Dear Mark
A bit disappointing for the early adapters of the K50. We make this model a (financial) success. I understand off course that it needs more effort to upgrade but………
Further I do not need a better USB because I do use the (better sounding) AES connection to my DAC.
Best Regards
Robert
These upgrades look very interesting as I have a K30 and have been ‘toying’ with the idea of changing to a K50 but as it always sounds so good, I wonder about the value of the change. However, the upgrade cost for the K30 is less than changing to a K50 so I was wondering if you could comment on where an upgraded K30 would sit in the hierarchy?
I suppose the question really is would an upgraded K30 sound subjectively better, worse or equal to the original K50?
Thanks
Hi Mark
Great work, an exciting time for those fortunate enough to be 1st gen Oladra or K-series owners.
For us CX+EX owners, can we expect any trickle-down in due course?
Thanks
Andy
Thats reassuring to know @NickBacon because i will likely (in fact I have already submitted an online request to Antipodes) upgrade to the K50 mk3 (likely more “easeful” again) whilst awaiting further developments on the Oladra front. I do know someone else who used his PhoenixNet initially with his K50 mk2 before upgrading to the Oladra. After he upgraded to the Oladra he was adamant that it sounded better without the PhoenixNet. When I offered to buy his PhoenixNet he wouldn’t sell it. That spoke volumes to me at the time so I immediately bought mine new. It only remained a nagging doubt in an Oladra context (until you chipped in) becuase the person referred to has put together/owns the very best system I have ever heard and so I am careful to discount what he says too quickly.
@glos_olly
Unfortunately CX and EX have reached the end of upgradability, there is no room left in the case.
CX and EX will remain at OLADRA G3 technology.
I had intended suggesting product development on the network switch front (but never got round to it until I saw this post) because it is a natural adjacency and my own experiments in a home network context has shown that audiophile network switches can be very beneficial indeed.
Buying an Antipodes switch would provide greater peace of mind than from another manufacturer knowing that it will have been developed to be optimised in use with Antipodes’ own music servers.
Fortunately my PhoenixNet works really well with my K50 mk2, but there is always a worry that this might chnage with future upgrades /or new Antipodes products.
FWIW, given my relatively indepth explorations/first hand experiences in this area, I’d definitely be a buyer if Antipodes developed and launced an audiophile network switch in the $3-5k range.
An Antipodes router as hinted at elsewhere would be a much more enticing proposition.
Yes agree and would be a real differentiator for Antipodes vs the competition, who are all preoccupied with switches.
Hope springs eternal, but I’m not surprised to hear that.
Given what you’ve reported about USB output improvements, is it worth upgrading my USB cable (currently Cardas c£500) or am I trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear and better saving the cash for a K series or Oladra (in my dreams) upgrade?
If a K series model is too big a next step in the near term, it may also be worth consideing your network switch and/or its power supply (depending on what you/if there’s an upgrade opportunity there too).
But yeah, i went from a CX/EX to a K50 and never looked back.
Once i got my head around how fast this product category was/is moving, i kinda found it a bit easier to rationalise/justify a 3-4 year product lifecycle to myself.
But admitedly it is tough as the cost increases exponentially as they need to for companies to recoup considerable upfront R&D investment. FWIW, relative to competitor pricing and product performance, i do find Antipodes to be class leading, and that also helps to lessen the pain when it comes to forking out the $s.
Curious does the up grade for the K50 improve the computer power to get better HQ PLAYER processing speeds
I have taken a slight leap of faith and have placed an order with the Uk dealer Elite Audio to have my Oladra upgraded as soon as they receive the parts.
Musiclover
Thanks for your thoughts. My CX+EX is Oladra upgraded, input side is wi-fi bridge to a TP-link mesh unit with low-noise PS, grounding block and connected by Quiescent RJ-E cables. Power is by Puritan cables from a Furutech schuko block. The CX+EX are on a sheet of slate supported by Bassocontinuo Ultra Feet, to Naim Fraimlite.
I might be able to do a bit more with noise suppression on the TP-link unit but to be honest I think there is little further to be gained, the Quiescent cables already do a superb job.
The remaining options to squeeze the maximum performance from the CX+EX are (I think) USB cable upgrade, grounding the CX+EX themslves or replacing the Furutech block with something like the Puritan mains unit or maybe even adding a Shunyata Typhon.
I think I’d need to go K50 (which isn’t the prettiest thing to my eyes) or Oladra to get a worthwile step forward, the cost of which brings other alternatives into play like moving to a Vitus RI-101 mk2 or their SCD-025 transport/DAC (there is currently a very tempting pre-loved one of those on the market). Whilst I’ve been very happy with my Aqua La Scala DAC I’m not sure putting a £20k or £30k streamer in front of it makes sense.
Just read this and my initial reaction was “Bugger” as I just took delivery of my new Oladra 2 weeks ago and there was no hint of an upgrade from my dealer.
No big deal as I don’t use USB and am not spending £4k for a slight improvement in the player board as the Oladra is glorious in it current spec.
Thank you and Antipodes for upgrading our current models this is greatly appreciated.
I am on the fence as to upgrade.
In reference to an Oladra upgrade.
Earlier you mentioned you now prefer USB out but I am lead to believe USB SQ level has come up to BNC out, what makes you prefer the USB out?
Please could you help me understand to performance gains that @antipodes describes is it all in the player engine?
As I see it the if the USB is give or take the same SQ level as BNC, S/PDIFF, AES surely all the upgrade in SQ is in the player engine?
With out any trade secrets what is the new player engine, is it a new motherboard?
Thank you.
On the plus side & another way to look at it, is that if you hadn’t pressed the button when you did, then buying an Oladra after the revision would now have cost you $4000 more.
Should you ever decide to upgrade to MKII status, then it’s only going to cost you the difference between what you paid for yours & the cost of the revised version, so you’re onto a winner either way.
Those that dithered about & couldn’t decide whether to jump or not (like me) don’t now have the same luxury of choice as yourself. You got in just in the knick of time, good move. 
You are right - ever considered a career in psychotherapy 
@glos_olly Looks like you have a great system. Nice work.
For a very long time, I was really preoccupied with Dacs when it came to the digital realm and spent alot of money on various upgrades/side ways moves.
In my context, what i’ve come to learn from experience is that the source (and not just the music server itself per se, but also what feeds it) is actually the most important (in my case after my room and speakers).
i have had Dacs in my system ranging from my portable Chord Hugo 2 to a friend’s DCS Rossini and quite a few others in between these two bookends (including my main Dac which is tube based). What I can definitively conclude form these experiments is that in my set up & with my ears, the differences between Dacs was very much diminished by having the K50 as compared with my CX/EX combo which I subsequently sold to trade up to the K50.
I suspect that “diminishment” would increase again substantially with an Oladra (which I have demo’d in my set up, but not when I was doing the Dac experiments).
So what does all the mean? If I was staring all over and had a choice of spending more on an Antipodes music server vs a Dac, I would definitely channel more funds into the music server. With the only caveat being that musics server product server development is currently cycling way faster than Dacs so its not so straight forward a judgement/decision.
Hope this helps. Good luck and keep us posted.
Ps…For full disclosure, i have no experience with R2R Dacs, which I think yours is. And it is by all accounts a fantastic DaC.
Pps & FWIW…here’s how funds have been deployed across my various digital componets & supporting power infrastructure:
Network switch 8%, music server 34% Dac 31%, power conditioner & power cables 27% And as per one of my earlier posts, if i was starting out all over again, i’d habe bought the Oladra instead of K50 and spent less on the Dac. And i might also have spent more on power cables than on the Dac. Again all based on direct experience in my own unique context.
Btw for anyone wondering why I didnt include digital cables in my funds deployed %s…it’s because there is not as good a price/performance correlation with the cables i have experimented with. Whereas with servers, Dacs, switches, and power infras5ruture, there definitely is a much better correlation…noting that i have also found that the most expensive of these components have not always been the “best” in terms of what i have been looking for/value.