Olive 4 HD in house

[JFR0317]

Jim, have you tried sending out hi-res format via the digital output to your MCD500?

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by JFR0317

Jim, have you tried sending out hi-res format via the digital output to your MCD500?

Not yet. Other than listening to sampling of the 24/192 tracks that they included with the unit, I have only listened to a few tracks. I have been loading CD and meeting with our cabinet maker today.

[Still-One]

Here are some Preliminary listening observations.
MS-300 Server -All discs loaded in FLAC, digital out to MCD-500, interconnects from 500 to C-1000 Transparent Balanced Ultra MM2,
Olive 4HD - all discs loaded WAV, analog out to C1000 using Transparent single ended Super MM1

I have equalized any volume differences as best as I can. I start one unit several seconds before the the other. I then switch the C-1000 source via remote to listen to the portion of the track that just played on the first unit. I have switched which unit goes first several times.

I have gone thru 3 tunes off Mark Knopfler's Sailing to Phiadelphia, 3 tunes off KD Lang's Hymns of the 49th Parallel and 4 off Nils Lofgren's Acoustic Live. Bottom line at this point I am having a very hard time finding differences in the two units. I have listened for snare drums and cymbals, sibilance on voices, tuneful or woodiness of guitars, hands clapping, background noise or lack thereof.

Maybe I want the 300/500 to sound better so I might hear a little more clarity to vocals and a very, very slight cleaner background. If you asked me to walk into the room and pick which unit was playing, I do not think I could.

I will continue with some additional comparisons. Olive CD player sound versus MCD-500 sound. I have two discs of some music. I think I might also be able to compare a SACD to a hi-rez track.

I will be covering the interface a bit later, but unless I am missing something here the MS-300 will win this.

[JT3]

Wow, that looks really sharp. Plenty of capacity too.

I have heard some customer service issues in the past, that appears to be fixed.

[80B]

Jim,
Thanks for the posts. This is very interesting, as is evidenced by the response you're getting, and will help a lot of us plot future course, especially with downloads likely to overcome SACD as the common medium for hi-res once the hardware & software infrastructure is common.

Just one question - come clean - did you really buy it for the pre-loaded Beatles music so you could avoid saying you bought those discs outright?

[Dj_AmTraX]

I'm not surprised that the two sounds similar. What I'm waiting for is your thoughts on how it sounds through the MCD500 against the original CD played on the MCD500.

[jdandy]

I am not fond of all the silk screened jargon all over the top of the Olive. What were they thinking, really? What's the point? The angled front panel doesn't strike me as attractive, either, although I can see where the concept might be useful from an operation standpoint, getting the tiny screen angled up for improved viewing.

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by 80B

Jim,
Thanks for the posts. This is very interesting, as is evidenced by the response you're getting, and will help a lot of us plot future course, especially with downloads likely to overcome SACD as the common medium for hi-res once the hardware & software infrastructure is common.

Just one question - come clean - did you really buy it for the pre-loaded Beatles music so you could avoid saying you bought those discs outright?

No, I didn't get the Beatles music with mine. They gave me the 12 tracks of various hi-rez music from HDTracks. I guess I could have asked for them, but I am really looking for something that will play the hi-rez files.

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by jdandy

I am not fond of all the silk screened jargon all over the top of the Olive. What were they thinking, really? What's the point? The angled front panel doesn't strike me as attractive, either, although I can see where the concept might be useful from an operation standpoint, getting the tiny screen angled up for improved viewing.

Dan
I don't disagree with you on the design on top but for me it is a non-issue. In the photos it stands out to a greater degree due to the reflection from the flash. Where I have the unit you really cannot see it.

Before I had the unit in the rack I did not see the benefit of the sloped front panel. Now I see that if it was not slopped it would be very difficult to see or operate the touch screen on a lower rack. (I ran into that problem when I was operating the PS Audio units in Singapore.)

[Still-One]

Additional listening comments.
This morning I compared by SACD version of Rebecca Pidgeon's The Raven to the 24/96 version that was included on my Olive 4HD. Again I could not identify and significant differences in the two. If the music was playing when I walked into the room I could not tell you which was playing.

Currently I am listening to Eddie Readers "Peacetime" disc on both the 300 and the Olive unit. Switching back and forth as I was doing last evening I think I can hear a bit more clarity and "possibly" a bit of smoothness from the 300/500 combo than the Olive unit. Again, it is barely noticeable and you have to be looking for it one right after the other.

I will try comparing actual CD's in the 500 and Olive next.