Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

Mike Lavigne

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 25, 2010
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Emile made probably the same ajustments on my Extreme yesterday. I can pretty much agree exactly with your 5 points above. This took Emile 5 minutes to do and literally it was as significant as maybe upgrading an amplifier, dac or preamp in the system.

I am also using the FO set up that Mike mentioned above.

It is almost hard to believe what files and Qobuz sound like. Bravo Emile!!!

Emile also did some testing yesterday morning with me and we ended up with the some changes (likely the same as Bob and Esotar are reporting) and i agree with the results too. i appreciate Emile's continued push to find these little steps forward.
 

Mike Lavigne

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 25, 2010
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i think it's one thing to have really high level pieces in the digital music delivery system. and no doubt the Extreme, the MSB Select II (or other top level dacs), + the MSB Pro USB + this fibre network upgrade all take us a long way down the road.

but; the support and pursuit of optimization of all these tools by Emile is an amazing delivery of performance by a manufacturer. this is not a trivial thing. the collective 'Extreme' community (and the wider audience too) is well served. and most of us would be clueless to achieve anything like this by ourselves.

thank you to Emile. and i know you are not done.
 

microstrip

VIP/Donor
May 30, 2010
20,806
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Portugal
i miss spoke. this fibre link is directly from the Extreme to a Gigaswitch next to my NAS sitting upstairs. so it is the connection from my server to my home network. then i have a short Ethernet cable from that Gigaswitch to my NAS. in a few weeks all my files will be on the drives inside my Extreme. but for now i access most of my files from the NAS.

here are links to the pieces i installed last night; all spec'd by Emile. he also spec'd the settings on the FMC converter.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0747WZ8LZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FWJMTXU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0099S4WYE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Many thanks, I understand the layout now. It is great to have all this material accessible just a click away!
 

Taiko Audio

Industry Expert
Feb 10, 2017
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thank you to Emile. and i know you are not done.

Thank you! As for these updates customer feedback is of paramount importance.

I will confess to having a dream, which is streaming from online services to become the first pick for sound quality. The potential is there. We have managed to surpass local SATA SSD storage file playback sound quality with the Extreme. It's only by merit of PCIe storage, with its controllers integrated directly into the CPU's, which still elevates local file playback over streaming.

I envision an experience where you don't have to buy and download music, rip your cd collection, and having to worry about how/where to store all of that. Who actually enjoys doing that? If I wanted to collect and physically own music, I would not be using a server as a music source. It is the potential unlimited availability of all music ever produced, a single click away from manifesting itself in all its glory in my room, which makes my heart beat faster.

So no I'm not done :)
 

microstrip

VIP/Donor
May 30, 2010
20,806
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(...) I will confess to having a dream, which is streaming from online services to become the first pick for sound quality. The potential is there. We have managed to surpass local SATA SSD storage file playback sound quality with the Extreme. It's only by merit of PCIe storage, with its controllers integrated directly into the CPU's, which still elevates local file playback over streaming. (...)

Are there any legal aspects that prevent servers from streaming temporally into PCIe storage and play these files a few minutes later as local file playback?
 

Taiko Audio

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Feb 10, 2017
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Are there any legal aspects that prevent servers from streaming temporally into PCIe storage and play these files a few minutes later as local file playback?

It seems to be a problem with Spotify, I’m unaware of Tidal/Qobuz having issues with it. However since we’re using Roon, they would have to implement that to maintain a smooth experience.
 

wil

Well-Known Member
Jul 22, 2015
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Thank you! As for these updates customer feedback is of paramount importance.

I will confess to having a dream, which is streaming from online services to become the first pick for sound quality. The potential is there. We have managed to surpass local SATA SSD storage file playback sound quality with the Extreme. It's only by merit of PCIe storage, with its controllers integrated directly into the CPU's, which still elevates local file playback over streaming.

I envision an experience where you don't have to buy and download music, rip your cd collection, and having to worry about how/where to store all of that. Who actually enjoys doing that? If I wanted to collect and physically own music, I would not be using a server as a music source. It is the potential unlimited availability of all music ever produced, a single click away from manifesting itself in all its glory in my room, which makes my heart beat faster.

So no I'm not done :)

My dream as well. I'm confident you guys are going to get there.
 

Esotar

VIP/Donor
Mar 27, 2016
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www.digituslabs.kr
SGM Extreme users~!

Which fuse do you use???

I did 5 famous fuses comparison test.

1. SR [Black]

2. SR [Blue]

3. Audio Magic [Beeswax Super Fuse]

4. Audio Magic [Beeswax Ultimate Fuse]

5. HI FI Tuning [Supreme Fuse]

(All fuse is [20mm] [Slow] [2A])


In case of EVO, the best fuse is SR Blue.

But the best fuse for SGM Extreme is [Beeswax Ultimate Fuse].

[Beeswax Ultimate Fuse] makes Extreme sound style keep and Maximize.

And close to High End analogue sound.


Highly recommended~!!
 

Blue58

Well-Known Member
Jan 20, 2013
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London, UK
Very decent pricing, we pay more in Europe :cool:
But isn’t the SFP module a 1550nm and not 1310nm as recommended by MSB?
Also would a router with SFP port + LPS be better than a standalone MFC + LPS?
Just curious
 

Taiko Audio

Industry Expert
Feb 10, 2017
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But isn’t the SFP module a 1550nm and not 1310nm as recommended by MSB?
Also would a router with SFP port + LPS be better than a standalone MFC + LPS?
Just curious

The way MSB is using fiber is a different application, it is a proprietary I2s over fiber link with a few bells and whistles, it is sensitive to jitter. For networking, jitter has to be quite high to have any impact. We're talking picosecond versus millisecond sensitivity. The SFP modules listed here are simply the best "sounding" ones we've come across for networking so far.
 
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Blue58

Well-Known Member
Jan 20, 2013
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The way MSB is using fiber is a different application, it is a proprietary I2s over fiber link with a few bells and whistles, it is sensitive to jitter. For networking, jitter has to be quite high in networking to have any impact. We're talking picosecond versus millisecond sensitivity. The SFP modules listed here are simply the best "sounding" ones we've come across for networking so far.
Ah! Now I understand. Thank you Emile.
 

Taiko Audio

Industry Expert
Feb 10, 2017
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Ah! Now I understand. Thank you Emile.

You're welcome. The interesting thing to note is it does not make any sense why longer range would sound better, these SFP modules can transmit data over 80 kilometre long fiber links, we typically use 10-20 meters. It uses longer wavelengths and higher laser power to overcome the loss associated with the length. There are hundreds, if not thousands of SFP modules on the market. Prices range from around Euro 10 to Euro 4000 each, and you do need them in pairs. I cannot tell you if these Startech 1550nm / 80km modules are the best sounding ones, they are the best ones I've come across. Then again, I'm comparing SFP modules using the Extreme's fiber interface, with a different interface the preferred SFP modules might be different again. After decades of listening to all types of analogue interconnects we have developed somewhat of an understanding on what influences sound in what way in them. It may take quite some time before we have gathered enough datapoints to make more accurate predictions on what influences sound in what way in fiber networking links, and hopefully one day how and why.
 

CKKeung

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2011
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You're welcome. The interesting thing to note is it does not make any sense why longer range would sound better, these SFP modules can transmit data over 80 kilometre long fiber links, we typically use 10-20 meters. It uses longer wavelengths and higher laser power to overcome the loss associated with the length. There are hundreds, if not thousands of SFP modules on the market. Prices range from around Euro 10 to Euro 4000 each, and you do need them in pairs. I cannot tell you if these Startech 1550nm / 80km modules are the best sounding ones, they are the best ones I've come across. Then again, I'm comparing SFP modules using the Extreme's fiber interface, with a different interface the preferred SFP modules might be different again. After decades of listening to all types of analogue interconnects we have developed somewhat of an understanding on what influences sound in what way in them. It may take quite some time before we have gathered enough datapoints to make more accurate predictions on what influences sound in what way in fiber networking links, and hopefully one day how and why.
Hello Emile : very well said!

Hello WBF brothers : please share your experience of optical transmission on WBF. These are valuable datapoints for all of us.
 
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spiritofmusic

Well-Known Member
Jun 13, 2013
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Is there any mileage to be had in using an audiophile switch w Extreme, eg SoTM or soon to be released Uptone EtherRegen?
 

spiritofmusic

Well-Known Member
Jun 13, 2013
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I thought so Emile. I just wasn't sure if Extreme wasn't so impressive as for the switch to be rendered less vital.
 

Taiko Audio

Industry Expert
Feb 10, 2017
4,233
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taikoaudio.com
I thought so Emile. I just wasn't sure if Extreme wasn't so impressive as for the switch to be rendered less vital.

Well you know, it is "less sensitive" to it then for example the EVO, one of the reasons why it does such a good job with streaming, but we have not reached a state of immunity.
 

wil

Well-Known Member
Jul 22, 2015
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After skimming this thread, I haven't noticed any sq comparisons of the Extreme's PCIe-stored files and CD playback.

Mike has reported that, as good as his digital is with the Taiko and the Msb, that he still gets more from his sota vinyl set up.

But, what about sota cd spinners? Has anyone compared to the Extreme local file playback?
 

Esotar

VIP/Donor
Mar 27, 2016
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South Korea
www.digituslabs.kr
I have tested Extreme with Metronome T8.

Ten members (Plus me) said Extreme is much better than T8

But I'm not satisfied with this result.

I want to compare Extreme with Calista Dream Play CDT.

But no one has it.

As my anticipation, Extreme will be better than Calista.

Because the difference between Extreme and T8 was too big.
 

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