Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

[oldmustang]

Listening with the new Taiko router > Taiko switch > NIC/Extreme, using the Taiko DC Distributor unfiltered outputs (powered by an Uptone Audio JS-2 linear power supply) is quite an experience even without significant burn-in.

Last night I listened to music via Roon for the first time since early June (according to Roon's queue history). I thought Roon sounded pretty darn good; certainly good enough that I was able to thoroughly enjoy all the music I played without being distracted wondering how much better it might sound via XDMS.

Tonight, the longer I listened the more I realized how much better everything sounds with the Taiko router providing a music-only sub-LAN. First impressions -- this is by far the best I have ever heard Roon sound. Denser tonal saturation, truer timbre, better dynamics, much more depth and dimensionality. There is another whole layer of fine detail, subtle nuance and enhanced texture I've never heard before from very familiar music.

I had absolutely no desire to switch back to XDMS, so that comparison will have to wait for another day. In the meantime I am very, very impressed by the Taiko router.



Steve Z

 

[Christiaan Punter]

Hi all, here is V1 of the DC Power Distributor Manual, containing info for the novice as well as the experienced user. It's also in the Downloads section on the Taiko website.

Taiko Audio Downloads – Taiko Audio

taikoaudio.com

 

[Taiko Audio]

Just a quick question.
The time is wrong here.
in my router at 18:28 it was showing 16:28
I understand it is synced with NTP Server and thats why the time on router is different,
Best
K

Yes you can sync with your web browser or use a NTP server (default configuration). Will look into the 2 hour offset.

 

[Taiko Audio]

What are people's strategy for copying music files to their Extreme with the new router? With the wifi being pretty slow, just copying one hires album took almost 15 minutes. Are people going to temporarily connect a laptop to the router via a wired connection for file transfer?

You could indeed connect a machine to one of the router's LAN ports for the full 1Gb transfer speed. Or temporary connect the Extreme directly to your home network. Or configure port forwarding in the router, which is a bit more elaborate. We'll put writing a manual for that on the to-do list. The Taiko Router does not work differently then any other router in that regard. I understand introducing a router in your network may take some getting used to, it's up to you if you find the SQ improvement worth it

 

[Taiko Audio]

View attachment 118050

Load plugs mentioned earlier -- 5.5/2.5mm DC plugs and 24 ohm 10W resistors. At an LPS voltage setting of 12VDC they give approximately 500ma/6W of current/power dissipation per DCD filter section.

Steve Z

Very creative

 

[Taiko Audio]

Listening with the new Taiko router > Taiko switch > NIC/Extreme, using the Taiko DC Distributor unfiltered outputs (powered by an Uptone Audio JS-2 linear power supply) is quite an experience even without significant burn-in.

Last night I listened to music via Roon for the first time since early June (according to Roon's queue history). I thought Roon sounded pretty darn good; certainly good enough that I was able to thoroughly enjoy all the music I played without being distracted wondering how much better it might sound via XDMS.

Tonight, the longer I listened the more I realized how much better everything sounds with the Taiko router providing a music-only sub-LAN. First impressions -- this is by far the best I have ever heard Roon sound. Denser tonal saturation, truer timbre, better dynamics, much more depth and dimensionality. There is another whole layer of fine detail, subtle nuance and enhanced texture I've never heard before from very familiar music.

I had absolutely no desire to switch back to XDMS, so that comparison will have to wait for another day. In the meantime I am very, very impressed by the Taiko router.

View attachment 118052

Steve Z

Looking forward to your impressions of the DCD filters!

 

[Taiko Audio]

May be this has been answered already? Should I get a dedicated iPad/Tablet for using XDMS? Nothing else will be used with this? What is the recommendation? iPad or an Android tablet?

That's really up to yourself. What you could try first is switching your tablet to "low data mode", that disables app background activity, stops data syncing etc, see if you hear a noticeable difference from that before deciding if it's worth it to purchase a dedicated tablet. Link: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210596

 

[Taiko Audio]

Any update on this?

Nearing completion. The prototypes are working very well. We're in the last stages of fine tuning the analogue output stage (hardware) and the drivers (software). We have SPDIF out virtually finished. AES/EBU would be the next step, a bit more elaborate as we'd want that to have DUAL AES/EBU functionality. I2S variants are going to come later as that's not a defined standard, aka you have muting to worry about when changing between PCM/DSD etc. That is going to take some considerable additional effort.

 

[QuantumWave]

Nearing completion. The prototypes are working very well. We're in the last stages of fine tuning the analogue output stage (hardware) and the drivers (software). We have SPDIF out virtually finished. AES/EBU would be the next step, a bit more elaborate as we'd want that to have DUAL AES/EBU functionality. I2S variants are going to come later as that's not a defined standard, aka you have muting to worry about when changing between PCM/DSD etc. That is going to take some considerable additional effort.

Count me in for the SPDIF version

 

[Christiaan Punter]

May be this has been answered already? Should I get a dedicated iPad/Tablet for using XDMS? Nothing else will be used with this? What is the recommendation? iPad or an Android tablet?

The vast majority of users have an iPad and that is what we usually regard as the standard. You can use a dedicated tablet or the one you already use (either iPad or Android) and just switch Wi-Fi networks as needed/desired.

 

[Taiko Audio]

Count me in for the SPDIF version

I would not dismiss direct analogue out Maybe we should provide both daughterboards so you can run your own comparisons.

 

[Kris]

Count me in for the SPDIF version

I am in that camp .
for some reason I prefer Spdif / AES Over anything else.

 

[Kris]

I would not dismiss direct analogue out Maybe we should provide both daughterboards so you can run your own comparisons.

Fantastic news Emile !
I would love to do head to head comparison.

 

[MusicFellow]

I would not dismiss direct analogue out Maybe we should provide both daughterboards so you can run your own comparisons.

Is there a chance the TACDA is shipped before Christmas as I need to free up the powercord from my DAC.
Another option would be the BPS…

So one of the two before Christmas would be gooooood!

 

[Kris]

Is there a chance the TACDA is shipped before Christmas as I need to free up the powercord from my DAC.
Another option would be the BPS…

So one of the two before Christmas would be gooooood!

I would love to have it ALL and NOW, but I strongly prefer to give Emile and his Team as much time as they want to get the much better device little later.
I learned to be patient as this turns to benefit everyone in the end.

 

[Blue58]

i’m patiently waiting for a comparison between the TACDA and the Formula XHD.
any thoughts Christian?

 

[SwissTom]

@Taiko Audio

Hi Emile,

Will it be possible to add an external clock to the TACDD-S/PDIF card?

My DAC is the Soulution 760.

It has a pretty decent internal clock which can be used to synchronise a S/PDIF source.

Do you feel it would be interesting to use an external clock, such as the one in the Soulution 760, with the TACDD-S/PDIF card?

Cheers,

Thomas

 

[Taiko Audio]

@Taiko Audio

Hi Emile,

Will it be possible to add an external clock to the TACDD-S/PDIF card?

My DAC is the Soulution 760.

It has a pretty decent internal clock which can be used to synchronise a S/PDIF source.

Do you feel it would be interesting to use an external clock, such as the one in the Soulution 760, with the TACDD-S/PDIF card?

Cheers,

Thomas

It would be possible but a pretty significant downgrade to performance, imho

 

[SwissTom]

It would be possible but a pretty significant downgrade to performance, imho

Intuitively I would have thought the opposite.

That's interesting, thank you

I'm not familiar with the S/PDIF interface, but it seemed to me that one of its limitations is precisely linked to the clock and the synchronisation.

It would be interesting to compare it with the USB card.

Assuming that on the DAC side the implementation of the S/PDIF and USB interfaces are of equivalent quality, which interface on the Extreme side would be the best? USB and TACDD-S/PDIF?

 

[MarcelNL]

I'm all ears for an I2S version....basically the format is more or less defined, the output connector and it's pins are not which is why you see loads of dip switches on DDC units and Rj45 and HDMI connectors.
If the I2S output would be adaptable by the user (or preconfigured in a menu) I2S probably gets easier to implement.