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".

 

To the Taiko team:
Any insight on your timeline to do what’s necessary to enable XDMI connection to Aries Cerat Dac’s? Stavros indicates he is waiting on Taiko before he can complete the XDMI connection protocol on his end, but I’m not sure what he is waiting for Taiko to do.

 

To the Taiko team:
Any insight on your timeline to do what’s necessary to enable XDMI connection to Aries Cerat Dac’s? Stavros indicates he is waiting on Taiko before he can complete the XDMI connection protocol on his end, but I’m not sure what he is waiting for Taiko to do.

Hi @JYACO ,

The hardware design part is finished, PCBs are on order, once those have arrived the software part needs to be finished. Then Stavros can get cracking.

 

To the Taiko team:
Any insight on your timeline to do what’s necessary to enable XDMI connection to Aries Cerat Dac’s? Stavros indicates he is waiting on Taiko before he can complete the XDMI connection protocol on his end, but I’m not sure what he is waiting for Taiko to do.

Hi @JYACO ,

The hardware design part is finished, PCBs are on order, once those have arrived the software part needs to be finished. Then Stavros can get cracking.

Hi @JYACO ,

The hardware design part is finished, PCBs are on order, once those have arrived the software part needs to be finished. Then Stavros can get cracking.

Much appreciated. Thank you.

 

Hi @JYACO ,

The hardware design part is finished, PCBs are on order, once those have arrived the software part needs to be finished. Then Stavros can get cracking.

Hi Emile! Exciting about AC. So will Taiko be selling an AC output card like with MSB or Lampi?

 

Hi Emile! Exciting about AC. So will Taiko be selling an AC output card like with MSB or Lampi?

It’s currently undecided if we or AC will offer this XDMI implementation or if we will. Due to this being a much more elaborate/complex design than others I would expect AC will sell this, but again, this is undecided.

 

Another fantastic Reality Quest artical, RayDude!

On the Olympus ground posts, under what circumstances does Taiko advise it may be a good idea to use (or not use)?

I’m thinking to attach my ground box to the Olympus chassis ground (next to the usb ports) as I have every other component also chassis grounded to the box.

Or is there something in the Olympus tech that would advise otherwise?

As attaching grounding cables is a 2-way street you will just have to try.

In all systems we’ve tried this ourselves our preference has been for leaving them disconnected.

There could be a scenario where you may need to connect the 2 ground posts together, being if you run into ground hum issues.

 

It’s currently undecided if we or AC will offer this XDMI implementation or if we will. Due to this being a much more elaborate/complex design than others I would expect AC will sell this, but again, this is undecided.

Hi Emile.
. If it is never used, can the digital Spdif/AES card be replaced free of charge, when available, by the Aries Cerat digital output card from the Olympus? (It will be another matter what Stavros develops as a DAC input)

 

Every shelf has some kind of influence so the answer would be it depends on the shelf

If you want to experiment with different output options it would indeed be more practical to have the I/O on a separate shelf, for even faster switching for the quickest A/B scenario you could even place it upside down. It sounds great to me in all of these scenarios, the surfaces / footers we’ve tried so far change voicing / tonal balance more then they do absolute performance.

Hi Emile,

I read the O-I/O instruction manual on switching the analog and digital xdmi cards and it instructs flipping the I/O unit upside down to make the switch. The manual instructs then flipping back the I/O unit right side up after switching the cards.

But your post suggests that leaving the I/O unit upside down not only makes switching the cards faster and more convenient, but the I/O unit also sounds just as great upside down
- at least for quick back and forth comparison purposes?

 

Hi Emile,

I read the O-I/O instruction manual on switching the analog and digital xdmi cards and it instructs flipping the I/O unit upside down to make the switch. The manual instructs then flipping back the I/O unit right side up after switching the cards.

But your post suggests that leaving the I/O unit upside down not only makes switching the cards faster and more convenient, but the I/O unit also sounds just as great upside down
- at least for quick back and forth comparison purposes?

But only if you also turn your speakers upside down.

Steve Z

 

But only if you also turn your speakers upside down.

Steve Z

Good point Steve!

 

I spotted these two XDMI daughter cards in the showroom of Volent Audio, the official Taiko dealer in Hong Kong :

 

Hi Taiko team!

Just had a question regarding the headphone amplifier into the Olympus? Has there been any more thought given to this over the past few months? Would make all headphone enthusiasts very happy!

Thank you!

 

It's here -- number 15 silver. I like the orange and black traditional Halloween color scheme.

Now the fun begins. . .

Steve Z

 

Congratulations Steve! Take care of your back hefting that around, and enjoy!

 

Congratulations Steve! Take care of your back hefting that around, and enjoy!

Excited for you, Steve!

 

And for you, too, RD

 

I'm wondering if I should skip the internal storage and get a USB drive to plug into the Taiko router for my music files. I believe the router needs a firmware update to be able to use a windows formatted drive. Is that capability expected soon? Or is it better to use a NAS?

 

I'm wondering if I should skip the internal storage and get a USB drive to plug into the Taiko router for my music files. I believe the router needs a firmware update to be able to use a windows formatted drive. Is that capability expected soon? Or is it better to use a NAS?

If you choose to not use internal storage, then I'd say a NAS is the best choice.

It offers a lot of advantages:

- redundancy
- you can use it for more than just music
- you can place it well away from your hi-fi system.
- its capacity is almost limitless (depending on the NAS you choose)
- data access is very fast (depending on the NAS you choose)
- it's not expensive ( at least compared to the rest).

 

I think a NAS is an ideal solution. It can be connected directly to the router and thus take advantage of the router's design. It seems as though USB

If you choose to not use internal storage, then I'd say a NAS is the best choice.

It offers a lot of advantages:

- redundancy
- you can use it for more than just music
- you can place it well away from your hi-fi system.
- its capacity is almost limitless (depending on the NAS you choose)
- data access is very fast (depending on the NAS you choose)
- it's not expensive ( at least compared to the rest).

I agree with Tom’s list but i will add some additional thoughts:

I have a NAS but have created an array without redundancy so I can use a lower powered NAS, have enough storage, and power it via the DCD. I think there is some advantage to doing that. Redundancy adds a level of convenience so you can have a drive fail without having to rebuild the array. I haven’t chosen to do that but I see why others may.

 

I think a NAS is an ideal solution. It can be connected directly to the router and thus take advantage of the router's design. It seems as though USB

I agree with Tom’s list but i will add some additional thoughts:

I have a NAS but have created an array without redundancy so I can use a lower powered NAS, have enough storage, and power it via the DCD. I think there is some advantage to doing that. Redundancy adds a level of convenience so you can have a drive fail without having to rebuild the array. I haven’t chosen to do that but I see why others may.

Have you found a SQ advantage to powering from the DCD vs. the stock SMPS? Maybe common grounding helps here?
Is the 12v input of the Synology 5.5mm x 2.1mm? My ancient DS215 has this input. But I’m looking at the DS224+ as a RAID 0 music server.