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".

 

Maybe 3 months for XLR

Perfect timing!

The optimal input for Soulution preamps is actually XLR.

And if, on top of that, the DAC has been tweaked to make it even better, that would be fantastic!

As I mentioned earlier, I’ll be comparing two setups:

• Soulution 725 + Taiko XDMI-DAC
  
  
• Soulution 725 + Soulution 760 DAC

Naturally, the Taiko XDMI-DAC and Soulution 760 will have different sound signatures.

While "sound signature" is largely a matter of personal preference, typical audiophile criteria tend to be a bit more objective and measurable.

If it turns out that I prefer the sound signature of the XDMI-DAC, and from an audiophile standpoint, the two are equivalent, I might consider selling my Soulution 760 and investing in a Soulution preamp, likely the Soulution 727.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to conduct these tests before December.

However, when I do, I’ll approach it methodically and share all the details here (With some pictures).

If the current Taiko XDMI-DAC, or a future iteration, outperforms my current DAC, there’s no reason to cling irrationally to any specific DAC or brand.

As I said before, the only thing that truly matters is the joy that music brings.

Cheers,

Thomas

 

Will we have the option to exchange our rca analog for xlr analog daughter board?

 

Yes.

Are two inputs (spdif Coax and AES/EBU) for the XDMI analog out module, even if optional/extra, being worked on?

 

Will we have the option to exchange our rca analog for xlr analog daughter board?

I hope at least a trade in or an option to change for the waiting list customer.

 

A couple more observations with my Olympus - better interconnect cables DO make quite a difference with XDMI analogue out. I only had some cheap RCA cables initially and just managed to source some decent (not expensive) Bocchino RCA cables - maybe no surprises but worth noting. XDMI out is damn good!

The other influence is the XDMI battery charge level - for some reason my XDMI battery wasn’t charging when set to auto charging and I noticed it was sitting around 60%. I then set the charge to manual charge and let it get to 100% before playing any more music - wow, quite a difference in my system, so just make sure you’re charged up before sitting down for any critical listening.

FWIW after a solid 3.5hrs of playing XDMI via Roon, XDMI charge was sitting at 90% and still sounded excellent. I seem to recall seeing something about ideally it being above 80% for critical listening.

 

Will we have the option to exchange our rca analog for xlr analog daughter board?

Did not give that any thought yet.

 

Are two inputs (spdif Coax and AES/EBU) for the XDMI analog out module, even if optional/extra, being worked on?

Under consideration for a “preamp” functionality version.

 

A couple more observations with my Olympus - better interconnect cables DO make quite a difference with XDMI analogue out. I only had some cheap RCA cables initially and just managed to source some decent (not expensive) Bocchino RCA cables - maybe no surprises but worth noting. XDMI out is damn good!

The other influence is the XDMI battery charge level - for some reason my XDMI battery wasn’t charging when set to auto charging and I noticed it was sitting around 60%. I then set the charge to manual charge and let it get to 100% before playing any more music - wow, quite a difference in my system, so just make sure you’re charged up before sitting down for any critical listening.

FWIW after a solid 3.5hrs of playing XDMI via Roon, XDMI charge was sitting at 90% and still sounded excellent. I seem to recall seeing something about ideally it being above 80% for critical listening.

There’s actually no difference how XDMI performs relative to charge level by design, it needs a minimum of 8V where the batteries would be completely depleted at 10.8V. The higher voltage sounds better thing is stemming from things like linear regulator dropout / ripple noise / relative noise etc, none of which apply to battery power. It does waste marginally more power at higher levels but we’re talking milliwatts, not enough to notice anything negative from higher charge levels.

Much more audible is playback during charging, perhaps it was charging?

 

There’s actually no difference how XDMI performs relative to charge level by design, it needs a minimum of 8V where the batteries would be completely depleted at 10.8V. The higher voltage sounds better thing is stemming from things like linear regulator dropout / ripple noise / relative noise etc, none of which apply to battery power. It does waste marginally more power at higher levels but we’re talking milliwatts, not enough to notice anything negative from higher charge levels.

Much more audible is playback during charging, perhaps it was charging?

It definitely wasn’t charging. So from what you’re saying, a higher voltage means a higher % charge which can result in a sound difference - that would make sense. I guess when it was down at 60% charge, the voltage would have been quite a bit lower which had some impact, but it sounds like I’ll have to put more of the sound difference down to cable differences.

 

It definitely wasn’t charging. So from what you’re saying, a higher voltage means a higher % charge which can result in a sound difference - that would make sense. I guess when it was down at 60% charge, the voltage would have been quite a bit lower which had some impact, but it sounds like I’ll have to put more of the sound difference down to cable differences.

No difference in sound at all I’m afraid unless of course you completely drain the battery, but you’d need to run it for like 36 hours with no recharge for that.

 

Emile, as someone getting ready to take delivery of an Olympus, but who would prefer an XLR analogue out, the mention that this feature will be forthcoming in a number of months has me curious whether those who received an earlier Olympus with rca analogue output will be able to retrofit XLR in the field, or will be required to return their unit to the factory for the retrofit of XLR. Any insight would be very much appreciated.

 

Emile, as someone getting ready to take delivery of an Olympus, but who would prefer an XLR analogue out, the mention that this feature will be forthcoming in a number of months has me curious whether those who received an earlier Olympus with rca analogue output will be able to retrofit XLR in the field, or will be required to return their unit to the factory for the retrofit of XLR. Any insight would be very much appreciated.

Definitely retrofittable in the field. It’s just like any of the other XDMI daughter cards.

 

The charge level and sound quality are really what I'm most concerned about with the Olympus. I plug the unit in every day at 1:30 PM and turn it off at 9 PM. I don't know if there will ever be a time when the charge drops below 80% before I finish my listening session. That would be very frustrating after the price of the Olympus.

Just like I did with my Exreme, my Olympus/IO are on 24 x 7 x 365

 

As I take a short respite from preparing for a house guest named MILTON, I wanted to ask is there consensus on how long the O takes to feel fully run in?

 

As I take a short respite from preparing for a house guest named MILTON, I wanted to ask is there consensus on how long the O takes to feel fully run in?

We are all wishing you well Marc. Regarding this unexpected guest Milton! Sending good MoJo your way...

 

As I take a short respite from preparing for a house guest named MILTON, I wanted to ask is there consensus on how long the O takes to feel fully run in?

When you stop pinching yourself each day in disbelief, you’ll know.

 

As I take a short respite from preparing for a house guest named MILTON, I wanted to ask is there consensus on how long the O takes to feel fully run in?

IMHO, at least one week for the burn in.

 

After 5 days it is still getting better vs the day before.

 

I had mine in an endless loop of music when I wasn’t listening. No need for anything else to be on when you’re not listening.

 

You know, it wasn't that long ago I was one of the people begging Emile for a balanced output XDMI analog card too.

My how things change -- my preamp and amplifiers are all unbalanced RCA now, so I hope there is enough real estate on the new and improved XDMI analog to provide RCA jacks as well as XLRs.

Volume control would be cool, but as one who still spins vinyl I'm going to have a preamp for the foreseeable future.

Steve Z

Amen to that. I still listen to physical media (vinyl, SACD, CD), so a preamplifier is essential. In over my 35+ years of buying high end audio, I’ve never found an “integrated” solution that bests separates, and I’ve tried a lot of such products. There’s a lot of seemingly compelling arguments about minimizing the signal chain complexity, but even if I could restrict myself to one digital source, I’m not sure I want an analog preamplifier to be inside a computer with its many sources of intrinsic noise, even one as extremely well-built as a Taiko. Yes, adding a lot of separates does add costs, including cables, space, heat etc. (see attached pic, those are 10-feet ceilings!). It would be nice to reduce clutter. But each time I try one of these integrated solutions, I invariably go back to separates.

I do have a nice Mola Mola MAKUA integrated preamplifier that combines a class A solid state preamp, a highly flexible phono stage, a world-class DAC, and a Roon endpoint. I use it in extremely hot weather with its matching Kaluga class D monoblock amplifiers, like in the current never-ending 100+ degree days that the Bay Area is suffering through. But once cooler weather returns, I’m sure I’ll switch back to my separates ARC/Lampi tube gear!