Olive Set up

[admin_exported]

I'm upgrading my old analogue setup and purchasing and Olive 4hd as the heart of my system.

I could use some suggestions for a good integrated/power amp and floorstander combo to match the Olive.

I have some ideas in mind but would love some advice, especially for proper matching in the amp and speakers dept.

Thank you in advance.

Seb

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Seb

Don't want to criticise your decision or pour cold water over the Olive but I owned one for a few months and to be honest whilst its a great idea in practise I simply couldn't live with it. Apart from the fact the CD transport packed up I experienced frequent crashes and reboots, a torrid time editing the file TAG data, a clunky interface, particularly the web enabled Maestro software which enable control of the Olive via a laptop for example.

Sure its beatifully made and to be honest when it worked I couldn't fault its musicality or ability to reproduce digital files at their very best, and the streaming radio function worked well too but I found it very idiosyncratic and just a bit too stand alone for my liking. Take the backup procedure as an exmple. It works perfectly, 1 button press and off it goes (do it overnight though as it can take a while). But what you get on the back up hard drive is a series of Linux archive files, not one for one backups of your individuals FLAC or other files. Whilst I'm sure it works I could never be confident it was all correct as I couldn't see those individual files. Also the archive files themselves cannot be unzipped through a PC as there is some, I believe, encryption in their which doesn't allow you to unpack those files.

In the end I went Sonos/NAS drive/laptop CD ripping route and okay can't play hi res files but that was a trade off for the overall control of the system I now have back. And that for me was the problem. With Olive you have to trust in it 100% that its doing what you want it to. Now I can SEE that the system is doing what I want and I can alter/transfer/backup files with much more peace of mind.

Back to the CD drive that failed, I have to say the dealer put this right very quickly with a replacement unit within a week but by then I really had lost confidence. Of course the final point is that I managed to put together a whole system, Amp, NAS, Sonos, decent DAC, Speakers for £300 less than the Olive on its own. As said can't do Hi Res (well can technically but its a faff), but can do pretty much everything else.

Don't want to actively put you off but a little experience shared is sometimes useful

 

[nopiano]

Seb, I think you had better indicate a budget, or the answers will be too random to be much use!

Do you have a preference for transistor amps over valve/tube, and what size room do you have? Any particular biases, like music type or sound preferences?

In the August magazine the 3HD was paired with various items, including Roksan Caspian M2 (£1700) and ProAc Response D18 (£2100) at the top end. You can't go far wrong with the PMC range, and I was very taken with the Fact8s paired with Naim 282/250 recently, which would cost about £12k, but working down the range a bit would probably not be a big compromise.

 

[Anonymous]

Nick: Thanks for sharing your experiences . I've heard a few problems with the Olive software and hardware issues form last year, but was hoping they'd have it sorted by now. I'm more concerned with the proprietary back up, that would put me off. I'm considering some alternatives. I have a large Synology NAS drive, so may opt for getting a hi quality flac ripper and then buy a server box like the Naim or the Linn. There are some other new products in the pipeline as well. I'm trying very hard to reduce the number of boxes that are littering my network and home, though.

Nopiano: I'm looking at up to 4K I could spend on the amp, speakers and cabling. Room size will be changing in a year as I move to a bigger house, but I guess my ideal size would be around the 25 sqm mark. I do like my music loud and driving but able to handle warmth and detail as well as I listen to everything, and I crave a completely immersive listening experience that removes me from the trials of day to day life.

Hope that helps

Seb

 

[Anonymous]

Thats fine Seb

As said not wanting to put you off at all just sharing an experience. Olive may well have updated some aspects by now, its about 3 months since I said goodbye to it. For what its worth I rip on standard PC laptop using DBPoweramp (paid for version about £30), and store on a Buffalo Linkstation NAS attached to Sonos. This NAS has an extra USB socket so you can piggy back another USB HDD for back up of the bakup. Can't have too many of those pesky backups!

All backed up as full fat FLAC's. no zipping/archiving etc. I think the Olive backup problem was the one that spooked me most in the end. I want 100% peace of mind that I have a backup of umpteen hours ripping and sadly I didn't mentally have that.

 

[CnoEvil]

Hi Seb

If you want a loud and driving (but still musical) sound, look at Musical Fidelity M6i or possibly Electrocompaniet PI-2 / ECI-3.

If you want a more immersive experience look to Amps from Sugden, Pathos, Unison Research, Icon Audio and Pure Sound.

For speakers try Spendor, Sonus Faber and Proac for immersive; and PMC, Monitor Audio, ATC and Focal for a more "driving" sound.

Cno

 

[Bodfish]

This is going to sound like Olive Anonymous but...I also used to have a 4HD and while I didn't have mechanical issues, there are certainly others - the metadata (especially artwork) was sometimes very (very) random and the control App never, ever, ever worked and the back up 'facility' leaves alot to be desired.

Got rid of mine about three months ago, never looked back. I also use dbPoweramp (paid for) ripping to FLAC with a Synology DS2IIj NAS drive. Given your budget I would strongly suggest you listen to the Naim Uniti with PMC or Neat speakers to suit your budget/room size.

 

[Anonymous]

Glad I wasn't alone then!

I'm nick and I'm an Olive.....

 

[Anonymous]

Hmmmm......

I'm really starting to rethink my descision for an all in one, rip/streamer. I spend a lot of time grooming my collection(with Tag Scanner) so that all the meta data and album art is exactly the way I want it. I'm not keen on having the Olive(or any ripper) undo all that.

Perhaps I should look in to just a streamer with a hi quality DAC and digital/inernet radio receiver. There's Options from Linn, Cambridge Audio, Musical Fidelity, NAD etc

I'm getting a Synology 1511+ NAS to store all my media. It'll serve my future AV system as well as my current HiFI. I've ripped all my CD's to FLAC using EAC and FLAC Frontend on my laptop. Does anyone now how the quality of dbPowerAmp compares with this?

How much does the transport quality affect the rip? Don't know how good the one in my Dell Inspiron is.

The NAIM HDX looks great. It's considerably over my budget though and I don't think it does digital/internet radio...

I appreciate the general manufacturer recommendations. I am looking for specific integrated/power amp & speaker combo recommendations from those that use a digital media streamer as their primary source.

Keep the opinions coming people, they are much appreciated

Thank you

Seb

 

[CnoEvil]

How much the transport effects the sound is open to debate, but I'm of the opinion that it does.

As for the best streaming source, I made my views clear on this thread re the Linn Sneaky:
http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/need-advice-on-dealing-with-retailers

 

[nopiano]

The NAIM HDX looks great. It's considerably over my budget though and I don't think it does digital/internet radio...

It does as of quite recently. I saw one playing on Saturday, and the dealer had just done an upgrade (firmware?) so it was happily playing BBC Radio 4. I'd assumed it did that all along (like the Olive).

One snag with media players and all the related stuff, is they all do slightly different things, or the same things in different ways. Don't get me started on 'gapless'.

I think Naim's offering are very thorough and their brochures explain everything well. And I have now heard a Linn Sneaky DS so can echo that recommendation too.

 

[CnoEvil]

I think Naim's offering are very thorough and their brochures explain everything well. And I have now heard a Linn Sneaky DS so can echo that recommendation too.

NP, can you add a little flesh to your views on the Sneaky please. It would be nice to find someone who has heard it and agrees with me (or not)!

 

[matengawhat]

this is a little worrying, my olive 03hd arrives on wednesday. fingers crossed they have made a few improvments!

 

[nopiano]

NP, can you add a little flesh to your views on the Sneaky please. It would be nice to find someone who has heard it and agrees with me (or not)!

Yes, I've been toying with how/where best to do so. PP's thread about dealers (not?) is huge now, and this is about Olives, or was!

I mostly heard an amazing Linn Klimax active system, which I cannot easily do justice to (but will try another time). It's owner has a Sneaky DS in their large kitchen, ethernet connected, playing through Linn Komponent 104s. It sounded remarkably good, with astonishing bass for such small speakers (and 20w amp). The speakers are on granite worktops, tucked into corners under fitted units, but you'd never know it from the soundstage. No opprtunty to hear through the main system, but its owner really rates the SDS too, and I inferred he'd jump from that to the KDS, not bothering with (say) the Akurate range on the way up, as it were. (The KDS costing about 10 times as much!) But having heard the Klimax system for several hours, the fact that the Sneaky sounded as good as it did was a huge compliment to it. Indeed, we moved from the living room to the kitchen, and he flipped on the same track, (from the NAS) that we had just been hearing. Suffice it to say, I'm convinced, and reckon the Sneaky is bit of a 'sleeper' after that experience.

 

[CnoEvil]

NP, can you add a little flesh to your views on the Sneaky please. It would be nice to find someone who has heard it and agrees with me (or not)!

Yes, I've been toying with how/where best to do so. PP's thread about dealers (not?) is huge now, and this is about Olives, or was!

I mostly heard an amazing Linn Klimax active system, which I cannot easily do justice to (but will try another time). It's owner has a Sneaky DS in their large kitchen, ethernet connected, playing through Linn Komponent 104s. It sounded remarkably good, with astonishing bass for such small speakers (and 20w amp). The speakers are on granite worktops, tucked into corners under fitted units, but you'd never know it from the soundstage. No opprtunty to hear through the main system, but its owner really rates the SDS too, and I inferred he'd jump from that to the KDS, not bothering with (say) the Akurate range on the way up, as it were. (The KDS costing about 10 times as much!) But having heard the Klimax system for several hours, the fact that the Sneaky sounded as good as it did was a huge compliment to it. Indeed, we moved from the living room to the kitchen, and he flipped on the same track, (from the NAS) that we had just been hearing. Suffice it to say, I'm convinced, and reckon the Sneaky is bit of a 'sleeper' after that experience.

Cheers NP

It may be a little off topic but may be still prove useful to the OP.

I have heard the Linn Klimax passive system and didn't like it, finding it highly detailed but lacking involvement and emotion. I felt my MF 35i + Kef Refs knocked it into a cocked hat.

The Klimax active system was another matter altogether, but at the money it cost wouldn't have been my first choice.

The other thing you hinted at, is that the amp in the Sneaky isn't too shabby....which is what I found .

 

[Anonymous]

"I've ripped all my CD's to FLAC using EAC and FLAC Frontend on my laptop. Does anyone now how the quality of dbPowerAmp compares with this?"

EAC and DBPoweramp seem to be the front runners/most popular ripping software. I use DBPoweramp (the full version which is £38 I think). But I think EAC does a great job too. DBPoweramp finds Album art via internet although you can add your own easily which is useful as I have one or two obscure CD's which it didn't find but finding alternative cover art on the net was easy enough and you simply copy/paste it in.Takes around 20 minutes a CD to rip.

 

[The_Lhc]

DBPoweramp finds Album art via internet although you can add your own easily which is useful as I have one or two obscure CD's which it didn't find but finding alternative cover art on the net was easy enough and you simply copy/paste it in. Takes around 20 minutes a CD to rip.

You're doing it wrong.

There's no need for it to take that long (unless you're using a REALLY old PC), I assume you've got full error-correction switched on all the time? There really isn't any need for it, unless the CD is damaged. AccurateRip will be fine in any other case, except if you're the first person to submit a result for a given CD to the database, which is unlikely but could happen).

 

[Anonymous]

It's Ok that we've strayed away from the Olive topic.

I've been looking at the MF1- Clic and CDT. Looks like a good pairing but I don't know if it has a ripping option.

The Linn Akurate DS looks beautiful but at that price I'd be better of with the NAIM HDX-SSD as that has a CD transport.

Both are about double my budget but I may be forced to wait longer and stretch to them if I want to get both the quality and the feature set I'm looking for.

By then maybe something else may have come out.

I'm starting another thread for recommendations for a integrated/power amp and speakers combo for digital streamers.

Thank you for all your opinons

Seb

 

[nopiano]

Seb, the HDX is a great idea, but very pricey - though maybe fair enough for what it does. A Naim dealer explained that a not-very-well-publicised option with Unitiserve - the ripper which costs about £2,100 - is to plug it straight into a DAC (which could be much cheaper than Naim's initially) and then to your amp. You get the control software with the ripper, so no need to buy the Naim NDX streamer.

You would even have internet radio with the latest update (if I've understood it correctly - see the news item on the SuperUniti), but if starting with a collection of CDs, rather than planning on downloading everything, it might be an option to consider.

Re the Akurate, yes it looks great, and the Sneaky doesn't - but the latter does sound very good.

 

[Anonymous]

"You're doing it wrong"

Thanks LHC, thought it was taking longer than it should. I'll give those suggestions a try as I still have another couple of hundred to go which is 67 hours at 20 mins a time!

 

[The_Lhc]

"You're doing it wrong"

Thanks LHC, thought it was taking longer than it should. I'll give those suggestions a try as I still have another couple of hundred to go which is 67 hours at 20 mins a time!

I think the option to turn off is Secure Ripping, leave Accurate Rip on and if that fails try again with Secure switched on (it's something like that, I haven't ripped anything for a little while). Takes about 2-3 minutes per CD for me.

 

[El Hefe]

HI,

THE MF CLiC and CDT does not rip CDs.

CDT is just a CD transport where you can connect it digitally to the CLiC for the DAC function.

The CLiC however can play digital files up to 192/24 from either a NAS over the wired/wireless network or via the front USB.

It's Ok that we've strayed away from the Olive topic.

I've been looking at the MF1- Clic and CDT. Looks like a good pairing but I don't know if it has a ripping option.

The Linn Akurate DS looks beautiful but at that price I'd be better of with the NAIM HDX-SSD as that has a CD transport.

Both are about double my budget but I may be forced to wait longer and stretch to them if I want to get both the quality and the feature set I'm looking for.

By then maybe something else may have come out.

I'm starting another thread for recommendations for a integrated/power amp and speakers combo for digital streamers.

Thank you for all your opinons

Seb

 

[CnoEvil]

The Linn Akurate DS looks beautiful but at that price I'd be better of with the NAIM HDX-SSD as that has a CD transport.

Both are about double my budget but I may be forced to wait longer and stretch to them if I want to get both the quality and the feature set I'm looking for.

The Linn Majik DS and the lesser known (and cheaper) Sekrit are between the Sneaky and the Akurate. Whether (if) you go for Linn or Naim depends on which presentation you prefer.