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".

 

@nenon: here are my two cents, don't spend it all in one place

1. moderation would be very beneficial
2. moderator would re-direct all posts regarding individual deliveries to..........
3. moderator would re-direct all requests for help/support to............
4. moderator would ensure an official response to everyone here when bugs are identified/fixed/available

2 and 3 alone would significantly increase the signal to noise ratio here.
these forums are way too important to stop. as an example, reading about things like ray's experience with the new JS-4 power supply on his network stack is invaluable (to me--have one on the way later this month). there is so much good advice here that it would be tragic(!) to lose that communication path. to be honest, if these threads disappeared i think it would be inevitable that someone would just start a taiko users forum on audiophilestyle or somewhere else, which would just create yet another forum for you to track and deal with.

how exactly to accomplish this is left as an exercise for the student.

 

You're going to love the JS4! @Superdad and John hit a home run to get that level of quality at that price point with that volume availability. Please drop a note when you are able to evaluate in your system (power impact is so situational...very curious what is universal and what may be unique to my home/neighborhood grid)

 

You're going to love the JS4!

...shipping next week to my cave. I'm looking forward to getting that little piggy in place.

 

You're going to love the JS4! @Superdad and John hit a home run to get that level of quality at that price point with that volume availability. Please drop a note when you are able to evaluate in your system (power impact is so situational...very curious what is universal and what may be unique to my home/neighborhood grid)

will do. the baseline is 2 Volessence batteries, one for my distributor (to router & switch) and one for my (very essential) sotm usb==>aes/ebu reclocker/converter.

 

will do. the baseline is 2 Volessence batteries, one for my distributor (to router & switch) and one for my (very essential) sotm usb==>aes/ebu reclocker/converter.

Marty which Volessence Battery Model #?

 

1. moderation would be very beneficial
2. moderator would re-direct all posts regarding individual deliveries to..........
3. moderator would re-direct all requests for help/support to............
4. moderator would ensure an official response to everyone here when bugs are identified/fixed/available

2 and 3 alone would significantly increase the signal to noise ratio here.

All that is already streamlined in the Taiko support ticketing system, which I actively participate in. No need to handle this here, actually.

 

will do. the baseline is 2 Volessence batteries, one for my distributor (to router & switch) and one for my (very essential) sotm usb==>aes/ebu reclocker/converter.

I expect the JS4 to sound better than the Volessence batteries.

 

Another subject: Roon or Taiko software problem

Running the Olympus and I/o with aesbu/xdmi to a Nagra Ref dac:
Don’t know if this is happening to other users, but the problem is real, and this has been identified together with a panel of experienced audiophiles.
When listening to the server/dac as above, the only driver that appears on the audio section of roon is used (Taiko xdmi), others completed disabled:
If i go to Zone settings>Taiko xdmi>device setup>load defaults>save, the blu colour changes from a vivid to a pale blue.
Everything ok, but something like half hour, the sound changes a bit ( coarser and less defined)
I repeat the procedures above and it looks that roon/windows 11 changes the defaults after 30 minutes.
Load again the defaults and the sound becomes much better.
And the cycle continues, load defaults again, save ……….better sound and so on.
So with the defaults loaded, after half hour, you can see that somethig wrong is happening, the defaults change, the colour of the save button changes like if i didn’t save the defaults loaded or entered another configuration.
Is this an isolated glitch and did someone noticed it?
Thank you.

JMRF

Can you please email this to Taiko's support if you haven't yet? This is something that needs looking into, and I don't want it to get forgotten / buried between a bunch of other posts.

 

Folks - here’s the deal.

As Taiko continues to grow, priorities are shifting. Emile simply can’t scale himself to spend the kind of time on this forum that he used to. We all enjoy hearing from him and learning about the truly unique innovations he’s working on - but the reality is, times have changed.

This forum is both a privilege and a responsibility. It’s paid for and sponsored by Taiko, and it has become incredibly powerful - with millions of views. That’s a blessing and a curse. With that kind of visibility, a single post suggesting “quality issues” - even if based on a misunderstanding or a one-off - can quickly snowball into dozens or even hundreds of support tickets, emails, texts, DMs, and forum posts. That kind of distraction pulls time and focus away from what matters most right now: building and delivering the remaining Olympus orders.

There’s also a quieter, opposite effect happening. Because some people have been frustrated by the longer lead times, those who have received their units - and are thrilled with them - often hesitate to post glowing feedback here, out of concern it may upset others still waiting. Several clients have shared their impressions with us privately instead. So, this thread is no longer the open, balanced space it once was - and I’m seriously questioning whether it still makes sense to keep it going.

So we’re left with two choices:
1. Close the WBF threads entirely and focus purely on production.
2. Keep them open, but apply some degree of moderation.

In rare and extreme cases, when someone creates ongoing disruption, we may have to ban them. That’s not about silencing valid feedback - far from it. Taiko has always thrived on community input, and we wouldn’t be where we are without it. But we have to protect the limited bandwidth of a small, dedicated team - and keep the conversation rooted in facts, not fear or frustration.

That said, I’m here - and fully available - to handle every issue. Please reach out directly and give me a chance to make things right. No one is perfect - mistakes can happen. What sets great companies apart is how they respond when they do. If, in the end, you still feel unsatisfied, you’re of course free to share that. Just please be mindful of generalizations, especially when they can trigger unnecessary concern or confusion across the wider community.

Let’s keep this a constructive space. We’re listening. We’re working. And we truly appreciate your support.

Without this thread I would not know what to do every morning. What price success and what greater price perfection. . Taiko has changed so many lives, all for the better The wait is painful but the reward is so extraordinary that I implore all you who are waiting to hang in there because once you listen to the first few songs you’ll know that there is just nothing better in the digital world. Peace and love

 

Another subject: Roon or Taiko software problem

Running the Olympus and I/o with aesbu/xdmi to a Nagra Ref dac:
Don’t know if this is happening to other users, but the problem is real, and this has been identified together with a panel of experienced audiophiles.
When listening to the server/dac as above, the only driver that appears on the audio section of roon is used (Taiko xdmi), others completed disabled:
If i go to Zone settings>Taiko xdmi>device setup>load defaults>save, the blu colour changes from a vivid to a pale blue.
Everything ok, but something like half hour, the sound changes a bit ( coarser and less defined)
I repeat the procedures above and it looks that roon/windows 11 changes the defaults after 30 minutes.
Load again the defaults and the sound becomes much better.
And the cycle continues, load defaults again, save ……….better sound and so on.
So with the defaults loaded, after half hour, you can see that somethig wrong is happening, the defaults change, the colour of the save button changes like if i didn’t save the defaults loaded or entered another configuration.
Is this an isolated glitch and did someone noticed it?
Thank you.

JMRF

Hi JMRF, just to confirm, I also responded to your ticket sent via support@taikoaudio.com, and I am happy to continue discussing the provided advice or any other specifics there.

Meanwhile, Emile and I have done some tests, and we have not seen the behavior you describe (the sound becoming rough or hard after prolonged playback) with Extreme, Olympus, or other servers.

However, we do observe the inverse, but only for a minute or so after reloading the defaults. This is normal in Roon. What happens when you reload defaults, is that Roon not only reinstates the default settings for the selected Zone, but also polls all other zones, among other things. This can be seen by checking the Roon log, which shows a lot of activity after this procedure. What we hear right after reloading the defaults, is that the sound briefly sharpens and becomes more edgy. This reduces after a minute or so and reverts to how it was before the change (smooth and musical) within about 15 minutes.

And to confirm: Roon will always show the bright blue save button after choosing "reload defaults", even if that would incur no actual changes. So, it's not like Windows or another mechanism secretly makes changes by itself. The process itself simply incurs a brief change.

 

Radio Paradise has added a new channel in FLAC.
A curated Jazz channel called, "Beyond."
The following is the link:

http://stream.radioparadise.com/beyond-flacm

Easy peazy to add to the Roon live radio channels.

 

Marty which Volessence Battery Model #?

Powerbank NJ-5X (50000mah) ==> dxp voltage converter (further filtering) ==> unit being powered

 

*caution....venting alert*

Those of us that are still after over a year waiting patiently would appreciate an email update with at least some realistic projected dates when we can anticipate delivery of the Olympus units. While I appreciate all the trials and tribulations, this doesn't seem like a big ask at this point to keep the customers informed- candidly without relying on sifting thru a general forum to try and figure out what is going on. To be clear, I don't want to be here taking up space and resources, but the alternative of hearing crickets isn't great either.

I'm sorry if my patience has run thin, but almost 6 figures is an extraordinary amount of investment to which buyers (at least this one) generally have some expectation of communication and service. I don't usually go to public forums to express frustration at manufacturers or providers, but seems like WBF is the genesis and conduit for which Taiko seems to have borne, so here we are.

Dealer just communicated back...after having estimated dates of...May then June then July....now all he got was- "it hasn't entered production yet and we really don't know when it will". Sorry, but that doesn't give me much confidence that I'm going to see it soon or even know how to plan.

 

*caution....venting alert*

Those of us that are still after over a year waiting patiently would appreciate an email update with at least some realistic projected dates when we can anticipate delivery of the Olympus units. While I appreciate all the trials and tribulations, this doesn't seem like a big ask at this point to keep the customers informed- candidly without relying on sifting thru a general forum to try and figure out what is going on. To be clear, I don't want to be here taking up space and resources, but the alternative of hearing crickets isn't great either.

I'm sorry if my patience has run thin, but almost 6 figures is an extraordinary amount of investment to which buyers (at least this one) generally have some expectation of communication and service. I don't usually go to public forums to express frustration at manufacturers or providers, but seems like WBF is the genesis and conduit for which Taiko seems to have borne, so here we are.

Dealer just communicated back...after having estimated dates of...May then June then July....now all he got was- "it hasn't entered production yet and we really don't know when it will". Sorry, but that doesn't give me much confidence that I'm going to see it soon or even know how to plan.

I reached out to you via private message as I could not link your WBF nickname to an actual order number.

An email update is going out first thing in the morning. We were supposed to send it out today but it's almost 10 pm in the Netherlands, and so it will have to go out in the morning.

 

Hi JMRF, just to confirm, I also responded to your ticket sent via support@taikoaudio.com, and I am happy to continue discussing the provided advice or any other specifics there.

Meanwhile, Emile and I have done some tests, and we have not seen the behavior you describe (the sound becoming rough or hard after prolonged playback) with Extreme, Olympus, or other servers.

However, we do observe the inverse, but only for a minute or so after reloading the defaults. This is normal in Roon. What happens when you reload defaults, is that Roon not only reinstates the default settings for the selected Zone, but also polls all other zones, among other things. This can be seen by checking the Roon log, which shows a lot of activity after this procedure. What we hear right after reloading the defaults, is that the sound briefly sharpens and becomes more edgy. This reduces after a minute or so and reverts to how it was before the change (smooth and musical) within about 15 minutes.

And to confirm: Roon will always show the bright blue save button after choosing "reload defaults", even if that would incur no actual changes. So, it's not like Windows or another mechanism secretly makes changes by itself. The process itself simply incurs a brief change.

Hello Christiaan, thank you for your reply.
Since yesterday the symptom is gone, coincident or not with a Roon update, so this matter is closed now.
Thank you

JMRF

 

Powerbank NJ-5X (50000mah) ==> dxp voltage converter (further filtering) ==> unit being powered

I did do a listening test using my PowerAdd Pilot Pro2 battery pack to a DXP-3A0DSCombo dual stage to the full Taiko Network stack (DCD+Switch+Router) I found the JS4 to be a big step up (I can't find my notes about the JS2 vs PP2+DXP, but I'm pretty sure I preferred the JS2 as well)

The big caveat here is that in my battery experiments several years ago, the battery packs I was playing with all out performed the PP2 as well. I wouldn't be surprised if the battery management system in the PP2 or other control circuits are holding it back. It is on my (long) list to revisit this with a beefier/more direct battery pack

 

Hello Christiaan, thank you for your reply.
Since yesterday the symptom is gone, coincident or not with a Roon update, so this matter is closed now.
Thank you

JMRF

Hello José,

We did perform our tests with the latest build. This does indeed explain why we couldn't reproduce this issue.

 

Anyone experienced a better low frequency extention after further break-in?

Gents, I have to agree with the previous comments about the file format becoming irrelevant.

I've had the analog card running almost continuously (with the exception of the occasional Roon fallouts) since January, and then since the end of February when Stirling Trayle set up my system.

I can not believe, that even now, to this day, the Olympus-I/O with the XDMI analog card continues to improve and not by insignificant measures.

Don't know if it's the Taiko or the Roon updates, or both that are causing the improvements, but they leave me shaking my head every time I get a chance to listen.

The presentation is simply devoid of any distracting artifacts and allows a pure musical relaxed flow that invites complete musical immersion.

Hard to believe. What an accomplishment by the Taiko Team!

 

When will V2 Bok be available for V2 Schneider?
Q3 - holiday = Q4?
Q5?
Queue 4 Q5?

 

I'm curious how many actually took time to compare XDMI to USB on the Lampizator?
I am curious because on my MSB Cascade USB sounds best .