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".

 

@tsaett

didi the IO chassis return yet from the anodizer

 

96% have opted for the analog output (yes, some skipped this free option)

Roughly half have opted for the digital output board
About a third opted for the Lampizator Taiko link
Around 20% have opted for the MSB ProISL output

What output from the Olympus will be needed for the Aries Cerat native Xdmi?

 

@tsaett

didi the IO chassis return yet from the anodizer

Just arrived!!!

 

Very Nice!

 

That looks great!
Have you received any in black?
Asking for a friend - LOL!

 

It's been a week since I got my Olympus and in the meantime I had to fight the weather anomalies, trees falling, electricity blacking out etc. Anyway, after a week I feel like I am getting a hint of what is happening with the Olympus.
Just to remind you - what I have is XDMI link to Lampizator DAC and USB ports which are - according to Emile - non audiophile, just for technical reasons like inserting HDD or pendrive. Anyway - this USB plays music as well.
My worst problem was that I could not understand why on some occasions I was in a. state of bliss on other occasions - I was just okay. It seems like the sound quality very strongly depends on the battery system voltage which in turn depends on level of charge . The higher charge the better sound. My first two days I was using the Olympus at below 5% charge because from cold start - it is how high it will go in one hour . If you charge without listening - it goes up faster. So as soon as the Olympus would show up in Roon - I would IMPATIENTLY listen. That was a wrong approach. Next level of quality is when the Olympus gets charged to 80% or so - things get really interesting. But eventually the Olympus will charge enough and disengage the charger and glide without engines - on battery power alone. THATS the real McCoy. My problem is that I don't know when these things happen because there is no display. I had to learn to use their app which monitors batteries, chargers, currents, voltages etc. The app is free (the only free thing with Taiko ;-) and easy to use.
Another thing I did not have is an Extreme server for reference so I was using Lampizator Gulfstream which I know very well.
Back to the "hated" USB port- say what you want or sue me but it sounds fantastic. It does something that my Gulfstream could only dream - the bass and space is so awesome, and the presentation is so not-digital that I really love it. As a lover of USB I can only dream that Taiko would provide the "audiophile approved" usb card in addition to these USB motherboard ports.
Now switching to XDMI with the (Taikoized) Horizon DAC. We enter different realm. I can only compare it to enhancing the listening session with a small puff of weed. Things become so whooooaaa spooky. To fully appreciate it's sound I suggest a completely dark room and relaxed state of mind. We change the so called "they are here" experience with "you are there" and it is for me the goal of being in this hobby. (the hobby is listening to music because my business is managing the factory). The ideas of having Jimi Hendrix in my room is interesting, but the goal is to travel in time and space and to be in Woodstock in person.
I honestly honestly don't know if bass is deeper, if frequency response is wider, if signal to noise is better, if THD is better, if jitter is lower, if dynamic range is improved - I swim in music and don't have a care in this world.
I can imagine it may not be for everyone, like close encounters with musicians in your room would not be welcome by introverts and sociopaths. For ME and I speak only for myself - this is the ultimate fun machine. We will NEVER agree unanimously - like with my other hobby sailing - some people like sailboats, other prefer motorboats, other love catamarans, or god forbid windsurfing. Similarly with audio - the endless quarrels between SS versus tube people, horns vs planars, headphones versus speakers, silver cables versus copper, opamped DACs versus no-feedback - there is never any consensus. I predict that equal 1/3rd of people will love Taiko analog out, 1/3rd will like XDMI to tubed DAC and 1/3 will like USB to SS DAC or something like that. If you are a person who "normally agrees with Lukasz Fikus' idea of sound - you will probably love the Lampizator+Olympus path. I heard before the Taiko analog output and it was super exciting but I prefer Horizon. Emile uses also Horizon in his system. If this is telling you something. And I will be fine if many people will disagree with me because I can not produce tens of horizons per month anyway. My take away advice for the Horizon users: let the Olympus charge and stabilise for MINIMUM 24 hrs from unpacking. Get the best XDMI cable you can - these are really important. Don't expect miracles because miracles don't happen. Do expect that you will never go back. Tell your family they won't see you any time soon. Stash food supplies and water.

 

Terrific advice Lukasz and something for me at least is to wait 24 hours and let those batteries charge. That to me is the pearl of the day, I also like the advice re getting the best XDMI cable which for now seems to be KBL.Reading the manual should be a given but rarely done

 

I, for one, will not be waiting. I understand the sound won’t be optimal but the whole unit needs to break in so I want to start as soon as I can.

 

I, for one, will not be waiting. I understand the sound won’t be optimal but the whole unit needs to break in so I want to start as soon as I can.

it is not "wait before you listen" but rather wait before you judge. Or even wait before you return. ;-)

 

it is not "wait before you listen" but rather wait before you judge. Or even wait before you return. ;-)

Yes, that part I get. I will definitely not judge for a couple days at a minimum.

 

so I want to start as soon as I can.

I think we all do so I like the comment to "wait before you judge"

 

That pretty much spells it out quite clearly. Curious as to how many hours of straight listening before lower charge/percentage drain, SQ diminishes...

 

That pretty much spells it out quite clearly. Curious as to how many hours of straight listening before lower charge/percentage drain, SQ diminishes...

The battery is constantly charging so once it is charged (it should arrive almost fully charged) it should stay fully charged.

 

The battery is constantly charging so once it is charged (it should arrive almost fully charged) it should stay fully charged.

David, I would think you would set the BPM to charge in the wee hours and try to avoid charging while you are listening...

 

The battery is constantly charging so once it is charged (it should arrive almost fully charged) it should stay fully charged.

it is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN to ship any charged batteries. So it comes EMPTY

 

it is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN to ship any charged batteries. So it comes EMPTY

I didn’t know that.

 

That pretty much spells it out quite clearly. Curious as to how many hours of straight listening before lower charge/percentage drain, SQ diminishes...

The idea is that you glide till the end of the session any there is a timer set to recharge after 1 AM. (user adjustable) so in theory you never encounter the lower SQ.

 

It's been a week since I got my Olympus and in the meantime I had to fight the weather anomalies, trees falling, electricity blacking out etc. Anyway, after a week I feel like I am getting a hint of what is happening with the Olympus.
Just to remind you - what I have is XDMI link to Lampizator DAC and USB ports which are - according to Emile - non audiophile, just for technical reasons like inserting HDD or pendrive. Anyway - this USB plays music as well.
My worst problem was that I could not understand why on some occasions I was in a. state of bliss on other occasions - I was just okay. It seems like the sound quality very strongly depends on the battery system voltage which in turn depends on level of charge . The higher charge the better sound. My first two days I was using the Olympus at below 5% charge because from cold start - it is how high it will go in one hour . If you charge without listening - it goes up faster. So as soon as the Olympus would show up in Roon - I would IMPATIENTLY listen. That was a wrong approach. Next level of quality is when the Olympus gets charged to 80% or so - things get really interesting. But eventually the Olympus will charge enough and disengage the charger and glide without engines - on battery power alone. THATS the real McCoy. My problem is that I don't know when these things happen because there is no display. I had to learn to use their app which monitors batteries, chargers, currents, voltages etc. The app is free (the only free thing with Taiko ;-) and easy to use.
Another thing I did not have is an Extreme server for reference so I was using Lampizator Gulfstream which I know very well.
Back to the "hated" USB port- say what you want or sue me but it sounds fantastic. It does something that my Gulfstream could only dream - the bass and space is so awesome, and the presentation is so not-digital that I really love it. As a lover of USB I can only dream that Taiko would provide the "audiophile approved" usb card in addition to these USB motherboard ports.
Now switching to XDMI with the (Taikoized) Horizon DAC. We enter different realm. I can only compare it to enhancing the listening session with a small puff of weed. Things become so whooooaaa spooky. To fully appreciate it's sound I suggest a completely dark room and relaxed state of mind. We change the so called "they are here" experience with "you are there" and it is for me the goal of being in this hobby. (the hobby is listening to music because my business is managing the factory). The ideas of having Jimi Hendrix in my room is interesting, but the goal is to travel in time and space and to be in Woodstock in person.
I honestly honestly don't know if bass is deeper, if frequency response is wider, if signal to noise is better, if THD is better, if jitter is lower, if dynamic range is improved - I swim in music and don't have a care in this world.
I can imagine it may not be for everyone, like close encounters with musicians in your room would not be welcome by introverts and sociopaths. For ME and I speak only for myself - this is the ultimate fun machine. We will NEVER agree unanimously - like with my other hobby sailing - some people like sailboats, other prefer motorboats, other love catamarans, or god forbid windsurfing. Similarly with audio - the endless quarrels between SS versus tube people, horns vs planars, headphones versus speakers, silver cables versus copper, opamped DACs versus no-feedback - there is never any consensus. I predict that equal 1/3rd of people will love Taiko analog out, 1/3rd will like XDMI to tubed DAC and 1/3 will like USB to SS DAC or something like that. If you are a person who "normally agrees with Lukasz Fikus' idea of sound - you will probably love the Lampizator+Olympus path. I heard before the Taiko analog output and it was super exciting but I prefer Horizon. Emile uses also Horizon in his system. If this is telling you something. And I will be fine if many people will disagree with me because I can not produce tens of horizons per month anyway. My take away advice for the Horizon users: let the Olympus charge and stabilise for MINIMUM 24 hrs from unpacking. Get the best XDMI cable you can - these are really important. Don't expect miracles because miracles don't happen. Do expect that you will never go back. Tell your family they won't see you any time soon. Stash food supplies and water.

That was a very informative writeup Lukasz, thank you!
Good to know about the initial 24 hour charge cycle recommendation. Point well taken.
Anything that can make one feel like they are swimming in the music without a care in the world, is the goal.
Listening to music in such a way is totally therapeutic. For me it is what this entire hobby is about.
Really appreciate your informative post!

 

It's been a week since I got my Olympus and in the meantime I had to fight the weather anomalies, trees falling, electricity blacking out etc. Anyway, after a week I feel like I am getting a hint of what is happening with the Olympus.
Just to remind you - what I have is XDMI link to Lampizator DAC and USB ports which are - according to Emile - non audiophile, just for technical reasons like inserting HDD or pendrive. Anyway - this USB plays music as well.
My worst problem was that I could not understand why on some occasions I was in a. state of bliss on other occasions - I was just okay. It seems like the sound quality very strongly depends on the battery system voltage which in turn depends on level of charge . The higher charge the better sound. My first two days I was using the Olympus at below 5% charge because from cold start - it is how high it will go in one hour . If you charge without listening - it goes up faster. So as soon as the Olympus would show up in Roon - I would IMPATIENTLY listen. That was a wrong approach. Next level of quality is when the Olympus gets charged to 80% or so - things get really interesting. But eventually the Olympus will charge enough and disengage the charger and glide without engines - on battery power alone. THATS the real McCoy. My problem is that I don't know when these things happen because there is no display. I had to learn to use their app which monitors batteries, chargers, currents, voltages etc. The app is free (the only free thing with Taiko ;-) and easy to use.
Another thing I did not have is an Extreme server for reference so I was using Lampizator Gulfstream which I know very well.
Back to the "hated" USB port- say what you want or sue me but it sounds fantastic. It does something that my Gulfstream could only dream - the bass and space is so awesome, and the presentation is so not-digital that I really love it. As a lover of USB I can only dream that Taiko would provide the "audiophile approved" usb card in addition to these USB motherboard ports.
Now switching to XDMI with the (Taikoized) Horizon DAC. We enter different realm. I can only compare it to enhancing the listening session with a small puff of weed. Things become so whooooaaa spooky. To fully appreciate it's sound I suggest a completely dark room and relaxed state of mind. We change the so called "they are here" experience with "you are there" and it is for me the goal of being in this hobby. (the hobby is listening to music because my business is managing the factory). The ideas of having Jimi Hendrix in my room is interesting, but the goal is to travel in time and space and to be in Woodstock in person.
I honestly honestly don't know if bass is deeper, if frequency response is wider, if signal to noise is better, if THD is better, if jitter is lower, if dynamic range is improved - I swim in music and don't have a care in this world.
I can imagine it may not be for everyone, like close encounters with musicians in your room would not be welcome by introverts and sociopaths. For ME and I speak only for myself - this is the ultimate fun machine. We will NEVER agree unanimously - like with my other hobby sailing - some people like sailboats, other prefer motorboats, other love catamarans, or god forbid windsurfing. Similarly with audio - the endless quarrels between SS versus tube people, horns vs planars, headphones versus speakers, silver cables versus copper, opamped DACs versus no-feedback - there is never any consensus. I predict that equal 1/3rd of people will love Taiko analog out, 1/3rd will like XDMI to tubed DAC and 1/3 will like USB to SS DAC or something like that. If you are a person who "normally agrees with Lukasz Fikus' idea of sound - you will probably love the Lampizator+Olympus path. I heard before the Taiko analog output and it was super exciting but I prefer Horizon. Emile uses also Horizon in his system. If this is telling you something. And I will be fine if many people will disagree with me because I can not produce tens of horizons per month anyway. My take away advice for the Horizon users: let the Olympus charge and stabilise for MINIMUM 24 hrs from unpacking. Get the best XDMI cable you can - these are really important. Don't expect miracles because miracles don't happen. Do expect that you will never go back. Tell your family they won't see you any time soon. Stash food supplies and water.

Lucasz, the They Are Here v You Are There dichotomy, I've always struggled to get this.
Were you at Electric Ladyland Studios NYC in October 1968?
I'm confidently assuming you weren't.
So, how would you know how Jimi Hendrix and the band sounded there as they blasted out Crosstown Traffic?
And so how does Olympus (or any other gear that purports to Take You There) manage this trick?

 

This is so frigging COOL!!!