Hello everybody,
I've just returned from a long drive into Germany to securely get the chassis parts for the next batches of Extreme servers to our workshop in Hengelo. Unfortunately European shipping services have been less reliable then usual lately and we did not want to take any chances for additional delays with so many people eagerly awaiting the arrival of their servers.
Regarding the development of new software.
1) So far the Extreme has been pretty much a Roon only solution. With a growing customer base there has been an increasing desire amongst our customers to be able to use services beyond those provided by Roon. Alternative music sources to Tidal/Qobuz and competing metadata providers and music exploration services. A few examples: Deezer hi-fi, Amazon, Classical, Highresaudio, Last.fm, Spotify, Youtube video, iTunes, Airplay, Chromecast or alternative library browsing services like the above mentioned folder based browsing are often requested but cannot be currently offered in an ecosystem strictly based on Roon.
2) As @nenon and others have pointed out on the previous pages a music server is a complex system with a lot of variables in play. Hardware, software and ancillaries all affect sound quality and must be carefully balanced to achieve a desired result. As an ever evolving project it is simply the next step up the evolutionary ladder to achieve more control and consistency on the software side of things and start pushing existing performance boundaries. This extends beyond just the music player functionality and performance. We are also working towards extracting more performance from the existing hardware by gaining more control over how it is utilised. We have been working on our own DAC drivers for example and proprietary software to reduce or remove processing induced noise in stored or streamed files.
3) As the number of deployed Extreme servers is growing we are working on a service on demand and update system which can be conveniently launched from your Taiko app to improve our customer service efficiency.
So this is not just about replacing Roon but about providing an alternative environment and increased functionality. As pictures tend to be more effective then words I will include an early design stage screenshot of a page of the Taiko app.
Although I feel humbled by all the accolades on the previous pages I would like to point out that this is a team effort rather then just my own.
Edward (EuroDriver) introduced Wilson D'Cruz as our new North America support operative, but Wilson is also responsible for the software development part of the project. We have been lucky to have met Wilson as a somewhat unique software developer with an open mind and appreciation of the delicate relationship between lines of code and sound quality. Furthermore Edward and Christoph have been putting in copious amounts of time and effort. I should also mention and thank forum member @audioquattr for having tirelessly tried and verified, which by now has probably exceeded the 100 mark, of different builds, configurations and settings.
We are now close to start beta testing. Although it may seem that we already did by @Steve Williams posting a few initial impressions, this actually involves a pre beta stage version. We used Steve as a voluntary guinea pig for an independent sonic check to mitigate confirmation bias.
I've just returned from a long drive into Germany to securely get the chassis parts for the next batches of Extreme servers to our workshop in Hengelo. Unfortunately European shipping services have been less reliable then usual lately and we did not want to take any chances for additional delays with so many people eagerly awaiting the arrival of their servers.
Regarding the development of new software.
1) So far the Extreme has been pretty much a Roon only solution. With a growing customer base there has been an increasing desire amongst our customers to be able to use services beyond those provided by Roon. Alternative music sources to Tidal/Qobuz and competing metadata providers and music exploration services. A few examples: Deezer hi-fi, Amazon, Classical, Highresaudio, Last.fm, Spotify, Youtube video, iTunes, Airplay, Chromecast or alternative library browsing services like the above mentioned folder based browsing are often requested but cannot be currently offered in an ecosystem strictly based on Roon.
2) As @nenon and others have pointed out on the previous pages a music server is a complex system with a lot of variables in play. Hardware, software and ancillaries all affect sound quality and must be carefully balanced to achieve a desired result. As an ever evolving project it is simply the next step up the evolutionary ladder to achieve more control and consistency on the software side of things and start pushing existing performance boundaries. This extends beyond just the music player functionality and performance. We are also working towards extracting more performance from the existing hardware by gaining more control over how it is utilised. We have been working on our own DAC drivers for example and proprietary software to reduce or remove processing induced noise in stored or streamed files.
3) As the number of deployed Extreme servers is growing we are working on a service on demand and update system which can be conveniently launched from your Taiko app to improve our customer service efficiency.
So this is not just about replacing Roon but about providing an alternative environment and increased functionality. As pictures tend to be more effective then words I will include an early design stage screenshot of a page of the Taiko app.
Although I feel humbled by all the accolades on the previous pages I would like to point out that this is a team effort rather then just my own.
Edward (EuroDriver) introduced Wilson D'Cruz as our new North America support operative, but Wilson is also responsible for the software development part of the project. We have been lucky to have met Wilson as a somewhat unique software developer with an open mind and appreciation of the delicate relationship between lines of code and sound quality. Furthermore Edward and Christoph have been putting in copious amounts of time and effort. I should also mention and thank forum member @audioquattr for having tirelessly tried and verified, which by now has probably exceeded the 100 mark, of different builds, configurations and settings.
We are now close to start beta testing. Although it may seem that we already did by @Steve Williams posting a few initial impressions, this actually involves a pre beta stage version. We used Steve as a voluntary guinea pig for an independent sonic check to mitigate confirmation bias.
