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".

 

It is, these protocols are on the roadmap, you will be able to use all of these with the Olympus AND the Extreme:

1) UPNP
2) Tidal connect
3) Qobuz connect
4) Airplay
5) Chromecast

For Upnp, does it mean Olympus acts as Upnp client?

 

The actual queue number would be around 150.

But I am #160

 

But I am #160

That's not an existing queue number, we're still just below 150. You can contact support@taikoaudio.com to get your correct queue number.

 

For Upnp, does it mean Olympus acts as Upnp client?

Yes, you can use free upnp remotes like mconnect to use it then, if you don't mind paying Jplay IOS appears to be very well received at 50 / year or 200 / lifetime.

 

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I just contacted my dealer Ultimate Audio to ask him to request Taiko to change my Olympus to Black.

 

I just contacted my dealer Ultimate Audio to ask him to request Taiko to change my Olympus to Black.

This is actually very helpful, a lot of people have changed their orders, we're at 50/50 silver/black on the remaining orders already!

 

...the eagle has landed. Fiber pallet was broken, but flight case A-OK.

 

...the eagle has landed. Fiber pallet was broken, but flight case A-OK.

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you're in for a real treat. The fun starts figuring out a way to get it mounted in your system. I hired two strong muscle men to get my O/IO up the stairs and on its shelf.

 

...oh yeah. A fella named "Jake" will be by a bit later. He enjoys lifting things and setting them down. It'll be the best 40 bucks I'll spend today.

 

This is actually very helpful, a lot of people have changed their orders, we're at 50/50 silver/black on the remaining orders already!

(I’ll take a bow for suggesting it here )

 

(I’ll take a bow for suggesting it here )

i had a different thought. Some of the rejected silver anodized units were somewhat eye catching to my eyes at least. The time and expense to find a proper anodizer is a monumental, daunting and I’m sure a very expensive task. I’m betting that if Emile showed the rejected units he had and offered to move people up in the queue to accept these as their order, things would fly off the shelf Perhaps also offer them at a small reduction in price. I listen in the dark. To me it’s what my ears hear rather than what my eyes see. One would take delivery of a sonically perfect O/IO at the price of a slight visual imperfection. People will move up in the queue and I bet will be tickled by their decision. This happens all the time and are called “ factory seconds”.

Just a thought rather than sending them back. My mother always said “ it never hurts to ask”

 

i had a different thought. Some of the rejected silver anodized units were somewhat eye catching to my eyes at least. The time and expense to find a proper anodizer is a monumental, daunting and I’m sure a very expensive task. I’m betting that if Emile showed the rejected units he had and offered to move people up in the queue to accept these as their order, things would fly off the shelf Perhaps also offer them at a small reduction in price. I listen in the dark. To me it’s what my ears hear rather than what my eyes see. One would take delivery of a sonically perfect O/IO at the price of a slight visual imperfection. People will move up in the queue and I bet will be tickled by their decision. This happens all the time and are called “ factory seconds”.

Just a thought rather than sending them back. My mother always said “ it never hurts to ask”

Factory second in that price range? I really hope Taiko has more pride than that.

 

Factory second in that price range? I really hope Taiko has more pride than that.

Plus, one could never get a matching I/O in the future if the O case wasn’t perfect.

 

Factory second in that price range? I really hope Taiko has more pride than that.

Never hurts to ask. I agree with you BTW. . Having said that all manufacturers sell their factory seconds I thought the one shown a few days ago with the swirls in it was very interesting.Members are switching to black to hasten delivery. Some of the rejects frankly are not that bad Taiko does have a high standard. that is to be commended.

 

Years ago I bought an expensive car. When I did the inspection there was a flaw in the paint towards the bottom of a door. I brought it their attention. My option was to forgo delivery, send it back to repaint or to purchase with a discount The car Btw was much higher priced than the Olympus so again just a thought

 

I get it. My point is that Taiko holds itself to a higher standard. There are many rejects and people are getting restless. So if you want to have the factory standard there will be waits such as they are finding. Switching to black has become acceptable to some to hasten delivery. Once again you never know unless an option becomes available. I am agreeing with everyone but there has been an amazingly high presale and that creates a queue. BTW my order was in fact delayed by more than 2 weeks at least because it was rejected upon return from anodizer. .i feel everyone’s pain. You never talk about an Indian until you have walked a mile in his moccasins.

 

.i feel everyone’s pain. You never talk about an Indian until you have walked a mile in his moccasins.

With all due respect Steve, you’ve walked about two feet in our moccasins….

 

Again I get it. As Taiko was shipping overseas to the USA they faced a new licensure that allows for shipping of batteries. This was an uphill struggle as they did everything to bring themselves into compliance. They could not ship until they had licensure. To facilitate this they hired a third party company to help them through this hump. The problem was solved and the first few units made it to the USA.. After I waited weeks for mine to be reanodized they were packed up to meet code and shipped to the third party to then be shipped to me. I received Fedex notice that mine had passed inspection and was en route. I tracked the package and it was in Amsterdam for three days until
I got notice that shipment was rejected because of hazardous materials and it was returned to Taiko. I waited another week and got a second notice that it had passed inspection and was em route only to again get a message that shipment was cancelled due to hazardous materials. Again it was returned to Taiko to redo for a 3rd time that which was twice approved. After another 5 day wait it was once again resubmitted and all that was changed was the color of the shipping paper. Nothing else changed. So in this third occasion mine finally made it across the pond. Sadly Taiko was billed by FedEx on each time they picked up the unit. I too received three different invoices from Fedex to clear the shipment that they only cleared once. I had to pay all three invoices as did Taiko So I beg to disagree. You haven’t walked a mile in my moccasins. It was a learning curve that merely required a different colored shipping paper. Everything was done correctly. Overall my shipment was delayed by almost a month plus I paid 3 invoices for the cost of one. So I’d say even the early deliveries were not without incident. I think I’ve made my point “ with all due respect “

 

With all due respect Steve, you’ve walked about two feet in our moccasins….

Steve is expressing empathy. That's all that matters. He ordered before many of us. Fair is fair.

 

Sadly no good deed goes unpunished. We all knew when the preorder began. It was up to all of us when to order. I was lucky and got in early. My point is that I was at the beginning of the learning curve wrt anodizing and then shipping. Taiko did absolutely everything correct. My order was twice approved by the third party shipper yet was twice rejected by FedEx. No one ever said that the shipping paper had to be not white but blue IIRC Taiko can’t be faulted for issues with anodizing or shipping. So even though I was early in the queue my mishaps and a month delay has helped the rest of you I paid three invoices to FedEx for the service which they only did once
HTH