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".

 

WBF IRL!

 

Heading out now, but many thanks to Steve and Cathy for hosting such a lovely event, and Lukasz for making the trip and his dedication to the art of music. Delightful to meet so many folks and enjoy great music and fellowship together.

 

Do you use Olympus AES out to Vivaldi Upsampler AES input and then Upsampler dual AES out to Vivaldi DAC?

No, my Upsampler is long gone. It wasn't really adding that much value sonically or otherwise with the latest builds of XDMS on Extreme, and of course I've been streaming via Extreme rather than using dCS' app and Upsampler hardware.

I have been using XDMI digital daughter card SPDIF directly into my Vivaldi APEX DAC.

Steve Z

 

No, my Upsampler is long gone. It wasn't really adding that much value sonically or otherwise with the latest builds of XDMS on Extreme, and of course I've been streaming via Extreme rather than using dCS' app and Upsampler hardware.

I have been using XDMI digital daughter card SPDIF directly into my Vivaldi APEX DAC.

Steve Z

Steve, the XDMI digital card has both aes/ebu and the spdif outputs on it, yes? - kevin

 

 

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@CKKeung - thanks so much! : )

 

This is the Lampizator daughter card :





There is a XDMI reception socket on the Poseidon DAC too :

LampizatOr Poseidon “Duracell” DAC – M & S | Ultimate High-Fidelity

www.monoandstereo.com

 

Yesterday, thanks to Steve, I heard the Horizon360 via USB into the Olympus versus the Horizon360 via XDMI into the Olympus:

 

Can someone post here please how should I do the Playlist migration from Extreme to the Olympus?
Will Roon remember after log in to the Olympus my Playlist from Extreme?
I could not find this in the manual from the Taiko webpage.

 

Hi Kris,

Playlists are maintained in/by Roon. All you are doing is runnin *your* Roon on a different device. Once you point Roon at whatever local storage you might have, everything you had set up in Roon on Extreme will still be there in Roon on Olympus.

Steve Z

 

Hi Kris,

Playlists are maintained in/by Roon. All you are doing is runnin *your* Roon on a different device. Once you point Roon at whatever local storage you might have, everything you had set up in Roon on Extreme will still be there in Roon on Olympus.

Steve Z

But don't you have to migrate a backup copy of your Roon info between the two servers? How else will this personalized info show up on the Olympus?

 

But don't you have to migrate a backup copy of your Roon info between the two servers? How else will this personalized info show up on the Olympus?

It is always good to have Roon pointed at one or two locations (hard drives somewhere on the LAN) for its backups. However, when I de-authorized the Roon Core on my Extreme and logged into Roon on Olympus after several minutes of looking at the pulsating Roon logo, my Roon desktop appeared with all my subscribed tracks, playlists, and favorited content intact.

I didn't have to use the last backup I did from Roon running on Extreme.

Steve Z

 

I voted today.

I renewed Roon with a lifetime subscription.

Olympus 2025 or bust!

 

After many years of avoidance, I wrote the big Roon lifetime check earlier this year. One of the many true joys of Olympus ownership is being able to use Roon again (music discovery is just so delightful)

Brings to mind to a favorite poem from Mary Oliver...Joy is not made to be a crumb


If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate.
Give in to it.
There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be.
We are not wise, and not very often kind.
And much can never be redeemed.
Still, life has some possibility left.
Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world.
It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins.
Anyway, that’s often the case.
Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty.
Joy is not made to be a crumb.

~ Mary Oliver

 

I wrote that check during the intial Roon roll-out some years ago to get the discounted life-time membership.

I finally feel like that decision was validated.

Steve Z

 

Is there a thread where comments about the meeting at Steve's house are being posted?

 

Is there a thread where comments about the meeting at Steve's house are being posted?

Here:
https://www.whatsbestforum.com/thre...ampizator-horizon-360-taiko-olympus-io.39385/

 

Here:
https://www.whatsbestforum.com/thre...ampizator-horizon-360-taiko-olympus-io.39385/

Thank you

 

hopefully in the future there will be a thread where we will be posting about our weekend at my house with Emile

 

Few issues with O + IO
1.
After logging in to my Olympus with Roon I found ZERO of my Playlists.
I have found Ray-dude public test tracks so I use it now .
Great music Ray !
Will ask Ed to help or someone from Taiko Team.
2.
My IO AES works flawless to my Totaldac D-24.
Unfortunately Spdif is dead for some reason. There is no signal nor clock.
3.
BPS app on new android phones such as Fold 6 is not recognizing any of the batteries. Bluetooth sees them as devices but not the app.
Is permanently trying to find them but can't for some reason.
The back door is to use older ipad or phone and it works .

Other than that. OLYMPUS + Olympus IO is crazy good being cold with only 1 hour of burning in.
The potential you hear that is hidden there behind fresh parts is gigantic. Can't wait for that to open up.