Audio Output Options

Standard and Specialised Digital Outputs

Oladra offers a standard audio output option for most users, and additional dealer-swappable options for systems with more specific needs.

The standard output is USB only. For the majority of users, this is the best solution: it is supported by nearly every DAC, accommodates the broadest range of formats and sample rates, minimises live ports, power rails, and interfaces, and provides the most universally capable connection between source and DAC. The USB option is available now.

Oladra will offer other dealer-swappable output configurations such as USB + AES3 and USB + S/PDIF, with S/PDIF available on RCA, BNC, or TOSLINK as required. These are provided as alternatives, not additions: only one output may be used at a time, because in digital audio architecture, less is often more.

The same applies to making connections. Where a unit is fitted with, for example, USB + AES3, only the connection in use should be fitted between DAS and DAC. Leaving a second cable connected creates an unnecessary additional path between source and DAC, introducing extra grounding and interface interactions that do nothing to serve the signal.

Some users will want an output shaped around a particular DAC. These may include options such as Dual-AES, I2S with clock-slaving, or other DAC-specific interfaces, as outlined on the Connections page. Oladra will progressively release these specialised output options over time.

So the approach is simple: USB for most users, and carefully chosen alternatives where a particular DAC or system calls for something more specific.

Streaming to a DAC over Ethernet

Some DACs accept audio over Ethernet, and some users wish to use this approach.

Antipodes DAS have facilitated this in the past giving the server two Ethernet ports: one for the network, and one for the DAC, with the DAC effectively reaching the network through the server.

The Oladra Platform approaches this differently. Instead of the server performing that switching role, the Oladra platform is designed to use a dedicated three-port switch, with the Oladra and the DAC each connected to the switch, and the third port connected to the network.

The reasoning is simple: if Ethernet distribution is required, it is better handled by a high-quality low-noise switch than by the server itself. That keeps the roles clearer, and the solution more purposeful. The switch serves the additional purpose of improving audio performance with streaming services.

Oladra will release an ideal switch for this use. Until then, the same principle applies with a well-designed audiophile switch.