Btw & fwiw….if I was starting from scratch, I would just have bought the Oladra to start with. I guess once you go down a certain path it’s always harder to change to another.
I blame @clive101 for bringing his Oladra to my house and comparing it to my K50, prior to which I had no intention or interest in purchasing an Oladra but during that visit it became obvious to Clive and to me that I probably was going to get an Oladra because once the difference is heard it is difficult to ignore it! Having said that I bear Clive no ill will and do not regret getting the Oladra. 
But anyway that is a different matter and I mention Clive because he was one of the first to start using my own manufacture WAVE High Fidelity Storm bnc cables to output from his then K50 and now with his Oladra and that of course is what I use from my own Oladra. I have tried the AES output from the K50 & Oladra and to my ears the bnc output is my favoured sound either direct to my Dave or via the Mscaler.
In passing, if any peeps in the UK would like to try a Wave Storm bnc cable just message me and I’m happy to send out a demo cable to try for a couple of weeks.
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Yes indeed…it is not possible to “unhear” what one has heard. A couple of observations:
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The music server (& more broadly…the digital interface) categories are fast developing / product cycles shorterning rapidly given the level of innovation in play (for example the relatively short time spans between the two iterations of the K50 & the Oladra launches). So at pricing levels >USD $20k one has to be more significantly judicious these days.
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Whilst all of human progress is predicated on chasing the next best thing (& we are biologically hard wired to do so via dopamine), there’s a balancing act to finding joy & happiness in what we are already possess.
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And even if money is no object in the context of this passion/hobby, a situation where the “chase” because more satisfying than the “capture” is problematic for me personally (acknowledging everyone is different). And this is doubly the case where the pleasure of listening to and getting lost in one’s music is compromised (I am guilty as charged on both counts
All that said, Antipodes has developed an absolutely masterful and class leading product in the Oladra, and I’m sure (based on its proven track record) that it will continue to innovate successful, delivering better and better products. Bravo the Antipodes team!
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Good to see it was a well considered comment. I am pretty sure there are much better cables than Pearl and Vodka.
Yep, that is what most people find with audio network improvements.
Crazy man, you should not have listened to it!
Very wise words, and that is exactly what the commercial marketing is driven by to produce better and better things to tempt the addiction and dismiss or forget the satisfaction we already enjoy. Gratitude and contentment go a long way. Be strong, resist the temptation of curiosity!
This a perfectly worthwhile outcome for those who are genuinely not satisfied with what they have and have the resources to comfortably acquire. The up side is the lessons from class leading innovations usually trickles down to products that are not crazy to consider.
I hope your can appreciate the tongue in cheek humour, I am not having a go, we all probably all victims at some time.
I pretty much rely on people buying the latest and greatest. It drives innovation for better, that trickles down, and releases great products at used prices that are more realistic for me.
Where would we be if Steve Jobs said “umm, the ipod is fine, people don’t need an iphone”. 14 versions later here we are with a whole industry of mobile devices and software and interactions that was never even dreamed of.
Anyhow, we should not go too far off topic. I eagerly await the Oladra 2 so I can afford a K40.
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……comfortably acquire…I do wonder about how many genuinely fall into this category. Not sure I do myself quite a fair bit of the time! .There’s a Jay-Z quote that goes….(& btw for the record I’m not a fan)……”if you can’t buy it twice, you can’t afford it” 
it’s a clever quote because there are two levels/sides to it…the more obvious interpretation, which is pertinent in this context and as my son (who’s the fan)tells me the other side, which s what Jay-Z was actually referring to….one-off unique pieces. Bit of a random tangent….my apologies……but that’s what immediately sprung to mind when I read your comment.
They do make world class products (and being a relatively small NZ company) are punching well above their weight….so despite my own personal frustrations with its rapid product life cycling, I do try and make a point of giving them due praise.
The Shunyata sigma does look very appealing.
Cheers, Alex
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I have just traded my K50 plus PhoenixNet Switch and SOTM Cat8 Ehternet cable for a new Oladra. The Oladra with no upstream network filtering etc sounds much much better - it is rich, organic and just alive.
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Thanks for update and sharing initial, brief experience. Can you please post follow up of your longer term, sustained impressions and once it has fully bedded into your system. In particular keen to also know what power/ethernet/digital cables, network switch and dac you are using in your set up. And also whether it is absolutely all “one-way traffic” across every performance dimension (and in particular the air and separation around instruments) vs K50 and if not, where any trade offs are… Enjoy! 
My system is not particularly sophisticated from a digital perspective. The Oladra is connected to my router with Premium Belden 1303E CATSNAKE Cat6a Ethernet Network Cable. This is unshielded to avoid acting as an ariel for RF as it is 15m long!. The sound with this cable was to my ears superior to adding in a PhoenixNet Switch and SOTM Cat 8 cable whne I had the K50. With the Oladra inserted there is a very significant step up. Soundstage is much wider and deeper and also taller if that makes sense. Harmonic richness is greatly enhanced particularly in high to mid frequencies. As I love accoustic music this is ideal. The sound is vibrant and rich with outstanding PRAT - pace, rhythm, timing and attack. This creates a live feel to music with clear leading edges to music and retention of detail as notes fade. . The purity of high frequencies - violin etc - is simply breathtaking at times. Base is tight and not flabby and very articulate. You can follow instruments clearly in their own space. No Idea how Antipodes have achieved this
My overall system is aimed at creating a live sound - My amplifier is an Aavik u-300 which includes a built in dedicated DAC and an outstanding phono stage. It is class D but sounds like class A with balls. Interconnects are an esoteric brand cable Live Cable Halo. Ridiculously expensive but sound better than Nordost Odin. Rest of system is an SME 20/3 turntable, SME V arm with Grado Aeon 3 cartridge. All playing through YG Accoutstic Carmel 2 speakers which suit my small music room 5mx4m and produce an articulate and rich sound.
I don’t have any further plans for majr upgrades beyond possibly adding a Network Accoustics Eno to see if that improves things? Really not convinced that Network switches will add a thing to the Oladra after my Innuous PhoenixNet experience.
Cheers
Forgot to add details of on power conditioning. Everything is powered via a Synergistic Research SX Powercell which is plugged into a dedicated mains ring via a Synergistic Research Gallileo Power Cord. Oladara and turntable use Boenicke M2 Power cords while the Aavik uses a Live Cable Xtreme PC. All items including the Powercell are connected to a Synergistic Research Active Ground Block for signal gronding - acts like a star ground.
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Very nice set up. You are very well sorted. Yep i heard the same things with Oladra. Enjoy, you lucky man.
Thanks Musiclover - 45 years of HiFi building.
This is surprising. I note the Belden cable is S/FTP which is shielded, but perhaps (and I hope) in this case the shield is not connected/floating at the Oladra end. Over 15m there is a high likelihood fibre will perform better than Cat 6a, subject to using good SFPs and devices (eg. at least use 10G/SFP+ switches and modules at either end of the fibre or probably better to use Sonore Optical Module or audiophile type switches with excellent power supply and clocks).
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Hi dbastin2605. The Belden cable is floating at both ends as you highlight. I have not looked into fibre yet but once my broadband is upgraded to full fibre it would seem a good potential area to upgrade. Will reach out when I do to avoid further costly mistakes - although Elite Audio were good about my return of the PhoenixNet
Cool. I gather cable sheilds should usually attached to ground at one end to drain somewhere.
I did do a bit of research and opinion seemed to suggest that floating at both ends was best to avoid the ariel effect of a long ethernet cable - could be a mix of opinions however. Sounds pretty good atm. Various forums indicated that Belden Cat 6a cable was a really cost effective and open/live sounding cable and a better option than Supra Cat 8 etc.
A lot to learn in this new digital world. All I really know is that the Oladra sounds miles better than my MBL 1621 A transport which it replaced and the MBL is considered one of the best transports ever built.
Thanks for relating your experiences.
I guess my only thought is that comments such as ‘open/live sounding cable’ rings a few alarm bells with me (I am a digital cable manufacturer) because often such comments will be attributable to a system with more noise in it.
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I believe that attaching the shield at one end will help to keep the cable from acting like an antenna.
Appreciate the constructive feedback - always open to potential improvements. Is there a simple way of shielding one end of my ethernet cable to see if noise is an issue?
Your best bet might be to just put it up against a fully shieled cable and see what you hear.
I suppose you mean ‘compare’ it with cables that are fully shielded or shield atatched at one end. 15m of cable is probbaly not practical to do this.
it is possible the shield has been cut off at each end to prevent it contacting anything. You will need to take apart the connector to see, and if so insert wire to connect from from shield to ground. This will give you clues … Field assembly RJ45-plug MFP8 Cat.6A assembly | Telegärtner - YouTube
It is my observation that one needs to reduce the noise floor of a system a great deal to reveal the true open/live sound captured in the recording. One experience is that on the journey of reduciung noise a system sounds somewhat dull, until more noise is stripped away.