Olive Symphony
January 22nd, 2006 | by Chris Nickson
 |
Average user rating from 10 users |
Terrible product, terrible company
by Taken on Sep 20th, 2006 at 8:57 AM:
I purchased an Olive Musica (same as the Symphony but with a larger hard drive) in May 2006, and the hard drive crashed in late July, completely freezing the machine. Recovery attempts did not work, so I was forced to pay to ship it back to Olive for repairs. They "fixed" it and sent it back about 2 weeks later. The repaired unit worked for all of 3 days before crashing again. There were over 6,000 songs on the hard drive at this point, representing numerous hours of work on my part. That work was for naught, and those songs are now gone.
To top it all off, Olive's customer service has been unresponsive, misleading, and completely untrustworthy. After the second hard drive crash, I expressed my desire to get a full refund for the unit. They explained that they have a 15-day return policy, which in my opinion is not nearly enough time for such an hi-tech piece of equipment. (Clearly this policy is in place due to the problems inherent in their product.) Therefore I tried to at least recoup the cost of shipping the defective unit back to them, since it failed less than three months after purchase. After verbally agreeing to do this via phone, I waited a few weeks and heard nothign back. Upon calling them for the status, they advised that they could not reimburse me and were backing out of the verbal agreement.
I cannot recommend strongly enough that you do not purchase products from this company. Just check the Better Business Bureau for Olive Media Products, Inc. There have been at least 4-5 complaints against them since March 2006.
Muscia problems, anyone?
by AudioStuff on Jun 19th, 2006 at 2:16 PM:
Has anyone with an Olive Musica had problems like I've been having for the last three weeks?
* Poor to no WiFi connectivity?
* Relatively high rejection rate of CDs (that work fine elsewhere)?
* Intermittently stops or skips playing audio while importing CDs?
* Very audible humming sound while hard disk is on?
* General instability, daily hangs, crashes, reboots?
Olive is "offering" me the option of returning the unit for a new one, or paying their 20% "restocking" fee if I just give it back to them. I'd like to know more about the probability of getting real satisfaction with the Musica before I make my decision.
Thanks,
TJ
Musica 2.2
by AIverson on May 2nd, 2006 at 4:51 PM:
I bought my Musica back in November back when the software was at version 2.1.3. The unit did have some initial bugs, but nothing major. Its a computer...ITS NORMAL!!! The software updates following (2.1.6, 2.1.8...) greatly cleaned up the bugs. Also, when I first received the unit, it sounded great, but with time, oh man does it sound sweet now. This is an investment unit that I plan to have for a long time. It ages nicely with time. For those who are not patient with technology, don't buy tech products. My musica works better than ever and I love it.
Furthermore, I got the most recent software update 2.2pro. It has made networking dependable and easy to configure...and even more impressive, is the compatability with portable mP3 players like Creative Zen, rio,IRIVER, ipod photo, nano, video, mini etc...I think this device is great!!!
The Musica is still Beta and is not
by gobikey on Feb 16th, 2006 at 11:18 AM:
Short, dirty story: (longer one with details to follow)
Do not buy the first generation Musica. It is buggy, and the features are far more restricted than advertised.
Olive sent me two faulty units. The first failed to boot (and could not be re-imaged), and the second had a faulty CD player. Besides these warrantied, returnable issues, there are major issues with stability and functionality. The OS crashed or froze often. The networking was unreliable and often dropped or failed to connect (I used my network diagnostic tools to investigate). You CANNOT retrieve files once they have been written to the Musica's hard drive! (at least not without buying their proprietary external backup hard drive) Olive claims that you can attach your mp3 player to the Musica. The Musica will not recognize any mp3 player or other device that connects as a hard drive (like my iRiver or most mp3 players). It will only recognize "iTunes" players (iPods).
Longer version: (Sorry that it's a bit of a flame to Olive)
I am a network engineer with research time and without many expenses. My system so far consists of a Krell 400xi amp and Vienna Acoustics Beethoven speakers, Audioquest Diamondback interconnects, high-end speaker cables and power regenerator, etc. I wanted a decent CD transport and a way to play my ogg and flac files without needing to use my noisy computer. I did a fair amount of research and ordered the Musica, 2nd day air, Nov 15, 05.
Delivery issues - After not receiving the tracking number by email, I called into support. They said the Musica was out of stock for another month or so. (doh! I wish they had stated that on the online order page.) I asked for the 2nd day air option to be cancelled, and I waited. They charged me for 2nd day air anyway a month later when it was available but then refunded the extra charges when I called again.
Weak Networking - The Musica arrived at my work, and I attempted to set up the networking. The networking options were not as robust as most generic wireless routers on the market today, but they *may* be sufficient for the Musica to be used as a wireless client, not as a configurable wireless LAN bridge. After configuration changes and testing, I feel that the wireless functionality is VERY unreliable. I have network diagnostic tools at my disposal which rule out other points of failure. (This conclusion was made after testing both Musica units.)
After approx 45 min of checking out the network capabilities, I restarted the Musica, but it froze at the boot-up logo screen. I followed directions to reload the OS from CD, but the process failed to fix the boot-up problem. I worked unsuccessfully with Olive support for about an hour to re-image the Musica. They said that the hard drive must be faulty and asked me to return the unit for repairs.
I returned the unit late Dec and received a new one mid-January. An Olive rep told me that the returned unit worked after being re-imaged. (Thanks, that's nice. o.O )
After playing the Musica at home and testing the various functions, I found several shortcomings.
CD player issues - The CD tranport and DAC were actually pretty good. It was the best sound I had heard out of my system up until that point. Problem... Many CDs could not be played. I tried CDs from my collection and found that approximately 1 out of 10 CDs (purchased "new" within the last two months, no marks or scratches whatsoever) failed to play. I could hear parts of the songs which would randomly pause every second or two and were mixed with severe digital noise. Again, these were new (recently unwrapped) CDs from reputable record labels.. ie. Emperor Norton Records - Lost In Translation Soundtrack, Capitol Records - Mazzy Star - Among My Swan... When I attempted to play one of these, I had to power off the Musica (hard power off) because the OS would freeze. Those CDs could be played perfectly with other CD players.
Remote Incompatability - Use of the Musica's remote control did not work in my sound system because I have a Krell amplifier. The remote codes interfere with each other. For example, the volume up on the Musica remote triggered the volume down of the Krell. Track forward on the Musica remote changed the Krell input to "tape". Approximately half of the remote buttons for either component caused a configuration change on the other component. There is no way to change the IR signals to a different set of codes. (It is amusing to note that a Krell amplifier is displayed with the Musica in the Musica datasheet. ( http://olive.us/p_images/download/musica_datasheet...
iPods only! - The Musica would not recognize my iRiver H120 mp3 player. This is because iRiver mp3 players connect as an external hard drive (as do many mp3 players) in order to update. After speaking with Olive support, I found that no external drive device will be recognized. Only iTunes native players can connect. (awesome! should have been noted in the marketing materials)
"Hard Drive" is a black hole - Files copied to the Musica cannot be retrieved without Olive's proprietary external backup hard drive. They can only be accessed by the Musica or via UPnP streaming clients. Here is an excerpt from an email from Olive Support. "Right now you can only copy music from a PC/Mac onto the music center, not the other way around. This is due to copyright concerns mentioned by the music industry." (The RIAA)
There were other nuisances less critical than these (such as the poor fast forward control and general instability), but these issues were enough to make me want to set the unit on fire. I did return it, and I was charged a %15 restocking fee (talked them down from %20) because I had scratched the unit. (no, not from trying to set it on fire.)
I *was* impressed by the Olive customer support's availability and desire to help. The CD player sounded good when it worked. In short, The designed functionality of the Musica was too ambitious, and the execution fell far short of an audiophile component *or* a geek toy. If I had a "fully functioning" Musica, I would still return it due to design restrictions.
; (
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Great sound, works well
by rrgordon on Dec 28th, 2006 at 9:01 PM:
After that I can't say I have ever had another single problem. The wifi for pc and internet radio works every time out for me. But it is definitely the sound quality of the Musica that elevates it to the status of a great device for me. With the new HD in since August, I am thoroughly enjoying the Musica's considerable convenience and musicality. Highly recommended for the even the most picky among long-time audio enthusiasts (you know who you are). In my experience the company has been great and responsive.