Announcing the End of the Music CD

You can find all the latest computer hardware press releases in here.
Post Reply
User avatar
Digital Puppy
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 4649
Joined: Tue Apr 27, 2004 12:36 pm
Location: LA LA Land, CA
Contact:

Announcing the End of the Music CD

Post by Digital Puppy »

Announcing the End of the Music CD

Image

Olive Unveils New OPUS No5 - The Only Networked Audio System That Delivers Digital Convenience and HD Audio Quality Better Than Vinyl
SAN FRANCISCO -- Sep. 26, 2007 Olive Media Products developed the first OPUS in 2005, heralding a new age in music experience that combined the convenience of digital media with high-end audio components. With the introduction of the new OPUS No5, Olive has perfected this convergence with an audio system that delivers music with incredible sound clarity, while also offering the flexibility to browse, rip, store, mix, match and burn music libraries or listen to internet radio.

"We all know the market for CDs is coming to an end," explains Oliver Bergmann, Olive's CEO, "but until now we just weren't sure what would replace the CD player for the serious music enthusiast who really cares about quality music. We believe that the Opus No5 is the answer."

Portable players, music on PCs and compressed MP3 audio files have become ubiquitous in terms of digital music - however these solutions severely compromise the quality of the music experience. By fusing the underlying digital and audio technologies into its unique Pure Audio System, Olive has managed to unleash audiophile-quality sound from the fixed compact disk without customers having to resort to a PC running in the background with all the downsides that entails. And selling directly to customers allows to offer at a price that is comparable to that of high quality CD players. Now music lovers can enjoy the best of both worlds - the convenience of digital music management and the quality of HD sound.

"Why would you want to compromise the quality of your music? Great sound and digital convenience can very well coexist, so you can have your cake and eat it too," Oliver continues. The OPUS is designed and custom built in California, USA, building on the innovative energy of the Silicon Valley and the music passion of the city of San Francisco. Based on its audio purity specs including a signal/noise ratio of incredible 123dB, the new OPUS No5 delivers warm, full-bodied and spacious sound for an exceptionally realistic soundstage, making it the most uncompromising music playback system on the world market today. The audio components were hand-selected together with Texas Instruments audio experts, and the design was tested in the TI Labs.

"We are excited to work with a pioneer like Olive who is committed to bringing audio quality to another level," says Nick Holland, Audio and Imaging Products Marketing Manager, High Performance Analog for TI. "TI's high performance, ultra low noise distortion data converter, clock and receiver components, coupled with Olive's innovative design, translate into a world class listening experience for music enthusiasts."

Another key feature is the minimalist design, which is as stunning as the audio quality. "Your music should look as good as it sounds," says Alfredo Muccino, Olive's Brand Architect. "We modeled the design after a book, as a metaphor for the fact that the OPUS No5 becomes your music library." As an important side effect, the solid chassis of fine grade aluminum virtually eliminates operating noise and vibration.

Olive has received wide press recognition and numerous awards for providing customers with a convenient one-stop solution to migrating their CD collections to a high quality music library that is always at their fingertips. Olive continues to evolve the music industry in focusing on products that deliver amazing quality sound at affordable prices.

Pricing and Availability

Olive's all-new OPUS No5 starts with a 400GB hard disk and a price of $2,999. All of Olive's products are sold exclusively through Olive's website or telephone hotline in the United States (http://www.olive.us/1.877.BY.OLIVE), or at Amazon (amazon.com). The OPUS No5 will soon also be made available internationally.

About Olive Media Products

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Olive is a privately held company driven by a team of music aficionados with a vision to create the perfect audio experience and making it simple and affordable for everyone. With a deep understanding of audio and convergence technology Olive solutions deliver the best of both worlds, combining high fidelity sound with innovative features, intuitive navigation and attractive design. For more information about Olive and its many fine products visit http://www.olive.us or call 1.877.BY.OLIVE.

Trademarks

Olive is a registered trademark of Olive Media Products, Inc. in the US and in the countries where Olive products are sold or distributed. OPUS, Pure Audio System and Preload are trademarks of Olive Media Products, Inc. Other brands and names are the property of their respective owners.
Just a little puppy trying to make it in a big digital world.
ScottLovesDogs

Re: Announcing the End of the Music CD

Post by ScottLovesDogs »

A bunch of pure, self-serving, Pooey, says I.

"We all know the market for CDs is coming to an end," explains Oliver Bergmann, Olive's CEO, "but until now we just weren't sure what would replace the CD player for the serious music enthusiast who really cares about quality music. We believe that the Opus No5 is the answer."

First off, the "serious music enthusiast who really cares about quality music" does not consider CDs a primary source of music. We are into analog.

Second, if I (a "serious music enthusiast" aka "audiophile") was going to go with a digital music server type of source unit, for managing a collection of digital music, I'd build a system of the following:
CD transport: McIntosh Labs MCD1000 (digital output only, requires external DAC)
D/A Converter: McIntosh Labs MDA1000 (24-Bit, 768 kHz Sample Rate Conversion of all inputs, twice the rate of the Olive)
Digital Music Server: McIntosh Labs MS750

Granted it would cost a hell of a lot more than the Olive, the MCD1000 and MDA1000 pair alone are at least $12,000.00, but the quality of the signal would be far better. For example, compare the Olive's +0/-0.5dB bandwidth of 20-20KHz with the MDA1000's of 4 to 45KHz. The MDA1000's EIGHT 24-bit Burr-Brown (TI) DACs to the Olive's two, etc. The physical and build quality of McIntosh equipment is as legendary as their performance and specs. So is is their longevity. And support and parts availability years down the line are phenominal. Does this also apply to Olive? Or, like so much of the digital music world today, is their equipment basically just a high-priced version of the toss-it-when-it-goes-bad junk lining the shelves of BB and CC?

Most of us "serious music enthusiasts" are not ready to buy this bullpoop that we are all going to be forced to media-less music where we have to download everything and store it on a hard drive. Further we know how to read specifications and what they mean, and evaluate equipment on that basis. also taking into consideration the reputation and history of the company in question. Press releases, like the one above, are just so much hype and baloney. We also take into consideration other factors like how long a company has been around. Olive, 2 years. McIntosh Labs, as one example, 55+ years.
Last edited by ScottLovesDogs on Thu Sep 27, 2007 7:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
stev
Legit Extremist
Legit Extremist
Posts: 1507
Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2006 7:29 am
Location: Nashville, TN suburbs
Contact:

Re: Announcing the End of the Music CD

Post by stev »

Wow, think of all of the USB MP3 players you can buy for 3-grand !!! Some even come with a docking station.

The older I get, the hearing isn't all that sharp. So, why get something better than what you can hear anyways ?!?
AMD X2 TK-57 1.90Ghz | F700 Quanta | PC2-5300 DDR2 2Gb | GeForce 7000M | DVDRAM GSA-T40N | HP LaserJet 1018
My Stats http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/ ... =&u=303718
Image
http://www.eff.org - Electronic Frontier Foundation - working to protect your digital rights
User avatar
Zertz
Legit Extremist
Legit Extremist
Posts: 1118
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2007 4:19 pm
Location: Magog, Quebec

Re: Announcing the End of the Music CD

Post by Zertz »

stev wrote:The older I get, the hearing isn't all that sharp. So, why get something better than what you can hear anyways ?!?
Exactly, at some point, you can't hear the difference. 768 Khz Sample Rate? The A/D converter will cut 1 out of the 768 000 cycles per second. 1 out of 768 000. Seriously, there is next to no difference between even 44Khz and 768Khz.
Post Reply