Oladra Guide

Oladra DAS

Installation

Place Oladra on a level shelf with good ventilation, away from direct heat and sunlight.
Connect power, network, and one digital audio output to your DAC.

Hardware Performance Advice

Some power conditioner circuits may limit performance, so it is worth experimenting to find what sounds best.
Leave the unit powered on for best results. A reboot once a week is ample to refresh memory.
For new units, performance will continue to settle over time, particularly the first 250 hours of music playback.
If the unit has been fully powered off for more than a few hours, it may take a few days to re-stabilise.
The differences between high-quality cables can appear subtle, but the benefits to musical engagement emerge over extended listening.
Ensure your control device and Oladra are on the same network - see network advice at the bottom of this page.

Powering On/Off

The front panel has two buttons and four status LEDs.

Power on

Switch the rear power switch ON (Standby LED lights).
Press the front Power button.
Wait for the last step to complete (far-left network (green) LED on).

Power off (Standby)

Press the front Power button again.
Wait until the unit returns to Standby.

Lights

Press Lights to toggle LEDs on/off.
Pressing Power will wake the LEDs.

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Discover

Power on your Oladra DAS.

Open Oladra Play on your device.

Your Oladra will appear on the Discover screen.

Press Play for your Oladra.

If your Oladra is not shown, see Network Issues (below).

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Play Music

Pressing Play on the Discover screen opens your current playback app.

Select the back arrow (top-left) to return to Discover if you want to change the setup.

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Changing Setup

Select the spanner icon to open Manage.

From Manage, you can set up disks, import files, change apps, and more.

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Playback Apps

Local Play

Local Play sends music to your DAC via USB, AES3, S/PDIF or I²S (depending on the output modules installed).

Select an app to launch it and make it the current playback method.

Press and hold (or right-click) to reveal more options.

Network Play

Network Play shows server apps that support your Local Play choice, plus other server apps used to stream to compatible endpoints on your network.

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Customise Apps

Select the toggle icon to choose which apps are shown. Select it again when finished.

For Local Play, only the selected app runs. The others are stopped.

For Network Play, you can turn off any server apps you do not use. This reduces unnecessary background activity.

All apps remain installed, and you can turn any app back on at any time. Apps take a minute or so to start.

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Customise Name

Selecting the Edit icon on either the Discover or Manage screen opens a dialog to rename your Oladra DAS.

This is useful if you have more than one Oladra on your network.

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Information

Click the ... (three-dots) menu for more information.

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Library

Select the Library icon at the bottom of the Manage screen to open the Library page.

Disk Manager — prepare and manage additional SSD storage
File Manager — move and organise music files from a desktop or laptop
Network Share — add music from a NAS or shared folder without copying it to the Oladra

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Disk Manager

Disk Manager displays storage disks attached to your Oladra, including status, size, usage, and available space.

If your Oladra is fitted with the Extended Storage motherboard, you can add or remove one or two disks via the rear panel.

Data disks are discrete, so user-installed disks can be added or removed individually.

Important

Insert or remove disks only with Oladra powered down.

After changing disks, any server apps you use should complete a rescan.

Disk Status

Connected — disk is currently part of your library
Available — disk is ready to be added to your library (select to connect)
Preparation Needed — disk must be formatted before use (select to prepare; formatting will erase existing data)

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File Manager

File Manager is available for Sentia and Presence when using Oladra Play on a desktop or laptop.

It lets you drag and drop music files to and from your Oladra.

The Local Files panel lets you select the location of your music.

Use Select Folder to open network drives, OneDrive folders, Dropbox folders, and other network locations.

Use the left file column to select the music folders you want to copy, then drag them to the right file column — your Oladra storage.

The Library files panel displays current storage usage.

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Manage Network Shares

Use this screen to include network shares in your library without copying files to Oladra.

Open Library, then open the Network Share app. Available network shares will be displayed.

Share Status

Connected — share is currently included in your library
Available — share can be connected
Reconnect Required — a previously connected share needs to be reconnected (for example, after it has been restarted)

Select your target share to connect it. You may need to enter login credentials.

If your target is not listed, select Add Device (see the next screen).

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Add Network Share

Use this form to enter the network share location and any required login credentials, then connect it to your library.

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Advanced Settings

Open Manage, then select Settings at the bottom of the screen.

This is where you access updates and advanced configuration options.

Resolving Network Issues

In some cases, a network setup will allow devices to access the internet, but not allow devices on the same premises to communicate with each other. This can prevent Oladra Play from finding your Oladra, even though both devices appear to be working normally.

This section explains the most common causes and how to resolve them.

Oladra Is Not Connected To Your Network

Check whether the Network LED on your Oladra is on.
You can also check your router’s device list (or use an IP scanner app) to see whether the Oladra appears on the network.

If the Oladra does not appear to be connected:

Check physical connections
Confirm that the Ethernet cable is fully inserted at both ends.
Try a different Ethernet cable
Faulty cables are more common than expected.
Temporarily remove any audiophile network devices
Remove any “audiophile” switch or network regenerator between your Oladra and your router. Some devices use non-standard or older network methods to optimise sound, but this can introduce compatibility issues.
Restart the network and devices
Power down your Oladra and your remote device.
Restart your router and wait at least 2 minutes.
Then restart your Oladra and remote device.
Test with a direct connection to the router
Move the Oladra next to the router (if practical), connect it directly to the router, and restart both devices.
This helps eliminate the possibility of a fault in the cabling between your router and stereo system.

Oladra Is Connected But Does Not Appear In Oladra Play

Sometimes the Oladra is connected to the network, but Oladra Play cannot find it.

In most cases, this means your remote device and the Oladra are on different networks or subnets, so they cannot “see” each other.

Common causes include:

Your remote device is using cellular data
If your phone or tablet is using the cellular network instead of your home Wi-Fi, it will not be on the same local network as your Oladra.
Remedy:
Connect your remote device to your home Wi-Fi.
A VPN is enabled on your remote device
Some VPN services prevent local network discovery and local device communication.
Remedy:
Turn off the VPN on your remote device and try again.
There is more than one router issuing IP addresses (DHCP)
If your remote device receives its IP address from one router and your Oladra receives its IP address from another, they may end up on different subnets.
Remedy:
Ensure both devices connect to the same main router, or disable DHCP on all secondary routers so only one router assigns IP addresses.
A mesh Wi-Fi system has created a second subnet
Many mesh Wi-Fi systems are shipped with DHCP enabled by default. This can create a separate subnet for devices connected to the mesh.
Internet access may still work normally, but devices on different subnets may not communicate with each other.
Remedy:
Disable DHCP on the mesh hub (or put it into bridge/access point mode), so your remote device and Oladra are on the same subnet.
Internet service in a multi-unit dwelling uses device isolation (PVLAN / port isolation)
In some apartment or shared-building networks, devices are intentionally isolated from each other for security. Internet access works, but local device-to-device communication is blocked.
Remedy:
Ask the building owner or network provider whether they can provide a dedicated VLAN (or equivalent network segment) for your dwelling so your devices can communicate with each other.
Your work-from-home secure network is isolating your device
Some employer-managed secure connections or device policies block access to local devices.
Remedy:
Use a remote device that is not connected to the employer-managed secure network (or temporarily disconnect that secure connection if permitted).

If You Are Comfortable Checking IP Addresses

If you are a little computer-savvy, you can often identify the problem quickly:

Compare the IP addresses of your remote device and your Oladra.
If the first part of the address is different (for example, 192.168.1.x vs 192.168.50.x), they are likely on different subnets.
If they appear to be on the same subnet, try to ping the Oladra from your remote device (or another computer on the same network).
If ping fails, and you are in a multi-unit dwelling, PVLAN or port isolation may be in effect.

Last Resorts

While we cannot reconfigure your network for you, a remote support session may help identify the cause of the problem.

If convenient, the most definitive way to isolate the issue is to return the Oladra to your local Oladra Partner for testing and assistance with your network setup.

Your network is a key part of your music system and deserves proper attention.