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

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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".
 
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I am unfamiliar with the speaker in this room but it sounded amazing. One of the few rooms here where they was no sign of digital smear. The music sounded great, absent of any notion of what source, analog or digital, was being played. And, the analog card was not broken in. Tomorrow we will hear one that is fully broken in.

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did you have the name of the speakers ?
 
Black coated Olympus + I/O displayed by Ultimate Audio Elite in Portugal the past weekend.
Based on Ultimate Audio's presentation of the Olympus +I/O + internal DAC, this is the review of "Audio Cinema em Casa”
https://www.audiopt.com/equipamentos/noticias/879/ultimate-sessions-extreme-no-palace-hotel
 
Based on Ultimate Audio's presentation of the Olympus +I/O + internal DAC, this is the review of "Audio Cinema em Casa”
https://www.audiopt.com/equipamentos/noticias/879/ultimate-sessions-extreme-no-palace-hotel

Very interesting impressions, I am also familiar with the Stenheim and the reviewer nails down some of their peculiar features quite accurately. As for what might be the Olympus 'contribution' to the sound, a comment that resonates especially well to what I am hearing here is when he mentions the capability of that system to be very transparent without sounding cold or overly analytical.

This is a major asset of the Olympus (and of the Horizon 360), and in my opinion it strongly relies - among several things - on the body it conveys to sound, across the whole frequency spectrum. Acoustic instruments or the human voice, for example, sound full, weighty, palpable, compact, without being sluggish or overly warm / foggy.

This character gives even to inferior recordings a direct, visceral channel to emotional and physical engagement, evoking listening enjoyment despite conditions not being technically ideal.

Example:

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@Taiko Audio Important to declare O and IO as "computers" or "computer servers." It was reported hours ago, details still unclear, that the US Customs and Border Protection agency listed (last night or in the wee hours of today) 20 product categories in its list of exempted products, including the very broad 8471 code for all computers, laptops and disc drives and automatic data processing. Smartphones, laptops, computers, servers, memory chips, flat-panel displays, solar cells and hard drives are exempt from the additional 125% tariff on Chinese goods and 10% baseline levy on imports from other countries. The exclusions are effective retroactively to 12:01 a.m. on April 5. https://www.investors.com/news/tech...-iphone-nvidia-super-micro-tech-gear-tariffs/
 

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