Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème
- Thread starter CKKeung
- Start date
I did the same thing a week or so ago and am still working to clean up the last of my Roon playlists that have Tidal music in the queue. Soundiiz works really well for the most part and is worth the $4.50USD for one month of unrestricted access to do the heavier batch processes of transferring libraries.
I had thought off and on about eventually cancelling either Qobuz or Tidal. This makes the decision much easier. Bye Tidal, it was nice knowing you!
Steve Z
I’ve been delighted since moving from Tidal to Qobuz a month ago (TAS alpha no small part of that) the whole Qobuz experience and quality is so much better for me (search, UI, etc). The high res content is outstanding (MQA had never sounded hood here).
+100 for Soundiiz
+100 for Soundiiz
I've really been enjoying TAS Alpha II since it was rolled out. The sound quality took a very noticeable jump up over the already superlative Alpha I version. More expansive and engaging, with plenty of dynamic pop, low level detail and all those audiophile goodies that make us say, "Oh!".
But even more gratifying is the sense of wholeness or continuousness for lack of a better term, that permeates everything. Instruments sound whole and complete and while there is plenty of rosin on the bows and woodiness in the body, no one part of an instrument or voice calls attention to itself over any other part. Just as at a live concert I don't think about anything other than the solist, players or ensemble other than that they sound like real people singing and playing real instruments. Quite an achievement by Wilson, Emile and Ed!
Steve Z
But even more gratifying is the sense of wholeness or continuousness for lack of a better term, that permeates everything. Instruments sound whole and complete and while there is plenty of rosin on the bows and woodiness in the body, no one part of an instrument or voice calls attention to itself over any other part. Just as at a live concert I don't think about anything other than the solist, players or ensemble other than that they sound like real people singing and playing real instruments. Quite an achievement by Wilson, Emile and Ed!
Steve Z
steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
I was privileged a few days ago to have Ed show me the working interface for TAS.
As she said in Jerry Maguire "you had me at hello"
The interface although not a finished product is now taking on a persona of its own
The Taiko team rocks
As she said in Jerry Maguire "you had me at hello"
The interface although not a finished product is now taking on a persona of its own
The Taiko team rocks
I’m running two SOtM switches with the Extreme. I just transitioned to optical Ethernet, using 2 SFPs to connect the two switches, and 2 to connect a switch to the Extreme.
If anyone’s interested, I tested combinations of the SFPs recommended in this thread. (The Planet MGB-TLX ($30 new), StarTech SFP1000ZXST ($77 new), and Finisar Ftlf1324p2btl-mc ($33 used)).
To test, I rotated pairs of the same SFP. One pair would go from the Extreme to the switch and the other from switch to switch. Regarding my tastes, I generally focus on tonal balance/accuracy, musical organization, and PRAT.
Here’s what I found:
If anyone’s interested, I tested combinations of the SFPs recommended in this thread. (The Planet MGB-TLX ($30 new), StarTech SFP1000ZXST ($77 new), and Finisar Ftlf1324p2btl-mc ($33 used)).
To test, I rotated pairs of the same SFP. One pair would go from the Extreme to the switch and the other from switch to switch. Regarding my tastes, I generally focus on tonal balance/accuracy, musical organization, and PRAT.
Here’s what I found:
- Each of the SFPs has a definite sonic signature. The Finisar is the most open and brightest, the Planet darkest and slightly compressing, and the StarTech is in the middle closer to the Planet than the Finisar.
- Generally, the sound is a fairly even mix of the signature of each of the SFPs. In fact, I made a mistake and used a Planet and a StarTech to connect the switches (with two Finisars connecting the Extreme to the switch) and the quality of the Planet could be heard in the mix.
- The order of the SFPs might matter slightly. It seems the closer the SFP is to the Extreme the more pronounced its properties are in the mix. However, the difference is slight. I’m unsure if I’d be able to consistently determine changes in the SFP order in blind listening tests.
- My favorite combination is 2 StarTechs between the Extreme and the switch and two Finisars between the switches. I think this provides a smooth top end while retaining great resolution. When I flipped the order of the SFPs, it sounded a little less smooth. Unsure if the difference is due to the order, the fact that the Extreme uses a StarTech card, or, once again, is significant enough for me to notice consistently.
- 2 Finisars and 2 Planets is likely second best. Not quite as resolving as the former.
- 4 Finisars is too bright. Lots of glare, especially in the vocals.
- 4 StarTechs reduced glare and added warmth but sacrificed resolution.
- 2 StarTechs and 2 Planets sounds compressed, almost under water. As a result, I didn’t try 4 Planets.
I hope this helps.
Thanks very much for going to all the trouble to not only try all these permutations, but also for taking the time to write it up for us. I've got Startech, Planet Tech and two versions of Finisars (1324 and 1318) on hand here from my experiments. Since I am only using one pair of SFPs at a time, Optical Module > fiber > Extreme, my results haven't been as pronounced as yours, but I can definitely tell the differences between the various brands and variants.
Now that TAS is under full use here I'm thinking it might be time to revisit several combinations of the SFPs to hear if my current preference still holds true (Finisar 1324).
Steve Z
My two heroes Emile, Edward
And
Nice SGM Extreme users in WBF
Happy New Year~!!
I hope your wishes come true and keep your health
And
Nice SGM Extreme users in WBF
Happy New Year~!!
I hope your wishes come true and keep your health
Thanks for the encouraging push by example! I've just completed my move from Tidal to Qubuzz, using Soundiiz. It was indeed quick and painless. Lot's more high-res files, no MQA and $90 per year savings. Oh So Sweet!
And now I'm hoping (like so many more of us) that 2021 will bring me a way to run/use TAS... most likely through the kindness of Taiko's DIY inititiative and thier research partnership with Nenon, who both exhibit extrodinary levels of discipline, trailblazing research on the cutting edge of our obsession and a wonderfull natural kindness to help people!
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Happy New Year to you and your audiophile community
Benchmark has developed SMPS for audiophile applications which has much lower noise and RF emissions than better LPS. See https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/ap...audio-myth-switching-power-supplies-are-noisy
The stuff that measures ridiculously good but does not really engage you to the music
(I mean the end product, not the SMPS specifically). Thanks for the link. It was an interesting morning coffee read.Happy New Year!!!
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been busy at work, and that darn vinyl stuff lately, finally got TAS Alpha v2 installed this morning......thank you Wilson!
been listening 90 minutes so far; a nice uptick in a less processed, more engaging more pure sound. looking forward to exploring my music with it. like the interface changes.
been listening 90 minutes so far; a nice uptick in a less processed, more engaging more pure sound. looking forward to exploring my music with it. like the interface changes.
Slightly OT but in response to the smps discussion, there are some exceptions. I have had two amps with smps sounding ridiculously good - Berning Quadratures and the slovenian diy mosfet First One. The latter used the same hypex smps as the ncore amps but sounded so much more musically engaging. It can be done!
Wilson and team were kind enough to share some tweaks on top of alpha2 for us Chord guys...very nice uptick! (appreciate the stability and UI improvements as well) Really feels like things are converging
Even more importantly, the team clearly has a handle on what is driving SQ and they are clearly digging in, so very excited for what is coming in the beta and future releases!
this is the part i find really exciting..........i've spent the last year experimenting with software, NUCs, power supplies, cables, RAM, etc but i have had zero REAL understanding of exactly where i was going, except incrementally, and where the end of the road lay (there are lots of useful theories and hypotheses and i'm indebted to the diy gurus whose paths i have followed).
i'll be very happy to continue to follow in the footsteps of those same gurus, put the incessant tweaking behind me, and put myself in the hands of the masters
