Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

[oldmustang]

This is true of many things and, once you have experienced a higher level of quality, it is generally hard to go back to the previous. My father taught me from a young age that, if something is important to you, always get the very best that you are able. My wife came to inherit this point of view over time and often says that I have ruined her because she always had simple taste in things. It’s a double edged sword for sure.

My father taught me the same -- always buy the best quality you can afford or wait until you can. He'd say, "How are you going to afford to buy it twice when you couldn't afford to buy it once in the first place?"

Thinking about this helped me get off the incremental upgrade path and more into the "one and done" mode of purchase in audio. Hence, the Taiko Extreme (and dCS, D'Agostino and Wilson Audio. . .)

Steve Z

 

[Zeotrope]

Although after I got the Taiiko Extreme I became lazy to try network tweaks and was very happy with my Netgear 108 with a linear power supply, when I read a Mike Lavigne post about the Nordost net products - Qnet , Qsource and QSource dedicated DC cable - a few months ago I decided to to try them, in part because of the system simplicity - just router, power source and DC cable. I first got the Qnet, that includes a small switched mode plug power supply, and it become resident - I found it preferable to my old router.

I also ordered the DC custom cable, but due to some confusion - the Lemo cable terminations for the Qpoint's are not the same as those for the Qnet, holidays and an extremely filled schedule I only assembled the complete system a week ago. The jump in performance was remarkable - more music, better definition of nuance and detail, keeping the usual smoothness. Listening to Janet See interpretation of the Vivaldi Flute Concertos the harpsichord sounds more real, strings have more "color", everything is more in my room. I tried now tried switching between router/ no router and there is no doubt - in my system (Taiko Extreme /dCS Vivaldi APEX stack) using a 200Mbps netwrork feed the Nordost system is a nice improvement.

Interesting. Would you say there was an improvement to playback of locally stored content, or just when streaming?

 

[Zeotrope]

This obsession of ours can be maddening. I too at times thought Roon is certainly tolerable and sounds pretty damn good. I've been involved in several intense projects lately so I kept my settings on Roon for easy access for almost a month. When things slowed down and I could pay more attention Roon sounded flat and lifeless. I never recall it sounding this bad? Switched back to TAS and the life of the music returned. I may venture to XDMS after fiber is installed and the Horizon is settled in. I can't explain why Roon morphed like this? Nothing changed in my system. Its been back on TAS and I'm enjoying my music again. I also think Roon can vary from system to system.

I too was very happy with Roon. But once XDMS started playing, it was a different world. I will never go back to Roon, not even to A-B test - there’s no point.

 

[tubes59]

Greetings from a long-time lurker. Early last week I began my Taiko Extreme journey. Ed was super helpful one late night getting me up and going with Roon which was a solid bump up from Roon via my Lumin X1 and Tambaqui dac. I have not used TAS and probably won’t. Yesterday Ed was kind enough to help me upgrade the usb driver on my dac and installed XDMS. This took longer than it should have due to a network complication, but Ed patiently got me to the finish line. Though I have not had a ton of listening time available since last night, I can say XDMS is a complete joy to listen to and I am excited to be onboard for what’s ahead. Many thanks to Ed for his kindness and perseverance in getting me off the ground.

 

[onlychild]

XDMS did sound a little bright to me in the beginning coming from TAS, but after having spent a few weeks with it, I no longer find it bright. Maybe I just got use to the sound.

I definitely prefer it over TAS, and as far as Roon goes, I uninstalled it from my machine.

 

[gleeds]

OC, glad you digging XDMS.

After my recent session with XDMS (see my post) my working theory is XDMS is materially more revealing than either Roon or TAS, so if there remains a bit of brightness look elsewhere in the chain. Poorly recorded and mixed cuts will be revealed ruthlessly. Of course, cables and components including speakers too. Enjoy!

 

[EuroDriver]

As a Historical note here is where Taiko Audio software was 2 years ago

 

[theaudiogeek]

Ed was kind enough to install XDMS Alpha 2 on my extreme. I was not ready for the difference in sound quality. Looks like all of a sudden the tracks got halographic sound. The instruments became much more fuller and 3 dimensional sounding with much more quieter background. Its like you are sitting in directly in the front of the Orchestra and you could hear music from all sides. I simply couldn't explain this properly. Oh my... a very different experience for sure. Thanks Ed and the Taiko Team for the awesome update!!!

 

[cat6man]

Ed was kind enough to install XDMS Alpha 2 on my extreme. I was not ready for the difference in sound quality. Looks like all of a sudden the tracks got halographic sound. The instruments became much more fuller and 3 dimensional sounding with much more quieter background. Its like you are sitting in directly in the front of the Orchestra and you could hear music from all sides. I simply couldn't explain this properly. Oh my... a very different experience for sure. Thanks Ed and the Taiko Team for the awesome update!!!

just to clarify this, the sound improvement is relative to alpha 1, not to TAS?
if so, WOW!

 

[theaudiogeek]

just to clarify this, the sound improvement is relative to alpha 1, not to TAS?
if so, WOW!

Yes.. compared to Alpha-1. I do hear the difference.

 

[EuroDriver]

Yes.. compared to Alpha-1. I do hear the difference.

TheAudioGeek Alpha 1 was SQ handicapped by an incorrect parameter setting mistake by me

But now he has the full Alpha SQ

 

[theaudiogeek]

TheAudioGeek Alpha 1 was SQ handicapped by an incorrect parameter setting mistake by me

But now he has the full Alpha SQ

Thanks for the clarification. Did not realize that I was missing this full potential...

 

[cat6man]

TheAudioGeek Alpha 1 was SQ handicapped by an incorrect parameter setting mistake by me

But now he has the full Alpha SQ

sitting here with alpha 1 and listening to Keith Jarrett's Bordeaux Concert, i was wondering if my head would explode from more goodness in alpha 2................i'm very happy with SQ of alpha 1 and looking forward to SQ tweaks Emile has teased us with.

 

[Steve williams]

sitting here with alpha 1 and listening to Keith Jarrett's Bordeaux Concert, i was wondering if my head would explode from more goodness in alpha 2................i'm very happy with SQ of alpha 1 and looking forward to SQ tweaks Emile has teased us with.

what seems to be apparent to me from all of the posts here in the past few days there are more and more alpha users of XDMS than there were apparent users of TAS (because they stated they would not use the platform until it is a finished product). So with now XDMS in its infancy and developing daily, it just seems more and more users of XDMS seem unanimously stating how good it is. Some have cancelled Roon and removed it from their computers, This to me speaks volumes about the SQ of XDMS because there really haven't been any complaints about the platform itself. Users, however are quickly learning the limitations of the platform but are using it because their music never sounded so good.and as Emile has thrown out his tease line with the promise of better SQ to come in the months ahead. I'll say again, that IMO, that Extreme users who are continuing to use Roon, because XDMS is an incomplete product, are missing out on sonic bliss.

 

[oldmustang]

Ed was kind enough to install XDMS Alpha 2 on my extreme. I was not ready for the difference in sound quality. Looks like all of a sudden the tracks got halographic sound. The instruments became much more fuller and 3 dimensional sounding with much more quieter background. Its like you are sitting in directly in the front of the Orchestra and you could hear music from all sides. I simply couldn't explain this properly. Oh my... a very different experience for sure. Thanks Ed and the Taiko Team for the awesome update!!!

Ed installed the new back-end build (XDMS Alpha 2.1) on my Extreme last night, as well as the front end on my Mac laptop. My iPad XDMS control app had auto-magically updated from TestFlight. Because Ed started not long before my bed-time, we let the re-scan of the D: drive continue through the night.

This morning I thought I had a problem, but it was just a non-fatal alpha-type bug that the Taiko team will squash later. In the process of taking a look at things Ed had me play some music.

Oh my gosh! Even with amps cold and lower than normal volume the music quality was, and is superb. I was wondering if there had been something more to the Alpha 2.1 build than just bug fixes and adding more functionality, but it wasn't until I checked in here that I see, indeed the SQ has taken a step up again.

Many thanks to Ed and the rest of the team. This just keeps getting better and better!

Steve Z

 

[EuroDriver]

Ed installed the new back-end build (XDMS Alpha 2.1) on my Extreme last night, as well as the front end on my Mac laptop. My iPad XDMS control app had auto-magically updated from TestFlight. Because Ed started not long before my bed-time, we let the re-scan of the D: drive continue through the night.

This morning I thought I had a problem, but it was just a non-fatal alpha-type bug that the Taiko team will squash later. In the process of taking a look at things Ed had me play some music.

Oh my gosh! Even with amps cold and lower than normal volume the music quality was, and is superb. I was wondering if there had been something more to the Alpha 2.1 build than just bug fixes and adding more functionality, but it wasn't until I checked in here that I see, indeed the SQ has taken a step up again.

Many thanks to Ed and the rest of the team. This just keeps getting better and better!

Steve Z

The new Alpha 2 backend has been tidied up, and so it is possible that the SQ might have ticked up

We do expect an appreciable SQ uptick when the Beta Backend is done with significant changes in the plumbing

 

[kswanson27]

This recording has the capability to pop out in an unsettling palpable fashion.
It really shows the difference between Roon and TAS very well.
View attachment 98868
TAS conveys very sculpted, snappy transients, effortless dynamics, not a sign of smearing, and a sense of more 'nothing' in between the instruments.
Curious about XDMS (patiently waiting for beta stage) more than ever

Happy to report I ripped this CD to my Extreme HD, my first with XDMS, and ran scan and everything worked perfectly. It appeared where it was supposed to in the third bucket. An excellent recording BTW.

 

[theaudiogeek]

Ed installed the new back-end build (XDMS Alpha 2.1) on my Extreme last night, as well as the front end on my Mac laptop. My iPad XDMS control app had auto-magically updated from TestFlight. Because Ed started not long before my bed-time, we let the re-scan of the D: drive continue through the night.

This morning I thought I had a problem, but it was just a non-fatal alpha-type bug that the Taiko team will squash later. In the process of taking a look at things Ed had me play some music.

Oh my gosh! Even with amps cold and lower than normal volume the music quality was, and is superb. I was wondering if there had been something more to the Alpha 2.1 build than just bug fixes and adding more functionality, but it wasn't until I checked in here that I see, indeed the SQ has taken a step up again.

Many thanks to Ed and the rest of the team. This just keeps getting better and better!

Steve Z

Not sure what I missed in full blown Alpha 1... It's so refreshing to hear the excellent sound quality with the Alpha 2.1. It puts so much happiness in your heart. Thanks again team Taiko!

 

[Zeotrope]

The new Alpha 2 backend has been tidied up, and so it is possible that the SQ might have ticked up

We do expect an appreciable SQ uptick when the Beta Backend is done with significant changes in the plumbing

Great! Is 2.1 on TestFlight? I don’t think I see it.

Does anyone else find that a restart of the Extreme is required every few days to bring SQ back to normal? It could be in my head, but there’s some loss of “magic” and exuberance when it’s been running for a 5-6 days without a restart.

 

[EuroDriver]

Great! Is 2.1 on TestFlight? I don’t think I see it.

Does anyone else find that a restart of the Extreme is required every few days to bring SQ back to normal? It could be in my head, but there’s some loss of “magic” and exuberance when it’s been running for a 5-6 days without a restart.

We do suggest rebooting the Extreme weekly, but your experience of after 5 days is nice datapoint