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".

 

Hmm - so the ‘bare‘ Olympus will have USB and ‘XDMI using AES/EBU’ outputs? But AES/EBU has been referred to as constrained legacy technology - does that fact that it is supplied by XDMI mean that its constraints are supervened? And what would the physical connection be between the Olympus I/O and a Lampi DAC? Or did I miss this detail? It is good that you shared news, but it seems that waiting until a more comprehensive set of documentation and pricing is available may enabled greater clarity and headed off many questions (thereby creating less work here for you too!).

XDMI is much more then just the interface to the DAC, it's a combination of software and hardware, AES/EBU does indeed limit it's ultimate potential but it can still take advantage of everything which happens before.

 

Congratulations Team @Taiko Audio for continuing to innovate and push the boundaries!

It does seem like a ‘new medium’, based on the way you have described it, which is really interesting. I’m very happy with my Extreme/Switch/Network card and I’m sure my upcoming Router and NSM will be even better, so I don’t think I will be climbing Mt Olympus; but it is great to see innovation nevertheless.

ReplyIng to my own post: thinking about it further - I can see the desire to keep BOTH the Extreme and Olympus, since, as Emil, described - the Olympus is in a separate category other than digital or analog. Perhaps that means for certain content, the Extreme will be preferable, at least to some ears in some systems.

 

Also if Extreme has a sonically „better„ CPU than Olympus is it a wise idea to reuse it in Olympus + ?
Or you simply decided to use in Olympus technologies that use specific architecture of a newer CPUs ?

XDMI can absolutely take advantage of more modern / faster hardware, it's up to 2000 times faster then USB depending on which section you're looking at. It makes much more sense to move to an Olympus if you plan on moving to XDMI then if you're sticking to USB. With USB you're about maxed out with an Extreme + Olympus I/O. I would mainly consider an Olympus in that scenario if you prefer to have a single box solution.

 

There is no power connection between the Extreme and Olympus I/O. When adding he Olympus I/O you replace the USB and Network cards in the Extreme with our QFSP interface cards. The USB and network cards move to the Olympus I/O.

I see. So the battery power in the I/O is powering the cards, not the server. Thanks.

 

I see. So the battery power in the I/O is powering the cards, not the server. Thanks.

Yes, 1 battery supply for the network card, 1 battery supply for the output device (USB or XDMI).

 

XDMI is much more then just the interface to the DAC, it's a combination of software and hardware, AES/EBU does indeed limit it's ultimate potential but it can still take advantage of everything which happens before.

Does that limitation still not apply to totaldac's implementation of aes/ebu?

 

XDMI can absolutely take advantage of more modern / faster hardware, it's up to 2000 times faster then USB depending on which section you're looking at. It makes much more sense to move to an Olympus if you plan on moving to XDMI then if you're sticking to USB. With USB you're about maxed out with an Extreme + Olympus I/O. I would mainly consider an Olympus in that scenario if you prefer to have a single box solution.

I may be getting lost here. Is there still an xdmi card (formerly tacdd) option for the extreme or is xdmi only available for Olympus and Olympus io?

 

Does that limitation still not apply to totaldac's implementation of aes/ebu?

Totaldac is designed around AES/EBU, it's all AES/EBU internally and uses AES/EBU to connect the reclocker to the DACs etc. So AES/EBU limitations don't really apply to Totaldac.

 

I may be getting lost here. Is there still an xdmi card (formerly tacdd) option for the extreme or is xdmi only available for Olympus and Olympus io?

Only available for Olympus and Olympus I/O.

 

so how does XDMI connect to my Horizon? Is it via i2s and if so is there a cable recommendation and a defined maximum cable length

 

Here's an attempt at making the Olympus I/O configuration as clear as possible using photos:

On the left side we have a Switch, then a BPS which powers the Olympus "I" module, this is then connected to our new PCIe interface card by means of a QFSP cable, this card is then plugged into the Extreme replacing the internal network card.

On the right side we have an Olympus "O" module containing the XDMI interface with an analogue output module fitted, this connects to another PCIE interface card by means of another QFSP cable, this card is plugged into the Extreme replacing the USB card:



Olympus "I" module, you can see the QFSP DAC cable being substantially "beefier" then the SFP DAC cable:





And the Olympus "O" module with XDMI interface:





The Interface cards:

 

so how does XDMI connect to my Horizon? Is it via i2s and if so is there a cable recommendation and a defined maximum cable length

For now that would be over AES/EBU, I2S will follow later, so that would mean you'd be stuck with a 24/192 maximum sample rate limitation for a while.

 

@Taiko Audio

Hi Emile,

Will Olympus and Olympus I/O be stackable?

Cheers,

Thomas

 

@Taiko Audio

Hi Emile,

Will Olympus and Olympus I/O be stackable?

Cheers,

Thomas

Yes.

 

Only available for Olympus and Olympus I/O.

ok, so that definitely changes my upgrade path options as i had assumed that the xdmi card with daughter boards could start in the current extreme. this may move any possible upgrade for me out to 2025.

boy am i glad that NSM has reached a level that i can happily live with for a long time!

 

Yes!

Gorgeous!!

 

For now that would be over AES/EBU, I2S will follow later, so that would mean you'd be stuck with a 24/192 maximum sample rate limitation for a while.

Would the future connection from XDMI to I2S on Horizon be the most optimal connection method possible or would it be even better if the DAC could have a native XDMI input somehow?

 

Would the future connection from XDMI to I2S on Horizon be the most optimal connection method possible or would it be even better if the DAC could have a native XDMI input somehow?

Future applications we're completely open to working on, so is Lukasz, we've been in touch on that already. We have one full time engineer fully dedicated to designing more output options and/or work on integration into other manufacturer DACs. We've also been in touch with Stavros of Aries Cerat and Jonathan of MSB. These 3 we'll be working on first. We've also been in contact with Vincent of Totaldac and agreed that in this case AES/EBU would be the way to go so we don't need to take further action there. In more general terms Dual AES/EBU and various I2S output options are on the agenda.

 

While at it, a raw unfinished Olympus prototype chassis:

 

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