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".

 

This was my first time running a room at a show. I have always been a visitor before. I’m learning a lot and adjusting. I am focused on building good relationships within the industry first - helping dealers, connecting with other manufacturers, exploring potential partnerships, and getting familiar with the press, including YouTubers, magazines, and reviewers.

What was interesting (and expected) was that when people walked into the room and liked the sound, their immediate reaction was, “Wow, these speakers are great!” So I need to find a way to showcase what the digital source contributes to the system. Perhaps I need to come up with some interesting A/B comparisons that highlight the Olympus without taking anything away from other brands. We’ll come up with some creative ways to do that in the future.

Another takeaway was that very few people I talked to had heard of Taiko Audio. It’s clear that we have a lot more work to do in the U.S. market.

Plus you have PinkFaun coming at you full steam...

 

Plus you have PinkFaun coming at you full steam...

Jord and I are buddies! We talked multiple times during the show. He came to listen to our room and look at the Olympus. I did the same. We need to keep the hobby fun! I wish him all the best with the new distribution and products.

 

Hi @Taiko Audio,

I have contacted my dealer but for delivery issue, there is nothing he can do about it, it is solely depend on Taiko's allocation. What a disappointment!

Moving forward, I hope you can give me a concrete delivery timeline soon so that I can plan my schedule accordingly. I would appreciate it if you can keep to your word this time. I hope I am not asking too much. Thanks

And from: Hello, we already have your chassis and we are working on it.
To: Sorry, you have to wait for the next delivery of chassis.
Have they given you any explanation?

 

Olympus Serveur
Roon randomly stops playing music
​

For those of you who have received your Olympus Server : if you’re experiencing issues with Roon like some of us do, it would be great to send a quick bug report to support.

This will only help them narrow down and eventually fix the problem.

I have an Olympus + I/O XDMI, and Roon randomly stops playing music, showing the message: "Roon lost control of the audio device."

If you’re not experiencing this issue, it would still be helpful to send your system details to Taiko, mentioning that you don’t have this problem.

Knowing the conditions in which the issue does not occur is just as valuable.

Here’s a suggestion of bug report structure to send to @Taiko Audio :


SYSTEM :

- Olympus Server serial : xxx
- Olympus I/O serial : xxx
- Output XDMI interface : xxx
- DAC : xxx
- Roon Server version : xxx , build xxx
- Taiko Switch : yes/no
- Taiko Router : yes/no
- Taiko DC Power Distributor : yes/no
- Roon control app : iOS/Android


MUSIC STORAGE LOCATION-S :

- Local drive, in the Olympus Server
- NAS located on home network
- NAS connected to Taiko Router
- Streamed from : Tidal, Qobuz, other
- Music is playing from which storage when problem occurs?


PROBLEM DESCRIPTION :

- Does the music stop after a random amount of time?
- How often?
- Longest time between two stops ?
- Shortest time between two stops ?
- Does rebooting the server resolve the issue?


ERROR MESSAGE :

- Does the following error message appear on your iPad/Android ? "Roon lost control of the Audio device."
- Does the error message always appear?
- Take a screen shot


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION :

- Any additional information that might be useful or give more context


Cheers,

Thomas

So my Roon just stopped as I was reading the latest in this thread;

Olympus
MSB XDMI
MSB Cascade
NAS connected to Taiko Router
Taiko Switch and DC power
Local files, no stream, no stream subscriptions
Roon on iOS MacBook Pro
Roon 2.47/1510

No message of any kind, track just stopped. Hit play and it continued from stopped point

 

Plus you have PinkFaun coming at you full steam...

Heard the 2.16 Ultra (i believe) with 800k Clarysis... the Olympus stomps the shit out of it.

 

Heard the 2.16 Ultra (i believe) with 800k Clarysis... the Olympus stomps the shit out of it.

Can you say if you thought it was in the same league as the extreme? From listening sessions with audio buds evaluating streamers, I get the sense that others are now catching up to the level the extreme reached with xdms a year ago. While I have no direct comparisons, previously i would only hear small improvements with other streamers versus Jriver on a MacBook but huge improvements with the extreme. Now I'm hearing big improvements with other streamers relative to MacBook.

We need that next leap forward for the extreme....

 

Can you say if you thought it was in the same league as the extreme? From listening sessions with audio buds evaluating streamers, I get the sense that others are now catching up to the level the extreme reached with xdms a year ago. While I have no direct comparisons, previously i would only hear small improvements with other streamers versus river on a MacBook but huge improvements with the extreme. Now I'm hearing big improvements with other streamers relative to MacBook.

We need that next leap forward for the extreme....

XDMS before and after NSM are two completely different beasts. Don't think it's gonna be easy to catch up to NSM.

 

Can you say if you thought it was in the same league as the extreme? From listening sessions with audio buds evaluating streamers, I get the sense that others are now catching up to the level the extreme reached with xdms a year ago. While I have no direct comparisons, previously i would only hear small improvements with other streamers versus Jriver on a MacBook but huge improvements with the extreme. Now I'm hearing big improvements with other streamers relative to MacBook.

We need that next leap forward for the extreme....

Using Roon, the E is ahead.
Using XDMS nsm you're way ahead.
I heard hifi.. Very good hifi with PF.
The E is far more musical and pulls you in... There's life to the music when you have the E. Not so with the PF..
YMMV

 

Using Roon, the E is ahead.
Using XDMS nsm you're way ahead.
I heard hifi.. Very good hifi with PF.
The E is far more musical and pulls you in... There's life to the music when you have the E. Not so with the PF..
YMMV

thanks for the feedback. one audio bud saw the light and got an extreme. another is still hoping for a cheaper alternative!

it is interesting though that for the first time, we're hearing other streamers instantly outclass his macbook, which was not the case a year or two ago (except for the extreme)

my money is still on further big improvements to come with XDMI on the extreme, which hopefully we'll see this year

 

thanks for the feedback. one audio bud saw the light and got an extreme. another is still hoping for a cheaper alternative!

it is interesting though that for the first time, we're hearing other streamers instantly outclass his macbook, which was not the case a year or two ago (except for the extreme)

my money is still on further big improvements to come with XDMI on the extreme, which hopefully we'll see this year

Streamers like Lumin have sounded better than laptops and computers for several years now. Same with LDMS.

 

Using Roon, the E is ahead.
Using XDMS nsm you're way ahead.
I heard hifi.. Very good hifi with PF.
The E is far more musical and pulls you in... There's life to the music when you have the E. Not so with the PF..
YMMV

Been out of the loop for a while. nsm is what?

 

A rewrite of the XDMS player software. For a time it was called XDMS-NSM. Nowadays almost no one adds NSM when referring to XDMS.

 

Olympus Serveur
Roon randomly stops playing music
​

For those of you who have received your Olympus Server : if you’re experiencing issues with Roon like some of us do, it would be great to send a quick bug report to support.

This will only help them narrow down and eventually fix the problem.

I have an Olympus + I/O XDMI, and Roon randomly stops playing music, showing the message: "Roon lost control of the audio device."

If you’re not experiencing this issue, it would still be helpful to send your system details to Taiko, mentioning that you don’t have this problem.

Knowing the conditions in which the issue does not occur is just as valuable.

Here’s a suggestion of bug report structure to send to @Taiko Audio :


SYSTEM :

- Olympus Server serial : xxx
- Olympus I/O serial : xxx
- Output XDMI interface : xxx
- DAC : xxx
- Roon Server version : xxx , build xxx
- Taiko Switch : yes/no
- Taiko Router : yes/no
- Taiko DC Power Distributor : yes/no
- Roon control app : iOS/Android


MUSIC STORAGE LOCATION-S :

- Local drive, in the Olympus Server
- NAS located on home network
- NAS connected to Taiko Router
- Streamed from : Tidal, Qobuz, other
- Music is playing from which storage when problem occurs?


PROBLEM DESCRIPTION :

- Does the music stop after a random amount of time?
- How often?
- Longest time between two stops ?
- Shortest time between two stops ?
- Does rebooting the server resolve the issue?


ERROR MESSAGE :

- Does the following error message appear on your iPad/Android ? "Roon lost control of the Audio device."
- Does the error message always appear?
- Take a screen shot


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION :

- Any additional information that might be useful or give more context


Cheers,

Thomas

Good suggestions.

I am one of the people who've encountered this, and have sent detailed information to @nenon and Taiko support.

 

This was my first time running a room at a show. I have always been a visitor before. I’m learning a lot and adjusting. I am focused on building good relationships within the industry first - helping dealers, connecting with other manufacturers, exploring potential partnerships, and getting familiar with the press, including YouTubers, magazines, and reviewers.

What was interesting (and expected) was that when people walked into the room and liked the sound, their immediate reaction was, “Wow, these speakers are great!” So I need to find a way to showcase what the digital source contributes to the system. Perhaps I need to come up with some interesting A/B comparisons that highlight the Olympus without taking anything away from other brands. We’ll come up with some creative ways to do that in the future.

Another takeaway was that very few people I talked to had heard of Taiko Audio. It’s clear that we have a lot more work to do in the U.S. market.

I finally found you in the media at Tracking Angle, YouTube Michael’s channel.
You did a wonderful job!

 

Heard the 2.16 Ultra (i believe) with 800k Clarysis... the Olympus stomps the shit out of it.

And how much is the PF 2.16 Ultra compared to the Olympus? A better and more fair comparison would be against the PF 2.16 *Dual* Ultra ….

 

Streamers like Lumin have sounded better than laptops and computers for several years now. Same with LDMS.

not my experience as i've traipsed around with a buddy. small improvements, maybe, but an auralic server a month ago was the first to give me an instantaneous conclusion in 5-10 seconds, as with the extreme it's a no brainer.......kind of like wav versus flac

i may get to hear the PF vs. macbook in the next week or two.

 

And how much is the PF 2.16 Ultra compared to the Olympus? A better and more fair comparison would be against the PF 2.16 *Dual* Ultra ….

It was the "Dual" Ultra I heard.. My mistake.

 

not my experience as i've traipsed around with a buddy. small improvements, maybe, but an auralic server a month ago was the first to give me an instantaneous conclusion in 5-10 seconds, as with the extreme it's a no brainer.......kind of like wav versus flac

i may get to hear the PF vs. macbook in the next week or two.

I don't know which Lumins you listened to but I have 2 in smaller systems and both sound very nice. On one I put a power supply which cost almost as much as the streamer itself and that made a huge difference. I do think the power supply is one of the weak links in many lower-priced streamers.