Yeah, I know. That is SOP.
I trundles along at its pace. Thereās so many pieces to the Octave puzzle. We have two full time programmers on it and have had for quite some time. One, in Germany, is working on the hardware getting it to perform miracles. Very impressive stuff. The other, in Canada, is the architect and is now getting streaming services enabled.
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It will not be able to play an SACD or store it. You would have to have a DMP. As well, hereās something else to consider. Sometime in 2019 we will be forced to replace DMP because we will run out of Oppo drives (they ceased production and abandoned the business). The next version of DMP will also not be able to play SACD because of licensing issues. So if SACD are important to you then make sure you have a DMP.
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We have removed the ripper from the upcoming Octave server for a number of reasons. One of which is learning just how important the method of ripping has become, but also realizing the cost of ripping it right is going to push the eventual server price beyond what we are hoping for. Instead, we will be building another box, the eventual replacement for DMP, that will, sometime in 2019 be the ultimate ripper/player. The combo between these two products will set them apart in ways no one else has yet managed to build.
Another reason we decided not to include a built in ripper on the server is that most people we know already have ripped libraries they want to use or they rely on streaming. So we donāt want the expensive ripper to sit idle nor do we want to confuse to ecosystem: people who own the ripper/player would have yet another ripper inside the server. Thatās confusing.
For folks who donāt want to play their discs directly and want only the server, we will have the ability for users to add an external USB drive and control it from the Octave interface. It can rip or play depending on what the user wants.
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Thanks for the heads up, and continued transparency.
Oooh, my DMP just got more valuable! ; ). Not that I intend selling it any time soon.
I assume you are not saying, Paul, that Octave will not handle DSD (.dff/.dsf) files?
I immediately wondered thus as well.
Oh no. Octave will surely handle DSD. We still consider DSD as the best digital format for music in the world.
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Paul - Do you reckon it would be possible, should the DMP drive fail, and we have the right model of Oppo laying around, to replace it? I can see a tiny recycling/mod business opportunity popping up there.
I would imagine the āno SACD capbilityā aspect of the future DMP is a no-go for a lot of current owners. Does that also mean that the future DMP will not play .dsf/.dff or were you just referring to it not playing factory SACDs? That is, will it play dffs burned to DVD-ROM?
I interpreted his answer to mean they will maintain sufficient stock drives for some time, for the potential repair work. And the sales will be stopped to preserve that stock.
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I, for one, am happy with that decision. Iāve pretty much got the ripping bit down (and like the ability to control tagging as I rip) and am buying fewer and fewer physical discs anyway. Keeping the cost down while maintaining optimal sound quality and functionality of the server is the way to go.
Exactly my thoughts too.
Yes and no, Mark. We have bought a stash of drives for this very purpose so we can keep the units in the field operating properly for years to come. The problem is each drive is hand calibrated to each control board a process not for amateurs .
Looks like I am actually after the ripper/player!
I am looking to rip my whole CD collection (maybe around 800) and save them on the internal hard drive.
I was also looking to rip my vinyl, possibly using a SweetVinyl sugar cube and put it on the hard drive as well.
So, it looks like the upcoming ripper/player is what I am actually after!
Understand the idea of not giving a ripper to people who donāt want it.
I assume the software will be more or less identical on both the server and the ripper/player.
Bruce
So would I be better off getting a DMP now or will I get very similar preformance if I have a OPPO that I can get the SACD ISO/DSD file from?. Or will I be losing sound quality if Iām without a DMP? Iād like to have a SACD player capability, Octave server and My NuWave Phono preamplifer without losing sound quality. Recommendations to achieve that?
When PS Audio run out of the bits and pieces to build DMP, youāll still have other hardware options for spinning a SACD collection, if spinning such things is important to you. The world wonāt stop spinning when DMP goes EOL.
For me that is a piece of cake. I have a machine that does them 320 at a time.
My ripping plan is to listen to - rip - sort.
As I rip I plan to sort.
Great/good/ordinary.
would donate the āordinaryā to the op shop.
Will keep the great & the good just in case.
Would like to do my ripping (CD & vinyl) to the highest standard possible so that I will never need to do it again.
I am attracted to Paulās idea of generating the best possible ripping machine - fits in with my idea of getting it (almost or better) perfect the first (and only) time.
I am happy to wait if that is what I need to get the best possible system!
I would guess that there are a fair number of people in my boat.
Bruce
If you are planning on ripping SACD somehow and have the means to do so and your playback method is a server or computer than thereās probably no reason to get a DMP.
If you want the best sounding performance from actually playing that SACD then the DMP is your best option. It smokes the way am Oppo sounds.
Paul - thatās kind of a fascinating statement. Can you or someone else go into more detail on that calibration - how and why it needs to be done, or is it proprietary? Does it/can it affect operation?
Could the hand calibration contribute to why there seems to be a bit of variability in function of the drive from unit to unit? Itās hard to tell from subjective anecdotal evidence whether these variations are just āone manās āthe drawer takes forever to openā is another manās, āworks snappilyāā - or if you put a timer on it, they all in fact work about the same. Just have never understood why, when my only option is to hit the big āOpen Drawerā/eject icon, with no disc in the unit, it does not happen instantly as it does with the hard buttons on every Oppo I have owned.
And sorry - just realized this is not an actual DMP thread.