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".

 

@Taiko Audio

Good evening Emile,

I have a question here that might be of interest to the community.

Context :

- Olympus Server + Olympus I/O
- Taiko switch/router/DC Power Distributor

- Synology NAS - DS1618+
- I'm going to add a second NIC to the NAS
- All my music is currently stored on my main NAS.

- I have two Roon licences.


General idea:

Use the music files located in my main NAS for both Roon home clients and the Olympus Server.

Is this feasible?
Do you see any drawbacks?



Details :

View attachment 131987

Cheers

Thomas

I doubt that will make a difference, isn’t it overly complex? I would just go straight to Cisco Catalyst with both NAS and Taiko Router.

 

The idea is to have two clearly separated networks.

So connecting the Taiko Router to the home switch wouldn't make sense.

The only problem I can see is managing the default gatway for the 192.168.2.x network.

I don't really know how to tinker around with this.

Cheers,

Thomas

The Taiko Router will create a separated network. It will “treat” everything preceding it as “The Internet”.

 

I doubt that will make a difference, isn’t it overly complex? I would just go straight to Cisco Catalyst with both NAS and Taiko Router.

My NAS is connected to the Taiko Router. I have to figure out how something on the Taiko network can see a NAS connected to my home network.

 

Emile -- There are a few of us Olympus buyers who have not yet bought your Router, Switch, or DCD. My plan is to buy these additional components over the next year or two. Your response above -- "only the router already more or less performs that 'trick'" -- suggests to me that in prioritizing these additional purchases from Taiko, we should give priority to the Router to ensure the best SQ immediately. Then add the Switch and DCD later to permit some flexibility in voicing. Do you agree that, when used with Olympus, the Router should be given priority over the Switch and DCD if one has not already bought these products from Taiko?

Yeah router first. Switch/DCD optional.

 

My NAS is connected to the Taiko Router. I have to figure out how something on the Taiko network can see a NAS connected to my home network.

You’ll need to perform some setup for that. We’ll create a guide. And test it while at it as I haven’t even tried that scenario yet. I have only tested a NAS connected to the Taiko Router. Though one would expect that as it performs on the same level as Tidal/Qobuz, it would most likely perform about the same.

 

You’ll need to setup port forwarding then.

Makes sense. Right now I have port forwarding set up the other way so I can see the NAS from my home network.

 

Hi Emile, 1-2% sound degradation… obvious on every track? degraded noise floor/thinner sound?
Taiko Extreme 100%
Olympus w NAS 300%
Olympus w on board storage 295%?

 

I doubt that will make a difference, isn’t it overly complex? I would just go straight to Cisco Catalyst with both NAS and Taiko Router.

Yes, that would be much simpler.
But would it work?

The Olympus Server would be on the Taiko network e.g. 192.168.2.x
The NAS would be on the Home network, e.g. 192.168.1.x

We'd have to tinker something (port forwarding) on the Taiko router.
Would it work that way? Does Roon "allow" this?

No impact on sound?

To be honest, I don't really want a second NAS in my network cabinet, which is already quite crowded.

General idea :

 

Hi Emile, 1-2% sound degradation… obvious on every track? degraded noise floor/thinner sound?

The uplift of Olympus-XDMI relative to Extreme-USB is so ridiculously large (IMHO, YMMV etc) you can also consider it to be non consequential. Problems only arise if you start performing direct A-B-A comparisons on that particular delta. Sometimes we can get caught in obsessing over small differences, If you just don’t do that it will probably never bother you.

 

Yes, that would be much simpler.
But would it work?

The Olympus Server would be on the Taiko network e.g. 192.168.2.x
The NAS would be on the Home network, e.g. 192.168.1.x

We'd have to tinker something (port forwarding) on the Taiko router.
Would it work that way? Does Roon "allow" this?

No impact on sound?

To be honest, I don't really want a second NAS in my network cabinet, which is already quite crowded.

It’s going to take some time for me to personally test every creative scenario people can come up with, this part may be answered quicker by hands on experiences of future Olympus owners

My educated guess is it will all not matter much.

 

I think I will be keeping the standard size storage. I saw someone say it could be easily removed and I would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it for the cost savings. I will be trying to figure out a quiet NAS solution to connect to my taiko power distributor.

 

It’s going to take some time for me to personally test every creative scenario people can come up with, this part may be answered quicker by hands on experiences of future Olympus owners

Yes, that does make quite a few possible configurations.

Testing all that takes time and I can imagine you've got more important things to do at the moment.

BTW, I've updated my post with a diagram.

Anyway, I've opted for the Olympus with internal storage.

But the ideal for me would be to have a single NAS located on the home network. It's more convenient in every way (backup, sharing audio files with home Roon clients, etc.).

If that were possible without impacting the sound, that would be really great

Cheers,

Thomas

 

Hi Emile, I might be in the minority, but presently I am opting for a larger internal drive despite having the Taiko router. Am I right to think that there should not be any sonic penalty if I passively store other data on the Olympus's internal drive (e.g. video files) purely as backup, which I do not access during music playback?

 

I’d say about a 20-25% degradation. Aka huge. Again the Olympus is an entirely different design than the Extreme, it has to be as it’s more or less directly in your analogue signal path which changes everything.

If I ordered 4TB storage option I understand I will be able to simply pull it out of the socket easy for the ultimate quality?
Or it is difficult to do?

 

I think I will be keeping the standard size storage. I saw someone say it could be easily removed and I would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it for the cost savings. I will be trying to figure out a quiet NAS solution to connect to my taiko power distributor.

That’s basically my approach, too.

I’ve got many TB of storage on 3 NAS and have already been down the path of improving power supply quality for them.

I’m not angsting over “1 or 2 %” at this stage. There are so many other variables that will make that level or more of a difference, and also I admit I’d like to have the opportunity to hear the difference for myself if I get round to trying - not that I doubt Emile, I’m just curious

As I wait for mine, I’m looking forward to hearing people’s impressions of Olympus as the first deliveries arrive - seems like it’s going to be soon now!

 

If I ordered 4TB storage option I understand I will be able to simply pull it out of the socket easy for the ultimate quality?
Or it is difficult to do?

Yes correct! Not difficult but you have to take the top off.

 

Hi Emile, I might be in the minority, but presently I am opting for a larger internal drive despite having the Taiko router. Am I right to think that there should not be any sonic penalty if I passively store other data on the Olympus's internal drive (e.g. video files) purely as backup, which I do not access during music playback?

The type of data stored on the drive will not impact anything.

 

Re-reading the discussion over the last few pages I see the potential for some misconceptions to start occurring.

1) Local storage file playback quality is not inferior to router + network sourced playback files, it’s equal.

2) Adding a drive to the Olympus however is not completely inaudible, nothing huge but you can hear a small difference on a highly resolving system, I’d rate this at a 1-2% impact, not enough to actually worry about. If I hadn’t mentioned it I’m sure nobody would have ever noticed it.

3) This does make a NAS a viable option for storing your music as you’ll have the same sound quality as playing from local storage, at a much lower price, you can have virtually unlimited storage sizes and you have more data security strategies to play around with. (Again assuming you use the Taiko router). There is a downside as well, being it may add some complexity to your setup.

 

Practical differences between the Extreme and the Olympus:

A summary of differing features compiled into one post:

Storage:
Extreme: locally stored files sound best

Olympus: local and remote sourced files sound the same (when used with the router)

Network:
Extreme: network setup affects both local as remote file playback performance

Olympus: network setup only affects remote file playback performance

Playback software:
Extreme: playback software affects sound quality

Olympus: playback software does not affect sound quality (assuming the playback software used is bit-perfect)

USB:
Extreme: allows finetuning towards a DAC by means of selectable USB profiles

Olympus: no effect of USB profiles, hence eliminated

Remote Desktop access:
Extreme: customer may need to access the desktop to perform various tasks

Olympus: customer does not need desktop access

General remark:

The Olympus has 1 single USB port. If you plug anything into this port, an USB drive, a DAC or any other USB device, XDMI sound quality will take a nosedive down to about the same level as USB. So when comparing USB to XDMI with your DAC make sure to unplug the USB cable, and even better yet also restart the Olympus to remove any lingering nasties. Aka don’t use any USB device unless absolutely necessary!

 

Practical differences between the Extreme and the Olympus:

A summary of differing features compiled into one post:

Storage:
Extreme: locally stored files sound best

Olympus: local and remote sourced files sound the same

Network:
Extreme: network setup affects both local as remote file playback performance

Olympus: network setup only affects remote file playback performance

Playback software:
Extreme: playback software affects sound quality

Olympus: playback software does not affect sound quality (assuming the playback software used is bit-perfect)

USB:
Extreme: allows finetuning towards a DAC by means of selectable USB profiles

Olympus: no effect of USB profiles, hence eliminated

Remote Desktop access:
Extreme: customer may need to access the desktop to perform various tasks

Olympus: customer does not need desktop access

General remark:

The Olympus has 1 single USB port. If you plug anything into this port, an USB drive, a DAC or any other USB device, XDMI sound quality will take a nosedive down to about the same level as USB. So when comparing USB to XDMI with your DAC make sure to unplug the USB cable, and even better yet also restart the Olympus to remove any lingering nasties. Aka don’t use any USB device unless absolutely necessary!

"playback software does not affect sound quality" is crazy!