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".

 

Nuance doesn't travel well sometimes on the internet -- I'm a little puzzled by the comments about branding the Rohm chip as the Taiko DAC.

Emile has been very transparent about most of what goes into his Extreme and Olympus. I'm not aware of any server or DAC "manufacturer" who calls their product by anything other than by their brand name while precious few actually design and build their server motherboards or DACs from scratch. dCS, Chord, Playback Designs being the ones to come to mind in the latter camp.

Or is this poking good-natured fun at the Taiko community quickly adopting the shorthand, "Taiko DAC"?

Maybe I need another cup of coffee this morning.

Steve Z

 

Hi Steve, I only intended to point out the shortening of "XDMI analog output" to "XDMI analog" (and not by Taiko), which may shortchange what Olympus can do with more substantial DACs.

When selecting the ASIO output in Roon, Taiko DAC is exactly what you see and select to listen to “Taiko DAC”. So you referred to it correctly.

 

When selecting the ASIO output in Roon, Taiko DAC is exactly what you see and select to listen to “Taiko DAC”. So you referred to it correctly.

Taiko XDMI with Analog daughter card --> XDMI Analog for me

 

MEET AND GREET LUKAS FIKUS AND EMILE BOK - HEAR THE HORIZON 360/ TAIKO OLYMPUS & IO

It was Feb 2022 when the LampizatOr DAC was introduced to the world and I was proud to be the first recipient and was even prouder to help Lukas Fikus launch this magnificent product by having a weekend long open house at my home here in Southern California. There were about 45 attendees during that weekend and it was a huge success. Half the fun was meeting many WBF members

Well since that time the Horizon has been eclipsed with the just released Horizon 360 and I am once again happy to announce that those members , friends, relatives and audiophiles who wish to hear this most amazing DAC will be able to do such as once again I will be hosting a weekend long OPEN HOUSE for all interested

Please mark your calendars. Lukasz is confirmed to be attending from Poland and Fred (LampiNA) will be coming from New York for the event

This will be by RSVP only as I live in a guard gated community in Southern California and only those whose names are at the gate willl be admitted by the guard

Lukasz arrives the evening of Oct 31/2024 and we will get the system tweaked to his satisfaction on Friday and begin festivities Friday evening Nov 1/2024 for those who want an early audition. I suspect most people will prefer to attend on Saturday and/or Sunday November 2-3. For those who know me or attended the last event, you now that my room is modestly sized and I will need to stagger listening times to accommodate all attendees. Feel free to spend the day here as I will be providing light snacks and refreshments as I did the last time

Since the last open house my Server has changed and most know that previously I showed the Horizon with the Taiko Extreme. Well suffice it to say that I am a die hard LampizatOr and Taiko fan so the server side of my system this time will be the just released Taiko Audio Olympus and IO with the Taiko XDMI Digital cards using the newly released and updated KBL XDMI cable.

With that in mind there is continues to be strong hope that Emile and Christoph (tsaett) will be able to attend to also demo this most amazing battery powered server. I am also of the hope that if Emile is able to attend that he will be bringing an IO with the Taiko XDMI analogue card. I have the analogue card but for purposes of a faster A-B test a second IO would help maker for a speedier transition as my IO sits below the Olympus and it would take some time and manpower to switch out my digital XDMI card for the Analogue XDMI card. This will be of great interest for those considering the use of the analogue card in lieu of an outboard DAC

However the Taiko 360 will be on full display and spending sufficient time in use for all to hear. I think for semantics, I am leaning towards the Horizon 360 for all of Friday, Saturday morning and then switch to the analogue XDMI card (if Emile is present). Sunday I would likely run the same schedule if Emile is present

If Emile is unable to make this planned event most listening will be done with the new Horizon 360

To say a few words as to Emile being present......Taiko Audio is finally back to all staff being present and Emile is only going to attend if he feels comfortable that he and his staff are able to bring the Olympus and IO production rate up to a number that he feels comfortable leaving Oldenzaal for a few days. His priority is to get everyone's orders out in a timely fashion.

If Emile finds Nov 1-3 being still too soon for him to reach that comfort level I want all who read this to know that a second weekend open house event will be held with a date determined by Emile......so to all rest assured and feel comfortable to attend one or both events (should a second one become necessary). I have told Emile not to feel any pressure to make this event as his only goal is to get production ramped up sufficiently that he feels comfortable in attending. If not a second weekend open house will be in the works

So for all who want to attend please contact me by Private Message here at WBF. I will need full name as well as names of any one else attending with you for purposes of the gate passes as well as to plan for adequate refreshments and snacks

I reside in beautiful Southern California in south Orange County where the weather should be divine for the event. Fothose needing a hotel, there are several affordable and good ones within a 10 minute drive to my house.

Those who will be flying in, the quickest airport is John Wayne Airport (SNA) or Los Angeles (LAX) or San Diego (SAN)

Finally depending on interest I am planning to take Lukasz, Fred,, Emile and Christoph along with all interested for a great dinner by the ocean in either Laguna Beach or Dana Point

Please contact me here via PM for my address, hotel names and number of guests etc.

This promises to be a great weekend. Lukasz is booked to leave on Sunday evening out of LAX on a 900 PM flight so Sunday listening will have to be done by 400 PM at the latest for me to get him to Los Angeles. Listening each day will start at 1000and go to 600 PM Saturday and to 400 PPM on Sunday

Friday evening will be open for those who wish to come for an early listen

So mark your calendars and I look forward to once again meeting WBF members from last visit and to make new acquaintances for those attending for the first time

I will be posting this same announcement throughout pertinent locations on WBF so all interested can attend

Steve Williams, aka oneobgyn
There's ALWAYS another Steve Williams BUT there's only "oneobgyn"
My System

 

That type of information would greatly help all the rest of us that had been patiently waiting for their units!

On a separate note, have we given up on the idea of using a low powered USB attached hard drive into the USB port of the extreme router rather than using a NAS with the Olympus I/O for best sound quality?
It would seem that using the internal storage of the Olympus would degrade sound quality in contrast to the Taiko Extreme unit.
Any suggestions?

 

That type of information would greatly help all the rest of us that had been patiently waiting for their units!

On a separate note, have we given up on the idea of using a low powered USB attached hard drive into the USB port of the extreme router rather than using a NAS with the Olympus I/O for best sound quality?
It would seem that using the internal storage of the Olympus would degrade sound quality in contrast to the Taiko Extreme unit.
Any suggestions?

We have updated firmware to facilitate that but we need to test it properly before we can offer it. Unfortunately this is one of the things we’ve had to sacrifice in exchange for building at least a few Olympus servers over the holiday season.

The internal storage in the Olympus degrades USB performance to a similar degree as the internal storage of the Extreme. It’s the low noise nature of the XDMI solution which makes internal storage noise more apparent. If this really bothers you we have the I/O, or you can choose to use external storage solutions.

 

We have updated firmware to facilitate that but we need to test it properly before we can offer it. Unfortunately this is one of the things we’ve had to sacrifice in exchange for building at least a few Olympus servers over the holiday season.

The internal storage in the Olympus degrades USB performance to a similar degree as the internal storage of the Extreme. It’s the low noise nature of the XDMI solution which makes internal storage noise more apparent. If this really bothers you we have the I/O, or you can choose to use external storage solutions.

Thanks for the quick reply!
I already had a NAS set up for use and just awaiting the arrival of my Olympus plus I/0 in the “near” future.
I remembered that some posts back, some members were exploring Low powered USB hard drive into the extreme router as an alternative for best sound quality. Since then no further posts.

 

Thanks for the quick reply!
I already had a NAS set up for use and just awaiting the arrival of my Olympus plus I/0 in the “near” future.
I remembered that some posts back, some members were exploring Low powered USB hard drive into the extreme router as an alternative for best sound quality. Since then no further posts.

No further posts as those members are likely waiting for that firmware update which allows those drives being formatted with other filesystems then ext4, for which you’d need a linux system. Aka this firmware update would allow you to use USB drives which are compatible with your mac or windows system.

 

has anyone yet heard the olympus with xdmi aes/ebu daughter board to a top notch dac like the totaldac?

 

has anyone yet heard the olympus with xdmi aes/ebu daughter board to a top notch dac like the totaldac?

I have my Olympus #19 connected to the Totaldac Sublime Reclocker and Totaldac Sublime DAC using XDMI AES. Connected last Sunday, still in burn in. Sounds much better than the Extreme in every aspect. After a few more days of burn in (still changing), I will provide more detail. Cheers.

 

I have my Olympus #19 connected to the Totaldac Sublime Reclocker and Totaldac Sublime DAC using XDMI AES. Connected last Sunday, still in burn in. Sounds much better than the Extreme in every aspect. After a few more days of burn in (still changing), I will provide more detail. Cheers.

Was your extreme feeding the sublime reclocker via USB or AES/ebu?

 

has anyone yet heard the olympus with xdmi aes/ebu daughter board to a top notch dac like the totaldac?

Not yet, but that is one of the things I'll be trying when silver #15 arrives. That is, if you consider a dCS Vivaldi APEX to be top notch. . .

Steve Z

 

Not yet, but that is one of the things I'll be trying when silver #15 arrives. That is, if you consider a dCS Vivaldi APEX to be top notch. . .

Steve Z

Yea, I'd include that DAC
Have you been using AES/ebu from the extreme?

 

Yea, I'd include that DAC
Have you been using AES/ebu from the extreme?

Nope, I've been using Taiko's improved USB card.

When I ordered the Extreme my dCS stack consisted of the Vivaldi DAC, Clock and Upsampler Plus. The Upsampler has dual AES/EBU outputs to connect to the Vivaldi DAC dual AES/EBU inputs, but the Upsampler itself does not have dual AES/EBU inputs, only USB and a variety of single-wire digital inputs. The only way to play digital files up to the hard limits of 384kHz PCM and DSD128 is to use USB, which is what I've been doing.

Steve Z

 

Was your extreme feeding the sublime reclocker via USB or AES/ebu?

USB, with a 1.5m Intona Ultimate USB cable, Taiko USB card, Taiko network card, Taiko router/switch/dcd.

 

USB, with a 1.5m Intona Ultimate USB cable, Taiko USB card, Taiko network card, Taiko router/switch/dcd.

thanks. so i guess your comparison is [extreme + usb] versus [olympus + aes/ebu] into totaldac.

i'm trying to get a sense of [extreme + usb] versus [extreme + aes/ebu] card for dacs that prefer aes/ebu.

enjoy your setup! it sounds like it will be fabulous.

 

thanks. so i guess your comparison is [extreme + usb] versus [olympus + aes/ebu] into totaldac.

i'm trying to get a sense of [extreme + usb] versus [extreme + aes/ebu] card for dacs that prefer aes/ebu.

enjoy your setup! it sounds like it will be fabulous.

Totaldac always prefers AES signal as this is its native language.
There will be no additional conversions.

Also please keep in mind USB chip in Totaldac is very old and is not optimal.
So if you will use AES signal for Totaldac you might get a big improvement.

 

Not yet, but that is one of the things I'll be trying when silver #15 arrives. That is, if you consider a dCS Vivaldi APEX to be top notch. . .

Steve Z

Same here. I’ll be trying aes/ebu and the XDMI analog options with a Totaldac sublime when silver Olympus-I/O #29 arrives.

And I’ve been using USB exclusively with the Extreme. Which by the way is sounding amazing lately with Roon.

 

I just wanted to quickly share my thoughts since receiving my Olympus, the black beauty!

I’ve been letting things burn in over the past week and I think it’s finished cooking. There is no doubt that the Olympus trumps the Extreme by a fairly large margin.

To be honest the difference is so obvious, I haven’t felt a need to plug the Extreme back in to compare - simply no need . The improvement just using USB is quite startling, and the music has much more energy and a noticeable improvement in bass compared to before. I’m hearing deeper into recordings and just have a greater sense of engagement with the music. We all talk about noise floor and what we don’t hear being important, well it’s the same again here.

The internal Taiko DAC is actually very good as well - unfortunately I only have an old shitty RCA cable as I’ve always been running XLR but I have got some new cables on the way which I’ll be testing across the entire range so stay tuned for that! This has made it difficult to fairly compare my external DAC with the Taiko DAC but so far the Taiko DAC has held it’s ground very well - the tubes in my Aries Cerat DAC add something a little different, so will be interesting once I plug a decent cable in to see what the difference is. The Aries interface is not ready yet, but that will be very interesting indeed!

Kudos to team Taiko for bringing this to us all - I feel very privileged to be able to experience music this way and while things haven’t gone as smoothly as Emile may have liked, the hard work is clearly evident and deserves recognition. I’m sure those eagerly awaiting their Olympus will be extremely happy!

 

I just wanted to quickly share my thoughts since receiving my Olympus, the black beauty!

I’ve been letting things burn in over the past week and I think it’s finished cooking. There is no doubt that the Olympus trumps the Extreme by a fairly large margin.

To be honest the difference is so obvious, I haven’t felt a need to plug the Extreme back in to compare - simply no need . The improvement just using USB is quite startling, and the music has much more energy and a noticeable improvement in bass compared to before. I’m hearing deeper into recordings and just have a greater sense of engagement with the music. We all talk about noise floor and what we don’t hear being important, well it’s the same again here.

The internal Taiko DAC is actually very good as well - unfortunately I only have an old shitty RCA cable as I’ve always been running XLR but I have got some new cables on the way which I’ll be testing across the entire range so stay tuned for that! This has made it difficult to fairly compare my external DAC with the Taiko DAC but so far the Taiko DAC has held it’s ground very well - the tubes in my Aries Cerat DAC add something a little different, so will be interesting once I plug a decent cable in to see what the difference is. The Aries interface is not ready yet, but that will be very interesting indeed!

Kudos to team Taiko for bringing this to us all - I feel very privileged to be able to experience music this way and while things haven’t gone as smoothly as Emile may have liked, the hard work is clearly evident and deserves recognition. I’m sure those eagerly awaiting their Olympus will be extremely happy!

I sent my Extreme back to Taiko 2 days after I got the Olympus. Even without adequate burn in it was simply no contest