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".

 

#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.

 

#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.

Your platform is too small for the Olympus as the footers are on the frame

 

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

Maybe Emile can dress up in a little Dutch Boy outfit?



Steve Z

 

Maybe Emile can dress up in a little Dutch Boy outfit?

View attachment 134417

Steve Z

Might as well paint some black chassis to silver!

 

Very interesting that the platform/footers is that audible. There is so much mass here, with the energizing supply being the only internal vibration source

 

Very interesting that the platform/footers is that audible. There is so much mass here, with the energizing supply being the only internal vibration source

You’d be amazed at the difference with and without. The CS LS Ultra 2.25 are actually designed for loud speakers much heavier even than the Olympus/IO

 

I'll wait for C. Punter's expected exhaustive footer tests on Olympus before I make a decision

 

You’d be amazed at the difference with and without. The CS LS Ultra 2.25 are actually designed for loud speakers much heavier even than the Olympus/IO

Joe from CMS also fabricated a special platform for mine where there is essentially no load limit

 

I'll wait for C. Punter's expected exhaustive footer tests on Olympus before I make a decision

Christiaan doesn’t have CS footers but I get your point. I’ve used the ULTRA TT previously which performed excellent but the LS Ultra 2.25 is in a different league. FWIW the weight of the Olympus/IO is a much heavier load and that’s why I used footers designed for speakers. There is a huge difference when I switched. Plus I had him design a special platform for the extra load Of course as always YMMV

 

You’d be amazed at the difference with and without. The CS LS Ultra 2.25 are actually designed for loud speakers much heavier even than the Olympus/IO

I suspect loud speakers machined out of a solid block of copper aluminium will have a different vibrational profile than most loud speakers we've heard

I'm going from photos only obviously, but for digital audio, I am intrigued that even this design has susceptibility. Looking forward to experimenting a bit when mine arrives (I'm hopeful the ultra low noise backgrounds will make it easier to do these sorts of experiments)