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".

 

Hi Stefan,

Regarding the daughterboards for the XDMI interface, it all depends on what you've ordered.

You should have a list of what you ordered in the confirmation email.

But I suppose you will get:

- the XDMI daughterboard for LampizatOr
- the analogue daughterboard (DAC)
- the digital daughterboard (AES/EBU - XLR)

But again, it depends on what you've ordered. The best thing to do is to contact the support team.

As far as USB is concerned, and according to what Emile explained here on the forum, the XDMI interface is so much superior that it wouldn't make sense to use the USB.

The Olympus is really designed around the XDMI interface.

As for the technical details regarding the USB interface on the Olympus, Emile (@Taiko Audio ) will be in a better position to answer.

A little research on the forum may also give you some answers.

View attachment 133931

Hopes this helps,

Cheers,

Thomas

Tom, initially most people are not going to be able to use XDMI natively since most DACs don’t have an XDMI input.

So, people will have the choice of USB or S/PDIF / AES/EBU unless they use the analog DAC. USB is still a very important interface for a lot of users given the resolution limitation of S/PDIF / AES/EBU

 

Tom, initially most people are not going to be able to use XDMI natively since most DACs don’t have an XDMI input.

So, people will have the choice of USB or S/PDIF / AES/EBU unless they use the analog DAC. USB is still a very important interface for a lot of users given the resolution limitation of S/PDIF / AES/EBU

David, (agreed on USB) so for those of us who do have the Horizon with Native XDMI, the other interfaces onboard the Olympus will be Analog Out and USB. Other than Lampizator Out from the Olympus is USB/Analog Out The Factory Default Configuration? Or am I missing something? Is AES/EBU also part of the Factory Default Configuration?

 

David, (agreed on USB) so for those of us who do have the Horizon with Native XDMI, the other interfaces onboard the Olympus will be Analog Out and USB. Other than Lampizator Out from the Olympus is USB/Analog Out The Factory Default Configuration? Or am I missing something? Is AES/EBU also part of the Factory Default Configuration?

I am not sure what you mean by Factory Default Configuration. The USB output works on its own. The other outputs are daughter boards on the main XDMI board. One decides which one they want to use (XDMI, analog out, digital (S/PDIF or AES/EBU).

 

I am not sure what you mean by Factory Default Configuration. The USB output works on its own. The other outputs are daughter boards on the main XDMI board. One decides which one they want to use (XDMI, analog out, digital (S/PDIF or AES/EBU).

I understand the USB works on its own. What I'm asking is the Olympus has output choices that fits your needs. For those of us with Native XDMI our Olympus will have Lampizator Out and Analog Out. AES/EBU would be an additional charged output and not needed for those of us with Native XDMI installed in our Horizons. Unless you needed AES/EBU for the interim with a different situation...The point I was attempting to make is 2 outs are free with the Olympus, a 3rd which can be done is chargeable...