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".

 

Thanks Emile! You answered most of my questions even cryptically. Haha.

Copied from the Extreme server thread for relevant content:



Yes and no. I can now elaborate on this topic in more detail as we spend more time running extensive tests on this yesterday.

1) The Olympus bolsters a larger degree of immunity towards network noise / disturbances then the Extreme. Do note that the network card in the Olympus is not the exact same network card as used in the Extreme, it has been adjusted to perform better running off battery power. To get ahead on a follow up question I can foresee coming up next: No this is not an upgrade for the Extreme, the Extremes total system design architecture simply differs.

2) What this accomplishes is that the DCD/Switch/Router no longer significantly impacts local file playback quality. Sound quality of local file playback is more or less the same whether we run RJ45 directly to the wall outlet connecting to the building main switch.

3) In this scenario, without DCD/Switch/Router, local file playback is significantly better then streaming from Tidal/Qobuz, and/or playback from a NAS.

4) When you add the DCD/Switch/Router, the story changes, this elevates streaming from Qobuz to the same level as local file playback, assuming the same file format, to this end we have purchased and downloaded several albums from Qobuz in a .flac format, in the same resolution as offered by the Qobuz streaming services to ensure as much as we can we're using the same files. Copying these files to a NAS connected to the Router provides more or less identical results. A small exception is streaming from Tidal, for reasons unknown that sounds a bit better then everything else here, that goes for both our 1Gb internet fiber service in Oldenzaal, as for the 100Mbit internet fiber subscription at @audioquattr . We're aware many prefer the sound of Qobuz, perhaps this varies on a global location scale ( @audioquattr lives about 50km away from here), but admittedly we simply don't know why.

5) Inevitably you may ask what happens if you remove the local storage from the Olympus. Undeniably this does make a small difference, if you are hunting for the last ~2% of ultimate performance, removing local storage and using Tidal/Qobuz/NAS with DCD/Router/Switch as your file source, does ultimately produce the absolute best Sound Quality here.

As a footnote, I would like to add we're not talking changes at the level of changing interconnects/power cords or even components here, with the only exception being streaming without DCD/Router/Switch, that has a very considerable impact. Hence my answer to the specific question: "Is Taiko Router, Switch, and DCD a must?" would be, only if you want your Tidal/Qobuz streaming to be on par with local file playback, similarly, if you have a very large library, and want to use a NAS with virtually unlimited storage expansion capabilities, at a much lower cost then internal storage, then in our opinion, the DCD/Switch/Router would be a "must" as well.

Not sure if this has been answered already: If trading from an Extreme to an Olympus plus 'Extreme Switch + Router + NIC + DC Distributor (Bundle)' is the NIC in that bundle still needed or is it the same NIC which is fitted by default to the Olympus?

 

Reposting in the Taiko thread. Sorry for the double post!

View attachment 129352

I suspect Preamp will be Pilium as well.

 

I suspect Preamp will be Pilium as well.

Yes, Pilium three chassis Olympus Pre and Zeus stereo amplification.

 

Thanks Emile, more fascinating insights..!

I assume the size of the internal storage on the Olympus wouldn't matter wrt sound quality, its just the fact of it being there or not, in the form of a single drive of the type you identified / recommended?

Correct.

 

Emile, has your testing included assessing how sound quality is affected by where the NAS is in the system and how it is powered? That is, is it optimal for the NAS to be connected to the Taiko router (as opposed to just being on the home network) and is sound quality improved by powering the NAS via the DCD?

No, however I strongly suspect this will have an effect, as adding a second DCD to your home / ISP router produces a similar effect. But we will need to allocate time to actually verify this. Of course a somewhat inconvenient side effect of placing the NAS further up stream is having to configure port forwarding etc.

 

No, however I strongly suspect this will have an effect, as adding a second DCD to your home / ISP router produces a similar effect. But we will need to allocate time to actually verify this. Of course a somewhat inconvenient side effect of placing the NAS further up stream is having to configure port forwarding etc.

It is temping to add DCDs to any device in the data stream to the Extreme/Olympus.

Roon is able to see my music NAS which is on the Taiko router network. It is a little more challenging to get my home network computers to see this NAS. Right now I am using a either Synology quickconnect and VNC for file transfer.

 

Thanks Emile for the updates. We may need to look into fanless NAS to place in our listerning room then. Like this one.

HS-453DX | Silent but Powerful: Fanless Multimedia NAS with Hybrid Storage Structure, 10GbE connectivity, and HDMI™ 2.0 4K output

The 2018 Computex d&i Design Award-winning HS-453DX features a stylish minimalist appearance while providing maximum multimedia performance. Powered by an Intel® Celeron® J4115 quad-core processor with HDMI™ 2.0 (4K @60Hz) output, the HS-453DX allows you to directly enjoy high-quality videos on...

www.qnap.com

Well let's see if we can find more graceful solutions. Consider this update as how things stand today. I'm just trying to be completely open and forthright. We may be able to normalise the playing field entirely as the gaps that would ideally not exist are fairly small.

Of course one could argue things are more like you would expect them to be now, perhaps even normalised (assuming normal is terminology applicable to our hobby) . Priory things were more mysterious, for example adding a switch/router improving local drive playback fidelity. But now local drives are better then networked drives, unless you connect those using devices specifically designed to improve their performance, which then equalises the playing field. IMHO that means everything is now doing what it should be doing.

 

Not sure if this has been answered already: If trading from an Extreme to an Olympus plus 'Extreme Switch + Router + NIC + DC Distributor (Bundle)' is the NIC in that bundle still needed or is it the same NIC which is fitted by default to the Olympus?

No the NIC is not needed and is included with the Olympus (for absolute clarity, the NIC supplied with the Olympus is not the same NIC as supplied with the Extreme or in the bundle, the bundle is just for upgrading Extremes which are purchased prior to the NIC/Switch release. Everything produced after includes "the" NIC).

 

It is temping to add DCDs to any device in the data stream to the Extreme/Olympus.

Roon is able to see my music NAS which is on the Taiko router network. It is a little more challenging to get my home network computers to see this NAS. Right now I am using a either Synology quickconnect and VNC for file transfer.

Yes having 2 subnets is less ideal from an ease of use perspective. It would've been best optimal sound quality could have been achieved without that separate router, but alas. For me personally however completely worth it, I'm over the moon being able to just use Tidal/Qobuz without sonic penalties.

 

For sure worth it to be able to use Tidal/Qobuz without sonic degradation. I'm sure all of this will be sorted out and the best application will eventually surface. However, for those of us with limited network comprehension/ understanding, ME!! When I hear port forwarding, subnets, upstream/downstream NAS placement, along with a few other terms, I want someone to shoot me in the neck with a tranquilizer dart! Again, no doubt this will all come together and many of you are so very helpful in sharing your knowledge...

 

No, however I strongly suspect this will have an effect, as adding a second DCD to your home / ISP router produces a similar effect. But we will need to allocate time to actually verify this. Of course a somewhat inconvenient side effect of placing the NAS further up stream is having to configure port forwarding etc.

From my humble experiences I also would expect this to be proven correct - I've found literally everything in the chain to benefit from increased power quality, and DCD is the best DC filtering I've experienced.

 

Thanks Emile for the updates. We may need to look into fanless NAS to place in our listerning room then. Like this one.

HS-453DX | Silent but Powerful: Fanless Multimedia NAS with Hybrid Storage Structure, 10GbE connectivity, and HDMI™ 2.0 4K output

The 2018 Computex d&i Design Award-winning HS-453DX features a stylish minimalist appearance while providing maximum multimedia performance. Powered by an Intel® Celeron® J4115 quad-core processor with HDMI™ 2.0 (4K @60Hz) output, the HS-453DX allows you to directly enjoy high-quality videos on...

www.qnap.com

I'm not sure I understand why it would necessary or desirable to have the NAS in the listening room. If it is going to be connected via the Taiko router, the ethernet cable doing so can be 1 meter or 10 meters or 50 meters. No need to have an acoustically noisy NAS in the listening room. And having the NAS in another room will usually also make sure it is on a different electrical circuit for power.

Am I missing something?

Steve Z

 

I'm not sure I understand why it would necessary or desirable to have the NAS in the listening room. If it is going to be connected via the Taiko router, the ethernet cable doing so can be 1 meter or 10 meters or 50 meters. No need to have an acoustically noisy NAS in the listening room. And having the NAS in another room will usually also make sure it is on a different electrical circuit for power.

Am I missing something?

Steve Z

No you’re not missing anything

 

1) Haven’t tested but most likely reduced or even non existent

2) Cable length will not matter

I'm moving the discussion to the dedicated thread

@Taiko Audio

Thanks for your reply!
That's what I thought.


So, to summarise, in the context of Olympus + Olympus XDMI :

Internal memory or NAS , it's pretty much the same thing in terms of performance.



Regarding question 2)

I wasn't very clear about the location of the NAS.

I only mentioned the 15 metre cable.

In fact, the NAS would be placed in my network cabinet, which is in a small storeroom.

So in the middle of my network mess, i.e. another NAS, a music server, my main switch, a router, a backup NAS, USB drives, etc...

In a nutshell, a mess that isn't very audio friendly...

I don't want to place a NAS next to the HiFi. Apart from being noisy, it would be really ugly (not wife compatible)


Wouldn't that have a negative effect?


Cheers,

Thomas

 

I'm not sure I understand why it would necessary or desirable to have the NAS in the listening room. If it is going to be connected via the Taiko router, the ethernet cable doing so can be 1 meter or 10 meters or 50 meters. No need to have an acoustically noisy NAS in the listening room. And having the NAS in another room will usually also make sure it is on a different electrical circuit for power.

Am I missing something?

Steve Z

The only issue with having it 10+ meters away is that you cant power it from the DCD at that distance unless you have 2 DCDs.

 

The only issue with having it 10+ meters away is that you cant power it from the DCD at that distance unless you have 2 DCDs.

Baby steps, David. Right now all of my NAS are internally 120VAC powered. Maybe at a future date I'll explore replacing the internal AC to DC power supply in one of them with a DC jack but that won't be for some time. Much easier to use a really good Shunyata Research power cord (already have) while waiting for that day to happen.

Or, not do it at all. I am still going to compare a NAS in the other room/on another circuit plugged into the Taiko router to a local, fanless high capacity USB drive plugged into the USB port on the Taiko router and powered from an unused port on the DCD. Whichever one sounds better to me will determine what I'll be spending money on.

Steve

 

Baby steps, David. Right now all of my NAS are internally 120VAC powered. Maybe at a future date I'll explore replacing the internal AC to DC power supply in one of them with a DC jack but that won't be for some time. Much easier to use a really good Shunyata Research power cord (already have) while waiting for that day to happen.

Or, not do it at all. I am still going to compare a NAS in the other room/on another circuit plugged into the Taiko router to a local, fanless high capacity USB drive plugged into the USB port on the Taiko router and powered from an unused port on the DCD. Whichever one sounds better to me will determine what I'll be spending money on.

Steve

These will all be good tests.

I purchased a 2 bay Synology NAS which pulls just over 1A. I currently have it in my music room powered via the DCD and connected to the Taiko router. Even without any music playing I cannot hear either the drives or the fan (if it is even running; I have it configured to quiet mode). If I find that I never hear it I will leave it here. If not, I can always move it.

 

When your Olympus arrives, use the Extreme as a file server/NAS connected to the router. Compare to the other methods.

 

So, how long of a DC cable run is advisable from the DCD to a NAS?

 

So, how long of a DC cable run is advisable from the DCD to a NAS?

Shorter is always better.