The Olive is an affordable, high quality server and DAC combination. This is firstly a CD player. It is also a CD burner. Most importantly it has a hard disc drive (from 500GB to 2TB depending on the model) where one can record up to 6,000 CD’s in FLAC. The unit will also sit on your network and stream Internet Radio. While it doesn’t have is the darling intuitive interface of the Sonos and the large touch-screen controller, the 4.3" high-resolution colour screen is more than adequate and navigation is both intuitive and simple. There is also a free app called Maestro for the iTouch/ iPhone/ iPad enabling them as bluetooth touchscreen controllers for the Olive.The HD version also has a HDMI output which will allow you to display what is on the built-in screen on a much larger monitor or your TV.

I believe that Olive summed up their product perfectly when they wrote:

(The Olive is) "An innovative audio system with a total focus on the creating the best home music experience. With high-end components, convenient digital storage, an intuitive touchscreen interface, Digitizing Services and software updates that add new features, the Olive 4 lets you:

* STORE all of your music in full CD sound quality and have it at your fingertips, manage it as a library, add to it, personalize it and enjoy it all with the convenience of digital access.
* LISTEN to songs, albums or playlists in pristine sound quality, explore the world of internet radio and even play CDs like a regular CD player.
* STREAM your music to Olive 2 Hi-Fi Players in different rooms or to other networked players in the home.
* RELAX with a device that is not a PC and fits right into your existing Hi-Fi system, seamlessly becomes part of your home network (wireless or wired), takes the hassle out of storing all your CDs and does not compromise audio quality.
* ENJOY many other functions that round out your listening experience like our iPhone application which turns your phone into a touchscreen remote."

The newest version is the Opus HD4. This unit has a higher quality Burr-Brown 1792A 24 bit/192kHz DAC and an additional digital input (coaxial) so you can use another source through the DAC. There are both coaxial and optical digital outputs to connect to a sound system, and even a USB. It has both wireless and wired Ethernet connections. The system supports WAV, FLAC, AAC and MP3. The Internal 2TB drive will hold a lot of music, even in lossless forms – you can even store up to 20,000 24bit high resolution tracks.

You can turn the Olive into a multi-room system by adding the Olive Melody 2 client players, which enable you to connect the Olive to whatever system you have in the other room/s. Each client system can access music independently, so different tracks can be playing in each zone. The zones can be wired or wirelessly connected.

The Melody 2 sells for $1,599.

If you already have a multi-room system you can still use the Olive servers as a source.