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  1. M

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

    Curious why all the comments focused on the USB comparison rather than Lukacz's other comparison with the turntable sound ("listening to USB versus XDMI shows that XDMI is much closer to a 100 000 dollar turntable than USB is"). One does not buy an Olympus for USB connection (even though it may...
  2. M

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

    Does it imply that the best turntable is still the king, the yardstick or golden standard that Olympus is now closer to match? Emile told us earlier that Olympus' sound is neither digital nor analog (meant to be turntable-like) but sui generis. I hope Olympus has set a new standard of sound...
  3. M

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

    If Olympus sounds like vinyl, it would be a regress, not progress. Vinyl sound has loads of distortion, which may be more tolerable than digital distortion, but is seriously deficient in transparency and dimension (or soundstage). "Analog" would be a better word. While analog is often used as a...
  4. M

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

    Emile, I described unique products you or Nenon have not seen or experienced. Also the kind of ribbon cables I got (exceptionally directional with practically no insulation, with the least dielectric and skin effects); truly unique and one of a kind. Not to expect or solicit interest. No one has...
  5. M

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

    @nenon All good. I have only one priority - music, the end before which all others are means. Being not a manufacturer or dealer, I am driven only by one love, love of music. Fanclub zealotry or personal idolatry are alien concepts or feelings to me. Have no particular interest in the underlying...
  6. M

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

    Nenon, thanks for your elucidation. But I suspect your experience of i2s has been limited to the PS Audio's implementation (the output format as HDMI or RJ45). That was my experience with Rockna's flagship DAC linked with its flagship server via i2s/LVDS (in HDMI output/input format), which I...
  7. M

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

    Hi Joet, thought you summarized well. If the receiving DAC receives i2s signals, how come that the cable between O and H (5 pin) is not "i2s based"? What does this phrase mean?
  8. M

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

    Thought this forum is not for smart asses exclusively; there are many stupid questions out there. My question was not stupid at all. What's your intent? To silence all voices except your own or those that please you? Give me a break and hands off please.
  9. M

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

    Understood, but O's circuit board can communicate only in i2s, not "XDMI" right? If so, XDMI is an interface and optimal implementation of i2s? Am I wrong here? I want to be educated.
  10. M

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

    @Taiko Audio I read your reply again, which is nuanced. The underlying signal path in O appears still to be i2s (1/2 inch), but the link with Horizon is not the 4 i2s signals + ground. So I am not sure XDMI is a brave new digital format.
  11. M

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

    Then I plead guilty if you mean to say that the XDMI involves none of the i2s signals, master clock, bit clock, word clock and data. If so, it is a revolution because you have introduced a new digital format to the world, not merely implementation. If so, I am delighted that I am wrong because...
  12. M

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

    I want @Taiko Audio Emil to tell me that I am flat out wrong. Because i2s is the ONLY known format that is NATIVE, not converted, I believe that XDMI has to be in essence i2s but is optimized in i2s implementation (at least in the best way known to Taiko). PS Audio's i2s in the output format of...
  13. M

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

    I know nothing about technology but was informed that i2s is the only digital format that is not converted and, if implemented masterfully, not filtered. Therefore, I believe that XDMI is i2s in essence. All other formats, USB, SPDIF, AES/EBU, involves heavy conversion and filtering, which...
  14. M

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

    I struggled to upgrade to Olympus because the modded DVD player (done in the "purist" way described above) gave me an inkling of what Olympus may bring, which should be more thorough-going and comprehensive i2s (XDMI) treatment (including battery power). It was a decision not made lightly...
  15. M

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

    Obviously, I cannot speak for Emile, but I am afraid that the hoped-for-200% improvement leap is wishful thinking based on my own experience (limited as it is). The USB (or any other traditional, converted and filtered, digital connection) is fundamentally flawed. No matter what one does to USB...
  16. M

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

    The more I think about it the more I think I should NOT think about it. Keep it simple, stupid (as the Clintonesq word famously went, referring to myself only in this case).
  17. M

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

    Does it imply that I/O adds "just 1-2%" over O for SQ? Or is it still around 9% (estimated months ago)?
  18. M

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

    Could you please also provide single-ended output with VC when VC becomes available? I subscribe to the school which thinks SE is intrinsically more musical than balanced for home audio use (balanced is better only for recording studios which need to run very long cables). My system is entirely...
  19. M

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

    @tsaett Could you enable view of our Olympus choices (color, storage size, output cards etc.)? I did in midnight stupor but am not 100% sure of the correctness of my choices (I did not get confirmation via email of my choices). Thanks.
  20. M

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

    Getting rid of USB (or other traditional digital connection) is the primary reason that I wanted to move to Olympus. I have a 15-year-old Pioneer Elite DVD player (flagship then) modded with proprietary i2s out (master clock, bit clock, L/R or word clock and data) with the DAC similarly modded...
  21. M

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

    Sorry, Emile, I may be asking questions you have answered in the past. With the built-in USB out in Olympus, can it still be connected to an external DAC via USB cable? If so, I want to do so first with Horizon to get an idea of the sound before using the analog out to pre/amp.
  22. M

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

    Thanks, Emile. Like ctydwn, I have opted in for 8TB internal storge and out of the fuss and troubles. Keep it simple, stupid (referring to myself).
  23. M

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

    As for the purported 1-2% improvement of streaming over local playback, I am curious about the following: the path of at least 2 ethernet ports, the innards of a router and the kind of ethernet and DAC cables used, the length of the cables - none of them is 100% transparent and I suspect that...
  24. M

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

    Thanks for the AWS Glacier information. The cheapest is $0.00099 per GB, so for 10TB, the cost would be roughly $10 per month (albeit with glacially slow retrieval, pun intended)? That may be a good option.
  25. M

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

    To those who have deep experience of such matters, could you please share your knowledge. Emile informed that certain kinds of hard drive (apparently solid-state ones) may die if not powered on regularly. Other than the solid-state HD in the coming Olympus, all my hard drives are magnetic...
  26. M

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

    Yes, I have several 5TB USB3 external drives and one 8TB AC-powered external drive. Back up periodically (or need to remind myself to do so) in 2 copies of each 5TBs (so far, I divide composers from A to L for HD1, and from M to Z to HD2). Then what is saved in the Olympus internal HD...
  27. M

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

    @Taiko Audio I recall your mentioning of a provided adapter with which we could connect the Extreme and the Olympus storage drives and have the files copied directly from the former to the latter via a computer. The details of my recollection may be wrong, but the provision of an adapter is...
  28. M

    LampizatOr Introduces Native XDMI Functionality-The Next Horizon

    @Lukasz "Lampizator" Fikus Could you please confirm the following: earlier this year you informed us that if we opted to retrofit the old Horizon's with XDMI, you would include your own silver XDMI cable free in the 1/10 Horizon-price retrofit price (otherwise, €1K; same for the third-party...
  29. M

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

    That's it! The answer I need - that was your earlier view (confusion came from your "Correct" to Wil's question earlier today). No brainer for me to get local storage (especially with my music taste and habit). Thanks!
  30. M

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

    I did not miss it, but it was not clear to me; I did not know how to understand it. Could you kindly clarify your view (because others were similarly confused from PMs I got from them earlier today) - in your view do you think one should get an additional router (preferably Taiko Router) even...

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