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".

 

Dear Emile
You mentioned
"Now due to the enormous amount of power consumption it would deplete a battery supply very quickly, within minutes, so I configured a BPS to charge continuously, the BPS doesn't blink at those transients, so we could boot and have a listen"

Will the Battery only operate during playback? Or both ?
I understand this could be done with software to connect and disconnect LPS from the battery.

Are other 2 isolated BPSes still powering your pci express cards in case of Olympus with Olympus IO?

Both battery supplies are always operational.

Yes one battery supply powers the interface cards for the I/O.

 

Does this mean it can be disconnected from wall after booting and in operation mode ?
Or it still needs the powecord for ground or AC power ?

It can operate without external power for 15 or so minutes but it will sound worse then.

 

Also, does this new Olympus Server have its own clock which then feeds into the DAC? The Zanden DAC takes it clock feed from the Zanden transport as part of the i2s connection.

Yes it has its own clock but it can also accept an external clock (necessary for MSB Pro ISL for example). For custom I2s applications we can probably design something which can both accept external clock as provide its own clock.

 

It can operate without external power for 15 or so minutes but it will sound worse then.

Hello Emile, how much power does the battery charger draw when in use/listening?

Thanks

 

Hi Steve,

When I drew this diagram, which was then added to the documentation, Emile hadn't mentioned the problem of slot 4 having to remain free for ventilation.

This diagram remains correct if, and only if, we don't plan to use the XDMI/DAC or opt for an Olympus Server configuration with no storage space.

But as it is the diagram may lead to some confusion...

Hi Tom,

There is a lot going on and a lot of moving parts to the Olympus. In an earlier post Emile answers a question (actually, posed by you!) about using USB and the slot 4 heating "problem".

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/introducing-olympus-olympus-i-o-a-new-perspective-on-modern-music-playback.37939/post-961572

Steve

Hi Thomas. I think you're correct but I seem to remember Emile with his schematics making his case and showing what XDMI does and asked everyone why ever use USB when you have XDMI. My plan is to only use XDMI native

Well noted! I've been absent from WBF for a while to focus on Support via other channels but I'm in the process of updating the Olympus documentation as we speak.

 

Hello Emile, how much power does the battery charger draw when in use/listening?

Thanks

About 60 watts during normal use, in a user configurable 6 hour window this increases to 90 watts. If you leave it unpowered for a longer period of time it will use 120 watts to recharge for 4-6 hours.

 

About 60 watts during normal use, in a user configurable 6 hour window this increases to 90 watts. If you leave it unpowered for a longer period of time it will use 120 watts to recharge for 4-6 hours.

Do you experience the SQ impacts from being unpowered like in the Extreme? The common wisdom is that an Extreme takes a full week to get fully back on song after being powered down. What is the case for the Olympus (a for the I/O)?

 

Yes it has its own clock but it can also accept an external clock (necessary for MSB Pro ISL for example). For custom I2s applications we can probably design something which can both accept external clock as provide its own clock.

Hi Emile, if I use Olympus XDMI AES output to my Vivald upsampler, DAC and clock, will my clock still work and lock to my upsampler and DAC without locking to Olympus? With extreme USB output, it’s working. However, I am not sure if it will work with XDMI AES.

Thanks.

 

It can operate without external power for 15 or so minutes but it will sound worse then.

Which means it will need to be charged all the time while listening?

 

Hi Emile, if I use Olympus XDMI AES output to my Vivald upsampler, DAC and clock, will my clock still work and lock to my upsampler and DAC without locking to Olympus? With extreme USB output, it’s working. However, I am not sure if it will work with XDMI AES.

Thanks.

Jeff,

I'm obviously not Emile and I don't have an Olympus (yet) but I have a dCS Vivaldi DAC and Clock and used to have an Upsampler. If you have the dCS Clock connected and you've selected the dCS clock as the clock source in the settings for Upsampler and DAC, that is where it will stay. The equipment will not "auto-sense" or otherwise use some other clock signal from a source, even if that other clock signal is present.

Hope this helps,

Steve Z

 

About 60 watts during normal use, in a user configurable 6 hour window this increases to 90 watts. If you leave it unpowered for a longer period of time it will use 120 watts to recharge for 4-6 hours.

If one goes on a vacation for a couple of weeks and would shut-down the system completely: Would that „hurt“ the battery longevity? Would it be recommended to recharge the batteries fully before unplugging or are do they not care if charged or fully depleted?

 

Both battery supplies are always operational.

Yes one battery supply powers the interface cards for the I/O.

Thank you
What is the second battery powering than ?
( if used Olympus + Olympus IO)
Internal storage?
Or
Each battery powering one pci exp card ?

I understand there are no changes in IO having 2 additional batteries supplying network + pci card
And
Xdmi + DAC + pci card

 

Do you experience the SQ impacts from being unpowered like in the Extreme? The common wisdom is that an Extreme takes a full week to get fully back on song after being powered down. What is the case for the Olympus (a for the I/O)?

No

The I/O takes around 6 hours to fully charge, outside that window it uses 5 watts or so.

 

Hi Emile, if I use Olympus XDMI AES output to my Vivald upsampler, DAC and clock, will my clock still work and lock to my upsampler and DAC without locking to Olympus? With extreme USB output, it’s working. However, I am not sure if it will work with XDMI AES.

Thanks.

Yes.

 

Which means it will need to be charged all the time while listening?

Yes. Aka you don’t unplug the powercord.

 

If one goes on a vacation for a couple of weeks and would shut-down the system completely: Would that „hurt“ the battery longevity? Would it be recommended to recharge the batteries fully before unplugging or are do they not care if charged or fully depleted?

No. But they’ll be fully depleted when you return. UNLESS you use the remote app to put them in “shipping mode”, which disables both the in and output, then the batteries will keep their charge indefinitely. I guess we could add a “Vacation mode” menu option but that will then do exactly the same as “shipping mode”.

If you just let it run unpowered / deplete the batteries, you will need to let it recharge for a couple of hours before you can use it again. 1-2 hours before you can boot, about 6 hours for full SQ.

 

Thank you
What is the second battery powering than ?
( if used Olympus + Olympus IO)
Internal storage?
Or
Each battery powering one pci exp card ?

I understand there are no changes in IO having 2 additional batteries supplying network + pci card
And
Xdmi + DAC + pci card

1 battery powers the whole system, 1 battery powers the interface cards. No changes to the I/O.

 

No

The I/O takes around 6 hours to fully charge, outside that window it uses 5 watts or so.

Super sweet! That has been a constraining aspect with the Extreme. Glad it will be essentially gone.

 

Super sweet! That has been a constraining aspect with the Extreme. Glad it will be essentially gone.

Also no long burn in period, 3-5 days and you’re 95% there.

 

Hi Emile, you mentioned that the powercord still matters with the Olympus.

Would the quality of the power coming in from the AC also matter since it’s really only feeding the battery charger?