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".

 

The actual output module is supplied by MSB, so you can use the fiber cable you’re using now. Of course you could try using a DAC cable if you so desire, if you do please share what you prefer!

Yes I figured that but what cable from Olympus to the MSB module?

BTW I prefer fiber vs DAC cable going to the MSB Select dac. I haven't tried fiber vs DAC on the Cascade

 

Yes I figured that but what cable from Olympus to the MSB module?

BTW I prefer fiber vs DAC cable going to the MSB Select dac. I haven't tried fiber vs DAC on the Cascade

The Olympus will have a direct fiber output.

This will be mounted inside your Olympus:

 

...for MSB users, I think we can just unplug the fiber cable (or DAC) from the ProISL converter box, ditch the USB cable (and box) and plug the fiber (or DAC) into the daughter board above. Main-line digital flow from Taiko to MSB. I cannot wait to hear that workflow!

 

...for MSB users, I think we can just unplug the fiber cable (or DAC) from the ProISL converter box, ditch the USB cable (and box) and plug the fiber (or DAC) into the daughter board above. Main-line digital flow from Taiko to MSB. I cannot wait to hear that workflow!

Yep !

 

The Olympus will have a direct fiber output.

This will be mounted inside your Olympus:


View attachment 138714

Emile, Thank you!

 

...for MSB users, I think we can just unplug the fiber cable (or DAC) from the ProISL converter box, ditch the USB cable (and box) and plug the fiber (or DAC) into the daughter board above. Main-line digital flow from Taiko to MSB. I cannot wait to hear that workflow!

You and me both!

 

You and me both!

On a different but related topic -- I have been successfully playing digital music via SPDIF from the XDMI digital daughter card. However, when I unplug the SPDIF cable and try to use an AES cable my Vivaldi gives me a "Non-Audio" message and no music plays even though Roon says it is playing an active track. dCS advises me that my set up of the Vivaldi for AES is correct.

I will try a different cable to be sure (though the one I have is brand new). Is the XDMI digital daughter card AES output simply in parallel with the SFDIF or are they being processed or routed differently inside the Taiko XDMI digital daughter card?

The reason I ask is that dCS tell me the "Non-Audio" flag is one of several flags in the bit stream, such as "Single-AES", or "Dual-AES" and that it seems strange to them the Non-Audio flag would be set for AES but not for SPDIF.

Regardless, SPDIF to Vivaldi from Olympus sounds great!

Thanks!

Steve Z

 

On a different but related topic -- I have been successfully playing digital music via SPDIF from the XDMI digital daughter card. However, when I unplug the SPDIF cable and try to use an AES cable my Vivaldi gives me a "Non-Audio" message and no music plays even though Roon says it is playing an active track. dCS advises me that my set up of the Vivaldi for AES is correct.

I will try a different cable to be sure (though the one I have is brand new). Is the XDMI digital daughter card AES output simply in parallel with the SFDIF or are they being processed or routed differently inside the Taiko XDMI digital daughter card?

The reason I ask is that dCS tell me the "Non-Audio" flag is one of several flags in the bit stream, such as "Single-AES", or "Dual-AES" and that it seems strange to them the Non-Audio flag would be set for AES but not for SPDIF.

Regardless, SPDIF to Vivaldi from Olympus sounds great!

Thanks!

Steve Z

OK, just tried two different AES cables and the Vivaldi still returns a Non-Audio error for AES, even though it does recognize it is getting an 88.2kHz stream, which is consistent with the track Roon is playing.

Steve Z

 

OK, just tried two different AES cables and the Vivaldi still returns a Non-Audio error for AES, even though it does recognize it is getting an 88.2kHz stream, which is consistent with the track Roon is playing.

Steve Z

That’s very strange, it sees the data but says non-audio error? That does mean the card is transmitting at least. It’s not exactly, but more or less in parallel with SPDIF yes. I’ve only tested AES on Totaldac, Lampizator and Aqua Formula, that works just fine. BTW I do personally prefer SPDIF, it’s more dynamic for whatever reason.

 

OK, just tried two different AES cables and the Vivaldi still returns a Non-Audio error for AES, even though it does recognize it is getting an 88.2kHz stream, which is consistent with the track Roon is playing.

Steve Z

Does it display 0/88.2 or 24/88.2? Like below screenshot? Or does it display 0/88.2 for a 44.1 source frequency?




And perhaps setting this menu item to off may help? :

 

Does it display 0/88.2 or 24/88.2? Like below screenshot? Or does it display 0/88.2 for a 44.1 source frequency?

View attachment 138732


And perhaps setting this menu item to off may help? :


View attachment 138733

Hi Emile,

Thank you for replying. I had to go out for errands but now that I'm back I can say that what I was seeing was 0/88.2 for the data of a 24/88.2 track. I will have to check with a 44.1 track to see if it still says 0/88.2 and I'll report back.

dCS says Off, On or Auto *shouldn't* matter for the Dual AES setting and I am almost positive I checked for all three modes with no success, but I will revisit that as well. You would thing a manufacturer would know everything about their product but though it is rare I did catch them in a published error once about their Upsampler function.

I have to say SFDIF is really good and if you find it more dynamic I believe you. It is that for sure.

Steve Z

 

Checking back in and then I'll move any further discussion to support@taikoaudio.com or contact@taikoaudio.com. I do already have a trouble report in for the AES problem.

I checked AES with all three possible modes, checkmarked for dual AES on, X'ed for dual AES off (but still able to accept single AES data) and A: for auto. In all case the Non Audio error message remains.

When music is playing the AES input displays the proper word size and bit rate (16/44.1kHz in this case). If I pause play in Roon, the word size goes to zero (expected behavior). 44.1kHz tracks do not display as 88.2kHz.

SPDIF continues to work very, very well.

Now returning you all to the normally scheduled programming. . .

Thanks for your indulgence.

Steve Z

 

I’ve only tested AES on Totaldac, Lampizator and Aqua Formula, that works just fine. BTW I do personally prefer SPDIF, it’s more dynamic for whatever reason.

Do i interpret this as, for you, spdif was preferred to AES/ebu for the totaldac?

 

@Taiko Audio anything in particular that you like re the Uptone LPS?

 

Do i interpret this as, for you, spdif was preferred to AES/ebu for the totaldac?

I’m afraid I only tried both with the Lampizator Horizon. I did have this same preference in the past as well though, even back in the day when the CD was dominating the playing field I’ve personally always favoured dynamics, especially the starting energy of notes, the leading edge, over ultimate precision / control.

 

@Taiko Audio anything in particular that you like re the Uptone LPS?

Although I owned one of the first when they were just released, it’s too long ago to rate it for sound quality now. I do very much like the choke input design though, that guarantees low ripple values and a more silent transformer than the usual capacitor input design. I would expect it to be a really good choice for powering the DCD as it has plenty of current capacity and it’s regulator / high frequency noise performance is less important as the DCD will take care of that anyway.

 

I’m afraid I only tried both with the Lampizator Horizon. I did have this same preference in the past as well though, even back in the day when the CD was dominating the playing field I’ve personally always favoured dynamics, especially the starting energy of notes, the leading edge, over ultimate precision / control.

I use to have a similar preference years ago with top usb to spidf converter.
It had quietness and finesse I could never get back with Onboard TotalDAC USB conversion or any other type of gear.
It would be fun to test spidf input on TotalDAC again.

 

Although I owned one of the first when they were just released, it’s too long ago to rate it for sound quality now. I do very much like the choke input design though, that guarantees low ripple values and a more silent transformer than the usual capacitor input design. I would expect it to be a really good choice for powering the DCD as it has plenty of current capacity and it’s regulator / high frequency noise performance is less important as the DCD will take care of that anyway.

I've been very pleased with my early JS-2 and it's been rock solid reliable over the years. It is currently working very well with the Taiko DCD powering the Taiko router and switch. I expect it will do just as well if I add a fanless two disc NAS or the external USB drive I transferred my music library to from Extreme.

Although I haven't haven't compared it directly with some of the audiophile super power supplies like Sean Jacobs' or Paul Hynes', the price was right and it has made a significant audible improvement over any OEM power supply and the couple of lower-tier audiophile LPS' I have tried in the past.

My sense is that it also throws less noise back into the rest of my power distribution system than other supplies I've had here and in any event a decent but not expensive Shunyata Research power cord into a Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon and Typhon QR system cleans that up anyway.

Steve Z

 

I've been very pleased with my early JS-2 and it's been rock solid reliable over the years. It is currently working very well with the Taiko DCD powering the Taiko router and switch. I expect it will do just as well if I add a fanless two disc NAS or the external USB drive I transferred my music library to from Extreme.

Although I haven't haven't compared it directly with some of the audiophile super power supplies like Sean Jacobs' or Paul Hynes', the price was right and it has made a significant audible improvement over any OEM power supply and the couple of lower-tier audiophile LPS' I have tried in the past.

My sense is that it also throws less noise back into the rest of my power distribution system than other supplies I've had here and in any event a decent but not expensive Shunyata Research power cord into a Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon and Typhon QR system cleans that up anyway.

Steve Z

Steve, where is the music you are using with the Olympus stored?

 

Steve, where is the music you are using with the Olympus stored?

Hi David,

Right now I am strictly streaming, primarily Qobuz. I made a copy of everything on Extreme on a 14TB external USB drive in preparation for sending it back to the mothership. I'll use that to ensure my several NAS have a good back up copy and when I get around to it I'll point Roon on Olympus to one of the NAS on my home network, for the time being.

When the Taiko router firmware is updated I'll experiment between using the external USB drive powered by DCD/JS-2 versus NAS in another room. That might not be for another week or two.

Steve Z