Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

[QuantumWave]

I think I might be part of the minority that actually enjoyed TAS very much, both in its performance and usability. I think with every new software there is an entry brain barrier in terms of getting away from known habits and comfort zone, it can be irritating learning how to navigate a new software, the bright side is that it keeps our neuromotive and muscle memory fresh and on top of that you get to enjoy great music as a side product it’s a sudoku with benefits !

 

[steve williams]

I think I might be part of the minority that actually enjoyed TAS very much, both in its performance and usability. I think with every new software there is an entry brain barrier in terms of getting away from known habits and comfort zone, it can be irritating learning how to navigate a new software, the bright side is that it keeps our neuromotive and muscle memory fresh and on top of that you get to enjoy great music as a side product it’s a sudoku with benefits !

Great post. I totally agree

 

[John T]

The inner tuning forks (how unfortunate: the obsolete seldom mentioned tuning forks) are on High Alert when evaluating new, and different software. As Quantum Wave alluded to, valuable sonic exercise in keeping those Neuro Motive memory pathways sharp, fresh, and accurate. I cannot chime in on TAS, however I am enjoying the banter in regards to all of this. Also it is very informative.

 

[oldmustang]

I think I might be part of the minority that actually enjoyed TAS very much, both in its performance and usability. I think with every new software there is an entry brain barrier in terms of getting away from known habits and comfort zone, it can be irritating learning how to navigate a new software, the bright side is that it keeps our neuromotive and muscle memory fresh and on top of that you get to enjoy great music as a side product it’s a sudoku with benefits !

I'm with you

It's like learning a new language and there is always that period of familiarization and maybe a little frustration. I'm all for it when the rewards are commensurate with the effort. I am annoyed when changes to apps and operating systems seem to be driven by marketing "new and different" but no substantive improvements accrue (are you listening, Apple?).

Steve Z

 

[cat6man]

I'm with you

It's like learning a new language and there is always that period of familiarization and maybe a little frustration. I'm all for it when the rewards are commensurate with the effort. I am annoyed when changes to apps and operating systems seem to be driven by marketing "new and different" but no substantive improvements accrue (are you listening, Apple?).

Steve Z

you are a true optimist (fantasist?) my friend!
apple listening? ROTFL

 

[jbrrp1]

you are a true optimist (fantasist?) my friend!
apple listening? ROTFL

Oh....they're listening, all right. But not for such purposes as this........

 

[oldmustang]

you are a true optimist (fantasist?) my friend!
apple listening? ROTFL

Sardonic doesn't travel well in print. . .

Steve Z

 

[Armsan]

Well, it has also been stated that there really shouldn't be a big difference between Serial Play and Batch Play in the current TAS and there is a difference in sound.

Not here.

 

[Ultrafast69]

Like a few others, I jumped back to TAS and no doubt it sounds better over Roon in the system - both have a place at least for now until XDMS.

Then comes how good are both? I know there are many who say streaming will never be that of the disc, specifically Red Book. With that I decided to again chase the silver disc, in this case Blue Tofu by Blu Tofu and audiophile presentation, on a 10 plus year recording.

With the press of a button on the remote, I can swap between connections and the difference is so negligible that I have reached the decision not to purchase any more discs. I treasure physical media, but I believe I am at the end of the road on this, it is not worth it to me anymore. Vinyl is a different story.

Taiko has created a piece that is Extremely capable, pun intended. However, I place emphasis on power and do not mean conditioners, I am talking about the juice that powers up high-end systems then performance accessories like cables, and isolation to get all the Extreme has to give.

Shout out to Taiko for its products and service!

 

[John T]

That's a refreshing point of view. I also understand the chain of cables before the Extreme is vital. (everyone should) What about the Power Cable/ Outlet with the Extreme? I have talked with Emile about this, silver is not his cup of tea. Mine is on order. Attempting to get feedback. My initial direction is GTX-D Furutech with DPS-4.1 Alpha with all Copper F1-46 connections. I'm using all Rhodium NCF with Mephisto/Pandora. With great results...

 

[Rhapsody]

Not here.

+1 Not here either

 

[Alex G]

I’m back on TAS too and it does sound totally awesome. Thanks Ed for fixing me up!

I gotta say tho…Roon still sounds really good, even after hearing how much better TAS has gotten. Some might disagree but I think Roon now sounds significantly better than I remember TAS sounding Pre OS / USB update. It’s remarkable to be able to write a piece of software that corrects that much of someone else’s software problems. Don’t get me wrong, I listen to local music a lot, especially because its soooo next level using PGGB. But, I gotta say, it’s incredible that I can go from listening to PGGB files in TAS and switch over to streaming in Roon and still really enjoy myself. That was NOT happening AT ALL before and I’m so grateful and impressed that team Taiko figured this out. For me, so much of enjoying music still centers around discovering music. Before the update, and for a long long time, I have been separating listening enjoyment and discovery enjoyment. Now I can do both at the same time and have a blast, falling down rabbit holes, stumbling across music I’ve never heard of, making playlists, saving things in easy ways, finding alt recordings and spin off bands, checking out some lyrics, all while still switching back to my awesome library, etc….and generally just having a great time and never thinking the music doesn’t sound great! And ironically, because of this, I have bought, processed and saved more music this week than I can remember doing in a long time. Very happy.

 

[Rhapsody]

I’m back on TAS too and it does sound totally awesome. Thanks Ed for fixing me up!

I gotta say tho…Roon still sounds really good, even after hearing how much better TAS has gotten. Some might disagree but I think Roon now sounds significantly better than I remember TAS sounding Pre OS / USB update. It’s remarkable to be able to write a piece of software that corrects that much of someone else’s software problems. Don’t get me wrong, I listen to local music a lot, especially because its soooo next level using PGGB. But, I gotta say, it’s incredible that I can go from listening to PGGB files in TAS and switch over to streaming in Roon and still really enjoy myself. That was NOT happening AT ALL before and I’m so grateful and impressed that team Taiko figured this out. For me, so much of enjoying music still centers around discovering music. Before the update, and for a long long time, I have been separating listening enjoyment and discovery enjoyment. Now I can do both at the same time and have a blast, falling down rabbit holes, stumbling across music I’ve never heard of, making playlists, saving things in easy ways, finding alt recordings and spin off bands, checking out some lyrics, all while still switching back to my awesome library, etc….and generally just having a great time and never thinking the music doesn’t sound great! And ironically, because of this, I have bought, processed and saved more music this week than I can remember doing in a long time. Very happy.

Everyone is going to have different experiences based on their systems, rooms, personal listening preferences.

Overall Emile/Ed and company keep moving the bar forward for both Roon and TAS and soon XDMS, that is the one constant variable that we all share.

 

[oldmustang]

I've been biting my tongue -- well, maybe sitting on my hands is a better metaphor -- trying not to bug the XDMS team with impatient questions like, "Is it gonna have this? Is it gonna have that?"

But recent posts show I'm not alone nor maybe even in the minority when it comes to folks using Roon for new music discovery.

That's what I've missed most when using TAS. Other than LMS' "Random Album" button under "My Music" there really isn't any way to discover music (and even that is limited to albums already in my library) and then add it to a new or existing playlist nearly as easily as using Roon's Roon Radio, then clicking on the three vertical dots to the right of the playing track to access "Add To A Playlist".

So, my question -- will XDMS have something similar and just as slick and easy to access and use?

Thanks, and no hurry replying -- I'd rather have you Taiko guys working on XDMS than answering a deluge of questions!

Steve Z

 

[simorag]

While we are at this, let me add a couple more questions, and I realize this matter is far from top priority stuff given the already overwhelming task list involved in the roll-out of XMDS 2.0:

- is upscaling (with proprietary code or via PGGB-RT) somewhere on the development horizon?
- how about supporting convolution filters from external applications (e.g. FIR wav files)?

Thanks!
Simone

P.S. Anybody else fainting when listening to this via the Extreme?

 

[EuroDriver]

While we are at this, let me add a couple more questions, and I realize this matter is far from top priority stuff given the already overwhelming task list involved in the roll-out of XMDS 2.0:

- is upscaling (with proprietary code or via PGGB-RT) somewhere on the development horizon?
- how about supporting convolution filters from external applications (e.g. FIR wav files)?

Thanks!
Simone

P.S. Anybody else fainting when listening to this via the Extreme?

View attachment 91084

PGGB is on the road map

Convolution filters are not on the road map

 

[Alex G]

PGGB is on the road map

Woohoo!!!!

 

[theaudiogeek]

Ed was gracious enough to take time configure TAS in TES... Thank you Ed! I'm already hearing difference in sound quality. The sound quality in TAS is much tighter and solid IMO. I'm already excited about what XDMS is going to deliver. Thank you Emile and the Taiko team !

 

[Armsan]

While we are at this, let me add a couple more questions, and I realize this matter is far from top priority stuff given the already overwhelming task list involved in the roll-out of XMDS 2.0:

- is upscaling (with proprietary code or via PGGB-RT) somewhere on the development horizon?
- how about supporting convolution filters from external applications (e.g. FIR wav files)?

Thanks!
Simone

P.S. Anybody else fainting when listening to this via the Extreme?

View attachment 91084

I would love to. It seems to be an excellent experience but I don’t have it and can’t find it in Quobuz. Thanks anyway.

 

[Christiaan Punter]

I've been biting my tongue -- well, maybe sitting on my hands is a better metaphor -- trying not to bug the XDMS team with impatient questions like, "Is it gonna have this? Is it gonna have that?"

But recent posts show I'm not alone nor maybe even in the minority when it comes to folks using Roon for new music discovery.

That's what I've missed most when using TAS. Other than LMS' "Random Album" button under "My Music" there really isn't any way to discover music (and even that is limited to albums already in my library) and then add it to a new or existing playlist nearly as easily as using Roon's Roon Radio, then clicking on the three vertical dots to the right of the playing track to access "Add To A Playlist".

So, my question -- will XDMS have something similar and just as slick and easy to access and use?

Thanks, and no hurry replying -- I'd rather have you Taiko guys working on XDMS than answering a deluge of questions!

Steve Z

Hi Steve, Qobuz and Tidal Discovery functions will be available via XDMS and our goal is to have excellent playlist functionality.