Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

[EuroDriver]

Sometimes recordings have track numbers inside movements - and many others have almost instantaneous transition, digital is not like vinyl. Gaps would completely keep the sense of surprise in many recordings, my favorite Salall's being one them. I once had my player inserting gaps and it was nightmare - also because I have got used to the natural timing of gaps!

What is the current pause time of the gaps in XDMS?

The gap in Concert Mode is less than 1.0 seconds

 

[steve williams]

Same thoughts here. Apart from the track changes we discussed yesterday, I have some DXD tracks well over 2GB (from the label) with one 33 minutes long.

Wonder if anyone has played DSD256 yet.

I can play DSD 256 and DSD 512 I also have no problem playing DXD 352.8

 

[Cyrus]

Hi Cyrus,

TAS development has indeed halted, so its performance has been consistent for quite some time. On the other hand, Roon has changed many times, each iteration sounding slightly different than the other, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.

Judging from other servers that I have that run Roon, my overall impression over the last few months is that even though there are subtle and sometimes less subtle shifts in sound quality, Roon is always retaining its basic sonic presentation throughout the versions.

The bottom line is that the three systems are just very different.

In any case, as I have already and repeatedly found that XDMS royally outperforms both Roon and TAS, I see no point in re-evaluating this at this point. Honestly, there are far more pressing matters to tend to.

Besides, with the number of XDMS Alpha installations growing each day, I bet it's only a matter of time before you will see more comparisons!

Thanks for your response, Christiaan.

 

[cat6man]

I've listened to Abbey Road since the day it was released as many on this forum have. I think I have 10 copies of AR on vinyl. If I would want to listen to AR I would just listen to it on vinyl. Although I have not listened to AR for I think maybe 10 years now. My musical tastes have changed. I have visitors from around the world on a weekly basis. I have been turned on to so much music, not necessarily new, that I never knew that existed from Classical, Jazz (early and late), South American, alternative rock etc,. I am overwhelmed with so much music now with streaming and if there are a few albums that require gapless, ie, Pink Floyd, Abbey Road and a few others, then I would listen to them on vinyl, which I have four TT's on which to do so. But like I said I just don't happen to listen to those albums even on vinyl. SO, for me it's not an issue.

BUT I understand for others it is. I also understand if you only listen to classical it is a real issue.

As Emile said gapless is coming. I am totally content now with XDMS in it's present state. Why not enjoy the 50+M tracks that are available now and save the X number of albums that require gapless to listen to in a few months from now?

Exactly my plan!

 

[dminches]

Is the “import new items from the import folder” functionality working? Just wondering how I add new music.

 

[nenon]

Looks like XDMS build 31 was just pushed. It fixes some functionality that wasn't working for me earlier. For those using XDMS, give it a go.

 

[steve williams]

I updated mine earlier. Still looking for those fixes though

 

[Johnny Moondog]

Roon: “Get ready. The most exciting update in our history is just around the corner - and it’s going to transform the way you use Roon forever.”

Narrator: “All across the globe, audiophiles began to grit their teeth as specific muscles tightened.”

 

[nenon]

I updated mine earlier. Still looking for those fixes though

The big one for me is that Search works. It worked before but I could not click on any of the displayed results.

 

[steve williams]

Search always worked for me in both Qobuz and Tidal

The big one for me is that Search works. It worked before but I could not click on any of the displayed results.

 

[nenon]

Search always worked for me in both Qobuz and Tidal

It always worked for me in Qobuz too. Although if you do a Search and navigate to Artist --> Album --> select an Album, and then go back to the list of albums, it stops working, and you cannot select another album.

It never worked for me for local files in XDMS buld 30. It works in build 31, though.

This is not the right place to discuss those issues, though. This is an alpha version and the developers are aware of most of these issues and are actively working on them. I will be reporting some of the not so obvious issues via TestFlight per Ed's recommendation. Just need to figure out how to do this .

 

[MarkusBarkus]

Oh no! @Taiko Audio please don't read any Roon marketing! Stay the course! We're on a different journey!

 

[EuroDriver]

We have done our first external tester installation of XDMS with Android Tablet running the remote App

It's available and it works

 

[Zeotrope]

I'm with Cyrus on this. From what I've heard so far there is no doubt in my mind that SQ of XDMS is superior, significantly superior, to Roon and TAS. However, if you read back through the various posters comparing Roon to TAS there are some widely divergent opinions as to sonic character of both, as well as the relative superiority one to the other. My impression of Roon vs. TAS is in another camp I haven't seen yet -- Roon to me sounds flat, grey and emotionally uninvolving compared to TAS. Not, as some have posted, acceptable or a different sonic flavor -- to me it is unacceptably compromised and just not fun to listen with despite Roon's great UI.

So given these widely differing positions on Roon and TAS why would anyone expect, when XDMS has reached a wider population that opinions as to XDMS' sonic character as well as superiority (or not) over competing players will be equally varied? After all, everyone's systems, rooms and musical preferences are different.

Though others' experiences may be different than mine, I find reading about them valuable. While I expect that a consensus will emerge that XDMS is superior for Extreme users, it won't surprise me in the least if this isn't universal.

Besides, folks are going to compare anyway -- they'd be putting their faith in reading about something rather than hearing for themselves otherwise. Not that any audiophile would ever let lack of listening prevent them from voicing a strong opinion!

Just my 2 cents worth,

Steve Z

Why not just compare on your own system for yourself? What am I missing??

 

[plasmod3]

Does xdms have a built in eq? Or are all these improvements from design architecture only?

 

[Zeotrope]

Does xdms have a built in eq? Or are all these improvements from design architecture only?

God I hope not! I am sure it does not have EQ.
EQ is a band aid that would be an out of place in a world-class system.

 

[cmarin]

Ed helped me setup XDMS on a brand new mac tablet last night (bought at Walmart right before they closed!) until 2 am my time. Then he did a TeamViewer session early this morning until we got some music about 30 mins after starting the morning session.

OH MY!!

I don’t know if my reaction was due to not having gotten much sleep the night before, or having seen Ed’s smiling face on the video call for the first time since having met Ed six years when he installed the then SGM in my house, but listening to the first minute of Mozart’s Requiem brought an instant and overwhelming emotional connection to the music that filled me with tears.

My system was recently repositioned, added an enhanced grounding rod, and made the lengths of the wiring from the panels to the outlet equal…so it was already sounding pretty amazing.

But I wasn’t ready for the impact of XDMS!

Gaps in playback? Search funcion a little glitchy? Who cares!!??

And Ed says this version is roughly only 85% of what’s coming around the corner!!

Take the plunge…the water is just FINE!

P.S. Thank you ED and the rest of the Taiko team for your dedication to customer service and technical advances par excellence!

 

[steve williams]

There’s no EQ

 

[plasmod3]

Amazing to know I wonder how this will compare with the new version of roon in a few days

 

[onlychild]

I’m in the queue and excited for what’s coming. Going from Roon to TAS was one of the biggest leaps in my system and I’ve been on TAS since.

According to a friend, the jump from TAS to XDMS is larger. Will report back!