DOES ANYONE REGRET BUYING A TAIKO EXTREME SERVER? ANYTHING BETTER?

[Zeotrope]

I ordered the Nagra HD DAC X. Was ready to spring for a Select II. Two people who heard Dac X vs Select II in all Nagra Systems with good Wilson Speakers leaned gently towards the DAC X.

Have you heard the Nagra Tube DAC? Curious how it compares to the HD DAC X? The (old) HD DAC was significantly(?) improved and the result is the Tube DAC. I may be in a position to acquire the HD DAC X, and wondering if it’s worth it vs the Tube DAC.

 

[Zero000]

And also ordered the Taiko Extreme.

Blinkin' heck!

And here's me. My digital source is an Amazon Fire stick HD playing Amazon Music.

It does sound good, though. Really. Better than my nVidia Shield.

LOL.

 

[DoctorWhy]

Have you heard the Nagra Tube DAC? Curious how it compares to the HD DAC X? The (old) HD DAC was significantly(?) improved and the result is the Tube DAC. I may be in a position to acquire the HD DAC X, and wondering if it’s worth it vs the Tube DAC.

I have not heard the Tube DAC, but have heard good things about it. I would call around to Nagra dealers and see if they have compared the DACs. BTW, the Taiko extreme was an obvious upgrade over my Sonore Optical Reference SE.

 

[Jeffy]

It’s too bad the Taiko does not have Ethernet as my Dac sounds best with Ethernet.

 

[DoctorWhy]

It has both optical and copper internet ports on the back. Did you mean wifi? In which case I would definitely think that a hard wired ethernet would sound better than WiFi.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

It’s too bad the Taiko does not have Ethernet as my Dac sounds best with Ethernet.

the Extreme works very well with Ethernet. but it has really worked hard to optimize USB as that seems to yield the best results with most dacs at this point.

how do you know that your dac sounds best with Ethernet? logically it would seem that judging an interface is a two sided question. you would need to test your dac with multiple servers with multiple interfaces to answer that question. the more the better. even different cables and Ethernet routers and such might change the result.

in the case of the Extreme server and my MSB Select II dac; to begin with Ethernet with the MSB Renderer v2 sounded better than USB. then came the MSB Pro USB interface and that sounded better than the Ethernet. finally Taiko developed an improved USB card and the USB interface got even better.

in any case the Extreme server can be used with any interface. it's very flexible and designed to adapt to different dacs and changing interfaces. and if, in fact, your dac is optimized for Ethernet the Extreme can work that way effectively.

 

[Jeffy]

the Extreme works very well with Ethernet. but it has really worked hard to optimize USB as that seems to yield the best results with most dacs at this point.

how do you know that your dac sounds best with Ethernet? logically it would seem that judging an interface is a two sided question. you would need to test your dac with multiple servers with multiple interfaces to answer that question. the more the better. even different cables and Ethernet routers and such might change the result.

in the case of the Extreme server and my MSB Select II dac; to begin with Ethernet with the MSB Renderer v2 sounded better than USB. then came the MSB Pro USB interface and that sounded better than the Ethernet. finally Taiko developed an improved USB card and the USB interface got even better.

in any case the Extreme server can be used with any interface. it's very flexible and designed to adapt to different dacs and changing interfaces. and if, in fact, your dac is optimized for Ethernet the Extreme can work that way effectively.

How, I don’t see the Ethernet connection on the back of the unit.

 

[Steve Vu]

How, I don’t see the Ethernet connection on the back of the unit.

If your dac has the input ethernet port, it is music streamer + dac. So you don't need a music server. You can plug a ethernet cable directly from a router or a switch to your dac and use an app as Mconnect to listen.

 

[Taiko Audio]

How, I don’t see the Ethernet connection on the back of the unit.

Hi Jeffy,

The network connectors are located as the drawing below indicates. Which DAC do you have?

 

[Taiko Audio]

If your dac has the input ethernet port, it is music streamer + dac. So you don't need a music server. You can plug a ethernet cable directly from a router or a switch to your dac and use an app as Mconnect to listen.

That would depend on the software running on the ethernet module. If it's a Roon endpoint, you will need Roon to control it. If it runs UPNP you can control it with Mconnect. If it runs Ravenna you can use any ASIO capable playback software on a remote Windows computer, like Roon, HQPlayer, Foobar, Jriver, Audirvana or TAS (Taiko Audio Server). We currently only support Roon, HQPlayer and TAS.

 

[Jeffy]

Hi Jeffy,

The network connectors are located as the drawing below indicates. Which DAC do you have?

View attachment 81378

I have a Bricasti M21 Dac and I'm strictly using stored music files, not interested in streaming. I use a pc with a Jcat Net Card Xe with a separate power supply. I was thinking this server may give me better sound than my PC.

 

[Taiko Audio]

I have a Bricasti M21 Dac and I'm strictly using stored music files, not interested in streaming. I use a pc with a Jcat Net Card Xe with a separate power supply. I was thinking this server may give me better sound than my PC.

The Bricasti M21 should perform much better over USB, do you also have the Jcat USB XE card? Maybe @tsaett is willing to chime in as he owns both an Extreme and the Bricasti M21.

 

[Jeffy]

The Bricasti M21 should perform much better over USB, do you also have the Jcat USB XE card? Maybe @tsaett is willing to chime in as he owns both an Extreme and the Bricasti M21.

No, I don't have the usb card, but to me ethernet sounds way better with the Bricasti.

 

[Taiko Audio]

No, I don't have the usb card, but to me ethernet sounds way better with the Bricasti.

I would humbly suggest the reason for that is likely to be found in the USB implementation of your current source.

 

[tsaett]

I have a Bricasti M21 Dac and I'm strictly using stored music files, not interested in streaming. I use a pc with a Jcat Net Card Xe with a separate power supply. I was thinking this server may give me better sound than my PC.

Hi Jeffy,

I am also running the M21 in my system, it is a great DAC!
When I got mine end of last year, I compared the onboard streamer to the USB connection. The comparison took all of 5 minutes, it was no contest at all. USB from the Extreme (with Sablon 2020 USB cable) won hands down, music had more flow, drive, density and sheer expression.
That comparison was done without the new USB card + Taiko usb driver which I now have. Suffice to say that the current delta would be even greater. On top you can use TAS (Taiko Audio Server) that way which brings USB up another notch.
I even went to the length to internally unplug the streamer board inside the Bricasti unit, I feel this gives me even more clarity and calmness.

BTW, i went from regular desktop pc to CAPS Pipeline v4 to SGM2015 to Extreme. I would go so far as to say the step from the mighty 2015 to the Extreme was the biggest upgrade in SQ I have experienced.

Chris

 

[DoctorWhy]

I think almost any server will be a LARGE improvement. When I went from an apple MacBook pro to the Sonore Optical Reference Se the difference was huge. The improvement from Sonore to Taiko was large. improvements were in imaging, sound stage, bass and micro dynamics.

I have a Bricasti M21 Dac and I'm strictly using stored music files, not interested in streaming. I use a pc with a Jcat Net Card Xe with a separate power supply. I was thinking this server may give me better sound than my PC

 

[Music2move]

I think almost any server will be a LARGE improvement. When I went from an apple MacBook pro to the Sonore Optical Reference Se the difference was huge. The improvement from Sonore to Taiko was large. improvements were in imaging, sound stage, bass and micro dynamics.

Hi DoctorWhy,

Wondering if you heard Nagra Tube DAC vs your HD DAC X, fed from Taiko Extreme: I am greatly enjoying Nagra Tube DAC accepting USB via new USB card interface through Nordost valhalla 2 USB, so wondering where HD DAC X improves on the Tube DAC...? Thx

 

[Zeotrope]

Hi DoctorWhy,

Wondering if you heard Nagra Tube DAC vs your HD DAC X, fed from Taiko Extreme: I am greatly enjoying Nagra Tube DAC accepting USB via new USB card interface through Nordost valhalla 2 USB, so wondering where HD DAC X improves on the Tube DAC...? Thx

I have heard the difference between the Tube DAC and HD DAC X is significant (someone on this forum heard it when he went to audition the new Nagra Turntable). I plan to acquire one later this year and will report.
It makes sense that the HD DAC X will sound better than the Tube DAC: dual mono, lower noise, higher S/N.
And the Tube DAC is the only DAC I’ve heard that makes me want to listen to digital.

 

[CKKeung]

I have heard the difference between the Tube DAC and HD DAC X is significant (someone on this forum heard it when he went to audition the new Nagra Turntable). I plan to acquire one later this year and will report.
.

Hi Surge1,
Congrats!

 

[DoctorWhy]

Hi Surge1,
Congrats!