Olive Opus: First Impressions - Page 12

I was told it was for downloads.

"we are officially in production, but it will be at least 2-3 weeks until the first products go out. Our manual should be on our website in 1-2 weeks as well, I have seen the first draft "flying around" in the office ..."

That is all...

Can't wait!

sounds like another slip in the dates to me....

There was a running joke on the Replay forum, can't remember it, but it had to do with when the next upgrade or software was being released. So if somebody asked anything that was in the future they would respond with something like "Q3" for 3rd Quarter which was what was on their web site for the longest time. Wonder what happened to Replay anyway?

If any of you are interested, the European units are apparently back in production. See http://hifidelio.org

They've announced a 500GB version. Apparently similar to the original Musica/Opus 3 (including analogue recording), but with a bigger HD. Don't know about other changes.

When I can find out more info, I'll send it along - some of you might like the features of this unit more than the Olive systems.

Danny

Just got off the phone. Software glitches have pushed delivery back until start of July. We can only hope.....

Did they happen to give any more information on what type(s) of glitches they are talking about?

I was told the hardware was ready but software was facing some final challenges. While I have little patience remaining, I'd rather them deliver a product that works rather than one that is marred with glitches.

Oh, I agree absolutely.

If the hardware is ready (and set), I wonder why we haven't seen any more details on their website?

Everywhere I go, there's a software issue. The Classic 160 by Apple for example, also had major issues according to several website users. The product gets great review, but most users complained about it one way or another; Either it's the software or the hardware. With a Google search for something else, that's how I ended up here. Only to find myself on a waiting list due to software not ready. Quite frankly we shouldn't have seen the product even if it exists yet the software for it hasn't been developed. Software is a part of the product. Like yourselves, I've also ordered a unit, the Opus No.4 . I was told that the software would be ready in the first two weeks of June 2008. I'll allow until the end of June. If that runs out, then I may run out! Originally I wanted this unit for summertime. I like personal choices of music while I work indoors and outdoors. The Opus 4 seemed like a great idea because I wouldn't have to handle my CDs during work of my hobbies thereby scratching the discs. After all, I am into hi-end tube audio and this Olive unit seems like a great addition for its convienience and its capability. Now I have nothing. I'm hoping they clear up the program's ability to show album cover artwork (as with Apple's iTunes) into the little screen by use of a computer scanner. If they take too long, I won't need it until next summer. By then I'm sure something better comes along, even if by Olive or some other manufacturer. Who knows? Maybe I'll end up back here. A little patience. Just a little.

Dude, I've been waiting for a product from Olive since December.....

My first look at this thread, and I'm impressed with the discussion. I've been looking at the Olive Opus 4 as a way to finally digitize my music collection of about 250 CDs. Despite some of its weaknesses, it sounds like it will hook well into my home entertainment system (Denon AVR 2805). It also sounds like I can back it up to an external drive.

At the risk of showing my ignorance (big time in this area), I love having my collection digitized by them into a lossless form. Then, I will want to compress the music to MP3 (or similar) for use on my Blackberry or an ipod. How do I best go through this last step? Can you output in compressed form from the Opus? Would it be easier to do so from the attached backup?

Thanks for the advice

Im also interested in this feature, but dont think it can be done. We wont know till the manual is released.

If anyone has any suugetions...

I would think copy the uncompressed version from the Olive to a computer.. recode and sync it there?

I believe the Opus will appear as a network drive (assuming you have a wired or wireless network set up in your house). I don't see why you couldn't map the Opus drive to your PC, and then use a program like Media Monkey, which will convert FLAC files to MP3 on the fly, and sync them to a device like an iPod. All my digital files are FLAC, and I'm using Media Monkey in this very manner, so I know it works. One small hiccup is the conversion process can take a long time if you are converting a lot of files on the fly. I usually set it up to convert/sync, and then go do something, or let it run overnight.

Media Monkey is free, but I think you have to buy an upgrade to convert files on the fly.

http://www.mediamonkey.com/

Hi-

When you convert from lossless to mp3 the file is first converted back to uncompressed form from lossless and then to mp3. So you are actually doing 2 conversions, and it is slow.

My guess is that if the Opus 4 is anything like its predecessors, it won't let you do the conversion directly (it will convert it's own files, but not make a copy). You can back everything up and then convert if you want.

My guess is that it would actually be quicker to just use the Olive to make the lossless copies of CD's you want put on its own HD, and then stick the same CD in your PC and convert it to mp3 with the existing tools on your computer. Then use normal procedure to transfer from PC to mp3 player. I know this sounds like double the work, but my guess is that it will actually be the quickest way to do this.

Danny

...from Matt at Olive. Told me that they were going to start shipping July 7th. Amex customers who have been waiting since last December obviously have first priority. I will get a tracking number when it ships.... that is all.

Olive has posted the owners manual for both the Opus and the Melody. Both are covered in the same manual.

http://www.olive.us/downloads/Olive_User_Manual.pdf

Thanks!!!

Just called.... DELYED AGAIN!!!!!


Just kidding. Mines going out this week or next week at the latest!

Congratulations....Are they loading it with your CDs?

Hi-
When one of you gets the OPUS No 4, could you open it and tell us exactly what make and model of Hard Drive is inside? I want to compare the energy specs of the new HD to the one in the older model I own.

Thanks,
Danny

Thanks! Im doing the loading myself.

[size="4"]
The OPUS will not show up on a PC as a network drive, so you cannot get files out of it that way. It does show a directory ("IMPORT"), but that is for loading files into the OPUS.
Depending how much music you need to convert to MP3 (and for a Blackberry it should not be a ton of it), there are two ways to go:

1. For a large selection, copy to an external USB drive the slection you want and then connect the USB drive to a PC and do the conversion from FLAC to MP3 with one of the many free converters. The USB drive must be formatted in FAT-32, and have a blank directory created on it; then follow the backup/copy procedure described in the manual.

2. You can burn a MP3 copy of your FLAC files directly on the OPUS (preferably on CD-RW so you can re-use it for another transfer) and then copy the MP3 CD to the portable device; this for a smallish music selection.

Hope this helps.

MG

Hi-

1.Sorry the previous poster didn't read my response carefully. I suggested 2 separate conversions - one on the Opus to lossless, and another on the PC to mp3, from a CD. From the PC to then transfer to portable player. No connection between the 2 procedures.

2. A PC will see an Olive as a network drive if you set the network up properly. I transfer files to and from the Olive all the time this way.

3. Transferring to the Olive is done through the "import folder". The "music" folder - the one that holds the converted, imported files can also be revealed by adding a few lines of code to the Olive OS.

This can be easily done by anyone with basic competence in using a command line function of a PC. Anyone who has done any programming can copy the few lines of code involved,through the use of "telnet" to a networked Olive.
Once this code has been added, you can see all the files in the "music" folder, and export the files to any place on your network. This is just one of the many advantages of the fact that the Olive uses open source software.

The necessary code can be found at: http://rootcellarnews.com/AEOliveTelnet.html

Danny

No need to be sorry. The "previous poster" is perfectly aware that the contents of the "Music" folder can be displayed and manipulated by modifying some network parameters.

The "previous poster" had in mind the request of the Blackberry owner who apparently wants his 250 CDs to be preloaded by Olive and does not want to load CDs one by one, be it on the Opus or on his Blackberry.

I believe the Opus is designed to appeal to people who want a self-contained, preferably "set and forget" solution, not to people who tweak their network through Telnet commands. Those would be better off building a do-it-yourself server/storage system (cheaper and offering computer geeks endless opportunities to create and solve problems thru Telnet commands or otherwise).

MG

Could you touch on this a little more. According to the manual the music on the Olive is encoded and can't be transfered to a computer (I think you touched on that). Is copying something different? Sorry for my inexperience.

Are you concerned about heat dissipation or energy consumption?

If it is the latter, your virtuous concern regrettably, clashes with the culture of this country, whose economy is predicated on waste. Energy consumption per head is far higher than in any other rich country, including Japan. The U.S have over one billion individual air conditionners that are at least 30% less efficient than central or heat-pump individual systems, millions of overpowered gas-guzzlers even though speed is theoretically limited to 60 mph, millions of city apartments where there is no individual metering of water, gas, heat and sometimes electricity.

ff the current "green" fad could reverse that wastefulness overnight, the US economy would drop into its deepest recession ever. But no danger that might happen if you save 5 W/h with a more efficient hard drive.

MG

Olive does not provide for direct access to music files from a PC, probably because adding or deleting music without trigering a library update would result in a mess. Of course, it is possible to hack the software so that the :Music: folder becomes accessible, but that would probably void the warranty. (See Danny's posts).

There are two "legitimate" ways of getting music files out of an Opus.

One is connecting an external USB drive or MP3 player, and copying whatever selection of files you wish to transfer. However, files are copied in their original format, as there is no provision for "on-the-fly" conversion.

The other is selecting files, and then burning them to CD-R. When you do that, the Opus offers three options: CD (files are converted to uncompressed PCM if they were not originally stored in that format); Data CD (files are burnt in whatever format they were stored on the Opus); MP3 CD (files are converted to MP3).

Actually, it would be nice if Olive, in a future software upgrade, made provision for on-the-fly conversion of files copied via USB. As it is now, if you have an iPod, you can copy files to it via USB, but you are limited to uncompressed PCM or MP3, two formats that Opus users are unlikely to use much for ripping their CDs to the server. It would be even nicer if conversion options included not only MP3, but AAC or even Apple Lossless (but the latter would entail Olive paying licensing fees to Apple).

Hope this is not too confusing.

MG

Hi-
None of the above. I simply want to put a larger hard drive in my present Olive. It can be done, but there are some power supply limitations and there is the issue of heat buildup.

I'd like to know what HD the new unit uses as it's highly likely the same HD wouldn't cause heat issues in an Opus 3. I'd also like to be able to check on the electrical consumption of the new drive. Again, if it isn't vastly different than the present drive, then it is a good candidate for replacement purposes.

I have put a 500 GB hard drive in an Olive Musica, and used it for over a year, but there were some heat and power issues, so I returned the original drive. I'd certainly like to have 320 GB of storage instead of 160, though. I'm guessing the drive in the new Opus is both more efficient and runs cooler than the 500 GB drive I used. So it would probably be a good candidate for a HD hack.

Danny