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".

 

As we now have experience developing Bluetooth and Wi-Fi interfaces something particularly interesting might be the ability to stream your mobile device output directly to XDMI. We were initially contemplating on adding this functionality to the Router but directly to XDMI might make more sense.

Emile - can you let us know if streaming from mobile devices to the server (or router) is still being contemplated? In terms of useful functionality, this would rate very highly…

 

Its very quiet here for long time.
I think Emile is working on a sectret souce for Olympus
to make it even better than in Munich.

 

Its very quiet here for long time.
I think Emile is working on a sectret souce for Olympus
to make it even better than in Munich.

From your keyboard to Emile's screen. . .

Steve Z

 

The calm before the storm.

 

The calm before the storm.

I think this will not be a storm.
This will be closer to atomic bomb explosion

 

I think this will not be a storm.
This will be closer to atomic bomb explosion

It's been two weeks since the email instructing us:

Production of the first batch is in progress​

This page will be updated soon. Please check back regularly!​

Still no change on that page. (Sigh...)

 

Im hearing that page might go live tomorrow....fiingers crossed

 

Whenever things get going I am curious as to:

1 - How many have been built to date and
2 - What is the expected production rate per week?

This will give each of us a sense to when we may expect to see a shipment.

 

Just curious, with Wise not an option, have USD folks found any workable payment alternatives with lower fees and better foreign exchange conversion than a vanilla international wire from their banks?

 

I think this will not be a storm.
This will be closer to atomic bomb explosion

When I receive mine I’m hoping for peace and tranquility. But in the mean time there will be orgiastic effusiveness.

 

Can this app be the handshake that auto updates software in the O?

It will allow updating your Olympus, but by a click on a button, not automatically.

 

Hi there, Emile/christiaan, I’m following up on an earlier question I posted for Emile that got lost in the mix - might you be able to reveal what the fuse ratings for the Olympus and I/O are? Thanks much! - kevin

Olympus 2A for 230/240V, 4A for 110V, slow blow.
I/O 1A for 230/240V, 2A for 110V, slow blow.

 

Just curious, with Wise not an option, have USD folks found any workable payment alternatives with lower fees and better foreign exchange conversion than a vanilla international wire from their banks?

Apparently Wise unblocked our account. It currently works but I doubt that will last long unless they changed their policy.

 

Emile - can you let us know if streaming from mobile devices to the server (or router) is still being contemplated? In terms of useful functionality, this would rate very highly…

Yes absolutely.

 

Its very quiet here for long time.
I think Emile is working on a sectret souce for Olympus
to make it even better than in Munich.

Well now that you mention it, Microsoft released the 2024 version of the Operating System we use on the Extreme 3 weeks ago:

What's new in Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2024 - Windows IoT Enterprise

Learn about new and updated features that are of interest to device makers and IT Pros working with Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2024.

learn.microsoft.com

So I have in fact been busy building an entirely new OS based on this release, it’s working well, just working on locking it down now as software piracy has started to become a real problem for us.

Looks like it will make it to the Olympus!

 

Well now that you mention it, Microsoft released the 2024 version of the Operating System we use on the Extreme 3 weeks ago:

What's new in Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2024 - Windows IoT Enterprise

Learn about new and updated features that are of interest to device makers and IT Pros working with Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2024.

learn.microsoft.com

So I have in fact been busy building an entirely new OS based on this release, it’s working well, just working on locking it down now as software piracy has started to become a real problem for us.

Looks like it will make it to the Olympus!

Amazing !
Looks Now you have what you wanted in Olympus.
You mentioned before „we were forced to move to W11”
That sounded like not an ideal scenario you had in mind.

Its Another great benefit of waiting longer .
Its well worth waiting as this 2024 LTSC will be supported
for next 10 years minimum with fixed critical things.

I am guessing it is sounding much better than proposed earlier W11
as Emile would take no action otherwise.

Thank you Emile and Taiko Team for taking every possible move into our great benefit.

 

Amazing !
Looks Now you have what you wanted in Olympus.
You mentioned before „we were forced to move to W11”
That sounded like not an ideal scenario you had in mind.

Its Another great benefit of waiting longer .
Its well worth waiting as this 2024 LTSC will be supported
for next 10 years minimum with fixed critical things.

I am guessing it is sounding much better than proposed earlier W11
as Emile would take no action otherwise.

Thank you Emile and Taiko Team for taking every possible move into our great benefit.

Yes this is the OS you’d really want for this application. Obviously it was simply not released when we designed the Olympus or we would’ve used it from the start. Although it does sound better when you install it without modifying it, it sounds more or less the same after modification. The amount of modifications you need to do is lower though. Nevertheless I’d give it a small but noticeable +0.5% versus the prior OS

On the practical side of things it’s so new Microsoft doesn’t have their activation services up and running yet so we’ll need to purchase, and manually enter, individual license keys for each Olympus installation initially. Not a big deal, the first license keys should arrive imminently.

 

Yes absolutely.

Great - any more detail? Specifically, will this be software or will new Taiko hardware be required?

 

Great - any more detail? Specifically, will this be software or will new Taiko hardware be required?

Software only. We’re a bit stretched for time so my responses may be a a bit shorter then you’re accustomed to for a while. I’m more then happy to elaborate in depth and with all the desired detail once normality returns!

 

Is it the goal to ship any today or are you looking at next Friday to be more realistic?