Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

[Kris]

I hope Emile will consider the massive copper heatsink also for USB card and TACDA card.
If this brings additional SQ benefits for the Net card it should be the same for all other Taiko cards.
Also it looks a way more impressive than a naked card.
It is hard to get the inner beauty and outside loveliness in one package those days.

 

[nonesup]

I think it would be good if for the cards that were going to be sent today, the packaging would be checked, even if it delays the shipment.

 

[Taiko Audio]

It really is a puzzlement as to how all those cards were bent yet the packaging seemed unimpaired. My hypothesis is that Emile ordered those FedEx planes to fly close to the sun to pressure test the card's performance to increased heat until the copper deformed from partial melting. Excellent quality control, Taiko!

Apparently, mine arrived on a different flight as it arrived perfectly straight. Just lucky I guess.

The brackets do bend when dropped from a 5 meter height, which apparently is a real life scenario.

We are now repacking the remaining cards like this, I hope it’s enough, it survives the newly introduced 7 meter height drop test

 

[RUIN*ish]

The brackets do bend when dropped from a 5 meter height, which apparently is a real life scenario.

We are now repacking the remaining cards like this, I hope it’s enough, it survives the newly introduced 7 meter height drop test

View attachment 107539
View attachment 107540

When too much is just enough..
Mn

 

[Rhapsody]

It really is a puzzlement as to how all those cards were bent yet the packaging seemed unimpaired. My hypothesis is that Emile ordered those FedEx planes to fly close to the sun to pressure test the card's performance to increased heat until the copper deformed from partial melting. Excellent quality control, Taiko!

Apparently, mine arrived on a different flight as it arrived perfectly straight. Just lucky I guess.

I heard Fedex was playing baseball and using the boxes as the ball.

Data point - my new card has been playing for 18 hours with the top on, all good.

 

[RUIN*ish]

I've found giving a parcel to any carrier is no less than crossing the event horizon of a black hole.
Mn

 

[nonesup]

What I don't understand is how we miss the way packages are handled by transport companies. It is something more than known that they are authentic savages with the merchandise of others, for this reason it is necessary to take extreme measures to protect the packaging.

 

[Tuckia]

My UPS delivery guy told me he made $120k last year. At least he does a good job. But you would think caring about quality and service would be something you could expect at this level. Another UPS guy delivered a 100 lb. tube amp to me. He dropped it from his waist to my feet. Nothing but the sound of broken glass. Had to be a packaging problem.

 

[Steve williams]

Let's dwell on the positive. Even with the bend it was easy to insert the card and for me all I did to get the new IP address was to use XDMS settings , I clicked fetch and the new IP address instantly appeared and connected to the server. I listened most of the day to my internal files and it was quite a revelation. I would expect the router to surface next in the great scheme of things and my bet is Taiko has learned from some of the delivery and packaging issues.
@Taiiko Audio , I have left enough space beside my switch on the shelf below my Extreme where the router will sit side by side to the switch. After the router shows up I can only imagine that the next Taiko product would have to be the new Extreme and BPS. Once that happens then some serious systems will be showing up around the world. I know that on my side of the world, the one box Extreme with BPS is on my radar pending the final measurements of this single box One could only assume that new Extreme should bring people close to streaming Valhalla ......but then we all remember Emile saying there are 17 projects in the pipeline that are due to be released over the coming years. I have no idea what any of those projects are except for his earlier discussion of his new interface which will supposedly obviate the need for USB, S/PDIF, AES/EBU etc and that there is early interest from Lampizator, TotalDac and MSB.I remember 4 years ago when the Roon sound quality with a certain Roon build was terrible. It was then that the idea went off in Emile's head that he wanted to control the signal from the time it enters the Extreme to the time it leaves the Extrem. It is abundantly clear that this is what has been going on. The low lying fruit that not every Extreme user has experienced is XDMS. I would think that Taiko must be very close to going from Alpha to Beta testing on XDMS. Once that happens I would encourage everyone to load the XDMS and do the comparison to Roon as there is now a simple switch in XDMS settings to switch from one to the other. The beauty is that if you're in love with Roon, that it too sounds so much better with XDMS ....however all bets are off when you switch back to XDMS

So for me the faulty card, new bracket and then the new card with heat sinks and bent bracket have been merely a few hiccups along the way. The reward was how quickly taiko recognized what the problem was and investigated intensely and created the solution with a turn around time at warp speed.

IMO all of these long awaited upgrades have heightened all of our listening experiences. The best example is being part of the XDMS alpha testers and literally watch the new platform grow and change on a daily basis. This plus the input from many knowledgeable members here with respect to computer coding seems to have facilitated the process as well as shortening the process. There still are some bugs to squash but all alpha testers have a meeting place on a Taiko channel in the Discord app where members have offered suggestions to implement what was felt to be necessary for XDMS users and the beauty is, Taiko, Ed and Christiaan have been listening as everything that has been requested has been implemented.

So at the end of the day yesterday I went to bed with a big grin on my face. Having spent the past 2 weeks listening to snippets of XDMS before the heat issue reared its head and we all lost connection, it was a fun day of listening as I could hear the change along the course of the day and no loss of server connection whatsoever.

Keep it coming Taiko. These past few months seem to be the start to something far better than what we had before and loved. It's all good

 

[cat6man]

So at the end of the day yesterday I went to bed with a big grin on my face.

What he said!

 

[Steve williams]

What he said!

we are all looking forward to your impressions with your updated TotalDac

 

[jelt2359]

My Network Card had been running without issues since day 1 in hot and super sunny Singapore. Recently, however, I would suddenly lose connection to the Extreme and only a reboot can get it back online.

Could it be overheating? Maybe, but then why overheat now, and not way earlier? Anyways, I look forward to the new network card, the router, and the TACDA next.

 

[cat6man]

we are all looking forward to your impressions with your updated TotalDac

Quick answer: stunning, even cold out of the box. More after I let it all (network card and DAC) burn in a bit.

Executive summary: nothing left to do but smile smile smile.

Edit: strange but true----the first time I started to type "smile" up above, autocorrect on my pixel android phone corrected it to "Emile"

 

[oldmustang]

My new card has been running non-stop with the Extreme top cover installed since 1400 PDT yesterday. It's now 1000. I'm thinking the problem is solved and I'm going to torque the cover bolts later today. If it's going to misbehave, that should do it.

And as others have said, it sounds stunning.

Steve Z

 

[Steve williams]

My new card has been running non-stop with the Extreme top cover installed since 1400 PDT yesterday. It's now 1000. I'm thinking the problem is solved and I'm going to torque the cover bolts later today. If it's going to misbehave, that should do it.

And as others have said, it sounds stunning.

Steve Z

Have faith little grasshopper. Nothing is going awry Mine has been running since yesterday as well as mine was really a cold start as my old card was removed in anticipation of receiving the new card. Not sure how long it takes the capacitors to charge but the sound last night was much better than what I wax hearing yesterday morning.

 

[cat6man]

We are now repacking the remaining cards like this, I hope it’s enough, it survives the newly introduced 7 meter height drop test

when you do your 7 meter drop test of the extreme, could you film the test and post for us here?

 

[Tuckia]

when you do your 7 meter drop test of the extreme, could you film the test and post for us here?

Dropped into the waiting arms of a delivery man. Karma.

 

[QuantumWave]

when you do your 7 meter drop test of the extreme, could you film the test and post for us here?

I think UPS might take that as a dare and feel obliged to go the longer distance ….

 

[QuantumWave]

I think UPS might take that as a dare and feel obliged to go the longer distance ….

Sorry i meant the longer ‘height’

 

[Christiaan Punter]

What I don't understand is how we miss the way packages are handled by transport companies. It is something more than known that they are authentic savages with the merchandise of others, for this reason it is necessary to take extreme measures to protect the packaging.

The packing with a full foam insert was already very good and normally, it would have been more than enough. Alas, the handling is even more savage than anticipated and this, combined with the fact that copper is very malleable and bends more easily than steel, made us decide to absolutely bomb-proof our updated packing method.