Review Context
The Oladra will predominantly be listened to using Roon but I will also briefly touch on its performance using Squeeze. The main system consists in the basis of the CH Precision C1.2 DAC, CH Precision L1 preamplifier, CH Precision A1.5 power amp, and Magico S1 MkII speakers. Other digital sources include the Grimm MU1 and Antipodes K50 Music Servers.
All interlinks are Driade Flow Link Reference 808, both balanced and unbalanced. The speaker cables are the Mad Scientist Black Magic. For this review, the Oladra will be used predominantly with its Reclocker AES/EBU output via a Jorma AES/EBU cable but I will also briefly touch on the performance using its USB output using a Final Touch Audio Sinope cable.
To allow for comparison on fully equal grounds, I decided to place both the K50 and Oladra on their own Artesania Aire floor platforms with Carbon Fiber Linear Arms and KSH2 Krion shelves.
Running In
When I got the K50 new in 2020, Mark Jenkins informed me that it would change considerably while running in. And indeed, this turned out to be very true. In a nutshell, the K50 (and the K41/K22) sounds hugely involving right out of the box but is relatively a little edgy and hard on the edges, and compared to its ultimate fully-ripened presentation, a little “tensioned”. Over the first days, it soon gained more lushness and relaxed smoothness while shedding the slight electronic signature to become more organic. This process deepened over the next months and even continued slowly developing for three-quarters of a year.
The Oladra was also delivered brand-spanking new and so I assumed it would exhibit a similar running-in characteristic. After allowing it to acclimatize for a day, I connected it to power and let it simmer for a few days. Interestingly, when I listened to it after those 3 or 4 days, there was no hardness whatsoever that I could detect. What I did detect right away, though, was that it wasn’t just a little better, but it really did perform very noticeably on a higher level than the K50.
Reclocker Outputs
The Reclocker section is a proprietary Antipodes board that feeds the digital output section. As I found with the K50, K41, and K22, this section is largely responsible for the Antipodes trademark natural, free-flowing, fluid and organic presentation. The Reclocker section outputs to S/PDIF on RCA and BNC, Optical TOSlink, AES3, and I2S on RJ45 and HDMI, and all these outputs can be used simultaneously. As the Reclocker Outputs have consistently provided the best results for me with Antipodes servers, that’s what I will be using for the bulk of this review.
Upon making a selection in the User Interface, the Oladra can alternatively output via USB. In that case, the signal bypasses the Reclocker section, which results in a different sonic presentation which I will also assess further below.
Listening
Coming from the K50, the Oladra offers an overall very similar presentation in that it delivers all the traits that I have come to expect from an Antipodes server but it is also undeniably better in several relevant areas. Switching back and forth between the two, one might argue the similarities are perhaps greater than the differences. But I would counter that it takes only half a minute to appreciate the deeper impact of these differences. And once appreciated, going back to the K50 all of a sudden makes the Oladra’s superiority very clear.
Whereas the two servers share the familiar Antipodes key qualities of sounding natural, deeply saturated, free-flowing, liquid, and organic pretty much in equal measure, the Oladra is more articulate, crisper, more expressive, airier, and more highly resolving than any of the models that preceded 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.
Sometimes, we can be impressed by a very explicit and immediate sound that has seemingly very high resolution but the danger is that this feeling of extra detail can be caused by artifacts, much as it can be the case with over-sharpened and overly bright images on TVs.
Conversely, 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, more incisive, and more expressive rendition of everything you play. If that may still sound like merely a technical advantage, then let me add that it all culminates in a performance that is ultimately more convincing and realistic. Thanks to its more spritely nature, music sounds timbrally more natural. Acoustic instruments relay more of their physical properties and the materials of which they are comprised, upright bass sounding more physical and imposing, piano sounding more like the complex wood, steel, and string instrument that it is, and vocals possessing more of a spine-tingling quality.
The Oladra’s bass, while in essence similarly relaxed as that of the K50, nevertheless operates in a more light-footed manner. It’s very far from being lean, mind you, no Antipodes server is, and it is most certainly not lacking in color or substance, but it sure feels speedier and more agile. Like a tuned racecar, more eager to take fast turns.
When the Oladra arrived, I still had the K41+K22 combo at hand. After having listened to the Oladra for a handful of songs and then going back to the K41+K22 combo that I reviewed so favorably only a little while ago, I was perplexed to find the combo sounding darker, drier, with remarkably robust bass, but somehow more mechanical. How was this possible?
Of course, while the K-combo had seen many weeks of use, going from my experience with the K50, there is a good possibility that a lot more playing time was needed to reach ultimate performance. But this does not tell the entire story because the Oladra not only sounds nimbler, more highly resolving, more light-footed, and more expressive, but also significantly more fluid and organic even with a few days of use.
It’s something of a miracle that the Oladra manages to sound so natural and unforced while retaining good speed and PRaT. But sure enough, the server 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. It does not superimpose character. 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, with soul-touching communication skills. Vocals, in particular, take on an overwhelmingly natural and human quality.
Of the server and streamers that I currently have at hand, the Oladra is by far the most spacious, especially in the width plane. It consistently throws a wider stage and fills the room with ambiance more effortlessly than either the Grimm MU1 or the Aqua LinQ. By projecting far into the depth plane whilst not being forward in any way, it provides more of a mid-hall perspective whereas the Grimm and Aqua, due to their more direct and explicit transient behavior, provide a crisper and more up-close perspective. Neither provide more clarity or insight than the Oladra but depending on the music, the Grimm and Aqua could sometimes perform in a more exciting and impactful manner while the Oladra performs in a lusher, more soulful, and emotionally more involving manner.
But while comparatively on the rich and smooth side, it is every bit as upbeat and well-paced and, this is especially noteworthy, even more highly resolving. But perhaps most importantly, in terms of refinement, fluidity, and air, it simply performs on another level. This quality alone may be exactly what analog aficionados have been after for decades. If other servers so far have sounded “rough” “hard”, or “digital” before, you really should listen to the Oladra as its liquid yet precise and highly-resolving treble performance is truly something special.
Next: USB Output and Alternative Apps
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.