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".

 

Shorter is always better.

Got that, but I am contemplating making my NAS more remote, and it would cool if I could still use the DCD to power it. Just wondering how long would be considered too long - - "edge of failure" analysis, call it.

 

For someone looking for the very best in NAS for Olympus there is industrial QNAP.
It's by far best from all NASes I tested about 4 years ago.
Fanless, industrial memory ( far better than normal) few RJ45 connections, great looking as well.
It was quite expensive that time but it was introduced in 2014 so could be purchesed much cheaper those days.

 

Got that, but I am contemplating making my NAS more remote, and it would cool if I could still use the DCD to power it. Just wondering how long would be considered too long - - "edge of failure" analysis, call it.

I have never had a DC cable longer than 1M but that doesn't mean it can't be longer. I would think that 3M would be at the edge of "ok" but there is only 1 way to find out...

 

if you add some caps and bypasses length can be compensated for to some extent, but generally shorter IS better....but on a NAS?

 

Voltage Drop Calculator

Wire / cable voltage drop calculator and how to calculate.

www.rapidtables.com

Steve Z

 

Voltage Drop Calculator

Wire / cable voltage drop calculator and how to calculate.

www.rapidtables.com

View attachment 129421

Steve Z

Well, there you go - - thanks, Steve! Looks like a 20 foot run of 15 AWG Mundorf for a DC cable will only lose 0.25 Volts. Might be OK.

 

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!

+1
I would have to say I feel the same way about XDMS. I think almost everybody would agree that XDMI sounds a bit better than Roon, but I haven't used it in months as its just unusable for the way I listen to music. (I keep a playlist in XDMS for when audio nerds come to visit and ask for XDMS although few do.) That the Olympus (with native XDMI out) to a Horizon (with XDMI in) will only be able to use Roon in the foreseeable future is not a handicap at all and is in fact far preferred, at least for me. Let's be honest, XDMS is not a finished project although I have appreciated the effort. However getting it first to work more functionally (would a simple intra-song scrollbar be too much to ask?) is a yeoman project (it's already been ~2 years including its predecessor) so anticipating that it will be functionally useful for the XDMI interface is probably a very long way away. Face it, Roon is going to be everyone's best friend for quite a while if you're going the XDMI route.

 

+1
I would have to say I feel the same way about XDMS. I think almost everybody would agree that XDMI sounds a bit better than Roon, but I haven't used it in months as its just unusable for the way I listen to music. (I keep a playlist in XDMS for when audio nerds come to visit and ask for XDMS although few do.) That the Olympus (with native XDMI out) to a Horizon (with XDMI in) will only be able to use Roon in the foreseeable future is not a handicap at all and is in fact far preferred, at least for me. Let's be honest, XDMS is not a finished project although I have appreciated the effort. However getting it first to work more functionally (would a simple intra-song scrollbar be too much to ask?) is a yeoman project (it's already been ~2 years including its predecessor) so anticipating that it will be functionally useful for the XDMI interface is probably a very long way away. Face it, Roon is going to be everyone's best friend for quite a while if you're going the XDMI route.

Yeah, significantly better SQ than we currently enjoy (300%! ) and Roon as the interface sounds like "end game" to me. Every time I use the Roon interface I am so much happier, but XDMS does rule on SQ, so......

 

Old habits die hard

Roon sounds great but being deeper involved than most others in the beta testing of XDMS I have little doubt that the SQ of XDMS NSM on the Olympus will eclipse Roon

(would a simple intra-song scrollbar be too much to ask

scrubbing is on the to do list and my understanding that is it might affect SQ in a somewhat negative way unless done correctly . It's a shame that people lack patience and understanding of such monumental task and assert their demands with complaints. I find comments such as this some what less than kind and uncharitable. Let's never forget that this was a project started 2 years ago with one goal in mind....to produce the very best SQ. As the alpha testers (now beta) have found, slow steps along the way have directed the course of development. The number of coders for all aspects of XDMS has grown ginormously and the time and effort put in by Emile's team is something to behold...so for me to read a comment such as this, IMO serves no purpose whatsoever and to me is nothing more than a "downer"

 

I seriously doubt XDMS With all that is happening is going to take a huge priority with Taiko. They have a very big undertaking before them and prioritizes XDMS with take a very distant place in the cue...

 

I seriously doubt XDMS With all that is happening is going to take a huge priority with Taiko. They have a very big undertaking before them and prioritizes XDMS with take a very distant place in the cue...

All good things comes to he who waits ………

I have no problem using Roon and preferring it but I do take exception to comments that are so demanding coming from those who want everything now and when it doesn’t find ways to crap on it and the team. Emile right now is indeed assembling and getting ready to ship an enormous order of Olympus and IO so yes XDMS will be released when it is fully functional. Sadly IMO those who chose not to contribute seem always to be the ones who are the most demanding. Stick to Roon and enjoy. It’s great but let’s not crap on a project that involves so many men, man hours and money spent in the R and D of XDMS Those of us who have taken the time to contribute know full well scrubbing is on the to do list but other things need to be completed before that can be addressed. In the meanwhile I love the sound from XDMS and appreciate greatly what Emile , Ed and his team have done to bring this project to fruition. BUT for others YMMV

 

Goodmorning

Let’s not forget that the XDMS development project is not just about the playback software itself. Most of the efforts went into learning how software affects sound quality. IOW you have to code it to understand it. That we do now get superior performance from Roon / Olympus / XDMI is in many ways because of lessons learned from the XDMS development project. And I’m quite sure future XDMS development will allow us to implement further improvements, which will be beneficial to Roon’s performance on our servers.

 

I seriously doubt XDMS With all that is happening is going to take a huge priority with Taiko. They have a very big undertaking before them and prioritizes XDMS with take a very distant place in the cue...

Let’s not forget as well that the arduous and diligent work by Ed and his team with the input of the alpha testers also recently got Taiko licensed for Qobuz and Tidal. To my eyes as I watch the growth and development of all things Taiko tells me that this is a rock solid company whose only mission is to provide the very best SQ. That should make all Roon users very happy.

 

+1
I would have to say I feel the same way about XDMS. I think almost everybody would agree that XDMI sounds a bit better than Roon, but I haven't used it in months as its just unusable for the way I listen to music. (I keep a playlist in XDMS for when audio nerds come to visit and ask for XDMS although few do.) That the Olympus (with native XDMI out) to a Horizon (with XDMI in) will only be able to use Roon in the foreseeable future is not a handicap at all and is in fact far preferred, at least for me. Let's be honest, XDMS is not a finished project although I have appreciated the effort. However getting it first to work more functionally (would a simple intra-song scrollbar be too much to ask?) is a yeoman project (it's already been ~2 years including its predecessor) so anticipating that it will be functionally useful for the XDMI interface is probably a very long way away. Face it, Roon is going to be everyone's best friend for quite a while if you're going the XDMI route.

you say potato, i say.............

i feel the same way, but about roon, which i personally find unusable (i prefer folder browsing). i am quite happy with XDMS and only gapless is a critical missing feature for me (and that is coming soon to alpha-land). if xdmi only works with roon, i'm happy to sit out the initial rollout. the sound quality of XDMS with local WAV files is stunning.

YMMV

 

you say potato, i say.............

i feel the same way, but about roon, which i personally find unusable (i prefer folder browsing). i am quite happy with XDMS and only gapless is a critical missing feature for me (and that is coming soon to alpha-land). if xdmi only works with roon, i'm happy to sit out the initial rollout. the sound quality of XDMS with local WAV files is stunning.

YMMV

You do know that Roon now supports (gasp!) folders. . .

Steve Z

 

Been on XDMS train for well over 2 years. I want to say 3. Have been paying for Roon but have not been enticed enough to retry. SQ too good. XDMS has served my needs from the beginning, sounds like maybe I have simple needs. I will return to Roon if necessary w the Olympus, but will revert back as soon as XDMS offered. It has been a huge undertaking obviously and glad to hear it has informed and infiltrated Taiko developments through their ecosystem.

 

you say potato, i say.............

i feel the same way, but about roon, which i personally find unusable (i prefer folder browsing). i am quite happy with XDMS and only gapless is a critical missing feature for me (and that is coming soon to alpha-land). if xdmi only works with roon, i'm happy to sit out the initial rollout. the sound quality of XDMS with local WAV files is stunning.

YMMV

One other thing cat6man that it was.you and so many alpha testers that helped the Taiko coders find the errors and help guide everyone to the point now we are no longer alpha but beta testers

like you XDMS is my preference but I have no issues with members preferring Roon but when out of the air someone utters surely by now they can at least give us a progress bar and yet has never once given input in the Discord test channel let alone have some basic understanding of the complexity of the project which in the end will also benefit the SQ of Roon IMHO is way out of line Just my $0.02

 

You do know that Roon now supports (gasp!) folders. . .

Steve Z

True but also bear in mind that cat6man proved to us all that .wav files takes things to an even higher level with XDMS.

 

You do know that Roon now supports (gasp!) folders. . .

Steve Z

Steve Z

 

You do know that Roon now supports (gasp!) folders. . .

Steve Z

Well, will wonders never cease? The Roon goons had scolded us all for years about how folder view was a silly thing, too limiting to even bother with. That lacking was my biggest functional complaint about their UI. That's really good news!