Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

[Mike Lavigne]

Wilson just bumped me from TAS Alpha to TAS Beta and i'm running through some reference tracks. really liking what i'm hearing. the music more uncovered and refinement pushed forward. more dimensional, lower noise with a more see into and walk around soundstage, and more ease and relaxed. small changes that are musically significant.

my system likes where this is going.

been listening to lots of vinyl lately, but have to say this is really fine. going to have to spend some time exploring.

thank you Wilson!

 

[StreamFidelity]

As you have calculated, long latencies which would be nonsensical on normal PC's become some thing special on the Extreme with TAS

Thank you for explaining the specifics.

 

[oldmustang]

Wilson just bumped me from TAS Alpha to TAS Beta and i'm running through some reference tracks. really liking what i'm hearing. the music more uncovered and refinement pushed forward. more dimensional, lower noise with a more see into and walk around soundstage, and more ease and relaxed. small changes that are musically significant.

my system likes where this is going.

been listening to lots of vinyl lately, but have to say this is really fine. going to have to spend some time exploring.

thank you Wilson!

I'm with Mike. The sound quality improvement of TAS beta over the alpha versions is not trivial. I hear the beta as very dynamic but not brash. Definitely more dimensional and tonally saturated, with lots of musically-relevant texture and detail. I find the beta once again passes my turn it up/turn it down test with flying colors -- I can turn it up louder without the music hardening or becoming in-your-face, and I can turn it down more before I lose the body, life and energy that makes music interesting and involving.

The TAS beta is really a notable step forward. Cheers to the whole Taiko team.

Steve Z

 

[Steve Williams]

I'm with Mike. The sound quality improvement of TAS beta over the alpha versions is not trivial. I hear the beta as very dynamic but not brash. Definitely more dimensional and tonally saturated, with lots of musically-relevant texture and detail. I find the beta once again passes my turn it up/turn it down test with flying colors -- I can turn it up louder without the music hardening or becoming in-your-face, and I can turn it down more before I lose the body, life and energy that makes music interesting and involving.

The TAS beta is really a notable step forward. Cheers to the whole Taiko team.

Steve Z

I really believe that the TAS driver is the grease that oils the machime

 

[matthias]

I really believe that the TAS driver is the grease that oils the machime

So it would be nice to know who of the beta users also have the TAS driver in use.
Thanks

Matt

 

[Kris]

Just wondering
if there is a place for the PAUSE botton in TAS ?
We have everything except of that.

I like to discuss some aspects / parts of the songs with friends and family
Once I hit stop in TAS it is impossible to continue to play the song
It always plays from the beginning.

 

[matthias]

Just wondering
if there is a place for the PAUSE botton in TAS ?
We have everything except of that.

I like to discuss some aspects / parts of the songs with friends and family
Once I hit stop in TAS it is impossible to continue to play the song
It always plays from the beginning.

Please have a look at post #5737.

Matt

 

[cmarin]

Wilson installed the TAS beta earlier this week on my Extreme which now has 1600+ hours on it.

Have to say it’s the closest my system has sounded to the ideal of a live musical event by far ...on song after song.

Another point of acclaim for the transformative hardware/software development of the Taiko team. Bravo!

I can’t wait now for the installation of the TAS driver for the Totaldac d1-12 MkII. Hope my faint heart can stand the excitement.

 

[jelt2359]

Me, too.

But official TAS will be perfect.

Thank you for the confirmation that your non-latin alphabet files are not showing up either. I have logged a bug report. It's unfortunate, as not being able to see the songs at all to even play them is making it such that I can't listen to half my music with the TAS...

 

[jelt2359]

If you tap on the three vertical dots on the upper right side of the app and then select Server Settings, the first item under Basic settings is language. The bottom two items in the language list might be helpful. Then again, you might not be able to see your english titles.

Steve Z

I tried this. It changes the language of the interface, but the files remained the same.

 

[Rhapsody]

After a few days now of listening to the Beta release of TAS my thoughts are that this is the first time that I have thought that the difference between what I am hearing now is NOT really different than listening to my good analog. I have always said my analog and Digital were both great, for me, but they were different.

Of course they are not identical and there are differences BUT I get a certain "sensation" when listening to digital that I never have experienced when I have listened to digital before. The digital especially with the Extreme has been magical enough for me to totally enjoy music, BUT the "sensation" from analog listening was never present.

NOW I get a totally different "sensation" while listening to music with the Beta version of TAS. I also have listened to maybe 30 or 40 albums in the last 3-4 days and have listened to each album all the way through. I have never done this with digital before.

It has to do with the separation of different notes and the harmonics off of the notes when heard. An acoustic guitar when strummed all six strings on vinyl has over and under tones that I perceived different differently between analog and digital. Now I am getting the same perception of the the harmonics coming off instruments that I get when listening to analog.

I believe "the boys" have turned the corner. I think we are approaching a paradigm shift with respect to listening to music via the digital medium.

I'm sure there is much more to come and I am personally VERY grateful to the Taiko team for breaking down this mentioned barrier. It is very significant.

 

[EuroDriver]

Thank you for the confirmation that your non-latin alphabet files are not showing up either. I have logged a bug report. It's unfortunate, as not being able to see the songs at all to even play them is making it such that I can't listen to half my music with the TAS...

We will definitely have a solution for other character sets

That’s a promise ;-)

 

[heebrog]

@heebrog and other beta testers, please do (also) file bug reports using the testflight app feedback feature so we don’t miss anything.

Sorry that I didn't fully understand the process Emile. Can you please give some instructions on how this is done.

 

[heebrog]

Attached is the process.

Press and hold the applicable green tab in use (e.g. Serial Play), then if the blue PCM Buffer is set at 4,096, drag it left, to 2,048. Drag it back to 4,096 for high Rez. See if that works.

Thanks V-Squared. So that I understand correctly; I set the buffers in XD-SP even though I use HQP. I just checked and PCM buffer was on 'Auto'

 

[spiritofmusic]

After a few days now of listening to the Beta release of TAS my thoughts are that this is the first time that I have thought that the difference between what I am hearing now is NOT really different than listening to my good analog. I have always said my analog and Digital were both great, for me, but they were different.

Of course they are not identical and there are differences BUT I get a certain "sensation" when listening to digital that I never have experienced when I have listened to digital before. The digital especially with the Extreme has been magical enough for me to totally enjoy music, BUT the "sensation" from analog listening was never present.

NOW I get a totally different "sensation" while listening to music with the Beta version of TAS. I also have listened to maybe 30 or 40 albums in the last 3-4 days and have listened to each album all the way through. I have never done this with digital before.

It has to do with the separation of different notes and the harmonics off of the notes when heard. An acoustic guitar when strummed all six strings on vinyl has over and under tones that I perceived different differently between analog and digital. Now I am getting the same perception of the the harmonics coming off instruments that I get when listening to analog.

I believe "the boys" have turned the corner. I think we are approaching a paradigm shift with respect to listening to music via the digital medium.

I'm sure there is much more to come and I am personally VERY grateful to the Taiko team for breaking down this mentioned barrier. It is very significant.

Bob, the first chance I get post-lockdown in UK will be to visit the well-set up Extreme rig at Blue58, now with TAS installed. I've heard some brilliant vinyl setups in the last few years incl Bergmann/DaVa, Vyger/Red Sparrow, GP Monaco/Triplanar/Dynavector, Sony/SAEC/Aidas, etc, and I've followed the evolution of Barry's Audio Aero > SGM/T&A > SGM/Aqua Formula XHD > Extreme/Aqua Formula XHD rig...next time to hear it with TAS fitted.

There'll be no AB comparison to vinyl possible, but I have a confident muscle memory for sounds I hear. I know what even the best digital I've heard fundamentally lacks compared to stellar analog, and I'll know there and then if TAS has truly crossed the rubicon.

 

[matthias]

It has to do with the separation of different notes and the harmonics off of the notes when heard. An acoustic guitar when strummed all six strings on vinyl has over and under tones that I perceived different differently between analog and digital. Now I am getting the same perception of the the harmonics coming off instruments that I get when listening to analog.

Bob,
this is very significant indeed.

May I ask you:

Do you get this TAS analog perception with all your DACs or with certain DACs only?

and

How do you manage the TAS driver of your Extreme with all the different USB interfaces of your DACs or do you play to
XMOS DACs only?

Thanks

Matt

 

[wil]

So it would be nice to know who of the beta users also have the TAS driver in use.
Thanks

Matt

Interestingly, during my TAS installation, Edward found that my Aqua xHD DAC won't need the TAS usb driver because it was already allowing the wanted buffer size of 4096 for 16/44 tracks.

 

[Pinu]

Hi, any news on when folks like me who have the EVO will get TAS ... looking forward to the next frontier in music from Emile.... happy listening all , thanks

 

[Taiko Audio]

Interestingly, during my TAS installation, Edward found that my Aqua xHD DAC won't need the TAS usb driver because it was already allowing the wanted buffer size of 4096 for 16/44 tracks.

It’s about more then just that, Aqua support coming up.

 

[Taiko Audio]

Sorry that I didn't fully understand the process Emile. Can you please give some instructions on how this is done.

Open the taiko app in testflight and click the blue “send beta feedback” text.