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".

 

Curious, I remember awhile back you mentioning you couldn't run the H at 63. Did you find when running XDMI with the H you could bump the volume higher on the H?

I can run my Horizon at 63, even balanced, but I have been running it single-ended.

 

Day 9 with the analog card.

Tonally, things are really falling into place. The bass is big and tight, the mids are silky and the highs are how they should sound. Tons of detail. I don’t see much need for refinement here.

I expect the next round of break-in will open up the sound even more.

 

Day 9 with the analog card.

Tonally, things are really falling into place. The bass is big and tight, the mids are silky and the highs are how they should sound. Tons of detail. I don’t see much need for refinement here.

I expect the next round of break-in will open up the sound even more.

It brings a smile to my face David. I knew the wait was excruciating but truth be told once you listen it makes it all worth it. I’m glad you’re excited again.

 

Part-time Audiophile was at Munich. A nice little write up mentioning Taiko Audio:

Western Electric, Taiko and YG Acoustics | FLAX 2025

Hi-Fi news, gear reviews, and interviews

pt.audio

(Picture credit: The Part-time Audiophile)

Steve Z

 

They described the I/O as “Taiko Olympus I/O Power Upgrade”. Not sure that is the right description. While it does another battery it seems as though the isolation is critical too.

 

They described the I/O as “Taiko Olympus I/O Power Upgrade”. Not sure that is the right description.

FWIW,
This is certainly not a description that Part-time Audiophile came up with... It was our room partners who had put it like this on the price sheet they printed out. It was too late to correct when I saw it.
That was our Room in Tampa (Florida International Audio Expo).
We sorted it out later...

 

Does anyone know if the Olympus shipment to the Dangerous Goods Shipping Company applies to all units or just those shipped by plane?

 

Does anyone know if the Olympus shipment to the Dangerous Goods Shipping Company applies to all units or just those shipped by plane?

Ground transport within the EU is not subject to Dangerous Goods regulations unless specified by the receiving country. For any location with specific national restrictions or, as you mentioned, transport by plane, we need the Dangerous Goods documentation.

 

Okay, thanks.
At Taiko Support, you can close the ticket you opened for me three weeks ago with this same question.

 

I have been burning in my Olympus / DAC card for a couple weeks now. I have a long queue set up in Roon and I start at the top during the evening. I have noticed that when i wake up in the morning Roon is no longer playing. I can go to the next track and it starts right up.

I recall others mentioning this a couple months ago. Was an issue discovered that resolved this?

It isnt the biggest deal since I can’t recall it ever stopping while I was actually listening.

 

I believe this is still an issue. It stops while listening once in awhile, too. It's annoying.

 

Same here..Stops while listening and yes it's annoying (MSB/XDMI)

 

Same here..Stops while listening and yes it's annoying (MSB/XDMI)

Ditto... XDMI analog out

 

Ditto... XDMI analog out

Same here. It will play through a complete charging cycle so it’s not that.

 

Mine stops every day after a few hours on repeat or playing Roon radio. Makes break in really tedious

 

Mine would not stop if only playing music from the NAS. Would stop if Qobuz.

 

Mine would not stop if only playing music from the NAS. Would stop if Qobuz.

Indeed, it seems this random play stopping is associated with Qobuz rather than local file or NAS playback. My experience as well.

Steve Z

 

When my player stops it is whole playing a file on my NAS.

Are you saying the issue occurs by just having Qobuz files in the queue?

 

When my player stops it is whole playing a file on my NAS.

Are you saying the issue occurs by just having Qobuz files in the queue?

It seemed to me that it was occurring on Qobuz tracks but I never actually caught it in the act and had play stop when I was in the room listening, so I had to go back to History in Roon and see if I could determine what was going on.

It's been some time now since it's happened to me, perhaps because I haven't been trying to play 24/7 to break something in. That has changed now though because I have a new pair of mono-blocks that arrived today.

I'll post here and send in a trouble-report to Taiko Support if it happens to me again.

Steve Z

 

Mine stops with either Qobuz or NAS files, but seems much more prone to do so with Qobuz.