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".

 

Yes correct with the exception of needing 2 complete XDMI solutions. XDMI can be completely relocated to an external chassis. On the source/server side you then only need this interface card:

View attachment 121971

Lately each morning as I sip my Costa Rican coffee. I feel like I'm involved with space exploration and communicating with Ground Control! Fascinating "stuff"...

 

Emile, with the twin analogue outputs of the Olympus and I/O fully optimising all benefit of the XDMI interface, and AES\EBU only achieving ‘significant’ benefit, do you believe a bypass of my DAC to connect the Olympus directly to my preamp with RCA cabling might result in greater sound quality? I fully understand this question is so system dependent, but for how potent it appears XDMI is, I wondered if removing any DAC across the board (and by default, another interface in the signal path) might actually have global benefit regardless of DAC type or setup.

im not very technically adept, so please forgive me if the question is a dumb one, system dependency being so much more vital than XDMI gains.

Thank you! - kevin

All I can really say is give it a listen. I completely understand it's something you'd like to know before purchasing but the problem is your taste may not match mine, your system is not the same as mine, your room is not the same as mine. You may have tuned your system to your taste using your current source sound signature. You may have picked a specific brand of cable with a specific sound signature, you may have applied a certain amount of room damping / room tuning devices. There are just so many variables which is why there are also so many brands and models of equipment available.

All I can say that IMHO XDMI analogue out is at the very minimum competitive to anything I've heard. If you like it better then your current DAC however is just not something I can accurately predict. I'm very interested in people's experiences with it which is the main reason to supply both analogue and digital output modules in addition to the introduction discount.

This is something we've always been dependant on, real customer experience/feedback. It's the main driver for progress.

 

All I can really say is give it a listen. I completely understand it's something you'd like to know before purchasing but the problem is your taste may not match mine, your system is not the same as mine, your room is not the same as mine. You may have tuned your system to your taste using your current source sound signature. You may have picked a specific brand of cable with a specific sound signature, you may have applied a certain amount of room damping / room tuning devices. There are just so many variables which is why there are also so many brands and models of equipment available.

All I can say that IMHO XDMI analogue out is at the very minimum competitive to anything I've heard. If you like it better then your current DAC however is just not something I can accurately predict. I'm very interested in people's experiences with it which is the main reason to supply both analogue and digital output modules in addition to the introduction discount.

This is something we've always been dependant on, real customer experience/feedback. It's the main driver for progress.

Exactly this. System design, synergies and personal taste and preference in a nutshell.

 

All I can really say is give it a listen. I completely understand it's something you'd like to know before purchasing but the problem is your taste may not match mine, your system is not the same as mine, your room is not the same as mine. You may have tuned your system to your taste using your current source sound signature. You may have picked a specific brand of cable with a specific sound signature, you may have applied a certain amount of room damping / room tuning devices. There are just so many variables which is why there are also so many brands and models of equipment available.

All I can say that IMHO XDMI analogue out is at the very minimum competitive to anything I've heard. If you like it better then your current DAC however is just not something I can accurately predict. I'm very interested in people's experiences with it which is the main reason to supply both analogue and digital output modules in addition to the introduction discount.

This is something we've always been dependant on, real customer experience/feedback. It's the main driver for progress.

Thanks so much for your reply, Emile, as always! I cannot wait to hear it all

kevin

 

In case like mine getting Olymus XDMI first.
The update to Olympus XDMI + IO will be as easy as to swap the cards and probably TV visit of Edward or someone else to set it up
Over internet ?

Also I am surprised that few additional big connecting cards and very fast DAC cables are not adding any noise.
Intuitively there should be some additional noise from them.
It sounds there is opposite happening

I wish I could go straight to the final solution in one step.

 

In case like mine getting Olymus XDMI first.
The update to Olympus XDMI + IO will be as easy as to swap the cards and probably TV visit of Edward or someone else to set it up
Over internet ?

Also I am surprised that few additional big connecting cards and very fast DAC cables are not adding any noise.
Intuitively there should be some additional noise from them.
It sounds there is opposite happening

I wish I could go straight to the final solution in one step.

It’s just swapping cards. No teamviewer necessary.

 

Yes it's the connection between both Olympus and Extreme and Olympus I/O, it's a DAC cable, it runs at 112Gb/s, it can be modified to operate at up to 800Gb/s speeds.

Are 800G DAC cables with QSFP-DD terminations good to go?

https://edgeoptic.com/qsfp-dd-vs-qsfp28-qsfp56-what-are-the-differences/

QSFP-DD has the maximum data rate 200Gbps or 400Gbps depending on signal modulation technology used. Its main difference when compared to QSFP56 or QSFP28 is that QSFP-DD name states – double density, this means that its electrical lines are doubled from 4 to 8.

If so, do you think that 3M 9V8 Series might be a good candidate for QSA treatment?

https://www.mouser.com/new/3m/3m-osfp-9y8-cable-assemblies/

---

Other than that, what's the likelihood (without being out-of-spec) of building custom-made cables (with 3D-printed connectors etc.) with an even larger gauge?

https://www.mouser.com/pdfDocs/twin-ax-high-speed-cable-brochure-digital-high-res1.pdf#page=2

• Signal wire size 30AWG and 26AWG

 

Lately each morning as I sip my Costa Rican coffee. I feel like I'm involved with space exploration and communicating with Ground Control! Fascinating "stuff"...

Why with ground control ?
Communicate with heaven's gate instead!

 

Are 800G DAC cables with QSFP-DD terminations good to go?

It increases cost significantly with no clear advantages.

 

Why with ground control ?
Communicate with heaven's gate instead!

Audio Reference: Ground Control To Major Tom...Bowie...I'm not tempting fate with a Heaven Reference! LOL!

 

ALERT ALERT!!!! MAYDAY!!! JUST saw a ROON/Extreme Server Update!! I did it! With clenched fists! Along with eyes wide open!! Build 1357!

 

ALERT ALERT!!!! MAYDAY!!! JUST saw a ROON/Extreme Server Update!! I did it! With clenched fists! Along with eyes wide open!! Build 1357!

Thanks for straddling the bleeding edge on this, John. As they used to say at awards ceremonies,

"In the highest traditions of the Naval Service, without hesitation John T threw his body on a live Roon update to save his shipmates".

You are a brave man, John!

Steve Z

 

Thanks for straddling the bleeding edge on this, John. As they used to say at awards ceremonies,

"In the highest traditions of the Naval Service, without hesitation John T threw his body on a live Roon update to save his shipmates".

You are a brave man, John!

Steve Z

I think they call it trepidation! I wish I had a video of my facial expression or a EKG reading while it was happening!! I think there was an audible "Oh No NOT This" prior to clicking UPDATE!!

 

I think they call it trepidation! I wish I had a video of my facial expression or a EKG reading while it was happening!! I think there was an audible "Oh No NOT This" prior to clicking UPDATE!!

But would you have proceeded without knowing that Emile and team taiko were nearby with all the necessary equipment to not only resuscitate you but to make you whole again?

 

There are plenty well designed AES/EBU cards available but they do not perform on the same level as XDMI. In fact they don’t even perform on the same level as our USB solution.

D'oh!

It just sunk in that the new aes/ebu interface is only available on the new XDMI card, and the card is only available with the new CPU and hardware. Also, that attempts improving the aes/ebu design without the benefits of the new hardware would be a limiting half-measure.

Brain reset underway......completed.

Update:
So, let me rephrase what my original question should have been. If I don't care about resolutions higher than 24/192 (which can be carried by aes/ebu), and I have an XDMI card implementation of the digital aes/ebu, am I limited in any way?
Does the decoding of aes/ebu to i2s benefit further from xdmi, which would argue for some xdmi secret sauce in the DAC?

 

So here is my next question. The DCD is still recommended for powering the router and switch but IIRC BPS will power the cards and Emile said before that filters are not necessary as there is no noise ....so in this scenario would we use default/default or unfiltered/unfiltered

 

So here is my next question. The DCD is still recommended for powering the router and switch but IIRC BPS will power the cards and Emile said before that filters are not necessary as there is no noise ....so in this scenario would we use default/default or unfiltered/unfiltered

If there is no noise to filter, maybe it won't matter?

 

So here is my next question. The DCD is still recommended for powering the router and switch but IIRC BPS will power the cards and Emile said before that filters are not necessary as there is no noise ....so in this scenario would we use default/default or unfiltered/unfiltered

Two different things, Steve. Granted, there is no power supply noise, or at least noise is down around the nano-volt level for battery powered cards and storage in the Olympus and Olympus I/O. But the DCD between whatever power supply you are using to power the router and switch is about the noise profile of that power supply and to a lesser extent, the noise profile of your home AC power. So the "proper" setting of DCD filters is going to remain somewhat unique to your system and your sonic preferences. What I've taken away from the discussion so far is that the sonic impact of that power supply noise for switch and router is much lessened with Olympus and Olympus I/O.

If and when Taiko offers a BPS with TPM protection for the Taiko switch and router, then DCD will be superfluous.

Steve Z

 

D'oh!

It just sunk in that the new aes/ebu interface is only available on the new XDMI card, and the card is only available with the new CPU and hardware. Also, that attempts improving the aes/ebu design without the benefits of the new hardware would be a limiting half-measure.

Unless I have misread stuff, XDMI is available with the I/O which can be added to the Extreme which is the old CPU. So, I am not sure you need the new CPU for XDMI. Correct me if I am wrong.

 

But would you have proceeded without knowing that Emile and team taiko were nearby with all the necessary equipment to not only resuscitate you but to make you whole again?

Now that I know Taiko is working on the defibrillator option, complete confidence!!