Comments on: Olive 4HD Review

By: Van Wezemael Paul

Van Wezemael Paul — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:56:36 +0000

great looks; does not copy all cd’s; does not recognize the original studio recordings from the Beatles; misrecognizes some cd’s; hostpage congested and finally skips while audio play backing.

Buy a computer because even efter 18 months this product is very much a work in progress.

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 21:44:25 +0000

This type of hardware is designed to be used with hi rez files downloaded from Linn, HD tracks and so on. Burning old fashion CDs is just trying to slow down progress. But then, we all have a bunch of CDs we love and not every album is available yet. But it is just like we were back in 1982 when the first CD player was out. In 5 to 10 years from now, CD will be gone.

By: Jose

Jose — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:09:18 +0000

The only media server out there that "rips" SACD's – and DVD-Audio discs – is the "Black Box" from Blue Smoke Entertainment Systems. If one thinks the 4HD is a bit expensive, try $6995 for the Black Box! I need to check out more in detail whether the Black Box "rips" the songs from the DSD as is, or whether it converts them to PCM. As for the 4HD: It's not "perfect" by any means (I understand the reasons behind the design but I'm not too crazy about slanted front-end), but it does the trick and somewhat inexpensive compared to other media servers out there.

By: Ian Bell

Ian Bell — Thu, 27 May 2010 17:09:59 +0000

You can add an external USB hard drive, but a NAS drive would be accessed via Ethernet on the network.

By: Don

Don — Thu, 27 May 2010 16:20:15 +0000

The review said 4HD can't access things stored on a NAS. What is the purpose of the usb port? So if the Olive fails all of the music on the drive is lost?

By: Arthur

Arthur — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 14:54:15 +0000

I've had a 4HD for three months and really like the sound of my CDs played from the hard disc. The only downside for me is the playlist management using Olive's Maestro system. Once a track had been dragged onto a playlist I can find no way to remove it without removing the entire list – a problem when some of my playlists contain 2000+ tracks. But the sound is great and up there with my DCS for CD replay. It only seems to support FLAC lossless files too and I don't know if other lossless files can be easily converted?

By: IsRealLite

IsRealLite — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 16:37:21 +0000

I have a 4HD. Had it for 4 months. I am playing CD's I have owned since the '80's and hearing things I never heard before. It is as close to analog as I have heard from a 2-channel,digital player.

By: charlie

charlie — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:20:48 +0000

The size is given in the article. It's a pretty standard size for audio equipment – about 17″ wide, 11″ deep and 3″ tall.

By: jimbreakey

jimbreakey — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:18:41 +0000

I've been using the 4HD for a month or so. Obviously it would be better to rip SACDs directly but it is very easy to transfer from a PC. The 4HD has a shared file you can see from your network. You just drag and drop.

It's a pretty cool piece of equipment. Not perfect but bad.

By: Eduard Fischer

Eduard Fischer — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:23:31 +0000

It does read the CD layer; that's the way the hybrid SACD is designed.

By: Ian Bell

Ian Bell — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 20:24:10 +0000

You would think so, but my guess is that it probably won't.

By: Dan

Dan — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 17:05:39 +0000

But then Olive reads at least the CD-Layer of a SACD, doesn't it?

By: Sam

Sam — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:19:08 +0000

Would have been nice if Olive mentioned that on their website. If people knew it was not by choice and it was explained why, I am sure they would be forgiven.

By: Eduard Fischer

Eduard Fischer — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:57:09 +0000

It's not a decision by Olive; the SACD standard prohibits digital access to the output for copying. Complain to Sony and Philips, companies that designed SACD with this limitation. The Olive does import high-definition audio files from online providers that are the digital equivalent of stereo SACD sound.

By: Ian Bell

Ian Bell — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 08:42:23 +0000

Agreed, total oversight on Olive in my opinion.

By: Tony

Tony — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 05:24:39 +0000

Thanks for the input Ian.
That's a no-go to me.
No way I'd spend that money on this thing and be confined to CDs 16 bit 44.1 khz unrealistic sound world.
Other than that having to use a PC to rip my collection, to me, defeats the entire purpose.
With that said, with all due respect, this is unfortunately far from being “the ultimate audiophile device”.
Oh well…

By: Ian Bell

Ian Bell — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:41:45 +0000

I called Olive and asked if it will play SACD or DVD Audio and it will not. It will not rip them either. He suggested we rip the music from a PC and then transfer them over. Total bummer. I will update the review to reflect that too.

By: Tony

Tony — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:29:01 +0000

One thing is not clear to me yet…
Does it play/rip SACDs please?
If it does, then I'm sold.

By: dang

dang — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:32:13 +0000

It looks pretty tiny

By: Greg Mombert

Greg Mombert — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 20:11:34 +0000

I also love the design, especially the silver version.

By: Ian Bell

Ian Bell — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:55:54 +0000

I want one. Love the design and it sounds amazing.