Olive Media Player - My Olive One

[aarsoe]

So after having given up hope of ever seeing a product from Olive (pre-paid a long time ago) they actually surprised me and shipped a unit to me that I received yesterday.

For those of you that does not know what a Olive one is/can do.
It can play audio files from your network, USB drive, USB stick, installed HDD etc.
It supports high res (32/384 - but not all inplemented yet).
It have a built in amplifier that will drive two speakers - however that is not the way I am intending to use it.

More info can be found here: http://www.myoliveone.com/
Or seek out Olive on facebook as that site is constantly updated and the webpage is not.


As you can see the build quality is pretty much up to B&O level. Must also admit that I went with it due to the look of it.

It did however surprised me by being bigger that I imagined.


As you can see next to the SSD drive it is fairly big - however that does also mean that the display is easily read,


Looking at connections nothing really seems to be missing when you consider the lack of space:


A harddrive or SSD can be inserted as local storage in the unit:

I myself am using it with an SSD drive,

[aarsoe]

Only downside is that the software is clearly not designed by Apple so it is not the worlds most intuitive system - but hoping that will change over tune.



Remote software control via Android and Apple but currently only the Android version have been shipped. Really hoping that will improve things.

As with all new things the first that I did when I hooked up the system was to:


So far I have only had it running for a single day so far, but the way I am using it (digital out to Classe SSP-800) it does sound extremely nice - and I am sure that it will improve over time.

I do however love the look of it and I am already now thinking of getting rid of all my SONOS gear and replace it all with the new Olive's..


Will report back one I learn more..

[Alaric]

Nice review! With pictures! I had forgotten about Olive for a while. I agree its a nice looking unit. While I always liked big stacks of hot , bulky electronics where I can see them , wives rarely agree with me.

[aarsoe]

Oh trust me the big stack of gear is still there.. 8)

[Alaric]

That is quite the beautiful stack , though. The aesthetics of the B&W and Classe compliment each other nicely. And two turntables! I'm jealous!

[Kevin D]

And two turntables! I'm jealous!

And looks like three microphones! Even Beck would be jealous.

Kevin D.

[JonMarsh]

So after having given up hope of ever seeing a product from Olive (pre-paid a long time ago) they actually surprised me and shipped a unit to me that I received yesterday.

For those of you that does not know what a Olive one is/can do.
It can play audio files from your network, USB drive, USB stick, installed HDD etc.
It supports high res (32/384 - but not all inplemented yet).
It have a built in amplifier that will drive two speakers - however that is not the way I am intending to use it.

More info can be found here: http://www.myoliveone.com/
Or seek out Olive on facebook as that site is constantly updated and the webpage is not.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]23208[/ATTACH]

As you can see the build quality is pretty much up to B&O level. Must also admit that I went with it due to the look of it.

It did however surprised me by being bigger that I imagined.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]23209[/ATTACH]

As you can see next to the SSD drive it is fairly big - however that does also mean that the display is easily read,
[ATTACH=CONFIG]23210[/ATTACH]

Looking at connections nothing really seems to be missing when you consider the lack of space:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]23211[/ATTACH]

A harddrive or SSD can be inserted as local storage in the unit:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]23212[/ATTACH]
I myself am using it with an SSD drive,

How do you plan to use it, if not the speaker out? Just digital out? Line level?

Their site is interesting- if befuddling to me- "long beloved by audiophiles"? I must not have gotten the memo- I've only vaguely heard of them before.
"Seamlessly integrates into your social networks..." umm, Linked In and HT Guide? How does that work, and in what way is it relevant to my music playback? :W

Of course, I'm just revealing how out of touch I am with social trends for those who spend a lot of time in social media and the net... Guess I'm kind of old school, as my idea of social media is topic based forums like HT Guide, Computer Audiofile, and VFR Discussion! Just not with it... :W

[Hdale85]

Well there was an Olive Jukebox or something like that which ripped music I believe from CD's, was sort of a media server.

[aarsoe]

Jon - Have always been the plan for me to use it as a line out device only even though it does contain an amplifier unit. Currently using the RCA digital out and the sound is really over and above what I expected at this price level. Will be interesting to see where it lands sound wise after enough burn-in.
Once the unit gets old enough and more interesting things have shown them self on the horizon then I may use it the kitchen or some where else with a pair of speakers.
Have not tested the line output yet, but will do in the near future for sure. My hope is that as sales numbers will grow then hopefully they will make a "line output" only unit but maybe with higher quality connections. Like AES digital. balanced out analogue etc..

Don't know why or how you missed the earlier Olive units, but do a quick Google on Olive media players and then jump to pictures you will find a lot of info on previous models.. So not a first time unit company. They have been around for a number of years and hopefully know what they are doing.

[Alaric]

I first hheeard of Olive's media server here on the Guide several years ago , during one of the many 'CD is an obsolete medium' discussions. I remember that it ripped CDs , as well as categorizing , indexing , etc. You could send up to 1500 (?) CDs to Olive and they would load your device before shipping , I believe , at no cost. Nice things were said about sound quality too.
The 'social media' is probably the ability to trade playlists , etc. , with contacts on FB and so forth with some automatic settings instead of manually down/uploading. Just a guess on my part. I don't do social media-except the Guide!