fredorama

Thanks so much for a great in-depth "real world" review, Fitz. I am sorry you feel a regret for indulging your "early adoption fever." It still looks to be a great unit and I am sure 6 months from now, Olive's software willl have made vast improvements. Upon further research of my own dilemma, and based largely on your assessment of the Olive, I am leaning towards the following combination of components as a starting point; 1. Source; My existing 1TB external drive, backed up by a second 1TB drive for additional cost of $100. 2. Squeezebox Duet, modified by Bolder to be my budget high-end DAC substitute, for $650 (From all I have heard and read, it seems that one needs to spend a minimum of $2500 retail on a DAC to experience sonic performance above that of a Bolder-modded Duet) 3. High quality 250wpc integrated amplifier with home theatre bypass (such as the Musical Fidelity A1008) that sports a better analogue stage than my Integra DHC 9.9). I can get one pre-owned for $2500. This would replace my beautiful McCormack DNA-225 for which I could get $2000, so net additional cost here; $500 4. Integra DHC 9.9 - kept purely for my home theatre needs Total cost here: $1250 BUT......if I wanted to spend another $750 - $1000 using ALL the funds in my budget...How do I get the best bang? Keeping all other things equal, do I; a) Scrap the external drive as my source and get a quiet, low-jitter 2TB tower built? ($750) b) Scrap the Squeezebox idea and get a serious DAC? (like the Ayre QB-9 @ $2500) But that adds $1850 putting me over budget. Amazing DAC though... c) Keep the McCormack, ditch the integrated amp idea (which gives me an additional $500 to play with), and find a nice used preamp or preamp/DAC with HT bypass and superior analogue stage at around the $1250- $1500 mark? Thinking Bel Canto DAC3 or something in that league... Any and all ideas would be welcome! I do want to spend the extra dough so help me out here fellas!

Hey I could use some help from the community in coming up with the best possible music server solution under $2000. My gear; Integra DHC 9.9 pre pro, McCormack DNA-225 amp (modified), Dynaudio S3.4 spkrs. Option A: The Bolder-modified SB Duet ($600) plus very basic Windows 7 new desktop with 2TB storage ($600) will run me $1200 more or less. This is not following any of the specs/architecture for the chassis as described in CA. Chris said he was not that impressed by the modified Duet, and I am sure Bolder sent him a unit that was more souped up than what I am gonna pay for. But I don't know what he was comparing it to? Compared to a $10,000 audipohile DAC setup? Or compared to other total solutions at this price point? Chris, any comments would be appreciated. Option B: The Olive 4HD for $2000. I have read the reviews, but cannot get a handle on whether this will sonically be superior or inferior to the modded SB Duet solution. Obviously, the ability to play hi-res music is cool, but at $2.50 a track.... well let's just say it's an emerging market at this point. The one-box solution is very appealing and the super high quality Burr Brown DAC onboard is also quite nice. But the power supply inside the box does worry me somewhat, as well as the heat potential with a fanless unit, which if it runs hot will lead to premature HD failure. Option C: Some other solution that will give me the best sound from my library of ripped AIFFs with a friendly UI. Perhaps there is a product which someone out there has built and designed that will be a better bang for the buck at this price point, and maybe even better sounding than either of these two solutions. Thanks! Fred