a box that stores this stuff and sounds . good.


      John, I will take a look at the Vortexbox, since I have been outbid,  whew! dodged a bullet there.

 

[4krow]

OK John, so I looked at the Vortexbox and it seems ok. Let ask a question. Let's say you have BH Quickie and you would like to hook up this device to it. Would a set of interconnect cables do the job?

 

[4krow]

Ok, so in ancient technology, I found Cambridge, Marantz, and Yamaha all have these cool boxes that will not cost much. Might just go that direction. Now this is 'old' technology, but if it serves up flac or wave files, then the CD sound should be as good as I can hope for. More to come.

 

[2wo]

The Vortexbox is meant to be used with a USB DAC that would connect to the Quickie. It does have a  1.5 mm headphone jack like on any computer. Not sure how good the sound quality would be...John 

 

[tsingle999]

John do you use it with your squeezebox 2? Taran

 

[Mike B]

I have one, it sounds good.  I loaded all my CD's in it so I don't have to shlep them around anymore.

 

[4krow]

Ok, round and round we go, and I end up with a Yamaha mcx1000 for $200. No remote. Working on that though. I'm thinking that I might be able to use mental telepathy instead. Last time i tried it though, a stranger called me from Germany and said 'cut it out'.

 

[2wo]

Taran, works fine with a squeezebox...John

 

[4krow]

BUYING USED.... No perfect situation. The remote will easily cost another $50. That's fine, it's just I don't care for the $18 shipping charges. Just be honest. Then there is the downloading of the 'free' manual. 148 of paper, plus an ink cartridge that says 'no' right out of the box. Yah, I'm bitchin a little, but just remember, buyin used means buyer beware. All in all, it's still a good deal.
  When I sell/resell something, there is no BS involved. You probably more than if you bought it new. Ebay can be another story, and we all got at least one zinger to tell I bet.