Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

Audiophile switch comparisons:

I have spend several days comparing audiophile switches with the following components:

-Telegartner M12 Gold switch, provided to me by @Marcin_gps of Jplay
-2x Sotm snh-10G, with clockboard, rifa cap and silver wire upgrade (the maxed out versions), provided to me by @romaz
-Uptone Ether Regen, purchased from the Uptone website
-Netgear GS-108
-Startech ET91000SFP2 Fibre Media Converters (FMC)
-Startech SFP1000ZXST Small Form-factor Pluggable transceivers (SFP)

..............................................................................................................

So there it is, my personal view and experiences with network tuning. Having explored these options, I do feel it to be my duty to repeat, the sheer magnitude of what can be gained here, IMHO, is still below what powercords, usb cables or proper vibration control can do for your sound when using the Extreme. Yet there are some rather obvious differences, the network should be viewed as a part of your system, it is connected to it, and it will have an effect.

good afternoon from corona-virus (almost) free Greece.. as an IT expert and also an audiophile, I always waver between numbers and digits in my one side and feelings and speech in my other side.. the truth is that there is a big difference between analogue and digital, with the top 'actuality' been that digital can undoubtedly and uncompromisingly been transferred 'as is' , unchangeable, lossless, identical, till the end of our Ethernet cable, that is commonly our streamer..

and this is because data is transmitted by the TCP-Ethernet protocol digitally via data-packages.. If such a data-package is corrupt, missing or received in the wrong order, it is resent or just arranged in the right order.. every single packet is received by the buffer in the streaming device bit-perfect, identical with 'mother' where it comes from.. only the final step transfer to the dac is denatured into music, thus can have jitter.. so, always wondering how can a perfect copy can possible been improved!!

does a photo,an xls or a word file from a friend in a different continent arrived to any one of us corrupted or modified?? or some money transfer to buy a record has ever been transferred wrongly to the seller, or at last, does ever happened someone to get his salary with less or more money?? NO.. that is because digital transfers are verified, and that happens globally, especially if we talk about our home..

best regards, happy to discuss it further!!
 

Emile, I learned a HUGE amount about digital audio in studying the design choices you and the team made with the case work and component choices, but I’m sure I’m barely catching 10% of the thought that went into things (I don’t think I’ve put this much attention reflecting on the physical design of a computer since my NeXT Cube WAY back in the day)

Honestly, I’m still shaking my head that the CPU cooling fin is machined out of a solid block of copper(!)
 
Emile, I learned a HUGE amount about digital audio in studying the design choices you and the team made with the case work and component choices, but I’m sure I’m barely catching 10% of the thought that went into things (I don’t think I’ve put this much attention reflecting on the physical design of a computer since my NeXT Cube WAY back in the day)

Honestly, I’m still shaking my head that the CPU cooling fin is machined out of a solid block of copper(!)
Part 1 and 2 are a fascinating read. Looking forward to the rest. Why paint the cooling fins? One side could have been left bare aluminum and the other side bare copper ....
 
Emile, I learned a HUGE amount about digital audio in studying the design choices you and the team made with the case work and component choices, but I’m sure I’m barely catching 10% of the thought that went into things (I don’t think I’ve put this much attention reflecting on the physical design of a computer since my NeXT Cube WAY back in the day)

Honestly, I’m still shaking my head that the CPU cooling fin is machined out of a solid block of copper(!)

thank you so much for writing this detailed review. i am very much looking forward to reading part 3. for my own sanity, its best i avoid parts 4 and 5 haha
 
Honestly, I’m still shaking my head that the CPU cooling fin is machined out of a solid block of copper(!)

Copper transports heat about twice as good as Aluminium. Fun fact, Silver is about twice as efficient as copper again, but 60 pounds of silver (its heavier then copper) would take it a bit too far I guess.
 
Copper transports heat about twice as good as Aluminium. Fun fact, Silver is about twice as efficient as copper again, but 60 pounds of silver (its heavier then copper) would take it a bit too far I guess.
Emile, you'd have to call that version the Extremely Extreme.
 

not only is this a great read but i absolutely LOVE that you use Ustad Nusrat as part of your demo. a voice like no other. a friend of mine - his family and Nusrat's had the same spiritual guru who was later buried on their property with a shrine and all. Nusrat and his family came to worship at the shrine and then played a private show for my friend and his family in their living room before dinner. i can only imagine what a special experience that must have been
 
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a voice like no other

In this part, I was listening to Shamus-Ud-Doha Cader-Ud-Doja on a completely unoptimized system, and it was already by far the most real and most transcendent performance of that song I had ever heard.

I hope Chris won't mind the spoiler on a different site, but I later revisited this performance as part of my extended listening tests, after having gone through a bunch of work to optimize networks, USB, power, layer in HQplayer, etc. Below are my notes:

Revisiting the gift that is Shamus-Ud-Doha Cader-Ud-Doja (and the remarkable Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan), the master has me in literal tears from his opening call. With all that is going on in the world, I can’t separate how much of this overwhelming emotional reaction is because of what I’m hearing vs how much I am in need of hearing it, but I am enormously grateful for this salve for the soul.

It is moments of emotional truths and perfect beauty like these that make me so enormously grateful not just for the artistry, but that we have the means to make that aristry so manifest and tangibly real in our own homes. Such a gift.
 
In this part, I was listening to Shamus-Ud-Doha Cader-Ud-Doja on a completely unoptimized system, and it was already by far the most real and most transcendent performance of that song I had ever heard.

Every song in that album Shahen-shah is magical. And I don't even have an Extreme yet!
 

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