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".

 

I have read many posts here and talked to several members all of whom have said they will eliminate their DAC and use the analogue board. Also I have read requests that the Olympus have a volume control so that they can also eliminate their preamps. I seem to recall Emile saying this was something Taiko was considering perhaps at a later date

This is definitely the direction I’m looking at/hoping for as far as potentially replacing my Aries Cerat DAC. If the XDMI dac to pre proves to be equal or better than (usb or aes) from Olympus to my dac I think I’ll have sell my dac.

Even though Lampi/Areis/MSB are planning to implement native XDMI to their dacs, I’m imagining this will be costly. My sense at this point is the trade off will be in favor of the XDMI dac when the factors of cost savings and the inevitable advancements to come from the XDMI dac.

I don’t see ever giving up my preamp as I believe it has a greater contribution to overall sq than my current dac. Maybe Horizon owners will opt to use Horizon as their tube rolling pre?

It’s interesting to try to read between the lines of Lucasz‘s comments. No doubt he listened to a comparison between Oly to Horizon and Oly analog to pre…

All speculation at this point for sure.

 

I’m going to stick to “further details to be announced”

Holding our breadth. It would be a shame if Lampi DACs' XDMI input would not be battery-powered, which is critical to the huge SQ uptick based on your report.

 

Steve, I'm in a strange situation where my system isn't in the house I spend most time at (long story), so I've had to get used to bursts of hifi. I will eventually move to be with it full time. But for now the advantages of the other place I live (see profile photo!) make up for it, and I console myself that I have 2 related hobbies, hifi and listening to music - and I do a lot of listening (phone + Qobuz + Apple mini HomePods ) and new music discovery when I'm away from my HiFi.

I'm sure the XDMI analog IO board will perform at an absolute very high level due to the advantages of Olympus, Taiko batteries, and native XDMI.

How many Dacs without the Taiko battery and XDMI advantages will 'fall by the wayside' against XMDI analog remains to be seen, but you (or at least I) have to think there must be a level at which the Dac-specific expertise of some manufacturers will come to their 'rescue' - I think Emile has posted to that effect. But he's heard his Dac, he has always been right, and so if he's saying / implying its right up there, then I'd believe him.

It will take some time to play out XDMI adoption (so I'd be happy to wait a while), but at the end of the day if the Dac manufacturers really can't (or choose not to) add any value over the current Taiko Dac or a future version / design in the Olympus IO expansion box and are behind the all-Taiko SQ curve, then I'd have no hesitation dropping them in favour of Taiko and Olympus IO w XDMI & Taiko Dac. But, I hope they will all be like Lukasz and jump all over it when they hear it.

With all that being said, I'm not sure I'm prepared to predict 'digital end-game' just yet though, Emile has many years of innovation left in him...let's wait and see, grasshopper

Personally in the medium term (like you, it sounds) I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a general purpose Taiko mini-BPS (as well as Switch and Router) so that I can maybe try one or two to replace my Dac power supply. From limited experiments I can definitely improve SQ by improving power to the MSB Powerbases (30A line vs 20A line) and shielding cables.

And finally, I also tried a fresh-out-of-the packaging $20 DAC SFP+ cable in place of MSB's optical cable connection to their ProUSB module. Whilst I currently preferred optical overall, I felt that the DAC had definite promise about it. So I'm hopeful that when I/we can ditch USB and connect to XDMI, a DAC cable will be better than the optical, too, as currently with the switch & router.

Happy listening everyone, I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts as Olympus rolls out!

I too prefer the optical from PRO USB module over the DAC SFP+ cable on my MSB Select II. What I haven't tried yet is replacing the optical between the S II DAC and the DD with an SFP+ cable.
It will be interesting to see what Emile recommends with his MSB/XDMI solution

 

Lampizator DACs will be 100% compatible with XDMI, non compromised, with full format and sample rate support. Further details to be announced.

"Lampizator DACs" I hope that might be inclusive of other than only Horizon/Poisdon, i.e. Pacific et al

 

Alright, the last page of posts have pushed me off the fence. Moving forward w/ the purchase of Olympus as of today!

I also use Horizon as DAC and preamp. Knowing that Lampizator/Taiko are committed to developing XDMI native gives me the confidence to move forward - which feels a bit crazy not knowing the timing of these additional developments, DAC implications, likely having to get a few new cables in the interim, and let alone never having heard the Olympus(!), but Team Taiko has delivered every time. And, to me, it is all part of this incredible ride that Taiko has taken us on. So fortunate and excited to join the others here taking the leap and stepping out onto the cusp of digital's future.

 

I too prefer the optical from PRO USB module over the DAC SFP+ cable on my MSB Select II. What I haven't tried yet is replacing the optical between the S II DAC and the DD with an SFP+ cable.
It will be interesting to see what Emile recommends with his MSB/XDMI solution

Well obviously the PRO ISL interface has been designed around the use of optical modules / cables. These are also not used for handling variable / high speed network traffic, but for transporting continuous low data rate signals (i2s / clock).

We moved to DAC cables with the network card / switch / router designs, as these are very low noise designs where power consumption became a considerable factor in the total noise profile. SFP DAC has the lowest power consumption per port, lower then rj45 and fiber. With fiber you have the benefit of full galvanic isolation so when using SFP DAC it becomes important to not need that galvanic isolation, which you need to design your circuits for.

With XDMI I would expect SFP DAC cables to perform better then with USB sources.

 

I too prefer the optical from PRO USB module over the DAC SFP+ cable on my MSB Select II. What I haven't tried yet is replacing the optical between the S II DAC and the DD with an SFP+ cable.
It will be interesting to see what Emile recommends with his MSB/XDMI solution

I definitely look forward to Emile's recommendation!

[Edit] We just got it!

 

I’m going to stick to “further details to be announced”

Emile, I fully understand it is ATM a trade secret. Just want to air a list of wishes: (1) Lampi DACs' XDMI interface is battery-powered (to reap in full benefits of XDMI); (2) Lampi XDMI input interface and Olympus output XDMI interface can share one I/O chassis (so the cable out to a Lampi DAC would be that DAC's internal cable to its DAC chip board, if technically feasible) (why 2 I/O chassis if there can be one?); and (3) we can dispense with the Olympus SPDIF/AES-EBU digital output board (a temporary solution and far from being ideal) and apply the saving as a credit to the joint Taiko-Lampi I/O (if feasible) or a refund of that digital card's cost (baked in the O's purchase price) for the purchase of a Laimpi XDMI interface or I/O.

 

"Lampizator DACs" I hope that might be inclusive of other than only Horizon/Poisdon, i.e. Pacific et al

We are investigating the possibility of bringing it to the Pacific as well and preliminarily it seems feasible. While we can't promise it, it is promising.

Edit: I see Emile already responded here.

 

Emile, I fully understand it is ATM a trade secret. Just want to air a list of wishes: (1) Lampi DACs' XDMI interface is battery-powered (to reap in full benefits of XDMI); (2) Lampi XDMI input interface and Olympus output XDMI interface can share one I/O chassis (so the cable out to a Lampi DAC would be that DAC's internal cable to its DAC chip board, if technically feasible) (why 2 I/O chassis if there can be one?); and (3) we can dispense with the Olympus SPDIF/AES-EBU digital output board (a temporary solution and far from being ideal) and apply the saving as a credit to the joint Taiko-Lampi I/O (if feasible) or a refund of that digital card's cost (baked in the O's purchase price) for the purchase of a Laimpi XDMI interface or I/O.

is there something you missed or didn't understand in Emile's previous reply to your same question

 

We are investigating the possibility of bringing it to the Pacific as well and preliminarily it seems feasible. While we can't promise it, it is promising.

Edit: I see Emile already responded here.

Deleted my reply, more reliable coming straight from the horses mouth

 

is there something you missed or didn't understand in Emile's previous reply to your same question

We all have and are entitled to our own questions. If Emile has directly or clearly answered those questions, please show them to me. I don't try to guess or read tealeaves. I only aired some wishes, as many others (including yourself) had done so, and I don't expect him to answer them.

 

We all have and are entitled to our own questions. If Emile has directly or clearly answered those questions, please show them to me. I don't try to guess or read tealeaves. I only aired some wishes, as many others (including yourself) had done so, and I don't expect him to answer them.

FWIW I can tell you that there are many questions I have asked Emile and gotten similar replies. I understand the meaning of a non reply or one that won't or cannot be immediately answered.

I find it often a good thing "to let sleeping dogs lie"...to me your question was asked and answered as best he could so why ask again. Maybe you should try tea leaves

 

Steve, you are getting personal and exercising your censorship. Customers do have a right to express wishes (as you yourself had done so many times). My follow-up posting (if you read carefully) was not meant to be, and did not raise, questions (as he would not reveal ATM understandably; again, they were wishes which I thought Emile should be made aware of). Wishes (2) and (3) were new; only wish (1) repeated the earlier question. If you think Emile has answered wishes (2) and (3) somewhere or anywhere, please show me. Don't believe it is productive for us to engage in any further debate. What's written has been written. Best wishes.

We all have and are entitled to our own questions. If Emile has directly or clearly answered those questions, please show them to me. I don't try to guess or read tealeaves. I only aired some wishes, as many others (including yourself) had done so, and I don't expect him to answer

 

This is very exciting. As Emile said straight from the horse’s mouth (@LampiNA)! a few minutes ago. Things seem to be evolving quickly

Post in thread 'Lampizator announcement: launch of our all new TOTL HORIZON DAC'

Announcement:

We are very pleased to announce that the Horizon DAC will be 100% compatible with the new Taiko Audio XDMI protocol. We will support, without compromise, the full format and all sample rates. Details will be announced soon, including on retrofitting Horizons DACs in the field.

These are extremely exciting times and we have no doubts that this collaboration will be without peers in the industry.

 

Hi Kris

the answer is in the listening of Olympus vs SGM Extreme. Also quantification is relative to 1) the improvement made and 2) the perceptible difference with ear depending on your system. At TAIKO they have an incredible system and everything is heard, translated.
Also this OLYMPUS streamer server is a pushing the art of recreation of music and it's a very good news.
Prices jump clearly from SGM Extreme.
When you hear what you can do with a fine streamer + TAIKO Switch + TAIKO DC + WEISS PSU 102 and very good power cable ahead (I don't tell about supports but they are mandatory), the answer of music enjoyment is also a result of meticulous set up.
I will order SGM Extreme for this time to upgrade from my PLAYBACK.

KR

Philippe

I was sure you will go This route once we had a chance to discuss in person.
Congratulations . You will be very happy.
Your Playback is ok , but not near the Taiko performance.
Just remember to fix the network at your place.
I purchesed my Taiko extreme more than 3 years ago.
Now I wait for Olympus.

 

I have always wondered what was holding digital back. How can a vinyl disc of a digitally recorded or remastered album sound better than an effective digital master tape copy? Particularly with the amount of stages that the vinyl source signal has to pass through before we get to hear it.

It sounds like Taiko have addressed a significant block in the digital chain. So much so that using this new approach and creating their own DAC blows SOTA DACs away.

My guess is when they and Lampizator etc work out how to build the right interface to use this new development in external DACs, some established DACs are going to be seriously supercharged when used with a Taiko server.

What I would like to know is when this technology will become more ubiquitous?

Surely we are on the threshold of abandoning USB for audio. very exciting times.

 

“It sounds like Taiko have addressed a significant block in the digital chain. So much so that using this new approach and creating their own DAC blows SOTA DACs away.”

we don’t know that yet, but some, or perhaps even most, have hopes

 

What I would like to know is when this technology will become more ubiquitous?

That’s a good question. I suppose the full implementation as it exists now would be 1) too expensive and 2) too complex for mass deployment. The complexity more or less limits it’s application to our servers while the cost will make it a no go for anything reasonably affordable.

There could be a next phase where we can attempt to design a more affordable version, which could be more widely deployed, with more universal drivers, which could then be utilised by other server/source manufacturers, as this might be a necessity for wider acceptance as right now it’s practically vendor locked on the server/source side.

I’m very curious on where this new road will take us and beyond exited a few manufacturers are willing to adopt our solution, most DAC manufacturers actually are very aware of the existing interface limitations but there’s (was) just no alternative.

 

"There could be a next phase where we can attempt to design a more affordable version, which could be more widely deployed, with more universal drivers, which could then be utilised by other server/source manufacturers, as this might be a necessity for wider acceptance as right now it’s practically vendor locked on the server/source side."

I very much hope so!. Or a stand alone Taiko DAC that plugs in to the server using an installable card.