Taiko Audio XDMS - Extreme Direct Music Server Software

Emorante said:

Hi everyone, I have to say that the latest version installed by the good Ed sounds quite better, the sound is more relaxed and detailed.

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simorag said:

I installed Setup 19 a few days ago, and immediately found that it was another step towards a transparent, lifelike and three-dimensional sound.

But it was only today, when I went back to Roon for some discovery-mode Qobuz listening (Roon UX is unbeatable at that IMHO), that I realized once again how XDMS-NSM sounds better in my system.

Roon makes everything smoother and potentially friendlier, but also more veiled and flat.

For example, this recording of the poignant 8th Quartet via XDMS took life. Palpability and localization of the musicians are entirely on another level, transients are starker.

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Being one of those who ordered the Olympus (XDMI), I fear that if the Olympus with Roon will be an upgrade over the Extreme with XDMS even vaguely correlated to the price difference between the two, I am going to explode when I receive it. Or is it a hope?

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• More details and improved separation
• Soundstage even wider and deeper
• Improved rendering of low-bass yielding better body for all wood instruments

marty said:

I installed Test Flight 2.4.7.1 2 days go and it has been very problematic. At first, nothing worked but apparently it does not work unless you have XDMS 19 installed. Ed did that and almost everything works (I lost my XDMS playback files but Ed thinks that's recoverable). The major issue now is that the TaikoAudio networks keeps shutting down spontaneously every few hours. I upgraded the firmware on my Orbi router but that does not seem to help. Does anyone else have Taiko network shut down issues?
Does the router software need to be re-installed? Other?

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jnovak said:

Hello folks! I seem not to be able to toggle switch from XDMS to Roon, nor to have Roon as default software. Can anyone provide advice on how to make it happen?
Many thanks, JN

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jaxdr said:

I have a similar issue. Do you have Setup 19 installed? I suspect it may be related to that if I understand Ed's explanation properly. I am in the process of getting Setup 19 installed.

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rocco1113 said:

I have the same issue that Roon can't be set as startup default.. I'm running server 19 already...

Taiko support pls help

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Blue58 said:

Latest backend 2.5.0 with its matching app 3.0.2 is significantly superior to all previous versions.

More presence, more 3D, it’s on steroids!

Well done Ed and the team.

and we’re still in Alpha mode, Wow!

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from "Setup19" to v2.5.0 is the biggest SQ improvement related to Taiko (so far) .

Nils said:

I installed v2.5.0 late last night - now I have 4-5h listening experience and can summarize...

It is very hard to compare SQ improvements over time - each time SQ is improved the goalposts obviously move...

But - I am prepared to say that to me, in my system and to my ears - from "Setup19" to v2.5.0 is the biggest SQ improvement related to Taiko (so far) .

My first and immediate impression was that timing has improved leading to increased presence - it is "at 11" - amazing!

After some additional hours listening - my second impression is that system noise floor has been reduced (again!) leading to more micro-details being present.

How Team @Taiko Audio pulled this off - I do not know (obviously) and I can only guess the extent of work (man hours!) that has been invested to make it happen!

It is amazing to see such large SQ improvements being unlocked from my three year old HW (the Extreme) and I applaud @Taiko Audio for this!

My only concern is the longer term future for XDMS as new HW (Olympus) appear to skip XDMS and instead rely on Roon - I am not sure if this is true or if I misunderstood, please jump in and correct me!

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John T said:

Rightly so: Your concern with long term future for XDMS. To roll out the new Olympus Taiko needs a more polished platform. I also enjoy the nuanced difference between Roon/XDMS. Ed is brilliant, however IMHO, Taiko would need a bus load of Ed's to get this to the promised land...

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simorag said:

My opinion, also based on some posts from Emile and a private discussion with him is that Taiko believes that by optimizing the software side of their servers (OS tweaks, drivers, BMS management, etc. etc.) they have significant improvement margins ahead of themselves, even more so with the Olympus / XDMI platform.

This applies to the playback software as well, so I don't think that the XDMS development will slow down after the Olympus release, possibly the opposite will be true! What I expect is that XDMS for Olympus will become more and more specific for that hardware platform hence the fall-out benefits for the Extreme could become less and less as time goes by.

Another very wise point Emile made is that having a proprietary playback software keeps Taiko safe in case something bad happens to / with Roon in the future.

The downside of all this for us alpha testers is that Taiko seems decided to release XDMS for Olympus only when fully stable and objectively superior to Roon, that could take a SIGNIFICANT time to happen (1+ years).

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