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".

 

Perhaps an updated energy management guide for the Olympus would be in order? Many here have not used Roon in a long time since the advent of TAS and XDMS.

It appears there are Roon usage scenarios that can cause power draw in excess of the capacity of the BPS charger, causing the BPS to drain even with the charging enabled. I imagine this would be unsettling to some users.

To avoid the "need" to include an "energy management guide" we have configured the chargers maximum charge rate to 125 watts (was 100 watts).

You can now copy and scan your NAS library with file analysis set to max speed (default is throttled), while simultaneously up-sampling redbook to DSD512 in realtime, charge your Iphone on the USB port, and still have 25% spare capacity.

 

XDMI here as well.

Most intriguing comparison I plan to do is vs analog out.

Really hoping production rate will go up to speed, delivery pace seems to struggle much more than anticipated.

Yes it's slow, and although we've taken a lot of measures to speed things up, these are simply not instant.

We have managed to find another 3 to reinforce the team, but they all start in about 3 weeks due to having had to quit their current jobs, and/or starting after their summer holidays period.

The anodising company can double up on their output too, but, after the summer holidays of course... And we're about to purchase a robot for bead blasting, but these are build to order.

And then we are currently minus 4, summer holidays.

So although things are actually looking good for a significant boost in output, everything is just going to be slow for several more weeks. It looks like we'll manage to finish 7-8 more Olympus servers this week, but that's a small miracle on a skeleton crew, @Christiaan Punter , who normally works from home as he lives on the other side of the country, is staying in Oldenzaal in an Hotel to help building. It's just going to be me and him to pack them up and get as many shipped as possible tomorrow.

Our team will have more then doubled in size, from 6 in December to 14 after the summer holidays. These are all substantial differences, I'm confident the pace will pickup very significantly.

 

I don't mind waiting as we ALL are getting a better device for free in the end.

But daily info about what is happening,
future plans , new device ideas could entertain us much more during that waiting period and make this waiting less painful.

I'm absolutely going to return to spending a few hours a day communicating online, but right now I'm just extremely time restrained! I'll be back!

 

Emile, as always thank you for your transparency, humility and passion. Your team always remains above the fray, w you as a compass, which ultimately benefits all of us. Thank you all for the team’s triple overtime efforts under the pressure during this shorthanded stretch in particular.

it is already clear the wait will be worth it.

 

I'm absolutely going to return to spending a few hours a day communicating online, but right now I'm just extremely time restrained! I'll be back!

Can't wait for that to happen.
Hopefully soon.

Also Steve should get his Olympus package very soon.
That will be the words first Olympus XDMI with IO I believe.
He could entertain us a lot in the
"Emile liberation" period.