USB Output
Although I usually prefer AES/EBU for its stability and predictability in general, and for Antipodes in particular since this has consistently led to the best sonic results, I also listened to the Oladra’s USB output. It should be noted that the success of any USB connection hinges very heavily on the implementation of the interface on both ends and the results can vary depending on the combination.
Using a Final Touch Audio Sinope USB cable, I replayed a range of songs that I listened to earlier via AES/EBU, and sure enough, the difference between the USB and Reclocker outputs is very much in line with how I heard it with other Antipodus models before it. Via USB, the server sounds markedly tighter and leaner and becomes a little bit more expressive and direct as well as rather less spacious and organic. The Vermouth Reference USB provided a pleasant alternative that worked more synergistically with the Oladra, providing more flow and air.
There’s no question that the USB output sounds technically superb but I feel there’s a mechanical side to the reproduction, the music having traded an amount of liquidity and flow for enhanced immediacy. But this is also because it takes time to adjust after listening to the very organic Reclocker outputs. Strictly speaking, the Oladra still sounds rather special via its USB connection, just balanced more to the Yin side. Breaking it down into single words, one could say the USB performance is more analytical and AES/EBU more emotional.
Alternate Server/Player Apps
For this review, I have so far only been using Roon. But it’s worth noting that the other server/player solution apps allow the user to fine-tune the sound. For instance, while Roon sounds smoothest, richest, and most spacious, MPD and Squeeze provide a tighter, leaner, and slightly more expressive perspective. One can even use Roon in combination with Squeeze.
While on the subject of Roon, I’m sure regular readers and discerning listeners will be aware of the app’s changing sound quality as it goes through its version iterations. This can be observed with any Music Server that runs Roon, not just Antipodes. But while I feel that Roon’s sound quality took a dive after 1.8, I’m happy to note following several smaller software updates, 2.0 is now sounding really good. This is fortunate as Roon remains the industry standard and offers the best interface and local/online library integration.
Squeeze
As this review is coming to an end, I just wanted to include a brief impression of the Oladra’s performance using Squeeze (server and player) instead of Roon. In this mode, the Oladra sounds leaner, spicier, and arguably more neutral, or less saturated and colorful, depending on your perspective. A more matter-of-fact and direct delivery makes for reduced magic while a spicier transient behavior makes for a more immediate, more Grimm-like delivery, although the Oladra remains fluid and refined. This left me divided. On the one hand, I welcomed the more explicit transient behavior, but on the other, I felt that some of the Oladra’s special qualities were reduced. Ultimately, I would say that the Oladra sounds best when used with Roon.
For a more detailed explanation of the differences that can be heard with the alternative solutions, please see also the K50 review or the K41/K22 review.
The matter of deciding which app to use will be a very personal matter and something that just warrants a trial. The best advice that I can give is to just experiment with these different methods and simply side with the one that sounds best or feels most comfortable. In any case, the Antipodes AMS web interface makes switching between the apps a breeze.
More Running In?
As the unit accumulated hours, it became ever so slightly lusher but the running in effect seems nowhere near as dramatic as with the earlier Antipodes models. I’m tempted to conclude that it simply does not change radically after the first few days. If I find that it does change its perspective as the months accumulate, I will add an addendum to this review.
Conclusion
The Oladra offers the familiar Antipodes qualities such as deep tonal saturation, lushness, liquidity, and organic flow but is more articulate, crisper, expressive, airier, and highly resolving than any of the models preceding it. Amazingly, it does all this without sounding even the tiniest bit cooler or more analytical. It offers higher resolution almost without one noticing, and that’s the best kind.
The unforced manner in which the Oladra operates makes for immediate surrender on the listener’s behalf. Meanwhile, compared to the K50, the Oladra offers a more exciting, incisive, and expressive rendition of everything you play. It all culminates in a performance that is ultimately more convincing and realistic.
The Oladra is incredibly refined and liquid, as well as lifelike in its expression and dynamics. It’s just so magnificently self-effacing that you don’t immediately notice its superlative communication skills until you start comparing it to other servers, even Antipodes’ own.
What the Oladra ultimately achieves better than any Antipodes server I reviewed before is very important yet often underestimated, which is that it lets the music be its unadulterated self. And because this is an Antipodes, it remains relaxed and will never sound lean, gray, or analytical. No matter what you play, it is reproduced with conviction and utter musicality, and above all, in an emotionally hugely involving manner.
Probably needless to say, I highly recommend the Oladra. It costs a small fortune but it looks absolutely stunning and it does deliver the sonic goods. Following this review, I traded the K50 for the Oladra, making it an HFA Favorite effective immediately.
Try out Roon for yourself
External Links
Distributor and Retailer for the Netherlands: Ohm Audio
Manufacturer: Antipodes Audio
Antipodes Knowledge Base
Antipodes Guides
Hi Christian,
Could you share your opinion about Oladra and Pink Faun Ultra 2.16 ?
Is there one better that the other or is there a matter of taste ?
Kind Regards
It’s been a while since I heard a Pink Faun server in my onw system. That was the 2.16x that I reviewed here on HFA in 2019 and I’m told that it changed since I heard it back then. Now in its Ultra incarnation, strides may certainly have been made and it may indeed no longer be the same machine. Nevertheless, following on a 2021 comparison that I did as part of a show report at PUUR AVD between the 2.16 Ultra and the Antipodes K50, I still found the Pink Faun to deliver a recognizable performance and my feeling is that the brand, like Antipodes, stayed true to its roots. So, while I have not compared the Pink Faun Ultra to the Oladra directly, I think it is safe to say that the relative differences still exist (Pink Faun tighter, more precise and analytical; Antipodes more relaxed and organic) although the Oladra has now gotten closer to the Pink Faun in terms of precision and transparency. With that, I would say it is mostly a matter of taste. But this is only an educated guess. Without hearing them side by side, that’s really all I can say on the matter.
Hello Christiaan,
Very informative review, thank you.
How would you rate the Oladra vs the Taiko Extreme ??
Thanks and regards,
Disclaimer: HFA is not my main job. I actually work for Taiko which is why there is no review of the Extreme music server on this site. As such, to avoid a conflict of interest, I really should not say anything about this in the comments either. All I can say is they are both great and both belong to the very select group of the best there is.
I am the happy owner of a K50 (mark1) and following all positive reviews of the Oladra, decided to have a 1 on 1 comparison with the K50 at the importer, expecting to be sold at the spot. Or the leave the K50 for an upgrade. But that did not happen.
Yes, I heard more detail and more distinct detail due to the overall very quiet background of the Oladra. And its soundstage was broader than that of the K50. And on technically perfect recordings, like the bass intro of Nils Lofgren live, the bass sounded more like a real bass on the Oladra, more natural and it was easy to conclude that the Oladra was the technically far more superior streamer.
But than I started to listen to the music I normally listen to. In when poets dreamed of angels (David Sylvian) all elements of the recording were presented more individually and more distinct on the Oladra, but I lacked the coherence which turns it into music. The K50 on comparison brought a certain energy which pulled the various elements together, created a certain ambiance, and it was in the end perhaps less detailed, less relaxed, less broad in its projection, but far more emotionally engaging to my ears. The voice of David Sylvian had that dark timbre again which I always loved so much. The same happened when I listed to War Baby (Tom Robinson twee meter sessies): his voice sounded far more desperate on the K50 than on the Oladra, giving this song its uniqueness. Ella on Round Midnight had that velvety layer attached to her voice which I missed on the Oladra. Same with the bite of Billie Holiday’s voice. This may be artifacts or a result of the power supplies, but the K50 created a certain energy, an ambiance, which I felt lacking in the Oladra.
For me the most convincing thing was when I listed to Dark necessities (RHCP) and Smoke on the water live (Deep Purple). The Oladra presented these songs with detail, but it simply lacked energy. It lacked punch. It lacked ambiance. Yes, I could hear the voice of Ian Gillan better, but the music did not grab me at all. Switching back to the K50, the energy in the music was back again and I was again taken by the music.
It remain obviously personal references, but for me it was clear that a technically superior apparatus does not mean that the end result is more enjoyable music. Nice to hear how a song is being recorded in all its detail, but I prefer to hear how it was meant to sound as a song. I remember the same feeling when I compared Naim to Linn ages ago.
So I am glad that I gave the Oladra – thanks to my wonderful importer – an extensive listening session and I am also glad that I did this time not automatically jump on the “this must be better, I need one” bandwagon. Listen to the music you normally listen to and let your belly speak I would say.