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".

 

Changed to:
Slot 1: OS drive + Music drive
Slot 2: Network card
Slot 3: XDMI
Slot 4: free, but blocked if you are going to use MSB Pro ISL or AES/EBU
Slot 5: free

Slots 4 & 5 can both be needed for future more expansive XDMI options, like for example balanced outputs with volume control

Emile,
Will the Olympus Windows OS be installed in the same storage drive as the stored local files will be?
This is very important for me because I select the 3.84 TB one, which is just right for my small library but, also with the OS I might run out of space…
If so, how much space will the OS take?
Maybe I’m not figuring it correctly and they are 2 different drives but in the same slot…, if so how are they mounted?
Thank you.

 

Emile,
Will the Olympus Windows OS be installed in the same storage drive as the stored local files will be?
This is very important for me because I select the 3.84 TB one, which is just right for my small library but, also with the OS I might run out of space…
If so, how much space will the OS take?
Maybe I’m not figuring it correctly and they are 2 different drives but in the same slot…, if so how are they mounted?
Thank you.

No the OS drive and Music storage drive are 2 separate drives.

What we changed is the following:

Previously we had the OS drive in slot 1 and the music drive in slot 5.

We then moved to using an adapter to mount both the OS and the music drive in slot 1.

Result:
1) a ~5% downgrade of mounting the music drive reduced to ~1%
2) Slot 5 is now free



Sometimes something very simple can have considerable effects

 

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

Depends what you move from the server to the I/O.

Network card + XDMI +10%
Music drive + 1-2%

 

No the OS drive and Music storage drive are 2 separate drives.

What we changed is the following:

Previously we had the OS drive in slot 1 and the music drive in slot 5.

We then moved to using an adapter to mount both the OS and the music drive in slot 1.

Result:
1) a ~5% downgrade of mounting the music drive reduced to ~1%
2) Slot 5 is now free

View attachment 132215

Sometimes something very simple can have considerable effects

Another brilliant solution!
Thank you Emile.

 

I was thinking that whether I use a stand alone Seagate 12TB or a NAS drive it would be preferred to use the DCD to power it. I can't do that if I put the drive (either one) near the Extreme so I can access the Extreme USB port. Could I therefore hook up the drive I select to the USB port on the Router instead? I guess if its a NAS, I would use the LAN connection, but if it is a 12TB Seagate, would the Router USB port work to transfer files off the Extreme and reinstall them to the Olympus the same way?

Using the DCD will have no effect on file copying, it will not create “better sounding files”.

 

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 SE and will never go balanced.

Yes that would then be both SE as Balanced out.

 

A quick google search finds this:

HS-453DX | Silent but Powerful: Fanless Multimedia NAS with Hybrid Storage Structure, 10GbE connectivity, and HDMI™ 2.0 4K output

The 2018 Computex d&i Design Award-winning HS-453DX features a stylish minimalist appearance while providing maximum multimedia performance. Powered by an Intel® Celeron® J4115 quad-core processor with HDMI™ 2.0 (4K @60Hz) output, the HS-453DX allows you to directly enjoy high-quality videos on...

www.qnap.com

You could always build your own for those who are inclined. I love my TrueNAS Scale Threadripper with 146TB in RAIDZ3 with triple mirror Optane metadata special vdev. Runs all my VMs and a bunch of truechart apps in k3s too.

Alternatively getting a quiet/fanless NUC type thing and attaching external USB3.1 SSDs and powering all of it with a LPS might even be better.

Portable SSDs - SSD External Hard Drives | Samsung US

Select and compare the latest features and innovations available in all Samsung's Portable SSD. Find the perfect Solid State External Hard Drive for you!

www.samsung.com

A heads-up, several NAS models show the ability to use m.2 nvme drives as caching drives. They would not be used to store data, which would still reside on spinning disks, but to increase performance. Something we actually don’t need for a 1 Gb network throughput, that would only be useful for 10 Gb networking.

A modern NAS with a “silent” mode is really very silent already, they’re at like 21-22dB which is below ambient noise in most rooms already. Just saying

 

So how this will look in my Olympus
+ Olympus IO ?

Also I was thinking AES is daughter board plugged into XDMI . Now it looks like an independent card in pci express.

It is not an independent PCIe card, but the XLR connector extends over the 4th slot, effectively blocking it. The same applies to the 5 pin XLR for the Lampizator link and the MSB Pro ISL fiber module. It’s irrelevant for the I/O.

 

Using the DCD will have no effect on file copying, it will not create “better sounding files”.

Quick follow up question to this @Taiko Audio / Emile, does the power supply quality of the NAS affect the sound quality when using it to 'stream' from in real time? (ie using it to host the music library)

 

Quick follow up question to this @Taiko Audio / Emile, does the power supply quality of the NAS affect the sound quality when using it to 'stream' from in real time? (ie using it to host the music library)

Didn’t test, only tested Nas plugged into DCD (powered by LPS) so far.

 

I just checked page 21 of the motherboard manual

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/..._Pro_WS_TRX50-SAGE_WIFI_EM_V3_WEB.pdf#page=21

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For those of us who would value convenience and better SQ over aesthetics, I hope that PCIe bifurcation would work well for this combo and then multiple SSDs could be powered externally (i.e. not drawing any power internally via the motherboard etc.) by Extreme DC Power Distributor w/ 12V LPS

https://www.amazon.com/Micro-SATA-Cables-ReDriver-Dual-Port/dp/B0CBSR27C3
https://www.microsatacables.com/external-minisas-hd-sff-8674-8x-to-u-2-dual-port-pcie-4-0
https://www.microsatacables.com/pcie-x8-with-redriver-to-external-minisas-hd-sff-8674-1x24x-esd

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Simply do a search on "Dell 53M3R" and we'll find the OEM version of Optane DC P5800X easily

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-optane-ssd-dc-p5800x-review/3

As they say in the storage industry, bandwidth is easy, but latency is hard. The P5800X wins here, too, with its average latency results showing remarkable improvement in low-QD operations and providing exceptional agility and responsiveness in nearly any type of work. Even Intel's previous-gen Optane SSD 905P, which was previously the fastest storage device in the world, pales in comparison.

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https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/58164-building-a-diy-music-server/page/43/#comment-1088689

1.5TB Optane DC P4800X could be yet another alternative since it's considered "less risky" for an OCXO upgrade

https://www.reddit.com/r/hardware/comments/mlikf6/comment/gtzvpw2

 

Didn’t test, only tested Nas plugged into DCD (powered by LPS) so far.

Thanks! So you started with the best possible power quality of the DCD

My experience is that power supply quality of the NAS did matter, but that was before the Router & Switch when I was just testing Extreme local storage vs the NAS (I found that the best power quality for the NAS I could achieve at the time (pre DCD) enabled it to get fairly close to internal storage, before I got the Switch & Router, and I haven't re-tested, I've been just using Extreme's internal storage).

 

Thanks! So you started with the best possible power quality of the DCD

My experience is that power supply quality of the NAS did matter, but that was before the Router & Switch when I was just testing Extreme local storage vs the NAS (I found that the best power quality for the NAS I could achieve at the time (pre DCD) enabled it to get fairly close to internal storage, before I got the Switch & Router, and I haven't re-tested, I've been just using Extreme's internal storage).

So many things to test. I keep asking Santa for longer days but so far he keeps ignoring me.

 

Emile,

For those of us that are technically challenged, I’d like to learn more about how internal storage will be transferred to the Olympus when we receive it. I understand that there will be some sort of Wizard software coming. I assume one would hook up one’s Olympus to the Taiko router, and in some idiot-proof manner, initiate the Wizard software (which is resident where? And downloaded from what?). Once the transfer is done, you remove your Extreme. I am so bad at these things that I would pay for a TeamViewer assist to help me with this task that appears so easy, any idiot should be able to do it. But I am no ordinary idiot. Just ask my daughter. I still haven’t figured out how to use my iPhone completely.

There are 2 more options I’d be curious about. Could there be an opportunity to “park” one’s music files somewhere in the cloud now, such that you can upload the files to my new Olympus so that it would come complete with the internal storage already loaded. (I have 8 TB of files and ordered the 15TB SSD). Dropbox comes to mind, but these are usually for MB files, not TB files. Is there something similar available for short-term use that is reasonable priced? Would pre-loading be a possible service Taiko would consider? That would be wonderful, even for a modest cost. Or, is there somebody out there in Taikoland who might wish to offer such a service for those who desire it? (if someone is interested, PM me please)

The third option might be something like this. I’d consider ordering this 12TB HDD
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1657452-REG/seagate_stlc12000400_12tb_one_touch_desktop.html
I could load my Extreme files on this drive now, await the arrival of the Olympus, load the Olympus, and then probably never use this drive again although I would probably keep it since it contains a back-up of my files at the time of transfer to the Olympus. (I will probably not download new files, ever but if I do, I have plenty of room on the internal Olympus SSD.)

Marty

@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 remembered clearly. I don't have a NAS and do not intend to have one - and I am technically challenged too - to keep life simple (that's the other reason for me to use internal storage exclusively in addition to music listening mode).

About storage:

Congratulations! You bought a new music server Exciting times ahead with a device touted to provide previously unattainable performance from digital music playback!

In the past, when buying a new source, you did not have to worry about your music collection, as that would stay in your home as physical purchased media. With music servers your media collection is made up of files. The only way these can physically stay in your home is:

1) (temporarily) keeping your old music server
2) storing them on a NAS
3) keeping a copy on an additional drive

Let's take a closer look at the options with using your music collection with your new music server in these 3 scenarios:

1) (temporarily) keeping your old music server:
You can use your old music server as a NAS, you can access your music library from Roon by adding \\ip-address\sharename as a storage locations in the Roon settings section.

This would not be a very common scenario as most likely you'd prefer either selling or trading in your old music server with your dealer.

That leads us to the second option, copying your music collection from your old to your new music server. This would typically entail using a computer or laptop, access both servers by means of:
\\OLDserver ip-address\sharename and \\NEWserver ip-address\sharename and drag/drop the contents of window 1 to window 2.

This is by far the easiest way to do it, but it's not the fastest way. Unfortunately faster means more complex, you may need more then the most basic computer operating skills for that.

If you prefer faster methods of transfer, or if even this seems daunting to you, do not hesitate to ask your dealer for help. The transferral of a music library is something you can expect your dealer to help you with as part of after sales / installation service, you're not buying a cheap mass production device at Walmart!

2) storing them on a NAS:
Keeping your music collection on a NAS is actually how things started out in the early era of music servers, they were called streamers back then, although online streaming services like Tidal/Qobuz did not exist back then, they were called streamers, as they would stream files from your NAS. Over the years, in the pursuit of better sound quality, streamers turned into music servers as companies started incorporating local storage devices for improved performance. This is nowadays the norm.

With the launch of the Router and the Olympus, and the disappearance of the sound quality benefit of local stored files, returning to storing your music collection on a NAS becomes a viable option again.

The benefits of NAS based storage libraries are:
1) improved safety/protection of your music collection,
2) not having to copy your music collection again if the internal drive of your music server, or your entire music server fails, and when moving to a different server, as I'm sure although we may be the first, others will follow.
3) it's an always online "remote" storage location on which you can store your Roon backups. Simply tell Roon to backup once a day, or once a week, to the NAS, if your music server fails, you can always restore from your NAS and retain all your settings and Roon playlists.

If you have your music collection stored on a NAS, all you need to do is add \\NAS ip-address\sharename as a storage locations in the Roon settings section, and you're done!

3) keeping a copy on an additional drive:
If you have an external drive on which you keep a copy of your music collection, you would connect that drive to your computer / mac, open a window to the drive, open a window to your music server \\NEWserver ip-address\sharename in apple finder or windows explorer and drag/drop the contents of window 1 to window 2.

Naturally we're here to help with tips / tricks for anyone wanting to perform any of these operations themselves, and/or by helping you out with deciding which storage strategy to employ with your new Olympus server. But don't assume this forum thread to being a common practices guide on how to migrate your music collection, a lot of members are users with advanced computer skills, reading their content may be very confusing to “normal people” . Ask your dealer for help / guidance when in doubt or if everything posted here is gibberish to you. You can even contact our support desk (support@taikoaudio.com) if things remain unclear, we're here to help, happily, as we've always been!

We will soon create an easy to understand, step-by-step guide on how to copy music from one server to the other.

 

A modern NAS with a “silent” mode is really very silent already, they’re at like 21-22dB which is below ambient noise in most rooms already. Just saying

Best advice is always from Emile...I switched my NAS yesterday to quiet mode and I cannot hear anything from it now unless my ear is beside it

 

Best advice is always from Emile...I switched my NAS yesterday to quiet mode and I cannot hear anything from it now unless my ear is beside it

I still have my NAS outside the music room but I remain most interested once again to power it via the DCD using a 3 meter DC cable as suggested a few days ago by Emile.

I also think that theses upticks of 1-2 % here, there and everywhere tend IMO to become somewhat silly. I would bet that most all of us here in a blinded A-B-A test would not hear the difference so to my mind I have stopped chasing unicorns and instead am chasing horses where I feel the biggest bang for the buck occurs for me.

 

The Olympus Introduction/FAQ doc has been updated with all the latest info. I realize there is an abundance of data in there, but I have removed outdated references and re-arrange lots of segments such that it has a logical order and can still be digested. Version 030 (05-06-2024) is now available from the Taiko Audio website.

I will also soon start work on a dedicated Olympus manual that covers all the important matters and leaves the rest of the details to the Introduction/FAQ doc.

Taiko Audio Website Downloads Section

 

The Olympus Introduction/FAQ doc has been updated with all the latest info. I realize there is an abundance of data in there, but I have removed outdated references and re-arrange lots of segments such that it has a logical order and can still be digested. Version 030 (05-06-2024) is now available from the Taiko Audio website.

I will also soon start work on a dedicated Olympus manual that covers all the important matters and leaves the rest of the details to the Introduction/FAQ doc.

Taiko Audio Website Downloads Section

Getting a 404 at that URL, Christiaan. Not the URL to the Downloads page, but the link to the Olympus file.

https://taikoaudio.com/taiko-2020/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Olympus-and-Olympus-IO-Introduction-FAQ_v030_05-06-2024.x80569.pdf

Edit and update -- Even with a different browser I am still getting a 404 from the Taiko Audio Downloads page when I try to get the Olympus pdf document.



Steve Z

 

@Taiko Audio, Question: If I were to forego the DCD and power the Switch/Taiko Router with my 2 rail 12V LPS any diminished returns with this approach? My home router would be powered by its own source. That's the part that gives me concern. The fact that it is powered separately, (not part of the LPS) would it introduce noise back? At this juncture it has nothing to do with the money but simplification. The "tuning" aspect doesn't really turn me on. It appears the Switch does a little smoothing on its own. No plans on using a NAS, I'll go internal storage 4 or 8TB. If I were to use a NAS the DCD would then be a helpful addition.

You know better than anyone, several of us are NOT Technically Advanced enough to comprehend much of what is shared here. It becomes very frustrating, at least for me, and I know a few others. You need someone to make 50 barrels of quality wine, something welded, I'm your guy. Setting up networks, file transfer comprehension, this stuff is difficult for me. Just not my thing. Hopefully Christiaan comes up with an easy to follow steps guide...

 

@Taiko Audio, Question: If I were to forego the DCD and power the Switch/Taiko Router with my 2 rail 12V LPS any diminished returns with this approach? My home router would be powered by its own source. That's the part that gives me concern. The fact that it is powered separately, (not part of the LPS) would it introduce noise back? At this juncture it has nothing to do with the money but simplification. The "tuning" aspect doesn't really turn me on. It appears the Switch does a little smoothing on its own. No plans on using a NAS, I'll go internal storage 4 or 8TB. If I were to use a NAS the DCD would then be a helpful addition.

You know better than anyone, several of us are NOT Technically Advanced enough to comprehend much of what is shared here. It becomes very frustrating, at least for me, and I know a few others. You need someone to make 50 barrels of quality wine, something welded, I'm your guy. Setting up networks, file transfer comprehension, this stuff is difficult for me. Just not my thing. Hopefully Christiaan comes up with an easy to follow steps guide...

I would go Router only in that case, assuming you want streaming at an equal level as file playback.