Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

[EuroDriver]

TAS Alpha V2 is landing for Christmas !

The challenge has been do develop a good sounding Gapless player, which respects the secure streaming content licence terms from the streaming content providers.

Well, after trying several schemes, Wilson pulled another Rabbit out of the hat !

It was exactly a week ago that I told Wilson that even on my Surface pro 4 laptop > RME ADI-2 FS DAC that I could hear the negative effects of encryption and decryption.

Monday night last week, the three of us had a brainstorming session about ways to reduce the sound signature of the decryption process and Wilson proposed a great idea.

The code was ready on Friday, and last night it was tested on a big rig and passed the hearing test. Both the Extreme Direct v 2 and Extreme Gapless players have raised the SQ bar.

It will take Wilson a day or two to package the new build. The updated iPad app is already available on TestFlight.

SQ reports from the Alpha testers is what Santa is delivering, arriving after Christmas allowing for digestion of holiday food and drink will be fine too, no time pressure. It’s all about enjoying the music.

After some debugging and usability improvements, the TAS Beta v1 will be ready

 

[matthias]

@EuroDriver

Great news
How big are the SQ differences between ExtremeDirect and Gapless Player?
Thanks

Matt

 

[EuroDriver]

@EuroDriver

Great news
How big are the SQ differences between ExtremeDirect and Gapless Player?
Thanks

Matt

Truthfully, we will only know after the reports from the Alpha testers. The listening room in Odenzaal is a work in progress and we are in the holiday period and a pretty strict lockdown.

However we don´t let this stop progress on TAS, or the building of Extremes

I should temper expectations by saying that there is a limit of 20 tracks for a playlist to be played gapless, and there is still a gap, but its quite short.

The picture below shows the functional model we are emulating

 

[spiritofmusic]

Is that an early prototype rim drive Kronos tt?

 

[steve williams]

Euro

here is a quick question as everything I am reading still suggest the long gap on the XD Player results in the best SQ and was instituted for a reason

So in terms of trying to compare the XD player to the Gapless player, if we could say that regarding SQ the XD player is worth $1.00 what would you say the Gapless player is worth......the same, a little less than a dollar or a little more than a dollar

 

[EuroDriver]

Euro

here is a quick question as everything I am reading still suggest the long gap on the XD Player results in the best SQ and was instituted for a reason

So in terms of trying to compare the XD player to the Gapless player, if we could say that regarding SQ the XD player is worth $1.00 what would you say the Gapless player is worth......the same, a little less than a dollar or a little more than a dollar

Hi Steve,

It´s not clear if the new XD sounds better than the new Gapless. They may sound almost the same depending on the system. It's only with the reports from the Alpha testers that we will know if XD or Gapless actually sounds better, or the both sound the same. As always YMMV.

What we have discovered, is that we can't take anything fo granted. Stuff you think should make a difference actually does not, and stuff you think should make no difference, actually does make a difference.

The good news is we are building a better of understanding of what matters more, and what matters less and possible mechanisms about how it happens. The Extreme Dual CPU architecture provides a great canvas for TAS do sonically good stuff.

Merry Christmas

Ed

 

[steve williams]

I ask the question because I have actually gotten used to the long gap and have accepted it under the information that that long gap was for a specific reason in helping SQ so as you say this gives us another option in listening. I am looking forward to it

So if everyone who uses it says the difference between the long gap and gapless is insignificant, is there then reason to have both

 

[EuroDriver]

I ask the question because I have actually gotten used to the long gap and have accepted it under the information that that long gap was for a specific reason in helping SQ so as you say this gives us another option in listening. I am looking forward to it

So if everyone who uses it says the difference between the long gap and gapless is insignificant, is there then reason to have both

If the two apps sound almost the same, we will merge the two apps into one app, with 2 buttons - play single and - play queue

 

[cat6man]

@EuroDriver

is there a difference between gapless for streaming vs. music stored on the extreme?
if streaming requires any SQ compromise, perhaps gapless could be designed differently for the two?
i have a very large collection of live concerts that will never be commercially released or streamed and SQ for music
stored in memory is my top priority.

happy holidays to the alpha testers (and all the rest of you)

 

[wil]

Hi Steve,

It´s not clear if the new XD sounds better than the new Gapless. They may sound almost the same depending on the system. It's only with the reports from the Alpha testers that we will know if XD or Gapless actually sounds better, or the both sound the same. As always YMMV.

What we have discovered, is that we can't take anything fo granted. Stuff you think should make a difference actually does not, and stuff you think should make no difference, actually does make a difference.

The good news is we are building a better of understanding of what matters more, and what matters less and possible mechanisms about how it happens. The Extreme Dual CPU architecture provides a great canvas for TAS do sonically good stuff.

Merry Christmas

Ed

Thank you in advance to the intrepid Alpha II testers. I enjoy A/B listening about as much as a visit to the dentist, so I am glad there are other skilled listeners willing to plow those fields.

 

[austinpop]

Psyched to try Alpha II.

- Self-confessed A/B Masochist!

 

[SaiteiMan]

Is that the latest TT-7 PGI? The outputs look raised in the photo.

It's a 3D printed plug alignment plate. Without the plate, the plugs tend to tilt or not fully engaged.

 

[2ndLiner]

It's a 3D printed plug alignment plate. Without the plate, the plugs tend to tilt or not fully engaged.

Great idea, where can they be had?!

 

[onlychild]

It's a 3D printed plug alignment plate. Without the plate, the plugs tend to tilt or not fully engaged.

Genius!!!

Now I need to figure out how to get one made for the Bocchoni connectors on the Sablon Kings.

Mark?

 

[SaiteiMan]

Great idea, where can they be had?!

I modeled it in CAD and printed myself.

 

[EuroDriver]

It's 2am in Toronto, and look what Santa is gift wrapping

 

[ctydwn]

It's 2am in Toronto, and look what Santa is gift wrapping

View attachment 72674

OMG. That may be the most beautiful screenshot I have seen this year. I love the way it looks, its information, intuitive controls and its simplicity. Bravo! but I imagine its true beauty is how it sounds.

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

Thank you in advance to the intrepid Alpha II testers. I enjoy A/B listening about as much as a visit to the dentist, so I am glad there are other skilled listeners willing to plow those fields.

Love this comment. Found it really funny.

 

[cat6man]

It's 2am in Toronto, and look what Santa is gift wrapping

View attachment 72674

@EuroDriver
i saw this on my cellphone and like it.............then i saw it on my desktop screen and love it!

@anyone
it raised one question in my mind, perhaps already known to those of you who already have hands-on experience with their extreme.
what is the volume indicator on this screen/player? i have always streamed at full unity volume and used my preamp (for feeding loudspeakers)
or DAC control (for feeding headphones). is there a volume control in the extreme? if so, what is the consensus of using that versus other
volume adjustments in your systems?

 

[EuroDriver]

@EuroDriver
i saw this on my cellphone and like it.............then i saw it on my desktop screen and love it!

@anyone
it raised one question in my mind, perhaps already known to those of you who already have hands-on experience with their extreme.
what is the volume indicator on this screen/player? i have always streamed at full unity volume and used my preamp (for feeding loudspeakers)
or DAC control (for feeding headphones). is there a volume control in the extreme? if so, what is the consensus of using that versus other
volume adjustments in your systems?

There is no implementation of digital volume control whatsoever in TAS and volume control is not on the software evolution and build out road map.

We are discovering stuff that surprisingly makes a SQ difference, and quite likely explains why that to date there has yet to be a digital volume control we can´t hear and actually like.