Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

[cat6man]

some initial feedback on my recent experiments with usb vs. aes/ebu for my Taiko/TotalDAC system.

previous setup:
Taiko USB card ==> Sablon usb==>TotalDAC reclocker==>aes/ebu cable==>TotalDAC d1-direct

really old setup:
microRendu==>usb cable==>sotm dx-usbHD w/superclock w/battery power==>aes/ebu==>TotalDAC d1-dual

this "really old" setup had a sweetness to it, with an increase in detail yet a relaxed presentation, that i've longed for since foolishly selling my sotm usb==>aes/ebu converter in the never=ending upgrade mode we sometimes fall into.
i've been trying to get back to that sound with various upgrades and the Taiko extreme, with the usb card, has gotten me closer than i've been in a couple of years................but something was still missing!

so, i contacted the guy i had sold the sotm to, and found that he was no longer using it and was willing to sell it back to me for the same price that i had sold it to him a couple of years ago. boy, did i jump on that offer, put it in my system and nada, the taiko usb driver did not support it..............so Emile et al put the sotm in the queue and Ed helped me install the updated driver.

current setup:
Taiko USB card ==> Sablon usb==>sotm dx-usbHD w/superclock==>aes/ebu cable1==>TotalDAC reclocker==>aes/ebu cable2==>TotalDAC d1-direct

(the sotm is currently using a 12v wall wart into a dxpwr dc-dc two stage converter, 7v output)

result: WOW, a major improvement and step forward with improvements in exactly those areas i remember the "really old" setup presenting. so, feel free to call me Dylan's Mr. Jones (i.e. "you know something is happening here, but you don't know what it is......") but i love it.

maybe the sotm w/superclock is magically synergistic with totalDAC?

maybe the aes/ebu input of the totalDAC is superior to usb with a really good aes/ebu signal (I know others have said that totalDAC sounds better with usb than it does with the Extreme's aes/ebu output, but with the sotm this is most emphatically not the case here!)

mabye its the impact of having 2 reclockers in series? (i know there is at least one person on this thread using 2 totalDAC reclockers in series to a non-totalDAC dac)

what's next? i have yet to try removing the wallwart 12v feeding the sotm and just received a variable 5-12v battery bank in the mail this afternoon, so i'll try that directly at 7v into the sotm and at 12v into the dxpwr converter.

this is WAY exciting for me, so please excuse the caps


edit: and this is even without scotch!

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...the exciting part is ...definitely not the "no scotch" bit.

 

[QuantumWave]

A really minor point, but I figured some of you might have a solution: in the latest PGGB release, the output files are in Wavepack format *.wv. I tried to process those through TAS, but without success. It works if I use the HQP player which is a nice work-around in the meanwhile. It might be one of the feature that will be ironed out in the longer term, but just in case someone found an option in LMS that could address this annoying glitch. Alternatively, if anyone knows how to revert PGGB to *.wav, I'd be a happy camper too.

 

[austinpop]

A really minor point, but I figured some of you might have a solution: in the latest PGGB release, the output files are in Wavepack format *.wv. I tried to process those through TAS, but without success. It works if I use the HQP player which is a nice work-around in the meanwhile. It might be one of the feature that will be ironed out in the longer term, but just in case someone found an option in LMS that could address this annoying glitch. Alternatively, if anyone knows how to revert PGGB to *.wav, I'd be a happy camper too.

While I agree it would be nifty for TAS to (eventually) support WavPack input, and I hope Emile/Ed/Wilson add it to their list, your problem is easier to solve.

It looks like you may have inadvertently checked the "Wavpack or FLAC" flag on your PGGB GUI. Read this section of the guide to uncheck it. You'll then get back to generating uncompressed .wav files.

PGGB - Zaphod's Guide

www.remastero.com

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

edit: and this is even without scotch!

So now, the real question is - what would happen if you were armed with scotch...

 

[QuantumWave]

While I agree it would be nifty for TAS to (eventually) support WavPack input, and I hope Emile/Ed/Wilson add it to their list, your problem is easier to solve.

It looks like you may have inadvertently checked the "Wavpack or FLAC" flag on your PGGB GUI. Read this section of the guide to uncheck it. You'll then get back to generating uncompressed .wav files.

PGGB - Zaphod's Guide

www.remastero.com

Many thanks!!!!!

 

[Bobofei86]

Hi Gents,
Im a new joiner from HK who just got the Extreme + new USB card to replace my aurender ACS10, I only got less than 10 hours to listen my system but the sounds are much more acoustic and coherent than my previous setup. It's very promising and I think im on the right track for the digital playback and i can focus my investment on it

I listen to Qobuz more than 90% of the time and purchased lots of gadgets for network tweak such as: Ansuz D2 swtich, linger audio G router (new version of netgear modded router with OXCO, shielding and grounded), skogrand beethoven usb cable, Dalby meda lan cable, LPS and ground box for the router and modem.etc to enchance my streaming quality, I would like to do the comparison and remove those gadgets one by one to compare the difference, however, i need to set the baseline properly and give the time for the usb card and extreme to run in, may i know how many hours it usually takes?

Also, I want to switch on my extreme forever like my aurender but I hit something strange, it can't detect my Lampizator GG2 once I switch this dac off if i connect to the new usb card, even i reconnect the usb cable or restart the extreme, both TAS or Roon still can't find the audio devices, however, it wont happen if i connect the DAC to the onboard USB port, the only work around is totally shut down the extreme (including switch off at the back end) for 5 minutes then switch every thing on again, sounds like the usb card was disabled once i switch off my GG2 and it cant wake up again after the dac shut down...


Really appreciate the advise from the experts in this thread and Taiko team, thanks so much,
Joe

 

[Taiko Audio]

Hi Joe,

That is abnormal behaviour. Sounds like some sort of surge causing the USB card supervisor to disable the USB port to avoid damage. The onboard USB port current rating is higher at 3A (USB type C) where the USB card limit is at 500mA / 1.1A peak. Lampizator does not require USB power so you could try a USB cable with the powerline disconnected (unpowered USB cable), but that surge shouldn't be there...

 

[Taiko Audio]

A fun video of one of my favourites in what qualifies as the ultimate man cave in my book - Hans Zimmer live - Inception Medley

 

[Bobofei86]

Hi Joe,

That is abnormal behaviour. Sounds like some sort of surge causing the USB card supervisor to disable the USB port to avoid damage. The onboard USB port current rating is higher at 3A (USB type C) where the USB card limit is at 500mA / 1.1A peak. Lampizator does not require USB power so you could try a USB cable with the powerline disconnected (unpowered USB cable), but that surge shouldn't be there...

Thanks so much for your prompt feedback, I got a few usb cables on hand which are also unpowered but got the same results, let me do the check again tomorrow and get back the result to you, thx

 

[cat6man]

current setup:
Taiko USB card ==> Sablon usb==>sotm dx-usbHD w/superclock==>aes/ebu cable1==>TotalDAC reclocker==>aes/ebu cable2==>TotalDAC d1-direct

(the sotm is currently using a 12v wall wart into a dxpwr dc-dc two stage converter, 7v output)

result: WOW, a major improvement and step forward with improvements in exactly those areas i remember the "really old" setup presenting. so, feel free to call me Dylan's Mr. Jones (i.e. "you know something is happening, but you don't know what it is, do you......") but i love it.

maybe the sotm w/superclock is magically synergistic with totalDAC?

maybe the aes/ebu input of the totalDAC is superior to usb with a really good aes/ebu signal (I know others have said that totalDAC sounds better with usb than it does with the Extreme's aes/ebu output, but with the sotm this is most emphatically not the case here!)

maybe its the impact of having 2 reclockers in series? (i know there is at least one person on this thread using 2 totalDAC reclockers in series to a non-totalDAC dac)

what's next? i have yet to try removing the wallwart 12v feeding the sotm and just received a variable 5-12v battery bank in the mail this afternoon, so i'll try that.

this is WAY exciting for me, so please excuse the caps


edit: and this is even without scotch!

more testing with battery power in place of wall wart.
i ordered a Poweradd PowerPro2 and have that at 12v feeding a dxpwr 2-stage DC-DC converter outputting 7 volts into the SoTM reclocker (aes/ebu out to TotalDAC)

we have magic!
listening last night with Stax headphones, i heard the effect i'd been missing (having heard it a while long ago).
my best description is that it seems to slow down time itself, so while even more detail is audible, it comes beautifully integrated into a huge soundstage (even on Stax) with super ease...............the interplay of musicians playing off of each other in real time is readily heard, the decay of notes is endless (slight exaggeration) and the tiny inflections and breaths in vocals are all presented clearly. as you get pulled into the music from one musician to another and how they play as an ensemble, the details presented are so captivating that it seems like time has slowed. does that make sense to anyone else? i don't believe i've heard playback described in those terms by others, but the effect of time actually seeming to slow down is very obvious to me.

is this because there is more detail or simply how the detail is presented? i don't know
is this quantum entanglement and my qubits are entangled with the original musical recording event?

as good as the Taiko Extreme is, if you have a TotalDAC and are not feeding it the best aes/ebu possible, you are missing out on something really magical
the Extreme USB card with Sablon USB to DAC is no slouch, but having the Extreme/Sablon feed the battery powered usb-aes/ebu converter/reclocker takes it to a whole other level chez moi.

of course, YMMV

still listening without scotch, but i may get to try some enhanced listening later this week

postscript: further improvements in sound quality are likely to make my head explode. bring it on Emile!

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...listening without Scotch? Are we savages? Cheers...

 

[Lojay]

Hi all, an issue that has been troubling me is that TAS cannot render album art if the files are .wav files (such as PGGB'd files) and the album art is stored as .jpgs in the folder. Is there solution or workaround for this?

 

[Taiko Audio]

Hi @cat6man,

Thank you for sharing your experiences. There are a few negative reports on using the sotm dx-usbHD too, I tried finding them but the forum search function does not return any results and I don't remember which DACs were used. I had an interesting experience with the Intona USB isolator probably around 2 years ago with the Totaldac D1-12mk2. I was using a 1 meter length Intona Ultimate USB cable and added the Intona isolator with a 0.2 meter long cable leading to the following configuration: Extreme -> Intona 0.2m -> Intona Isolator -> Intona 1m -> Totaldac reclocker, this I thought to better then just the 1 meter Intona. At some point in time the USB cable length became an inconvenience when switching between different DACs so I ordered an Intona Ultimate 1.5 meter long USB cable to replace the 1 meter Intona. This was actually performing worse to a surprising degree then before, even after prolonged burn in. I did need the 1.5 meter length so I removed the Isolator and 0.2 meter Intona and used only the 1.5 meter Intona, big surprise, this was the best setup by far. I ordered another 0.5 and 1 meter length and then tried a few other scenarios leading to these configurations from best to worst:

1) Extreme - 1.5 meter Intona - DAC (best by far)
2) Extreme - 0.2 meter Intona - Intona Isolator - 1 meter Intona - DAC
3) Extreme - 0.5 meter Intona - Intona Isolator - 1 meter Intona - DAC (minor difference with 2, might fail a blind test)
4) Extreme - 1 meter Intona - DAC
5) Extreme - 0.2 meter Intona - Intona Isolator - 1.5 meter Intona - DAC
6) Extreme - 0.5 meter Intona - Intona Isolator - 1.5 meter Intona - DAC
7) Extreme - 1 meter Intona - Intona Isolator - 1 meter Intona - DAC

This does remind of the good old days when everybody was using SPDIF where lots of people preferred longer SPDIF length cables (1.2 meter or longer if I recall correctly) over shorter ones, there was even a theory around reduced cable reflections at longer lengths although I have found no evidence of something like that interfering with USB signal integrity unless you do something extreme like creating a cable spool and assuming controlled impedance which would most certainly apply to the Intona Ultimate with its 0.5% impedance deviation selection criterium.

 

[Taiko Audio]

@nenon visited us here in Oldenzaal this weekend and upgraded the 3 rail Sean Jacobs DC4 power supply I'm using to power the Chord DAVE to "ARC6" level. This is a mayor upgrade, it's burning in now but from brand new it very much increased density and apparent energy in the upper bass and lower midrange which I personally considered to be weak areas of the DAVE's performance before without sacrificing resolution, in fact, it seems to dig out even more, especially noticeable on instrument decay. It also appears to remove most, if not all, of the "glare" you get when playing non up-sampled 16/44.1 content on the Dave. Highly recommended to Chord Dave owners.

 

[Sampajanna]

It seems there may be a diy option for upgrade to AR6. How challenging do you think that would be based on watching it happen?

 

[Taiko Audio]

Hi all, an issue that has been troubling me is that TAS cannot render album art if the files are .wav files (such as PGGB'd files) and the album art is stored as .jpgs in the folder. Is there solution or workaround for this?

The album art file should be named “folder.jpg” and 500*500 in size. You can store album art in .wav files btw. My PGGB files all have embedded album art.

 

[Lojay]

The album art file should be named “folder.jpg” and 500*500 in size. You can store album art in .wav files btw. My PGGB files all have embedded album art.

Thanks Emile, that is a very easy workaround. For some odd reason some of my PGGB .wav files do not have embedded album art.

 

[nenon]

@nenon visited us here in Oldenzaal this weekend and upgraded the 3 rail Sean Jacobs DC4 power supply I'm using to power the Chord DAVE to "ARC6" level. This is a mayor upgrade, it's burning in now but from brand new it very much increased density and apparent energy in the upper bass and lower midrange which I personally considered to be weak areas of the DAVE's performance before without sacrificing resolution, in fact, it seems to dig out even more, especially noticeable on instrument decay. It also appears to remove most, if not all, of the "glare" you get when playing non up-sampled 16/44.1 content on the Dave. Highly recommended to Chord Dave owners.

I had a lot of fun at Taiko’s headquarters. Emile’s big system there (Alieno preamp, Alieno Amp, and Alsyvox Caravaggio speakers) is one of the best and most revealing systems I have heard. We listened to the new prototype of the Taiko switch, and I can confirm it was as good as described here or even better. You can imagine what happens when two passionate audiophiles like us meet - we listened and talked for hours and hours. Good times! I will post more about my visit when I get back from Europe.

It seems there may be a diy option for upgrade to AR6. How challenging do you think that would be based on watching it happen?

The Sean Jacobs ARC6 upgrade is in the final stages of testing and should be officially released in the next couple of months. The upgrade I did on Emile's DAVE DC4 was one of the variations we've tested but may not be the final version. Emile did not care much about that. It was a fun experiment and well worth it.
For DC4 owners, I will advise you wait until the beginning of September and contact Sean for upgrade options. He will post about it on his website (guessing sometime in September?). Not sure if it will be available for DIY... It's not simple to do as you need to empty most of the chassis, drill new holes for the transformer and other parts, move things around, assemble everything, rewire, test, etc. It will be best to ship the unit back to Sean or one of his associates depending on which part of the world you are - this way the 5-years warranty will remain intact.

 

[nenon]

Chord DAVE transformed

The Chord DAVE with the stock SMPS removed, powered by a Sean Jacobs DC4, and digitally fed by the Audiowise SRC-DX

With these changes, to my old ears, the DAVE sonic performance moves in to the top draw, sonically competitive with the best DAC's out there. Amazing bass rolls out of the speakers

I just played a 2L DXD track, and the second BNC LED comes on.

For me putting the output from the SRC-DX in to Hi mode is too much, standard is better for me

Kudos to Dan Mance, and Sean Jacobs, I think you are going to make a lot of Chord Dave owners very happy

@EuroDriver - too bad I did not get to meet you, but I am curious what you will think of the Chord DAVE now. Let us know next time you drop by and have a listen.
BTW, 16fs / 24bit PGGB upsampled files sounded amazing on the DAVE after the power supply upgrade.