Introducing Olympus & Olympus I/O - A new perspective on modern music playback

For those who just started reading up on Olympus, Olympus I/O, and XDMI, please note that all information in this thread has been summarized in a single PDF document that can be downloaded from the Taiko Website.

https://taikoaudio.com/taiko-2020/taiko-audio-downloads

The document is frequently updated.

Scroll down to the 'XDMI, Olympus Music Server, Olympus I/O' section and click 'XDMI, Olympus, Olympus I/O Product Introduction & FAQ' to download the latest version.

Good morning WBF!​

We are introducing the culmination of close to 4 years of research and development. As a bona fide IT/tech nerd with a passion for music, I have always been intrigued by the potential of leveraging the most modern of technologies in order to create a better music playback experience. This, amongst others, led to the creation of our popular, perhaps even revolutionary, Extreme music server 5 years ago, which we have been steadily improving and updating with new technologies throughout its life cycle. Today I feel we can safely claim it's holding its ground against the onslaught of new server releases from other companies, and we are committed to keep improving it for years to come.

We are introducing a new server model called the Olympus. Hierarchically, it positions itself above the Extreme. It does provide quite a different music experience than the Extreme, or any other server I've heard, for that matter. Conventional audiophile descriptions such as sound staging, dynamics, color palette, etc, fall short to describe this difference. It does not sound digital or analog, I would be inclined to describe it as coming closer to the intended (or unintended) performance of the recording engineer.

Committed to keeping the Extreme as current as possible, we are introducing a second product called the Olympus I/O. This is an external upgrade to the Extreme containing a significant part of the Olympus technology, allowing it to come near, though not entirely at, Olympus performance levels. The Olympus I/O can even be added to the Olympus itself to elevate its performance even further, though not as dramatic an uplift as adding it to the Extreme. Consider it the proverbial "cherry on top".

 

...I have been considering building something much lower, but wider. I would like to reduce the visual "footprint" a bit more. Initially, I thought the NAS would be too noisy, even with SSDs, in the audio bunker, but it's A-OK. That changed the amount of linear shelf space I forecasted. Also, having the connections facing rear-ward is visually better, but man-o-man when you want to try a cable or different DCD filter, it's a suicide mission.

 

...I have been considering building something much lower, but wider. I would like to reduce the visual "footprint" a bit more. Initially, I thought the NAS would be too noisy, even with SSDs, in the audio bunker, but it's A-OK. That changed the amount of linear shelf space I forecasted. Also, having the connections facing rear-ward is visually better, but man-o-man when you want to try a cable or different DCD filter, it's a suicide mission.

This is one of the single biggest reasons why I never liked vertical stacking in a condensed space. When designing shelving/racks if possible, the ability to have access to maneuver is paramount for me...

 

Dear Emile and Steve and nonesup and all other users of O+I/O,

A follow-up question of the discussion above for your advice :
If stacking the Olympus on top of the Olympus I/O, the feet of Olympus may injure the surface coating of the Olympus I/O?

I guess this may happen no matter it's anodized or powder-coated because the Olympus is so heavy.

Are there any thin materials that can be placed between the feet of Olympus and the top surface of Olympus I/O for protection yet with minimal sonic side-effects?

Many thanks!

Hi @CKKeung ,

I understand your concern. This is one of the reasons we picked Acrylic as the footer material. It’s a “hard” material avoiding the mass-spring resonance which makes performance more predictable, especially when taking a rack/shelf into the equation. Acrylic is still softer than anodised or coated Aluminium and therefore should take the damage. Softer, rubber materials can stain surfaces over time. It doesn’t leave many other options, fabric, velt, leather are good options from preventing damage, but those do leave a very audible footprint unfortunately, paper is the best option, preferably a thicker craft paper, and has minimal impact.

So far, we have not managed to damage anything with the stock Acrylic footers with plenty of stacking action, just make sure they’re clean / dust free before stacking.

 

Hi @CKKeung ,

I understand your concern. This is one of the reasons we picked Acrylic as the footer material. It’s a “hard” material avoiding the mass-spring resonance which makes things unpredictable, especially when taking a rack into the equation. Acrylic is still softer than anodised or coated Aluminium. Softer, rubber materials can stain surfaces over time. It doesn’t leave many other options, fabric, velt, leather are good options from preventing damage, but those do leave a very audible footprint unfortunately.

So far though, have not managed to damage anything with the stock Acrylic footers, just make sure they’re clean before stacking.

Have you had the opportunity to listen to the I/O / Olympus side by side vs stacked?

 

Have you had the opportunity to listen to the I/O / Olympus side by side vs stacked?

I have. There is a benefit if you separate them. How big that benefit is really depends on a lot of factors and would be system-dependent.

We are setting up our room in Dallas:






Come say Hi in the Stemmons C room if you are at the show.

As part of the setup, I initially had the Taiko router on the floor, because my room partners wanted to display a turntable and we didn’t have enough shelves on the rack. I found a set of HifiStay Absolute Point feet and placed them under the router (while it was still on the floor). The improvement was so significant that we called a meeting and decided not to install or display a turntable. Instead, we used that shelf for the Taiko switch, router, and DC distributor. And since we didn’t need a phono stage either, that freed up another shelf—allowing us to separate the Olympus and I/O instead of stacking them (another improvement).

The difference these HifiStay racks made is crazy. If you separate the Olympus and I/O with these racks, you’ll never want to go back to stacking. And you may, just like us, decide you don't need your turntable (just kidding ... well, kind of ... ).
And stacking sounds pretty darn good—but you just don’t know what you’re missing until you try it.

I have been playing with one of there stands in my room too:


So far I have been impressed with HiFiStay and Critical Mass Systems. And not so impressed with a dozen or so other products I have tried recently.

 

I have. There is a benefit if you separate them. How big that benefit is really depends on a lot of factors and would be system-dependent.

We are setting up our room in Dallas:
View attachment 147737

View attachment 147738

View attachment 147739

Come say Hi in the Stemmons C room if you are at the show.

As part of the setup, I initially had the Taiko router on the floor, because my room partners wanted to display a turntable and we didn’t have enough shelves on the rack. I found a set of HifiStay Absolute Point feet and placed them under the router (while it was still on the floor). The improvement was so significant that we called a meeting and decided not to install or display a turntable. Instead, we used that shelf for the Taiko switch, router, and DC distributor. And since we didn’t need a phono stage either, that freed up another shelf—allowing us to separate the Olympus and I/O instead of stacking them (another improvement).

The difference these HifiStay racks made is crazy. If you separate the Olympus and I/O with these racks, you’ll never want to go back to stacking. And you may, just like us, decide you don't need your turntable (just kidding ... well, kind of ... ).
And stacking sounds pretty darn good—but you just don’t know what you’re missing until you try it.

I have been playing with one of there stands in my room too:
View attachment 147740

So far I have been impressed with HiFiStay and Critical Mass Systems. And not so impressed with a dozen or so other products I have tried recently.

Mine is stacked on Critical Mass Systems but the platform I use was built special for me by Joe Lavrencik to tolerate the weight load of the O/IO stacked

 

I have. There is a benefit if you separate them. How big that benefit is really depends on a lot of factors and would be system-dependent.

We are setting up our room in Dallas:
View attachment 147737

View attachment 147738

View attachment 147739

Come say Hi in the Stemmons C room if you are at the show.

As part of the setup, I initially had the Taiko router on the floor, because my room partners wanted to display a turntable and we didn’t have enough shelves on the rack. I found a set of HifiStay Absolute Point feet and placed them under the router (while it was still on the floor). The improvement was so significant that we called a meeting and decided not to install or display a turntable. Instead, we used that shelf for the Taiko switch, router, and DC distributor. And since we didn’t need a phono stage either, that freed up another shelf—allowing us to separate the Olympus and I/O instead of stacking them (another improvement).

The difference these HifiStay racks made is crazy. If you separate the Olympus and I/O with these racks, you’ll never want to go back to stacking. And you may, just like us, decide you don't need your turntable (just kidding ... well, kind of ... ).
And stacking sounds pretty darn good—but you just don’t know what you’re missing until you try it.

I have been playing with one of there stands in my room too:
View attachment 147740

So far I have been impressed with HiFiStay and Critical Mass Systems. And not so impressed with a dozen or so other products I have tried recently.

Have you looked into Wellfloat?

 

I have. There is a benefit if you separate them. How big that benefit is really depends on a lot of factors and would be system-dependent.

We are setting up our room in Dallas:
View attachment 147737

View attachment 147738

View attachment 147739

Come say Hi in the Stemmons C room if you are at the show.

As part of the setup, I initially had the Taiko router on the floor, because my room partners wanted to display a turntable and we didn’t have enough shelves on the rack. I found a set of HifiStay Absolute Point feet and placed them under the router (while it was still on the floor). The improvement was so significant that we called a meeting and decided not to install or display a turntable. Instead, we used that shelf for the Taiko switch, router, and DC distributor. And since we didn’t need a phono stage either, that freed up another shelf—allowing us to separate the Olympus and I/O instead of stacking them (another improvement).

The difference these HifiStay racks made is crazy. If you separate the Olympus and I/O with these racks, you’ll never want to go back to stacking. And you may, just like us, decide you don't need your turntable (just kidding ... well, kind of ... ).
And stacking sounds pretty darn good—but you just don’t know what you’re missing until you try it.

I have been playing with one of there stands in my room too:
View attachment 147740

So far I have been impressed with HiFiStay and Critical Mass Systems. And not so impressed with a dozen or so other products I have tried recently.

Vassil, just for another data point, I've been happy so far with my new O-I/O on the top 2 shelves of my ancient but still quite satisfactory Grand Prix Audio Monaco rack, with the carbon fiber shelves and Apex footers (always experimenting with equipment footers and dampers between shelves). I've got one rack in each corner of the room and they provide nice access from the back for cable swaps, etc.

 

Euphoria HiFi in Room 1411 (SouthWest Audio Fest 2025) playing Taiko Olympus and Olympus I/O (also have the Taiko router, switch, and DC Distributor on the back).




Sounding great!

 

Supreme Acoustic Systems and YG in the Stemmons C room (SouthWest Audio Fest 2025) also displaying Taiko Olympus, Olympus I/O, switch, router, and DC distributor.






The DC distributor filters were very handy in the final hour of room tuning.

 

Lots of Olympuses in Dallas!

 

Olympi-os

 

Lots of Olympuses in Dallas!

Last one @dminches...

Scott Walker in the Dardanelle room (SouthWest Audio Fest 2025) playing Taiko Olympus to MSB Cascade DAC.




They were initially using the USB output from the Olympus into their MSB Cascade DAC (via the MSB Pro ISL).
I brought along an MSB XDMI daughter card and quickly installed it for them.
This was a massive improvement - even with zero burn-in time, the XDMI MSB Pro card was a clear upgrade.
MSB Cascade owners likely have no idea how much performance they're leaving on the table without pairing it with an Olympus MSB XDMI.

 

A reel to reel and Olympus server. What else could someone ask for?

 

Which room sounds best?

 

Which room sounds best?

Wait until Sunday to draw conclusions on that score, I would think.

 

Hi Emile,

Is UPnP still on the table? I am not a Roon user.

 

I have. There is a benefit if you separate them. How big that benefit is really depends on a lot of factors and would be system-dependent.

We are setting up our room in Dallas:
View attachment 147737

View attachment 147738

View attachment 147739

Come say Hi in the Stemmons C room if you are at the show.

As part of the setup, I initially had the Taiko router on the floor, because my room partners wanted to display a turntable and we didn’t have enough shelves on the rack. I found a set of HifiStay Absolute Point feet and placed them under the router (while it was still on the floor). The improvement was so significant that we called a meeting and decided not to install or display a turntable. Instead, we used that shelf for the Taiko switch, router, and DC distributor. And since we didn’t need a phono stage either, that freed up another shelf—allowing us to separate the Olympus and I/O instead of stacking them (another improvement).

The difference these HifiStay racks made is crazy. If you separate the Olympus and I/O with these racks, you’ll never want to go back to stacking. And you may, just like us, decide you don't need your turntable (just kidding ... well, kind of ... ).
And stacking sounds pretty darn good—but you just don’t know what you’re missing until you try it.

I have been playing with one of there stands in my room too:
View attachment 147740

So far I have been impressed with HiFiStay and Critical Mass Systems. And not so impressed with a dozen or so other products I have tried recently.

Any reason for no shelves under the Olympus/I/O?

 

Any reason for no shelves under the Olympus/I/O?

This is actually the recommended way to use these stands. The shelves are optional and only needed if you can’t position your components directly on the stand. For example, I use a shelf to hold my router, switch, DC distributor, and LPS all together.

The stand has four integrated feet on each level - HiFiStay calls them PerfectPoint. You can move them around to sit exactly where your component needs support. You can also level each one if needed.


Not required, but HiFiStay also sent these to try out:

They replace the stock feet of the Olympus/I/O and sit nicely on top of the PerfectPoints.

This is the end result:

 

This is actually the recommended way to use these stands. The shelves are optional and only needed if you can’t position your components directly on the stand. For example, I use a shelf to hold my router, switch, DC distributor, and LPS all together.

The stand has four integrated feet on each level - HiFiStay calls them PerfectPoint. You can move them around to sit exactly where your component needs support. You can also level each one if needed.
View attachment 147890

Not required, but HiFiStay also sent these to try out:
View attachment 147916
They replace the stock feet of the Olympus/I/O and sit nicely on top of the PerfectPoints.

This is the end result:
View attachment 147915

Thanks. I bought a set of demos from Oz, but it was never clear to me that the shelves weren’t the preferred use-case.