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".

 

What is the umbilical to the I/O chassis with the 4 interface cards?

 

I thought the memory cards in my Extreme have been replaced by more current ones but I might be mistaken

I too have 14Tb of music that hopefully won't have to be transferred to Olympus

 

What’s the battery life in the new Olympus?

 

What’s the battery life in the new Olympus?

The graphics in posts 2 and 3 say 30 years.

 

I see. I thought that was just about a mini bps.

Unfortunately not, the “mini” description is perhaps misleading, it’s only “mini” in direct comparison with our initial “large” bps design. The “mini” is fully capable of transforming a dc cable from a solid into a gaseous state, hence we need to be in control over how it’s used.

 

Not too sure I understand your reply. Do we use Olympus to power router and switch? Or there is no need for that because network card is isolated and floating.

The influence of the switch/router power supply is indeed significantly reduced in this scenario.

 

Thank you.
This looks very optimistic.
I am not ranking extreme + Io at 200 % as I had no chance to see it or hear it.
This is estimate based purely on your first introduction chapter.
it looks the biggest improvements are with adding Io to extreme .
But from what you say it is triple the improvement from pure extreme to pure olympus.
Not sure if Emile will find a moment to write his estimates and sady few works about his sonic impresions with new Olympus

The 200% bit is hard to quantify as it’s just a different performance. You have great digital (the Extreme), you have great vinyl, you have great tape and you have the Olympus. I will make some attempts to clarify this more over the next few days.

 

The graphics in posts 2 and 3 say 30 years.

30 years for a drop to 95% of their initial charge capacity. They may outlast us all.

 

Very nice designs!

Does your baseline of 100% include extreme + Xdmi card digital out, or just today's extreme with the USB output card?

The IO architecture suggest that the xdmi card, without daughter card, would reside in the extreme and move data to the IO via the new xdmi output format and the function of the daughter board(s) would move to the IO where it would be battery powered.

Can we expect an announcement for the xdmi digital output card soon? That is actually what I had been expecting today. The Olympus was quite unexpected here.

This is the first I’ve heard of the XDMI digital output card. Can someone elaborate on what exactly this is?

 

View attachment 121572

What is the umbilical to the I/O chassis with the 4 interface cards?

QFSP.

 

The 200% bit is hard to quantify as it’s just a different performance. You have great digital (the Extreme), you have great vinyl, you have great tape and you have the Olympus. I will make some attempts to clarify this more over the next few days.

Any chance to hear YT videos on the different configurations in the same system using the same media.

 

Wow, I was not expecting changes and offerings of this magnitude. For those of us with more modest ambitions, do you expect to release something like TACDA as initially described months ago: a card with RCA analogue outputs that can be installed by the user of the Extreme? In other words, a DAC internal to the Extreme that would replace the USB interface? And if so, when could we expect pricing information on that?

 

Any chance to hear YT videos on the different configurations in the same system using the same media.

Please NO

 

Wow, I was not expecting changes and offerings of this magnitude. For those of us with more modest ambitions, do you expect to release something like TACDA as initially described months ago: a card with RCA analogue outputs that can be installed by the user of the Extreme? In other words, a DAC internal to the Extreme that would replace the USB interface? And if so, when could we expect pricing information on that?

I understand there’s a lot to digest and that it will take some time to get a grip on everything we’ve disclosed today. We will share a lot more information and insights tomorrow which should clarify things further!

 

Please NO

We all know that YT videos don’t do justice to the total sound of a system. However, we should be able to detect some differences if they can complied.

 

This is the first I’ve heard of the XDMI digital output card. Can someone elaborate on what exactly this is?

i may have been using inexact terminology but i was referring to the previously discussed new digital output card (TACDD) that would have daughter boards to provide various digital output options (i.e. aes/ebu) as well as an analog output option. i'm assuming that the xdmi interface format is the basis of the connection between the digital card (that interfaces with the cpu processor) and the daughter board options, with another daughter board option being an xdmi out of the same board in order to feed the Olympus IO.

the new digital card will take the place of the current usb output card.
an upgrade path for me could then be:
1) add TACDD with aes/ebu output daughter board (trade in usb ouput card)
2) change TACDD daughter board to xdmi output, add Olympus IO wtih aes/ebu ouput (trade in aes/ebu daughter board)

this is MY take on what appears to be happening here, and i could be wrong, but the pieces fit together for me.
yes, this includes some speculation on my part.
hopefully i'm not mixing things up here and we'll get clarification tomorrow from emile on where TACDD fits into the grand scheme.

 

View attachment 121547

That is an excellent looking eye pattern.

Steve Z

 

I did see that XDMI comes included with the Olympos so the big question is how to convert ones internal library to that on the Olympos

Load it from the back-up of your Extreme's music library.

Everyone backs up their music library hopefully. I have multiple copies (one of them off-site) so that if the worst occurs I don't have to go through thousands of man-hours re-ripping music.

Steve Z

 

This is the first I’ve heard of the XDMI digital output card. Can someone elaborate on what exactly this is?

This is the new name of TACDD I believe.
if I am wrong Christiaan will correct me

 

QFSP.

is this also the connection between the Extreme and the IO?

that is 40Gb/s?
and DAC (direct access connect) copper, as with the switch?