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".

 

Friday is shipping day - happy to report the first silver ones have left the building. Fred stopped us just in time, his units are now sitting lonesome on their pallet, waiting for him to come back - anyone interested in burning them in meanwhile?

We are expecting to ship the O + I/O bundles next week (just waiting for the epoxy to dry and an individual sound quality check), afterwards we have another black batch (8 pieces) outgoing, followed by another silver one (10 pieces), followed by another silver one (10 pieces).

Next week we have our photo shooting appointment for the whole product range - we are very much looking forward to present our new Olympus product page, that is just waiting for visual input. We are working with our trusted local photographer, that helped us getting the Extreme in the right light.

We also want to show our new Olympus info content, that can be found in the downloads section:

Taiko Audio Downloads – Taiko Audio

taikoaudio.com

- Taiko Olympus manual
- Taiko BMS App manual
- Music migration guide (MacOS & Windows)

If you find any unclear points or left out details that you would expect, please let us know - we tried to be as thorough as possible.

Photo shooting, my previous life's work. If I would have known Christoph I would have volunteered. We Probably could have figured out a "fair trade". Mmm, I wonder what???

 

Friday is shipping day - happy to report the first silver ones have left the building. Fred stopped us just in time, his units are now sitting lonesome on their pallet, waiting for him to come back - anyone interested in burning them in meanwhile?

We are expecting to ship the O + I/O bundles next week (just waiting for the epoxy to dry and an individual sound quality check), afterwards we have another black batch (8 pieces) outgoing, followed by another silver one (10 pieces), followed by another silver one (10 pieces).

Next week we have our photo shooting appointment for the whole product range - we are very much looking forward to present our new Olympus product page, that is just waiting for visual input. We are working with our trusted local photographer, that helped us getting the Extreme in the right light.

We also want to show our new Olympus info content, that can be found in the downloads section:

Taiko Audio Downloads – Taiko Audio

taikoaudio.com

- Taiko Olympus manual
- Taiko BMS App manual
- Music migration guide (MacOS & Windows)

If you find any unclear points or left out details that you would expect, please let us know - we tried to be as thorough as possible.

Thanks for the info, @tsaett!

Can you tell us:
— how many O/IO bundles plan to go out next week?

— Will the next 8 black O’s ship the following week?

— And then 10 Silvers week 3?

— 10 more Silvers week 4?

That might help us extrapolate where our particular # sits in queue.

 

Thanks for the info, @tsaett!

Can you tell us:
— how many O/IO bundles plan to go out next week?

— Will the next 8 black O’s ship the following week?

— And then 10 Silvers week 3?

— 10 more Silvers week 4?

That might help us extrapolate where our particular # sits in queue.

What color for the next week bundles
O + IO ?
Silver ?

 

You need a Mephisto Greg, keep you nice and cozy...

Thanks for offering John, that would be a nice start. Shooting my AC unit with a 12 ga. loaded with buckshot would complete the transition from tundra to tropical. Several residents would choose to depart, but I'm ok with that. I like being able to feel my toes.

 

#12 is buying beers this week!

With gratitude

#6

 

Congratulations, Ray! I'll take a Reed's Extra Ginger Brew, very cold.

(In my best Maxwell Smart voice): "Missed it by that much!" (Olympus #15 silver)

Steve Z

 

#17 still owes you a beer Steve!

 

Mine is the Olympus #19 black. So hopefully soon.

 

We will soon find out whether silver is better than #17's black, or whether silver is a heck of a lot better than #17's black

#TeamHiHoSilver

 

#12 is buying beers this week!

With gratitude

#6

View attachment 134409

Congrats!!!

 

Photo shooting, my previous life's work. If I would have known Christoph I would have volunteered. We Probably could have figured out a "fair trade". Mmm, I wonder what???

Olympus in the woods could have been a great theme!

 

Thanks for the info, @tsaett!

Can you tell us:
— how many O/IO bundles plan to go out next week?

— Will the next 8 black O’s ship the following week?

— And then 10 Silvers week 3?

— 10 more Silvers week 4?

That might help us extrapolate where our particular # sits in queue.

4 silver Olympus are just waiting for their I/O partners, these will dispatch soon.
We hope to finish some black ones too in that week to keep up the pace!

We'll built continuously and have secured helping hands for shipping and QC. We are starting to develop a routine in production, so numbers from today will most likely be outdated in 2 weeks, when we are higher up the learning curve. I suggest to routinely have a peek at the order page, you can expect our pace to go up by the week.

 

What color for the next week bundles
O + IO ?
Silver ?

After the black batch it will be silver all along, including I/O

 

Olympus in the woods could have been a great theme!

I like it! Perhaps your photographer will have some unique perspective...It's Unfortunate most products are shot in a sterile environment..I can envision brick/rock to exemplify the elegance of the Olympus/I/O...

 

I like it! Perhaps your photographer will have some unique perspective...

I expect no less than some wooden shoes, a cheese wheel and some Dutch windmills!

 

#17 is testing different platforms and footers.



That's a Live Vibe Rhythm platform on the bottom with a Critical Mass platform on top. I also have a couple other stands and a bunch of CS footers. I was hoping I would be able to quickly narrow down some options and share.
But that's not as easy as I thought. Every combination sounds different, so the Olympus is not immune to footers and stands. But also, nothing makes or breaks the sound either. It sounds really good on the floor too but a good stands helps.

For example, adding the Live Vibe in the mix, gives a little more decay to the instruments but it sounds a bit thinner. I am having a bit of a trouble deciding what I like best. You guys will have some fun with this - I don't think there is one solution that fits all.

 

After the black batch it will be silver all along, including I/O

@tsaett, i’m not sure I understand the above sentence?

Is “after the black batch” referring to the eight black units mentioned?

What does “it will be silver all along” mean?

Thanks

 

#17 is testing different platforms and footers.

View attachment 134412

That's a Live Vibe Rhythm platform on the bottom with a Critical Mass platform on top. I also have a couple other stands and a bunch of CS footers. I was hoping I would be able to quickly narrow down some options and share.
But that's not as easy as I thought. Every combination sounds different, so the Olympus is not immune to footers and stands. But also, nothing makes or breaks the sound either. It sounds really good on the floor too but a good stands helps.

For example, adding the Live Vibe in the mix, gives a little more decay to the instruments but it sounds a bit thinner. I am having a bit of a trouble deciding what I like best. You guys will have some fun with this - I don't think there is one solution that fits all.

Please do keep us informed as to what you come up with. I imagine this will take some time...

 

@tsaett, i’m not sure I understand the above sentence?

Is “after the black batch” referring to the eight black units mentioned?

What does “it will be silver all along” mean?

Thanks

I'm sorry Wil, should have been more clear.

What I meant is that - due to the reasons mentioned earlier in this thread - we have more black than silver units at the beginning, but more silver than black orders. Therefore we currently cannot maintain producing a strictly ascending order of order numbers, as is visible on our order page.

The gaps in the numbers represent units with I/O and/or silver color.

"Silver all along" was meant in a sense, that - after the next black batch - we will keep up with producing only silver ones, until we can continue with consecutive numbers again. Apologies for the confusion.

 

Mine is on Critical Mass platform as well but I use the newly released critical mass LS Ultra 2.5 footers. Killer combination I was using Ultra TT footers but the new LS Ultra 2.25 imo is vastly superior.