"Official" Olive products Thread (Opus 4, Opus 6, Melody 2, Olive 2, Olive 4/ 4HD

[zbrett]

Originally Posted by egoss

I have also noticed this at times. I have attributed it to the number of compact flourescent lights I have in the house. Seems to drop out when one of them switches on or off. Also, some electronic appliances seem to produce momentary dropouts when they switch on & off. Re-playing the song that had the dropout indicates that the problem is not with the song file, or the Olive. And, since I have no intention of externally "filtering" the power to my Hi-fi, I'll live with it.

The CFLs raise hell with my units as well. Mark suggested putting generic masking tape over the IR receiver as a filter. I haven't done that yet (all my masking tape is blue), but you could give it a try.

I do have my system on a APC conditioner, so I haven't experienced any power issues.

[nottlv]

My unit is connected to a dedicated AC line for my AV gear and is also connected to a PS Audio Power Plant Premier power regenerator, and in the 8 hours or so that I've actually played music on the unit, I also had one very brief interruption. So I'm not sure it's power related; perhaps it's a buffer under run or something like that.

On the HD, I confirmed that the unit does output higher than 24/96 on the digital outputs. I have some of the 24/176.4 Reference Recordings WAV tracks that I converted to FLAC; those played fine and showed as a 176.4 sampling rate on my TacT amp.

[td_mn]

Originally Posted by egoss

I have also noticed this at times. I have attributed it to the number of compact flourescent lights I have in the house. Seems to drop out when one of them switches on or off. Also, some electronic appliances seem to produce momentary dropouts when they switch on & off. Re-playing the song that had the dropout indicates that the problem is not with the song file, or the Olive. And, since I have no intention of externally "filtering" the power to my Hi-fi, I'll live with it.

This happens randomly not when lights or other electronic equipment is tuned on/off that I have noticed. Just because the unit can replay the track correctly does not mean the unit is free of any bugs. Since the Linux OS running inside is mutli-tasking and running various other services besides the music it is quite possible for there to be problems for a multitude of reasons. I agree that the problem though annoying is livable.

[td_mn]

Originally Posted by zbrett

You might want to check out this post, and those following it.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...s#post14821267

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...t#post16008998

So unless they have changed something in the software, I don't believe the Opus 4 supports the playback of 24 bit files through the analog output (or are you using digital out to a digital in on a receiver, pre-amp, etc.?)

I am using the digital input to my receiver directly from the Opus, so is it possible that the receiver could be the issue?

[zbrett]

Originally Posted by td_mn

I am using the digital input to my receiver directly from the Opus, so is it possible that the receiver could be the issue?

Could be.. depends on the DAC in your receiver.

[dogface1]

I’ve had the occasional “hiccup” from day one with my Symphony. It never really bothered me too much (as most agree) except when playing rather loud, in which case it can be rather jarring.
I have gotten the hiccup playing through both digital and analogue outs. When replaying the “hiccupped” track it always played back fine.
I assumed this was a random occurrence.

But here is something I just noticed about a month ago. A single track that I played a number of times gets the hiccup about 20% of the time and the hiccup occurs at approximately the same spot of the song.

Is it possible that this issue is due to a bad disc > bad write > bad read?

[td_mn]

Originally Posted by dogface1

Is it possible that this issue is due to a bad disc > bad write > bad read?

I would think that if it were a bad sector on the disk then either the track would play or it would not. You could try deleting and reinserting the track, seems likely the file would get added to other parts of the disk. Unfortunately the unit does not appear to provide diagnostics on the disk.

[dogface1]

Originally Posted by td_mn

I would think that if it were a bad sector on the disk then either the track would play or it would not. You could try deleting and reinserting the track, seems likely the file would get added to other parts of the disk. Unfortunately the unit does not appear to provide diagnostics on the disk.

I misspoke on this. What I meant was bad CD > Bad Write > Bad Read.
I guess I didn’t want to even think about possible bad sectors.
Will add the file in again and play both files to see what happens.

[nottlv]

I would guess it's probably a problem with the rip of the disc. I sent Olive a series of questions before via email that I never got a response on, and one of those questions was whether their internal ripping engine is considered "secure" a la EAC and dBpoweramp.

http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index....Secure_ripping

I have a feeling it isn't, which is part of the reason I rip all my discs via dBpoweramp on a computer and store them on a NAS before importing them to the Olive (the other primary benefit being then I have a complete backup that's portable to something other than the Olive). As td_mn said, it's probably not a bad sector. Most audio players load the entire track in memory before playing, especially any compressed format so the entire file can be decompressed, so if there was a problem reading the disc sector, it probably wouldn't play at all.

[mumsoft]

I don't bother about secure ripping anymore. In 99% of the time all rips on the Opus are ok, and only occasionally it has trouble with the cd. In that case the whole track is discarded. The popup message that you will never see unless you stay gazing at the display will tell you so.
I always see the missing track when editing the meta data.

Regards,
Marc

[mumsoft]

Hi,

I finally got inside the unit and could make some pictures. I hope you like them:


1) overview from the back.


2) On the foreground the power unit


3) Buttons and display from behind.


4) The systemboard

I could open the Opus after it was modified a bit. Now I can easily replace the hard drive, at will.

Regards,
Marc

[golfugh]

Awesome, thanks for the internal shots! If you don't mind me asking, what was modified?
Mark

[mumsoft]

Mark, nothing technical, except for the screws. I can't tell you much more, because I don't know so much.
But, I must say, this little mod made the Opus sing.

Marc

[zbrett]

Originally Posted by mumsoft

Hi,

I finally got inside the unit and could make some pictures. I hope you like them:


1) overview from the back.


2) On the foreground the power unit


3) Buttons and display from behind.


4) The systemboard

I could open the Opus after it was modified a bit. Now I can easily replace the hard drive, at will.

Regards,
Marc

Cool. Can you identify the DAC on the system board?

[mumsoft]

Well, actually I can't, but I have asked the modifier if he knows better.
At least you can see the wifi-card, that i don't use, but it distorts my DAB-tuner I think, so I like to try to remove it.
And I hope the Olive does not mind...

Marc

[zbrett]

OT, and a bit of advertising thrown in, but still an interesting read given all the discussion regarding 24 bit playback on the Olive

http://blog.bowers-wilkins.com/lab/?p=262

[zbrett]

Originally Posted by mumsoft

Well, actually I can't, but I have asked the modifier if he knows better.
At least you can see the wifi-card, that i don't use, but it distorts my DAB-tuner I think, so I like to try to remove it.
And I hope the Olive does not mind...

Marc

I look forward to his response.

[mumsoft]

Well, he said: it's the little black chip near the analog-out.
My Opus is just the plain vanilla version, not the HD.

Maybe, if I open it again, I'll make a better picture.

Marc

[zbrett]

Originally Posted by mumsoft

Well, he said: it's the little black chip near the analog-out.
My Opus is just the plain vanilla version, not the HD.

Maybe, if I open it again, I'll make a better picture.

Marc

Yeah, it would be great if you could get a close up of that area of the system board. Thanks

[Hoo Fighter]

This is my biggest complaint with the unit. My Olive reacts to my other remotes and I'm constantly having to reboot it. If anyone has a way of getting around this issue, please post....

[Hoo Fighter]

Previous post was in response to people having issues with their Olive and other remotes.

[markrubin]

Originally Posted by Hoo Fighter

This is my biggest complaint with the unit. My Olive reacts to my other remotes and I'm constantly having to reboot it. If anyone has a way of getting around this issue, please post....

I hope Olive will be able to let users select alternate IR codesets in the future by a firmware update...if that is even possible

The only way around the issue for now is to use the IR port on the rear of the unit: cover up the front panel IR eye...

there is no simple solution: I have seen this before on other gear and it is a pain

[Valery99]

Hi! I tray to connect Olive Melody 2 to my home media network (I use NAS DLink 323 and a couple of PC with many AV-content), but Melody 2 see nothing! In specification of this player I see about "UPNP" - it's a joke? For example, my network player Netgear EVA can work with my NAS without any aditional software...

[DIGINOTE]

Originally Posted by Valery99

Hi! I tray to connect Olive Melody 2 to my home media network (I use NAS DLink 323 and a couple of PC with many AV-content), but Melody 2 see nothing! In specification of this player I see about "UPNP" - it's a joke? For example, my network player Netgear EVA can work with my NAS without any aditional software...

Have you checked that UPNP is enabled on your unit? It may be off by default.

M.G.

[Valery99]

No, UPNP is activate. Melody see my nertwork units (I see the names of NAS and PC on the Melody's display), but can't see content (music files).

[mumsoft]

Originally Posted by Valery99

No, UPNP is activate. Melody see my nertwork units (I see the names of NAS and PC on the Melody's display), but can't see content (music files).

Make sure there is some DLNA compatible music or media server running on the NAS and/or your couple of pc's.
The melody can't do without, nor can the Olive. What you look for is a media player that can grab the file contents of a hard disk in a pc or NAS, and the Melody or Olive won't do that.

If I run Twonky on my Nas, the Olive is able to see the music that Twonky offers.
If I don't run Twonky, the Olive does not see anything. It even does not bother to look.

Marc

[nottlv]

Did anyone else get contacted by Olive the last two weeks soliciting feedback on the HD? I got both a voicemail and an email from them asking for any comments, suggestions, etc. about the unit. Haven't gotten back to them yet (plan on doing that this week--I'll probably have a list of things to say), but I think it's a nice step forward in the evolution of their customer service, which has definitely improved as far as I can tell from where it was a few years ago. I still think there is quite a bit of untapped potential in the product, so it's nice to see them reaching out to customers like that.

[nottlv]

mumsoft,

Any more info on the mods to your unit? I'm looking into potentially having the unit modded as well (I had my old Musica extensively modded with a Superclock upgrade, better power supplies and connectors, etc.), this time probably with the VSE Terra Firma Clock upgrade (if it will fit).

Also, regarding the ease of hard drive replacement, that might not be as easy as you think. At least in the older products, the EEPROM of the unit stored the serial number of the hard drive, and it wouldn't boot without the drive matching what's stored in that EEPROM value. If you wanted to swap out the hard drive, you had to download a hack that was floating around to reset that value, and it would read and save the serial number of the hard drive connected on the next boot. I do wish the latest Olive units were a bit more "hackable" like the old ones, where you could access the unit via Telnet or SSH.

[DIGINOTE]

Originally Posted by Valery99

No, UPNP is activate. Melody see my nertwork units (I see the names of NAS and PC on the Melody's display), but can't see content (music files).

Looks like there is nothing wrong with the Melody and you have a sharing issue
The fact that you can "see" the NAAS and PC media servers, but cannot open the relevant folders indicates that the folders are published but not shared with the Upnp client" (the Melody).

First check that you can "see" your NAS on the Melody when your PC is TURNED OFF (when the PC is on, you should see TWO instances of the NAS on the Melody if the media folder in the NAS has been made shareable under Windows). If you can see it, but still cannot play music files, go to the web interface and make sure that the Melody is set up as a sharing client and that the music folder is shareable. If that fixes the problem on the NAS, then go into Windows sharing (advanced) settings and ensure that the media folders on your PC are available to the Melody as a Upnp client.

I have successfully used a LaCie ED-Mini and a Buffalo Linkstation operating in "stand-alone" NAS mode.

M.G.

[mumsoft]

Originally Posted by nottlv

mumsoft,

Any more info on the mods to your unit? I'm looking into potentially having the unit modded as well (I had my old Musica extensively modded with a Superclock upgrade, better power supplies and connectors, etc.), this time probably with the VSE Terra Firma Clock upgrade (if it will fit).

It's no technical mod. I have paired it with a Dacmagic.
The mod is in accordance with the findings of a Dutch researcher, H. v.d. Heide.
I think suchs mods are possible in Holland only, at this time.

Originally Posted by nottlv

Also, regarding the ease of hard drive replacement, that might not be as easy as you think. At least in the older products, the EEPROM of the unit stored the serial number of the hard drive, and it wouldn't boot without the drive matching what's stored in that EEPROM value. If you wanted to swap out the hard drive, you had to download a hack that was floating around to reset that value, and it would read and save the serial number of the hard drive connected on the next boot. I do wish the latest Olive units were a bit more "hackable" like the old ones, where you could access the unit via Telnet or SSH.

This is useable info. I spoke the Dutch importer at a show, and he told me he had replaced the hard disk without any trouble (except for the nasty screws on the back).
So i guess I have to try before it gets urgent.

Thanx,
Marc