Control the Olive 4 Music Server with an iPhone App

We hope you didn't miss our Unplggd Test Lab review of the swanky but gorgeous Olive 4 Home Music Server. We were less than impressed by it's clunky, plastic remote, but there's good news: There's an even better (and better looking!) way to control the Olive 4.

The iMaestro application from Olive Media lets you control your Olive 4 Hi-Fi Server from anywhere using your iPhone or iPod Touch. Best of all: It's free!

Browse your library of songs, search for artists, or view album information all from your phone. When you're ready to jam, you can adjust the volume, set a playlist to repeat or shuffle, or rate a track.

When you first launch Maestro, you'll need to enter the IP address from your Olive unit's network (Their site gives a quick rundown on how to get it from Olive's on-board touch controls), but that's as tough as setup goes.

All in all, it's a vast improvement to the bulky remote the Olive 4 comes with. And once you've dropped the cash for a top-of-the-line music server, "free" is a pretty good price to pay for a sleeker remote.

Via Olive's Web site

Comments (2)

Sonos has been doing this for a while.

Sonos > Olive.

That is all.

Elvedon -- I work with Olive, and feel the need to point out that you’re comparing two dramatically different devices when you say that Sonos is superior to Olive. Sonos makes a fine product, to be sure, but its primary purpose is streaming music from one’s PC throughout one’s house.

Although Olive does offer a wireless streaming device, our main focus is serving music at an audiophile level, without an audiophile price. The Olive 4HD stores 2TB worth of music, rips and burns CDs and can reproduce 24-bit, 192 kHz recordings with sparkling clarity. This is simply not Sonos' domain (nor do they claim it to be).

The best point of comparison is probably that both companies offer free apps to turn an iPhone into a remote control.

Sonos has a devoted user base for a reason -- they make quality components. But a preference for Sonos over Olive (or Olive over Sonos, for that matter) is largely a matter of usage, not of the product itself.