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".

 

When upgrading to the Olympus server XDMI, do the newer USB and network cards get returned for credit? I know storage doesn’t. If we also wanted USB to test, do we then keep the USB card?

Yes they are returned for credit.

Some examples:

If you purchased the Extreme at its current retail of E 28.000 your trade in credit is E 28.000 as both the upgrade USB and Network cards are included by default.

In the period the Extreme sold for E 24.000, it did not include the upgraded USB and Network cards. So your trade in value is then affected by if you purchased these cards.

No cards: E 24.000
+ USB card: E 25.600
+ USB card and Network card: E 27.200

 

Hi @seatrope ,

We will only have the 2 announced modules available.

I understand it may look trivial to design other output options, but for more advanced designs, where you cannot just solder together a prototype with some wire and parts, there’s a process you go through, looking like this:

1) Design the Architecture
2) Parts selection
3) Circuit design
4) Build library parts
5) PCB Layout
6) Signal & Power Integrity analysis
7) Adjustments
8) Final layout & verification
9) Order parts and circuitboards for prototypes
10) PCB assembly
11) Bring up, measurements, adjust as needed
12) Test phase, technical performance and listening tests
13) Modify prototype circuitboards
14) Layout final product
15) Another Signal & Power Integrity analysis run
16) Order final PCBs and parts
17) PCB Assembly
18) Final measurements, listening tests
19) Verification stage
20) Order production batch in quantity

All these steps can be short or long, depending on complexity, but from start design to having production quantity amounts in 3 months is just impossible…

Emile,

Thank you for clarifying that an XLR analog output will not be available at launch.

Will just have to “borrow” some high end RCA cables in order to test the XDMI analog option without using adapters.

 

Emile could just record to .wav, convert that to .flac (losslessly) and attach the files here or put them on Dropbox (etc).

No need to involve YouTube at all…

(not that I’m asking for this — just pointing out that it seemed a bit of a leap to equate “recording” with YouTube?)

I would much rather have Emile spend his time getting the Taiko waffle maker to market . . .

Steve Z

 

I appreciate that suggestion. I already have a very reliable and outstanding dealer in Bob at Rhapsody, who has volunteered to do exactly that. I'm hoping that the two of us can take the Extreme down from the shelf, transfer the memory boards from the Extreme, install the Olympus, and not wind up in the orthopedic ward of the hospital. But it still doesn't address the concern of getting what may be a wonderful XDMI analog RCA/AES board with the Olympus that I may not use for the long term. My guess is that I'm not alone having that concern. Surely there's a path forward to address this concern?

If that is a concern, then don't order the Olympus with XDMI. Stick with USB until you decide the time is right to add XDMI + a daughterboard. The only downside for you -- it will cost you $5K more to add XDMI later rather than now.

Problem solved.

Steve Z

 

Sounds great. But Vivaldi upsampler only has a single AES/EBU input.

But your Vivaldi DAC has dual AES/EBU. So that (with a Taiko dual AES/EBU daughter card for the XDMI mother card) will give you sample-rate functionality to the full capability of your DAC.

I found with all the advancements Taiko has released, and most notably XDMS-NSM, that other than giving my Vivaldi stack remote control via iPad with dCS' Mosaic app on the Upsampler, the core function of the Upsampler (upsampling) has lost a considerable amount of importance to me. So much so that I sold my Upsampler recently. I find I do not miss it in the least -- 16/44.1 content can and often does sound just as good as higher sample rates.

Of course, your mileage may vary.

Steve Z

 

At the risk of kicking a hornet's nest here, I will note that it appears that Taiko may be on a competitive collision course with DAC manufacturers, notwithstanding the talk of cooperation between Taiko and the manufacturers of some of the DACs favored by WBF participants. There is already the suggestion that the analogue output module in the initial version of the Olympus may well exceed the performance obtained when using an external DAC without an XDMI connection. Even if some of these DAC manufactures develop an XDMI interface with the Olympus, it is not too difficult to imagine that there could be a lot of demand for a one box (two with the i/o) uber solution that includes an all out assault on the DAC and analogue stages, largely eliminating the need for a third party external DAC, at least for some material portion of the market.

Honestly, when you look at what comprises the analog output stages in many DACs, including some very expensive makes and models, one could argue that Taiko is not far off the mark with their current XDMI analog direct daughter card.

And unless a DAC manufacturer is utilizing a custom programmed FPGA as their "DAC" section, then all that might be different is the flavor of off the shelf DAC chipset.

Steve Z

 

But your Vivaldi DAC has dual AES/EBU. So that (with a Taiko dual AES/EBU daughter card for the XDMI mother card) will give you sample-rate functionality to the full capability of your DAC.

I found that with all the advancements Taiko has released, and most notably XDMS-NSM that other than giving my Vivaldi stack remote control via iPad with dCS' Mosaic app on the Upsampler, the core function of the Upsampler (upsampling) has lost a considerable amount of importance to me. So much so that I sold my Upsampler recently. I find I do not miss it in the least -- 16/44.1 content can and often does sound just as good as higher sample rates.

Of course, your mileage may vary.

Steve Z

Hi Steve, Thanks for sharing. That's an Interesting point of view. I will give it a try.

 

Hi Steve, Thanks for sharing. That's an Interesting point of view. I will give it a try.

You're welcome, Jeff.

My plan going forward is to wait patiently for my Olympus to arrive and then compare my Vivaldi APEX via single AES/EBU and whatever other digital outputs the XDMI digital daughter card comes with, to the XDMI analog direct daughter card. I think single AES/EBU at 24/192 and DoP DSD64 will be more than sufficient to give a good idea of the sound quality.

I suspect they will sound different to each other. However, if the XDMI analog-direct is good enough for me to enjoy my music with the same or even deeper emotional connection to what I now have, well, the Vivaldi and Vivaldi clock will be looking for a new home.

Steve Z

 

With these 2 interface cards and a pair of QFSP cables.

View attachment 122472

Thanks for the photos. It's very clear now.

Therefore, the Extreme USB card and Network card will go into Olympus I/O ?

My questions are:
1. If both Extreme USB card and Network card go into Olympus I/O, Extreme server will be a pure Roon core/xdms player with storage ?
2. If Olympus I/O is only for input and output, Extreme Network card will stay in Extreme server ?

 

Remember that the I/O box is an extension of the computer it is attached to (there is no computer inside the I/O box, the input side and the output side are connected to the PCIe bus on the server via the QSFP links)

The I/O box has support for two modules, usually a single input side (Network) and single output side (USB or XDMI card) You can think of those two modules as being PCIe cards that are outside the main server (with BPS and QSFP isolation, etc)

The Extreme server (or Olympus server) when paired with the I/O box is managing all things going across the PCIe bus. Based on Emile's descriptions, there is a big win going from Extreme+I/O to Olympus+I/O, so that extra speed and the higher performing PCIe bus must be bringing some juice to the party.

To think about it another way, with XDMI, the CPU of the server is directly connected (via PCIe) to the network card and the USB/XDMI/DAC. The server very much matters.

Since retrofitting the Extreme with the BPS and faster PCIe was a non-starter, I/O box is required for the Extreme. For the Olympus server, the I/O box is (apparently) the cherry on top, with the I/O box giving physical (and QSFP) isolation to the "I" and the "O".

Obviously all the above is based on reading here. I am very much looking forward to doing a deep dive comparison of the various configs when Olymp-i's start shipping in 3-4 months and hearing what other Olympus owners are hearing.

 

They’re only in the Olympus I/O, not in the Olympus server.

Misunderstanting .
well I will ask it different way than
How the XDMI main board looks in the Olympus XDMI?
How the network card looks in Olympus XDMI ?
Is is identical to the one in extreme or improved ?
I understand the USB card is identical ( or improved ?) to the one we have in extreme .

 

Misunderstanting .
well I will ask it different way than
How the XDMI main board looks in the Olympus XDMI?
How the network card looks in Olympus XDMI ?
Is is identical to the one in extreme or improved ?
I understand the USB card is identical ( or improved ?) to the one we have in extreme .

Same network and usb cards.

 

Thanks for the photos. It's very clear now.

Therefore, the Extreme USB card and Network card will go into Olympus I/O ?

My questions are:
1. If both Extreme USB card and Network card go into Olympus I/O, Extreme server will be a pure Roon core/xdms player with storage ?
2. If Olympus I/O is only for input and output, Extreme Network card will stay in Extreme server ?

1. yes
2. no , we consider the network card to be an “Input” though it has bidirectional communication.

 

Hi Emile.
I don't know if this question has been answered already, but what is the output voltage of the RCA analog card?

 

Hi Emile.
I don't know if this question has been answered already, but what is the output voltage of the RCA analog card?

That’s actually an interesting topic, we’ve been playing with gain to have something average compared to a range of DACs. We’re currently at ~ 2Vrms out (+6dBv), we’ve been comparing it to other DACs to find a most “compatible” sweetspot but this is really allover the place.

The more useful output stage specs people may be interested in are:

Maximum output voltage swing: 20 V
Output current: 50 mA
Output impedance: 100 Ohm

 

Hey Emile - is the configuration of the Olympus I/O exactly the same whether it be connected to the Extreme or Olympus?

Is the connection between server and I/O in both scenarios QFSP?

 

Hey Emile - is the configuration of the Olympus I/O exactly the same whether it be connected to the Extreme or Olympus?

Is the connection between server and I/O in both scenarios QFSP?

Yes and yes.

 

Yes and yes.

Hi Emile,

Therefore, the extreme network card will be in Olympus I/O whether we use Extreme Server or Olympus Server? And the network signal will go into Olympus I/O First and then pass through to Extreme Server or Olympus Server By QSFP?

Happy new year and thanks.

 

Hi Emile,

Therefore, the extreme network card will be in Olympus I/O whether we use Extreme Server or Olympus Server? And the network signal will go into Olympus I/O First and then pass through to Extreme Server or Olympus Server By QSFP?

Happy new year and thanks.

Correct.

Happy New Year!

 

Hi there Emile, and a very happy end to your year, the teams, and everyone else on this thread.

can I assume then, Emile, with the Olympus and I/O I’ll be getting that the signal path will be -

satellite router - taiko router - taiko switch - I/O - Olympus - I/O - DAC with aes/ebu or preamp with RCA left and right cables.

thanks much ! Kevin