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".

 

View attachment 135100

Don't encourage Greg @Tuckia Marc! He's a Bad influence, I speak from experience...You will be washing that rum down with VooDoo Ranger!

 

Don't encourage Greg @Tuckia Marc! He's a Bad influence, I speak from experience...You will be washing that rum down with VooDoo Ranger!

7% ain't 50%

 

Voodoo Ranger 9%...

 

Don't encourage Greg @Tuckia Marc! He's a Bad influence, I speak from experience...You will be washing that rum down with VooDoo Ranger!

Who me? I just encourage people to do what they already know they want to do. YOLO

Somewhere there is a nun shaking a condescending finger at us.

 

Thank you @nenon ... lol

 

I think audio analysis is a "nice to have" and it is also only a one time thing when first connecting a library to Roon.

When analysis is off, system runs great.

I would not do any critical music listening with a heavy duty process like music analysis running in the background. I also don't use any DSP in Roon (part of the reason I off line upsample some music)

In "normal" operation everything is fine.

The surprise for me (which shouldn't have been a surprise in retrospect) was that a mains connected server could shut off because of depleted battery.

Given what this system is capable of burning (power wise), that shouldn't have been a surprise. Given that mains are only charging the batteries (not bypassing them to power the motherboard), that shouldn't have been a surprise.

To have a server of this performance class running on battery is a pretty wild thing to get your head wrapped around.

Since many of us will naively connect relatively large libraries to Roon and let it do its analysis thing, I shared as a heads up to pay attention to System BMS charge after you first get your Olympus (or not be surprised if it drains out). Turning off audio analysis works great as well.

I want to emphasize that normal Roon playback is fine. Today is my first full day actually listening to music (analysis off), and no power draw worries with analysis turned off

(EDIT)

Since I got some private questions, I want to emphasize that Roon imported my library very quickly with no problems (reading meta data). The time (and power) consuming part was when Roon was doing audio analysis, where it processes the entire track. There were no challenges at all with library import.

Probably a naive question here, but isn't it possible to just restore one's Roon backup from the Extreme to the Olympus installation? And wouldn't the database backup already have the audio analyses done?
Thanks.

 

Probably a naive question here, but isn't it possible to just restore one's Roon backup from the Extreme to the Olympus installation? And wouldn't the database backup already have the audio analyses done?
Thanks.

Good question..the whole Roon back-up scheme is rarely talked about. As far as I know its mostly for metadata changes

 

According the information I found on the Roon website, Roon backup also including the audio analysis.

Good find, @Jpowell

 

isn't it possible to just restore one's Roon backup from the Extreme to the Olympus installation?

Yes, it's possible. I restored a 2020 Roon backup to my Olympus. Not even from my Extreme, it was from a DIY server.

 

Probably a naive question here, but isn't it possible to just restore one's Roon backup from the Extreme to the Olympus installation? And wouldn't the database backup already have the audio analyses done?
Thanks.

Yes, it is, and yes it does. The only issue is many Extreme users, who've been on XDMS and haven't used Roon in a while, may not have backups, or backups from a long while prior.

That said, your point is well taken, and I have been preparing for Olympus by getting my Roon setup on the Extreme up to date, all my music scanned and analyzed, and backed up ready to go.

I would recommend all Extreme users with Olympi coming do the same.

 

Can someone please explain why so many here are using Roon analyze files if this is right after the analysis turned off and totally NOT used for anything ?
It's a waist of memory / ssd space
in Roon to keep all this info.
It's also a waist of time as it is long process.

I can't find a reason to analyze files if that's not being used.

 

Can someone please explain why so many here are using Roon analyze files if this is right after the analysis turned off and totally NOT used for anything ?
It's a waist of memory / ssd space
in Roon to keep all this info.
It's also a waist of time as it is long process.

I can't find a reason to analyze files if that's not being used.

Roon track analysis is a feature that many people like. It extracts some additional information about the track that many people find useful. Things like the dynamic range of a track:



Or the shape of the audio waveform of a track:




Granted, this is not strictly necessary for playback, and it can be a heavy load on the system resources while analysis is in progress. Hence Taiko's recommendation to turn it off.

However, that said, there are ways to safely get Roon to do the analysis when if doesn't impact SQ, so it's just a matter of becoming more informed and doing it prudently.

Or, as you seem to prefer, just be safe and turn it off. Whatever works for you.

 

Roon track analysis is a feature that many people like. It extracts some additional information about the track that many people find useful. Things like the dynamic range of a track:

View attachment 135198

Or the shape of the audio waveform of a track:

View attachment 135195


Granted, this is not strictly necessary for playback, and it can be a heavy load on the system resources while analysis is in progress. Hence Taiko's recommendation to turn it off.

However, that said, there are ways to safely get Roon to do the analysis when if doesn't impact SQ, so it's just a matter of becoming more informed and doing it prudently.

Or, as you seem to prefer, just be safe and turn it off. Whatever works for you.

Thank you.
In short it makes sense for some.
For majority might be totally useless.

Not sure if anyone tested same Roon with and without Analysis files on board. But it looks it should have no effect on SQ if turned off.

 

I don't Understand either this file analizer

Thank you.
In short it makes sense for some.
For majority might be totally useless.

Not sure if anyone tested same Roon with and without Analysis files on board. But it looks it should have no effect on SQ if turned off.

I keep both settings off. It perhaps may be a good tool if you want to compare what you "think" you hear to what the Analyzer tells you. As far as the volume aspect, I'm not constantly changing the volume. If I do the remote is never far from me...

 

It is and always has been totally useless for me . It does nothing to add enjoyment to better SQ and I have always had those 2 disabled. I prefer listening to my music rather than looking at it and analyzing it.Music is for listening not for viewing IMHO

 

I have used the analyzer with previous servers. Then I couldn’t discern a difference in SQ whether on or off. With the Extreme I have always kept it off as Emile said it would degrade the sound, likely due to digital manipulation to level volume. If there was a difference, it was substantially less than the hourly variations I get here from power line and internet noise.

With higher efficiency speakers, like I have, the volume differences track to track can be substantial. Like someone turned the VC from 9 o’clock to 12 o’clock. The analyzer allows Roon to level the track peaks so there isn’t a substantial variation. This is an issue when running Roon Radio and I’m in adjacent room. A new track comes on and I have to dive for the remote before the residents complain. However, these new tracks, which are products of the current loudness wars in vogue, come up rarely here.

Just saying there can be a reason to turn the analyzer on.

 

I have used the analyzer with previous servers. Then I couldn’t discern a difference in SQ whether on or off. With the Extreme I have always kept it off as Emile said it would degrade the sound, likely due to digital manipulation to level volume. If there was a difference, it was substantially less than the hourly variations I get here from power line and internet noise.

With higher efficiency speakers, like I have, the volume differences track to track can be substantial. Like someone turned the VC from 9 o’clock to 12 o’clock. The analyzer allows Roon to level the track peaks so there isn’t a substantial variation. This is an issue when running Roon Radio and I’m in adjacent room. A new track comes on and I have to dive for the remote before the residents complain. However, these new tracks, which are products of the current loudness wars in vogue, come up rarely here.

Just saying there can be a reason to turn the analyzer on.

Interesting that the volume varies so substantially...That would irk me...

 

For those who have a Lampi and are getting the O....

How many will connect via usb and how many will go native?

 

For those who have a Lampi and are getting the O....

How many will connect via usb and how many will go native?

Native here

 

Native XDMI connection. But I will compare with USB, just for fun...