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".

 

Dear Ray-Dude and Taiko, thank you!

I understand that there are two SSDs, the one on the left is the System and the one on the right is the Music, correct?

 

Dear Ray-Dude and Taiko, thank you!

I understand that there are two SSDs, the one on the left is the System and the one on the right is the Music, correct?

The one closest to the rear of the Olympus, coloured black, labelled “Intel Optane”, is the system drive. The one more in the interior, coloured silver, is the music drive.

 

For those with interest, Part 2 of my Olympus review just got posted:

Reality Quest: Review of the Taiko Audio Olympus Music Server (Part 2 of 2)

Audio: Listen to this article. In Part 1 of this review, I covered what has changed in the Taiko ecosystem in the past four years, dug into the hardware design and more unique aspects of the new Taiko Audio Olympus Music Server, and shared some curious first impressions. In this Part 2, I dig int...

audiophilestyle.com

Thanks for taking the time to do this detailed and informative review!
It's a great read filled with excellent observations.
#39 is really excited to take delivery on the O and I/O. Should be any week now.
Can't wait to hear it!

 

My Olympus has just arrived. I plan to put my local files in an NAS ( Synology 224+) How critical is the SSD choice. I have a very small library of local files (less than 1 TB) and plan to buy a pair of 1 TB SSD's. The units I have found are from Sandisk or Gigastone. Is there a best choice here? Is the 2 TB disk I bought with the Olympus for internal storage transferrable to an NAS?

 

Steve,
That might be unfair comparison if you use Fresh out of the box Taiko DAC board i comparison to "used every day" XDMI Lampizator.

I hope you will have a burned in Taiko DAC board for this comparison test.

My experience would emphasize this and that it needs a very long burn in and it will not be an accurate comparison without enough time.

I thought I had enough run-in time on the Taiko Dac board at about 100-150 hrs. At that time I “concluded” it was somewhat slow and mid bass heavy sounding compared to the usb/Ithaka dac.

But now, I think I can safely say that sound signature has disappeared and the Taiko dac/Xdmi sounds quick and incisive. I don’t have any desire to go back and listen to the USB.

Maybe the Taiko dac needs 200+ hours? Curious what others have found?

 

Steve,
That might be unfair comparison if you use Fresh out of the box Taiko DAC board i comparison to "used every day" XDMI Lampizator.

I hope you will have a burned in Taiko DAC board for this comparison test.

Huh. My O/IO has been on 24x7 and played for 5-6 hours daily so I feel very confidant it's well burned in. What I hear with every format is so good that I honestly dont look any more as to what format I am playing. Yes, everything sounds perfect to my ears. I am only listening to XDMI. I no longer have any use for USB. what I hear with XDMI in every format is as good as I stated. I probably have close to 1000 hours on mine so no worries for the demo next weekend. Thanks for your concern though. Also FWIW, my Lampi H360 arrived after my O/IO . I was previously using an H1 with XDMI input

 

Huh. My O/IO has been on 24x7 and played for 5-6 hours daily so I feel very confidant it's well burned in. What I hear with every format is so good that I honestly dont look any more as to what format I am playing. Yes, everything sounds perfect to my ears. I am only listening to XDMI. I no longer have any use for USB. what I hear with XDMI in every format is as good as I stated. I probably have close to 1000 hours on mine so no worries for the demo next weekend. Thanks for your concern though. Also FWIW, my Lampi H360 arrived after my O/IO . I was previously using an H1 with XDMI input

Apologies for jumping into the conversation, but I believe Kris was referring to the daughter board needing some burn-in, not the Olympus&I/O.

So the Taiko XDMI DAC daughter board :



Cheers,

Thomas

 

The one closest to the rear of the Olympus, coloured black, labelled “Intel Optane”, is the system drive. The one more in the interior, coloured silver, is the music drive.

Thank you!

After the batteries are in shipping mode, what is the best procedure to open the Olympus before removing the board/ssd?

 

Apologies for jumping into the conversation, but I believe Kris was referring to the daughter board needing some burn-in, not the Olympus&I/O.

So the Taiko XDMI DAC daughter board :

View attachment 138366

Cheers,

Thomas

Understood. However with Emile not being present this coming week at the event The XDMI Analogue card wont be used. I mentioned that in my posts on the Lampi thread. Having said that it is my hope that when Emile can find some breathing room and has the time for me to do a Taiko open house, the XDMI analogue board will indeed be used for comparison but I am hoping he will either send a demo IO with the analogue card so that a much quicker A-B comparison can be done. If that becomes difficult for Emile to do JYACO has an O/IO on order where the analogue card will be installed rather than the digital board. He will be here for the coming weekend open house and will also be coming to a Taiko open house and he has offered to bring his IO to my house for purposes of a quicker A-B comparison

 

Thank you!

After the batteries are in shipping mode, what is the best procedure to open the Olympus before removing the board/ssd?

Yes this is an interesting question, because where are the screws that join both parts of the Olympus?

 

Yes this is an interesting question, because where are the screws that join both parts of the Olympus?

RTFM, page 32

 

My Olympus has just arrived. I plan to put my local files in an NAS ( Synology 224+) How critical is the SSD choice. I have a very small library of local files (less than 1 TB) and plan to buy a pair of 1 TB SSD's. The units I have found are from Sandisk or Gigastone. Is there a best choice here? Is the 2 TB disk I bought with the Olympus for internal storage transferrable to an NAS?

Not critical. The internal drive of the Olympus will not fit unfortunately.

 

My experience would emphasize this and that it needs a very long burn in and it will not be an accurate comparison without enough time.

I thought I had enough run-in time on the Taiko Dac board at about 100-150 hrs. At that time I “concluded” it was somewhat slow and mid bass heavy sounding compared to the usb/Ithaka dac.

But now, I think I can safely say that sound signature has disappeared and the Taiko dac/Xdmi sounds quick and incisive. I don’t have any desire to go back and listen to the USB.

Maybe the Taiko dac needs 200+ hours? Curious what others have found?

It does have DC blocking capacitors on its outputs which are directly in the signal path. Those do take 2-3 weeks of continuous playback to lose their “veil”.

 

I managed to remove the Music SSD of my Olympus. It took some patience to remove the four side screws required to remove the top cover, and later put them back.

In my system the improvement was more than 2%. Perhaps 3% to 5%. A nice improvement of dynamics and leading edge.

For anyone who ordered a unit with an internal music ssd, my suggestion is to buy a nice NAS, if you don’t have one already, and to change your order to no internal storage, so you don’t have to remove the ssd yourself later.

 

Apologies for jumping into the conversation, but I believe Kris was referring to the daughter board needing some burn-in, not the Olympus&I/O.

So the Taiko XDMI DAC daughter board :

View attachment 138366

Cheers,

Thomas

Sure I was.
I know how long it takes for any DAC to get to the full performance so Taiko Daughter DAC board is no exception here.

You need a month sometimes to get it fully unveiled.

 

I managed to remove the Music SSD of my Olympus. It took some patience to remove the four side screws required to remove the top cover, and later put them back.

In my system the improvement was more than 2%. Perhaps 3% to 5%. A nice improvement of dynamics and leading edge.

For anyone who ordered a unit with an internal music ssd, my suggestion is to buy a nice NAS, if you don’t have one already, and to change your order to no internal storage, so you don’t have to remove the ssd yourself later.

That's why I asked to remove internal storage from my Olympus + IO order.
Tako Team did it and I will have 3-5% additional performance, not to mention I got some money back !

 

RTFM, page 32

Very grateful for your kindness.
Thank you.

 

Hi Emile/Taiko Audio,
I visited Volent Audio in Hong Kong again this afternoon.



I tried lifting up the Olympus I/O and I feeled that it should be much heavier than stated in the Taiko website.



May I know the correct weights of Olympus Server and the Olympus I/O?

Thanks！

 

Hi @CKKeung ,

Olympus Server = 58 kg
Olympus I/O = 41 kg

Good catch on the website, we’ll update that, thanks!

 

I managed to remove the Music SSD of my Olympus. It took some patience to remove the four side screws required to remove the top cover, and later put them back.

In my system the improvement was more than 2%. Perhaps 3% to 5%. A nice improvement of dynamics and leading edge.

For anyone who ordered a unit with an internal music ssd, my suggestion is to buy a nice NAS, if you don’t have one already, and to change your order to no internal storage, so you don’t have to remove the ssd yourself later.i

tt only proves that we all have to listen to Emile's suggestions. I was very reluctant to go with an NAS let alone have it over 100 feet away from my sound room but I haven't looked back and am enjoying my music library more than ever. Our leader knows what he's talking about and we all need to listen