Post by Citroen on Nov 8, 2023 16:29:30 GMT 12
parttimeaudiophile.com/2023/11/03/antipodes-oladra-music-server-review/"Here’s one of the dumbest things I’ve said about high-end audio, especially digital audio, in the last couple of years: “I’m perfectly happy with just a DAC and a laptop.” My time with the Antipodes Oladra music server has proven that statement wrong, and my time with it hasn’t been so much a review as a shift in the way I’m approaching the future as an audiophile." "The best reason for having a top-notch music server such as the Antipodes Oladra, as I found out, was that bold yet accurate claim to better sound quality"
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Post by michaelw on Nov 8, 2023 20:29:03 GMT 12
Hmmmm most exciting thing about that article was that Marc is still using a PureAudio Control preamp, he was the first North American distributor.
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Pundit
Post by stuzzo on Nov 9, 2023 15:55:05 GMT 12
Good luck to them. It would have to be something extraordinary to justify that kind of money. I can’t really see there’s huge gains to be made in this area and there seems to be a lot of faffing around compared to a simple CD or streamer solution.
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Pundit
Post by stuzzo on Nov 11, 2023 12:03:36 GMT 12
I’d must add I’m not trying to belittle the achievement here. The technical ability, manufacturing and general work to put a business together is quite exeptional.
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Pundit
Post by harvey on Nov 12, 2023 15:54:11 GMT 12
There is a bit of faffing around getting one set up if you want to fine tune settings but otherwise they really are plug and play these days.
My Antipodes journey started with an EX server then moved on to an S30/S60 combo. Nearly two years ago I purchase K30 which was upgraded to the latest G4 spec in September. Every change brought with it a significant improvement to the music in my system.
I believe the first shipment of Oladras sold out last year before they even hit dealer rooms which I would assume is a testament to a loyal customer base looking to upgrade.
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Post by Citroen on Nov 23, 2023 22:42:56 GMT 12
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Pundit
Post by harvey on Nov 24, 2023 8:29:52 GMT 12
Antipodes offer local customers pricing in NZ dollars the same as the global pricing in US dollars (from their website below). Model Price (USD - Excl. Duties & Taxes) OLADRA $ 29,000 K50 $ 19,000 K41 $ 10,000 K22 $ 9,000 K21 $ 7,000 This makes them exceptional value for money IMO. The one in Australia will be G3 not the latest G4 edition. Buy local. 
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Pundit
Post by stuzzo on Nov 25, 2023 8:42:48 GMT 12
Antipodes offer local customers pricing in NZ dollars the same as the global pricing in US dollars (from their website below). Model Price (USD - Excl. Duties & Taxes) OLADRA $ 29,000 K50 $ 19,000 K41 $ 10,000 K22 $ 9,000 K21 $ 7,000 This makes them exceptional value for money IMO. The one in Australia will be G3 not the latest G4 edition. Buy local. There’s others selling similar systems at these prices so there’s obviously a market for it. The problem I have, in terms of value for money, is that for a few hundred dollars you can now buy a DAC that is effectively perfect when tested with the best analysers available. Noise and distortion levels literally 70db below the point human perception starts. I find it hard to believe a $30000 or even $10000 streamer/reclocker is needed to “fix” up jitter issues which don’t seem to really exist. If jitter really was an issue I would expect a high end CD player to sound better than a streamer/DAC combo which, in my experience, is not the case. And if jitter was such a problem in this equipment chain surely high end streamer makers would be publishing test results to show it just as some DAC manufacturers publish their test data.
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Pundit
Post by tonyd on Nov 26, 2023 5:57:13 GMT 12
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Pundit
Post by Gryffles on Dec 28, 2023 14:16:44 GMT 12
I’ve read it thanks Tony. Really enjoy my K22, hearing is believing 😉 and ignorance should be bliss
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Pundit
Post by stuzzo on Dec 28, 2023 15:52:49 GMT 12
I’ve read it thanks Tony. Really enjoy my K22, hearing is believing 😉 and ignorance should be bliss There’s nothing really enlightening there though, just describes a standard digital process. There’s no data showing the degree of jitter that the Antipodes device might reduce compared to a standard streamer or distortion levels achieved.
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Pundit
Post by peter0c on Dec 29, 2023 10:16:15 GMT 12
Nice to have today but like digital electronics in general, should be half the price next year (should, not will be) or the year after and near impossible to sell to help finance the next upgrade. The moral of the story is don't buy the top model in any product line unless you can afford to take a significant loss.
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Pundit
Post by stuzzo on Dec 29, 2023 10:49:55 GMT 12
Nice to have today but like digital electronics in general, should be half the price next year (should, not will be) or the year after and near impossible to sell to help finance the next upgrade. The moral of the story is don't buy the top model in any product line unless you can afford to take a significant loss. I’m going to have to disagree in the sense that I would argue the current crop of modern DACs are already perfect. That’s what the numbers say. A $10000 DAC or a DAC from 2030 is not going to give you a gram of quality over a suitably chosen current $400 DAC. Why are people so unhappy or perceive difference in digital music? A lot of legacy bad source material, production and loudness issues, human nature, other parts of the hi-fi chain confusing things etc There’s a lot of music being well produced now really with no other market intended than home listening and it can be night and day compared to some older recordings.
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Pundit
Post by peter0c on Dec 29, 2023 11:55:15 GMT 12
Moore's Law applies to the digital audio market just as much as other digital applications.
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Pundit
Post by stuzzo on Dec 29, 2023 12:04:23 GMT 12
Moore's Law applies to the digital audio market just as much as other digital applications. As I’ve noted before, current DACs have levels of noise and distortion vastly below the limits of human perception. Adding more transistors or cheaper transistors isn’t going to change that.
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Pundit
Post by peter0c on Dec 29, 2023 12:40:20 GMT 12
Noise and distortion isn't really the problem. Sampling rates and how the digital bits are deconstructed and put back together (many many filters and even more buffers at each stage of the proceedings) are where gains are to be made. We have to remember that digital circuits simply provide a sample of the real thing, not the real thing. But they are getting better, much much better and the days of listening to inferior DAC's with the attendant tiredness (reflecting a heavy cognitive load filtering out the nasties) is no longer necessary. Our human hearing and the cognitive horsepower to make sense of it has had tens of thousands of years to evolve but our ability to understand the complexities of it has a very short history. Perhaps we simply still aren't measuring what is important beyond 'PRAT'.
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Pundit
Post by stuzzo on Dec 29, 2023 13:09:55 GMT 12
Noise and distortion are some of the key metrics. You feed in perfect digital waveforms (at the various sampling rates) and compare what you get out with what a perfect output should be. The variation from that is the distortion. You are familiar with AudioScience..
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