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".

 

While we are waiting for the elevator to reach the top floor, here is some nice elevator music. Actually a video of the anodizing process as posted by one of our customers' facilities, about 5 miles away from us.
Linetec Anodizing

Large scale architectural, but it's the same process.

 

I would expect no less but who wouldn't want an Olympus in their car?

I would settle for one in my stereo rack, to tell the truth.

Steve Z

 

Love to have one in my car driving it to my house..

 

While we are waiting for the elevator to reach the top floor, here is some nice elevator music. Actually a video of the anodizing process as posted by one of our customers' facilities, about 5 miles away from us.
Linetec Anodizing

Large scale architectural, but it's the same process.

Wow, thanks for the video, Greg!

 

Wow, thanks for the video, Greg!

You are welcome Michael. Too bad this facility is in NA, not NL. They could process a year’s worth of Taiko product pronto.

 

Ok... I know we're enjoying our drinks with antisipation of the entree coming next...

Dessert:
A dedicated XDMI analog dac board.
(No daughter board)
The Taiko ZEUS XDMI Analog dac?

You can keep the deconstructed keylime pie off the menu..

 

And exactly the advantage of not having a daughterboard is?

 

And exactly the advantage of not having a daughterboard is?

I'll leave that to the engineers to design and optimize...
From a lay point of view, fewer contact points and more room to grow.

 

For my part, I don't mind having a daughter card when designing the balanced DAC card, especially if as Emile said "Since we designed this card we will take the opportunity to add some improvements"

 

Furthermore, since of the €15,000 that the XDMI card costs, the price of the daughter card is proportionally very small, one would have to be willing to spend another €15,000 on that “compact” DAC card, I think it is a bad deal, in addition to breaking the final XDMI design philosophy and returning to the initial idea that was finally rejected by Taiko.

 

For my part, I don't mind having a daughter card when designing the balanced DAC card, especially if as Emile said "Since we designed this card we will take the opportunity to add some improvements"

I don't mind either..

 

Furthermore, since of the €15,000 that the XDMI card costs, the price of the daughter card is proportionally very small, one would have to be willing to spend another €15,000 on that “compact” DAC card, I think it is a bad deal, in addition to breaking the final XDMI design philosophy and returning to the initial idea that was finally rejected by Taiko.

To me, it comes down to the same decision in the future...
Do I or do I not buy the I/O? Value?
That's up to the buyer.

I'm pretty sure philosophy evolves and ideas change or even new ones come as technologies evolve.

Core values are a different conversation..

 

I have a small dedicated room (13'×12'×8') and have spent many hours adjusting speaker position and experimenting with room treatment (both diffusion and absorption). JR of Wally Tools installed the bass array a few years ago and as a result I get defined, musical bass. I believe I have as much sound stage breadth and depth as I could hope for. I can hear the questioning, why the heck is he sharing all this in the Olympus thread?! My question is, if anyone has a room similar in size to mine and you receive your Olympus, what is the effect on the sound stage depth, width, and height? Thanks!

Since I have room similar to yours (14x19"), my #1 concern would be coping with Olympus heat output.

Olympus draws sth like 250-350W from mains and basicly all of it is turned into heat. That is similar heat output to 50W power amp woking in a pure class A.

 

Olympus draws sth like 250-350W from mains and basicly all of it is turned into heat. That is similar heat output to 50W power amp woking in a pure class A.

From Taiko website.

The Olympus Server's normal power consumption during music playback is 45 watts. The charger's power consumption depends on how the charging behavior is configured. With a very short window to charge the battery packs all at once, this can be up to 150 watts for the Olympus Server and up to 100 watts for the Olympus I/O.

 

From Taiko website.

The Olympus Server's normal power consumption during music playback is 45 watts. The charger's power consumption depends on how the charging behavior is configured. With a very short window to charge the battery packs all at once, this can be up to 150 watts for the Olympus Server and up to 100 watts for the Olympus I/O.

OK, I stand corrected on the actual #. The label on the back panel says 270W, but I guess that is a peak power.

Olympus gets very hot nonetheless. In a small room, its heat output will be sth that would need to be considered.

 

Since I have room similar to yours (14x19"), my #1 concern would be coping with Olympus heat output.

Olympus draws sth like 250-350W from mains and basicly all of it is turned into heat. That is similar heat output to 50W power amp woking in a pure class A.

Compared to mine your room sounds palatial, Adam! Currently, I run a tube DAC, pre, and 75 watt mono blocs without air conditioning. Yes, I'm willing to suffer for the art of others So, like the frog being boiled 1 degree at a time perhaps the added heat of the Olympus won't be so bad. Also, living in New Orleans in the 90's helped to reset my heat endurance baseline...

 

FWIW the Olympus runs cooler than the Extreme while playing music. It only gets warm if you run more CPU-intensive jobs like scanning a big library in Roon.

 

any chance for a weekly update on production and shipping plans?

 

any chance for a weekly update on production and shipping plans?

Yes, with my daily checks of the Olympus Status Page, I think “1 2 3 4 5 17” is permanently emblazoned upon my subconscious. It’s sad to think of Oly’s 6 thru 16 still lost in the void…

(Not a serious complaint btw, as Extreme/XDMS is sounding better than ever!)

 

Olympus gets very hot nonetheless.

After playing 24 hours non-stop: