Haha, @erik_squires I promised myself with religious fervor sometime around 2003 that I would never, ever, ever write or debug another Perl script in my lifetime. I’ve kept my word for the past dozen years, and even changed careers to ensure it! But otherwise, thank you for all of the commentary. Very useful food for thought, and will research further. Subsonic sounds interesting to me.
Thanks @mahler123 ...I came across Bluesound as well. At first I discounted it because I did really want an integrated visual display without requiring a PC/tablet/mobile device, but, I got to play with Bluesound very briefly the other day, and it does seem to tick all the other boxes. What I really liked is the ecosystem components that map well to replacing the Olive components I already use (so no need to buy preamps, amps, or new speakers for remote listening. The Vault2 would replace the 04HD server, the Powernode2 seems to mimic what the Olive ONE does (with even more power), and I *think* the Node2 could be used to replace the 02. From the website, it seems as if the Node2 does in fact have an onboard DAC as well as analog outputs, but no amp, so in theory it could be used as a remote standalone to connect directly to, say, outdoor self-powered DJ speakers, with no other components needed?
Only differences I see, apart from the lack of a visual display, is that the Vault2 requires a hardwired ethernet connection (Olive you can choose ethernet or wi-fi, and I use wi-fi because the router is 10 feet away in a closet so performance not an issue). Not a huge deal to me though, so long as the Node2 and Powernode2 support wi-fi, which they do.
Other options, like the well-regarded Sony HAP-Z1ES, have a wonderful integrated little visual display, but is missing an integrated CD ripper, which is probably more important for me as I still have ~5,000 CDs left I want to digitize and prefer to do it directly within the unit, not on a PC and then transfer over the network--again, looking to minimize PC dependence. Also, the Sony doesn’t have as good peripheral support as the Bluesound seems to.
Finally, there are new startup companies out there, such as Nativ, that seem to be creating some really cool, fully-featured options. Native provides literally everything I’m looking for (ripping, storage, visual display, DAC, peripheral support, etc.) however, they are all in separate components. I would need 4 separate components (player/storage, ripper, DAC, and power component) to cover what the Olive 04HD does by itself. Also, the design, while beautiful, is a "tall", non-stackable design which would take up a hell of a lot of rack space.
The Naim, Musical Fidelity, and Novafidelity options I mentioned earlier all have the main unit functionality I’m looking for, but the multi-room peripherals support looks to be potentially messy. Also, the latter two are British companies and may not even be available to me in the US. If I can get over my lack of visual display issues (my own problem, I know!) Bluesound does sound like a very fine option.
Thanks @mahler123 ...I came across Bluesound as well. At first I discounted it because I did really want an integrated visual display without requiring a PC/tablet/mobile device, but, I got to play with Bluesound very briefly the other day, and it does seem to tick all the other boxes. What I really liked is the ecosystem components that map well to replacing the Olive components I already use (so no need to buy preamps, amps, or new speakers for remote listening. The Vault2 would replace the 04HD server, the Powernode2 seems to mimic what the Olive ONE does (with even more power), and I *think* the Node2 could be used to replace the 02. From the website, it seems as if the Node2 does in fact have an onboard DAC as well as analog outputs, but no amp, so in theory it could be used as a remote standalone to connect directly to, say, outdoor self-powered DJ speakers, with no other components needed?
Only differences I see, apart from the lack of a visual display, is that the Vault2 requires a hardwired ethernet connection (Olive you can choose ethernet or wi-fi, and I use wi-fi because the router is 10 feet away in a closet so performance not an issue). Not a huge deal to me though, so long as the Node2 and Powernode2 support wi-fi, which they do.
Other options, like the well-regarded Sony HAP-Z1ES, have a wonderful integrated little visual display, but is missing an integrated CD ripper, which is probably more important for me as I still have ~5,000 CDs left I want to digitize and prefer to do it directly within the unit, not on a PC and then transfer over the network--again, looking to minimize PC dependence. Also, the Sony doesn’t have as good peripheral support as the Bluesound seems to.
Finally, there are new startup companies out there, such as Nativ, that seem to be creating some really cool, fully-featured options. Native provides literally everything I’m looking for (ripping, storage, visual display, DAC, peripheral support, etc.) however, they are all in separate components. I would need 4 separate components (player/storage, ripper, DAC, and power component) to cover what the Olive 04HD does by itself. Also, the design, while beautiful, is a "tall", non-stackable design which would take up a hell of a lot of rack space.
The Naim, Musical Fidelity, and Novafidelity options I mentioned earlier all have the main unit functionality I’m looking for, but the multi-room peripherals support looks to be potentially messy. Also, the latter two are British companies and may not even be available to me in the US. If I can get over my lack of visual display issues (my own problem, I know!) Bluesound does sound like a very fine option.