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

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".

 

I don’t understand why discussing WAV files from an Olympus Nas is out of place on this Olympus thread?

I believe @cat6man mentioned that he has heard the difference between Flac and WAV on the Olympus as well as the Extreme.

I also may recall there was some discussion of whether streamed Flac files could potentially someday be converted to WAV. Or is that just a wishful hallucination on my part?

I just compared flac vs. WAVE files I got from cat6man and I have to say they are very close. One thing that was consistent is the flac files are clearer on vocals...

 

...I couldn't tell a difference on Mr. Cat6 files either. Two of us tried here. Not really any difference to my ears. Felt like I would be guessing to state which was which.

 

...I couldn't tell a difference on Mr. Cat6 files either. Two of us tried here. Not really any difference to my ears. Felt like I would be guessing to state which was which.

Were both the wav and FLAC files on a NAS?

 

...hiya ZB. As I recall I tried with Extreme internal storage, and later Olympus NAS. I removed internal storage from Olympus quite early on.

 

(…)
Any perceived differences between FLAC and WAV are most likely due to the additional processing required to decompress FLAC. Converting FLAC to WAV on the fly (in memory) and then playing the WAV file offers no added benefit. Once both formats are fully decoded to PCM, they are bit-for-bit identical.

For streaming, FLAC is the only practical option, and I think it was quite savvy of the Taiko team to focus on optimizing for it. Doing so would naturally lead to optimizations in FLAC rendering overall.

When it comes to local playback, using WAV or FLAC introduces another variable—namely, the potential noise or processing overhead associated with reading from local storage. To properly compare FLAC and WAV in this context, playback should ideally be done from a NAS, where these variables can be better isolated.

It’s not about debating FLAC vs. WAV in isolation, but recognizing that with Taiko’s focus on optimizing the network path, streamed FLAC has become the strongest option—especially on Olympus. Congrats on your Olympus, by the way—enjoy!

 

Should I connect the NAS to the extreme router or switch ? Any NAS system recommended?

 

Thanks for your comment, but I think we're talking about different things. I'm not making a general claim that FLAC is better than WAV or vice versa. My point is more specific:
On the Taiko Olympus, streamed FLAC—thanks to all the optimization in the network stack—can actually sound better than local playback of WAV or FLAC files. That’s not because WAV is “worse,” but because of how Taiko has engineered Olympus, focusing on streamed FLAC performance.

So it’s not about liking or disliking WAV—it’s about how the playback path affects the result, and how Taiko has prioritized that in their design. That’s the nuance I was trying to highlight.

and that reinforces my point that I made earlier. I am so happy with streaming on the Olympus that I have given up being picky about what file format is in my play list as everything sounds so flicking good streaming. Put your legs ups, turn off the lights, click play on your playlist and enjoy the music. The Olympus is indeed how Taiko prioritized the playback path. that's all that matters

 

As Emile has said this thread has devolved into so many directions that what used to be a daily first read for me is not any more as there are just too many what ifs, and can I and how much better in % SQ is one format over another.

It would be great to have a dedicated, curated thread maintained by the Taiko team—something like a blog—where the latest updates could be shared more clearly in what seems to be a constantly evolving landscape.

For the most recent information, please refer to the official Manuals and Guides, and be cautious of older information on WBF and in the FAQ document.

While WBF has been a great space for community engagement and user experiences, it does have certain limitations in terms of organization and accessibility. It has evolved into a sprawling mix of conversations, making it difficult for many users to quickly find structured, up-to-date information or official guidance.

Given Taiko’s sponsorship of this space and the the value it brings to the audiophile community, I believe there’s a unique opportunity to complement WBF with a dedicated, well-organized forum under Taiko’s own brand. This forum could be designed to better meet the needs of both new and experienced users, offering clearly categorized threads (Olympus, Extreme, XDMS) and pinned updates from the team—giving everyone easy access to crucial info.

A Taiko-owned forum could also allow for personalized features like bookmarks, notes, topic tracking and chronological organization, making it easier to track key insights without getting lost in the vast amount of content. This would create a more efficient, user-friendly space that supports the community while helping to elevate the Taiko brand and its reputation.

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A simple platform like Discourse (e.g., Discourse.org) could serve as a great example. See it live @ https://antipodes.support/

 

While WBF has been a great space for community engagement and user experiences, it does have certain limitations in terms of organization and accessibility. It has evolved into a sprawling mix of conversations, making it difficult for many users to quickly find structured, up-to-date information or official guidance.

Given Taiko’s sponsorship of this space and the the value it brings to the audiophile community, I believe there’s a unique opportunity to complement WBF with a dedicated, well-organized forum under Taiko’s own brand. This forum could be designed to better meet the needs of both new and experienced users, offering clearly categorized threads (Olympus, Extreme, XDMS) and pinned updates from the team—giving everyone easy access to crucial info.

A Taiko-owned forum could also allow for personalized features like bookmarks, notes, and chronological organization, making it easier to track key insights without getting lost in the vast amount of content. This would create a more efficient, user-friendly space that supports the community while helping to elevate the Taiko brand and its reputation.

Actually you are in it. It is Taiko Audio Subforum and Emile has Moderator privileges I’m sure that is why he said earlier that he is thinking of starting a new thread. I suggested the thread be closed to comment and let him fill it with a new pearls every day

 

Actually you are in it. It is Taiko Audio Subforum and Emile has Moderator privileges

Indeed, and with using the very good SEARCH I always found what I was looking for...

 

I actually think Taiko has outgrown a purely forum-based platform. Between this thread and the Crème de la Crème thread, there are nearly 5 million views and over 1300 pages. In my opinion, some of this content really needs to evolve into more structured, informational videos.

An "Ask Emile" series - similar to PS Audio’s "Ask Paul" - could be a great direction. Of course, the forum would still remain essential for everything else. Needless to say, all of your feedback is incredibly valuable, even when we occasionally disagree.

The challenge is that Emile doesn’t have the time to take that on. So maybe... “Ask Nenon”?
Just kidding - the two people who want to hear from me already call me daily.

 

I actually think Taiko has outgrown a purely forum-based platform. Between this thread and the Crème de la Crème thread, there are nearly 5 million views and over 1300 pages. In my opinion, some of this content really needs to evolve into more structured, informational videos.

An "Ask Emile" series - similar to PS Audio’s "Ask Paul" - could be a great direction. Of course, the forum would still remain essential for everything else. Needless to say, all of your feedback is incredibly valuable, even when we occasionally disagree.

The challenge is that Emile doesn’t have the time to take that on. So maybe... “Ask Nenon”?
Just kidding - the two people who want to hear from me already call me daily.

Perhaps a Chat GPT agent based on the Taiko KB (uploaded pdf documents) and links to forum threads and some instructions and context would do the job. Stick the agent to this thread, it would be better than a simple search. Worth the try and would not take too long to do?

 

Perhaps a Chat GPT agent based on the Taiko KB (uploaded pdf documents) and links to forum threads and some instructions and context would do the job. Stick the agent to this thread, it would be better than a simple search. Worth the try and would not take too long to do?

@ray-dude has already done a chat GPT of the Olympus which is in this thread

 

@ray-dude has already done a chat GPT of the Olympus which is in this thread

Tried searching this thread, did not find it, only found an AI generated podcast, also why a sticky may help for such things...

 

...I couldn't tell a difference on Mr. Cat6 files either. Two of us tried here. Not really any difference to my ears. Felt like I would be guessing to state which was which.

that some folks are not hearing a big flac/wav difference is both great news and a big clue.
the really big difference we (there were 3 of us listening) heard with the olympus (and extreme) was with the files on local/internal drives.

if the nas, perhaps due to the olympus streaming tcp/ip optimization mentioned by emile, shows no difference between flac/wav while the local files do, this may point to the flow/packet control as an essential difference in how the data (which of course is bit identical for both file types) is delivered to the DAC.

i'm going to check with my local dealer and see if he can (or already has) move his files to an NAS.
if the NAS solves the wav/flac difference, you all are very lucky people.

p.s. thanks to everyone who has done the comparison. if anyone is still utilizing local storage in the Olympus, it would be interesting to hear how the formats sound to you.

p.p.s. enjoy the music everyone. it was never my intention to start a food fight over formats but to (help?) find a solution to flac/wav differences which were not subtle. if i take another look at Christian's chart, with the router he shows a significant difference in SQ between local playback and NAS/streaming playback (enough so that he had to use a superior adjective). if that has solved the wav/flac issue, maybe we don't need another new adjective for a while

 

...I was glad to receive your files and run the test @cat6man

My comments are limited to the experience itself. It's good that you are trying to push on these variables. Cheers.

 

Tried searching this thread, did not find it, only found an AI generated podcast, also why a sticky may help for such things...

That’s it.

 

The Roon 1528 build has revealed the greatest improvement to realism compared with almost every other build before it, in my system and networked to an Extreme while awaiting its Olympus/io. I’ve been intoxicated with resonant air every night since, and have never been more at peace not thinking it needs to get any better. Whatever comes with the Olympus will come, but I must say now that I couldn’t care less - I wish everyone the same magic and love for what they hear each night : )

 

That’s it.

Understood, but I was referring to an interactive chat agent one could ask questions and it would answer based on the latest pdf manuals and posts by Taiko team here.

 

Understood, but I was referring to an interactive chat agent one could ask questions and it would answer based on the latest pdf manuals and posts by Taiko team here.

we dont allow AI on WBF