Digital music is great, but it’s struck some notes of discord among serious music listeners. Lossy compression is reducing the quality of audio, a step backwards from the traditional CD. And if you like classical music, get ready for major headaches organizing your music. Not to mention, doesn’t anyone miss their stereo system?
Enter the new Olive Symphony. There are several things about this box that are promising:
Lossless music: An 80 GB hard drive rips your CDs at full-quality (via the integrated CD, or pre-loaded from your collection for free by Olive when you buy it)
Classical music management: Special Mac/PC software uses a special database to tag classical music accurately
Integrated wireless: Wi-Fi is built in
USB and CD: Transfer songs to your iPod or burn a CD
Hi-fi: Olive promises hi-fi sound and includes digital outputs to the stereo
Sure, it’s US$899, but I have to say, finally this is a digital audio player that feels like a step forward, instead of backward. Let’s hope this is a sign of trends to come. Due mid-August.