Sonos vs Olive

[howiebrou]

Jim,

Now that you have had these two in your possession for a while can you tell me which you prefer? The price difference is not huge.

If you are not using the dacs of either product would your recommendation change?

Thanks

howie

p.s. I am really asking about user friendliness, and sound quality. Radio streaming is not really relevant for me.

[1KW]

I have never heard the Olive but the sonos sounds very good through the MCD500 dac and lets you have multiple zones linked or independant. The Olive does HD and I am sure has a much better DAC so you may not need a external DAC . As far as price the sonos is less than $300. When used with a computer which stores the music ie my music is on my laptop it lets you stream your music over a proprietary network to the DAC. The iphone/ipod software is great too for the sonos. Sonos will likely have a software upgrade which will allow for HD in the future but at this time if that is important to you get the Olive.

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by howiebrou

Jim,

Now that you have had these two in your possession for a while can you tell me which you prefer? The price difference is not huge.

If you are not using the dacs of either product would your recommendation change?

Thanks

howie

p.s. I am really asking about user friendliness, and sound quality. Radio streaming is not really relevant for me.

Howie , hold on 'till Tuesday when I get to a PC. I tried answering from my phone but it is hard to leave a detailed message this way .
Jim

[howiebrou]

Originally Posted by Stillone

Howie , hold on 'till Tuesday when I get to a PC. I tried answering from my phone but it is hard to leave a detailed message this way .
Jim

Sure. Thanks!

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by howiebrou

Jim,

Now that you have had these two in your possession for a while can you tell me which you prefer? The price difference is not huge.

If you are not using the dacs of either product would your recommendation change?

Thanks

howie

p.s. I am really asking about user friendliness, and sound quality. Radio streaming is not really relevant for me.

Howie
I ask these two units to perform very different functions for me. The Olive 4HD is an integral part of my two channel system where I use it to store hi-rez and other downloadable quality digital files. These files are then played back on the two channel system. The sound quality from the Olive's DAC's is very good and falls just short of the MCD-500's. Later this week I plan on sending a 24/192 file via the Olive's digital output to the MCD-500 to see whether the 500 can actually handle 192 files.

The SonoS is hooked up to my 2-channel gear via its optical output to the MCD-500's DAC's. In the two channel room I use the SonoS to search for new off Rhapsody and Pandora. Occasionally I may save a SonoS playlist for future playback for an artist I may not want to invest in (Beth Hart) but might want to hear again.

The primary function of my SonoS unit is to wirelessly access the music on my MS-300 (located in he 2-channel room) and send it to the whole house system which is located upstairs. The quality of the SonoS DAC's are okay but not to the level of the MCD-500 nor the Olive 4HD.

The user interface is about equal for both.
Jim

[howiebrou]

Originally Posted by Stillone

Howie
I ask these two units to perform very different functions for me. The Olive 4HD is an integral part of my two channel system where I use it to store hi-rez and other downloadable quality digital files. These files are then played back on the two channel system. The sound quality from the Olive's DAC's is very good and falls just short of the MCD-500's. Later this week I plan on sending a 24/192 file via the Olive's digital output to the MCD-500 to see whether the 500 can actually handle 192 files.

The SonoS is hooked up to my 2-channel gear via its optical output to the MCD-500's DAC's. In the two channel room I use the SonoS to search for new off Rhapsody and Pandora. Occasionally I may save a SonoS playlist for future playback for an artist I may not want to invest in (Beth Hart) but might want to hear again.

The primary function of my SonoS unit is to wirelessly access the music on my MS-300 (located in he 2-channel room) and send it to the whole house system which is located upstairs. The quality of the SonoS DAC's are okay but not to the level of the MCD-500 nor the Olive 4HD.

The user interface is about equal for both.
Jim

Thanks Jim. It's good to know that both interfaces are equally good. I guess the Sonos with its controller or iphone app would be even more user friendly then??

Have you compared the sound of both servers into the same dac? e.g. mcd500. I will be unlikely to use their dacs ever as my Meridian speakers all have built in dacs anyway. If they sound similar for normal redbook cds (high rez is not yet a priority for me) then the price of the sonos is a big advantage.

howie

[1KW]

Howie

I guarantee your going to love the sonos. It may not look exciting like a Sooloos but it is a amazing audiophile bargain. I have 5 zones in my house and backyard.

[howiebrou]

Originally Posted by 1KW

Howie

I guarantee your going to love the sonos. It may not look exciting like a Sooloos but it is a amazing audiophile bargain. I have 5 zones in my house and backyard.

David,

What is your house constructed out of?? I ask, because my wireless routers won't reach more than one floor and I need 3 routers in my house, wired in, to enable me to have wireless connectivity all around the house. My house is all concrete and bricks.

It would be nice to have one sonos on the 3rd floor (2 channela dn HT) and one in the ground floor living room (Meridian F80) without needing to buys bridges etc etc in order for the signal to get from one to the other.

howie

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by howiebrou

Thanks Jim. It's good to know that both interfaces are equally good. I guess the Sonos with its controller or iphone app would be even more user friendly then??

Have you compared the sound of both servers into the same dac? e.g. mcd500. I will be unlikely to use their dacs ever as my Meridian speakers all have built in dacs anyway. If they sound similar for normal redbook cds (high rez is not yet a priority for me) then the price of the sonos is a big advantage.

howie

Howie, not I have not run the Olive thru the 500's DAC's yet, but I hope to try it by the weekend if for no other reason than to see if the the MCD-500 actually handles 24/192 files.
On what device do you plan on storing the SonoS music? It does not store music, it only distributes music.
Jim

[1KW]

Originally Posted by howiebrou

David,

What is your house constructed out of?? I ask, because my wireless routers won't reach more than one floor and I need 3 routers in my house, wired in, to enable me to have wireless connectivity all around the house. My house is all concrete and bricks.

It would be nice to have one sonos on the 3rd floor (2 channela dn HT) and one in the ground floor living room (Meridian F80) without needing to buys bridges etc etc in order for the signal to get from one to the other.

howie

My house is made of wood, dry wall, brick and stone. Everything is pretty spread out, my house is 10,000 sq feet. The sonos wireless system works fine in my house and at my office which is made of brick and concrete. Sonos creates its own wireless connection between all the zones that does not rely on your router for its connection. Once one sonos unit has a internet connection the other zones attach to each other without your router.