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".

 

Will Olympus roll out with Roon and NSM?

Roon is still the default playback application. XDMS NSM is optional.

 

Hey Emile, may be you should give Thomas Mayer a buzz and see where he does his anodising ?
View attachment 122053

Good luck with that! I tried to order from Thomas Mayer twice and he was very rude and arrogant!

 

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 use Pranawire Mahasamadhi Lightspeed Bocchino to power TAIKO DC + TAIKO Switch then the streamer. I think I fix also with direct RJ cable. Also I will improve but TAIKO router this year. Also I will get a unique hand made to order flagship USB cable for me and for my customers that have TAIKO or WADAX streamer / server. I will tell more about it in my next blog.
The you came, you listened with Audionet amp, with APURNA™ the sound difference is more than a 10 K streamer and a 35 K. And ALSYVOX filters are been upgraded and sound much better.
Now I wait for Olympus : perfect !

 

I use Pranawire Mahasamadhi Lightspeed Bocchino to power TAIKO DC + TAIKO Switch then the streamer. I think I fix also with direct RJ cable. Also I will improve but TAIKO router this year. Also I will get a unique hand made to order flagship USB cable for me and for my customers that have TAIKO or WADAX streamer / server. I will tell more about it in my next blog.
The you came, you listened with Audionet amp, with APURNA™ the sound difference is more than a 10 K streamer and a 35 K. And ALSYVOX filters are been upgraded and sound much better.
Now I wait for Olympus : perfect !

It sounds I will need to visit you again in France. It will be a true pleasure.
If I only find time....

I mentioned it before I believe
At this time I have zero need to upgrade Extreme to Olympus as the sound of Extreme is out If this galaxy now, but I do it any way based on the previous experience with Taiko Team and the promise to gain about 275% in SQ with Olympus.
It is hard to imgaine that stratospheric gain as the Taiko router adds about 15 % , switch 10 % If I remember correctly.
This will be probably a new Era in Audio.

 

XDMI direct to Lampizator Poseidon making beautiful music in our listening room right now!

 

Native XDMI to Horizon plus true gapless today all before noon is just a wonderful day.

We all suspected that Lukasz would conquer native XDMI but to do it in a matter of a few weeks is epic

kudos Lukasz. You are fantastic

 

XDMI direct to Lampizator Poseidon making beautiful music in our listening room right now!

View attachment 124490

Any appreciable sound quality improvement vs XDMI over AES/EBU SPDIF?

 

Any appreciable sound quality improvement vs XDMI over AES/EBU SPDIF?

IMHO, XDMI native to Poseidon with stock tubes sounds significantly better then AES/EBU to Horizon with exclusive tubes.

 

And compared to the Olympus DAC?

 

I thought anything that is either “in” or “out” is battery powered in the Olympus.

 

I was referencing the daughter card on the DAC side (if a daughter card was used on the DAC side). Believe that XDMI interface does not require battery power to function, but battery power plays a critical role of the sound quality.

I understood what you wrote. To me, the DAC card is “out” just like a USB card so I am assuming it is battery powered.

Also, in December Emile wrote “ Yes you can, you can add Olympus I/O with XDMI to the Extreme (as Olympus I/O is battery powered). The Olympus server can have XDMI mounted internally (because it has internal battery supplies). XDMI is designed to run off battery power.”

 

XDMI direct to Lampizator Poseidon making beautiful music in our listening room right now!

View attachment 124490

omg..... That is fantastic news! And a gorgeous pic.
Congrats on this rapid tech XDMI development on the DAC side. Sold. And Emile used an exclamation point!
Amazing team Taiko and Lampizator. Of course, curious to hear the results with the Horizon as well.......i mean just a little

 

Curious about this native XDMI connection with Poseidon: (1) is there a daughter XDMI card used on the DAC side for native XDMI connection? (2) Is the card mounted inside the chassis of the DAC? (3) Is the card battery-powered? (4) Was it achieved without the involvement of Lampizator? Doubt Horizon has the internal space for both a daughter card and a battery unit. If an external I/O is needed for Horizon, I very such hope that there can be just one I/O, combining the 2 XDMI cards and their battery units in one chassis. My questions may stem from erroneous assumptions.

Here is what I know:

1) Yes
2) Not yet. This is a prototype
3) Don’t know
4) No. Lukasz is completely involved. It is written up in the Lampizstor forum

 

IMHO, XDMI native to Poseidon with stock tubes sounds significantly better then AES/EBU to Horizon with exclusive tubes.

Mr. Understatement said "significantly better"...now that's saying something!

 

I understood what you wrote. To me, the DAC card is “out” just like a USB card so I am assuming it is battery powered.

Also, in December Emile wrote “ Yes you can, you can add Olympus I/O with XDMI to the Extreme (as Olympus I/O is battery powered). The Olympus server can have XDMI mounted internally (because it has internal battery supplies). XDMI is designed to run off battery power.”

Just look at the size of one battery Pack
That Emile showed long ago.
And
Look at Poseidon DAC
I believe there is NO way this is going to fit inside Poseidon.
I wish I am wrong but it looks the XDMI recivers card inside DAC will be powered by LPS.

 

I am chiming in since so much interesting developments happened just this week.
We have been monitoring the development of Taiko new protocol because obviously we never wanted to stay behind. Basically my developments followed on weekly basis every hint of where Emile is going with his plan. Finally during my most recent visit to Taiko factory 4 weeks ago we decided the final solution and in about 2 weeks we built in Warsaw the working prototype, that sounded great to my ears and I decided to give the whole project a green light. We took then one new Poseidon off the manufacturing process and rebuilt it with the Taiko connection implemented inside.
The TAIKO link does not require any Taiko hardware inside our DAC - the thought is enough, not the hardware. We made our part of the equation ourselves and the way we like doing things.
Also it doesn't require any battery power - all this is on Taiko Olympus side. we do our part.
We decided to allow this development to be done only for two top DACs - Horizon and Poseidon.
They both will get a retro-fit package allowing us to offer the solution to all existing users of Poseidon and Horizon.
All new orders introduced in our system from February 01 will have it already built in every Horizon (and Poseidons per request)
There will be no price-list increase from our side because the Taiko link is not very difficult when built from scratch and it is VERY difficult to add afterwards. The margin on the DAC allows me to hide the cost of build, especially that we have to sacrifice one existing input and make some savings.
The retro-fit job will cost - in our preliminary calculations - circa 10% of the DAC price.
The Taiko link has one EXTREMELY important feature - the cable. It's role is critical to maintaining low jitter, low losses and low distortions. The absolute magic of the Olympus lies in these factors and we want to show the Olympus sound in all its glory. We contracted one high end cable manufacturer to build for our clients such cable in the highest humanly possible quality and also we will make the second cable in house with very high quality but more "human price". The choice is ultimately yours. We will provide the cable as part of the retrofit price package, the new builds will have the cable as an option and the high end third party cable will be a third party business.
No existing cables will work in this totally new DAC/Server scheme of things.It has to be Taiko/Lampi cable.
The maximum cable length will be 2m. (6 1/2 FT)
I want to thank Taiko team lead by Emile for being so helpful and creative, and also for PUSHING THE BAR of music reproduction to a new unheard levels. I am extremely proud of having even the smallest part of this whole news.
The biggest inequality problem right now is that Emile has a Horizon for himself, and I am still waiting for my Olympus.

 

haha. That is true audio inequality.
Congrats to u Lukasz and your team. Creating the complement on your end could not have been an easy feat. Crazy fast. And, speaking for myself, being able to continue to use the Horizon in its full capabilities is key to pursue the olympus/horizon combo. Thanks again and cannot wait to hear the olympus/horizon heavyweight combo on order

 

The biggest inequality problem right now is that Emile has a Horizon for himself, and I am still waiting for my Olympus.

So if Emile sends me his horizon and your Olympus, you two will be square.

 

That’s amazing quick progress and a great retrofit deal for existing Dac users.

 

I am chiming in since so much interesting developments happened just this week.
We have been monitoring the development of Taiko new protocol because obviously we never wanted to stay behind. Basically my developments followed on weekly basis every hint of where Emile is going with his plan. Finally during my most recent visit to Taiko factory 4 weeks ago we decided the final solution and in about 2 weeks we built in Warsaw the working prototype, that sounded great to my ears and I decided to give the whole project a green light. We took then one new Poseidon off the manufacturing process and rebuilt it with the Taiko connection implemented inside.
The TAIKO link does not require any Taiko hardware inside our DAC - the thought is enough, not the hardware. We made our part of the equation ourselves and the way we like doing things.
Also it doesn't require any battery power - all this is on Taiko Olympus side. we do our part.
We decided to allow this development to be done only for two top DACs - Horizon and Poseidon.
They both will get a retro-fit package allowing us to offer the solution to all existing users of Poseidon and Horizon.
All new orders introduced in our system from February 01 will have it already built in every Horizon (and Poseidons per request)
There will be no price-list increase from our side because the Taiko link is not very difficult when built from scratch and it is VERY difficult to add afterwards. The margin on the DAC allows me to hide the cost of build, especially that we have to sacrifice one existing input and make some savings.
The retro-fit job will cost - in our preliminary calculations - circa 10% of the DAC price.
The Taiko link has one EXTREMELY important feature - the cable. It's role is critical to maintaining low jitter, low losses and low distortions. The absolute magic of the Olympus lies in these factors and we want to show the Olympus sound in all its glory. We contracted one high end cable manufacturer to build for our clients such cable in the highest humanly possible quality and also we will make the second cable in house with very high quality but more "human price". The choice is ultimately yours. We will provide the cable as part of the retrofit price package, the new builds will have the cable as an option and the high end third party cable will be a third party business.
No existing cables will work in this totally new DAC/Server scheme of things.It has to be Taiko/Lampi cable.
The maximum cable length will be 2m. (6 1/2 FT)
I want to thank Taiko team lead by Emile for being so helpful and creative, and also for PUSHING THE BAR of music reproduction to a new unheard levels. I am extremely proud of having even the smallest part of this whole news.
The biggest inequality problem right now is that Emile has a Horizon for himself, and I am still waiting for my Olympus.

This is great news! Amazing speed of development!

When will be the earliest for ordering the retrofit package for Horizon and when for the third party cable?