what I find wonderful about this entire TAS project is that from what I am seeing this is an open platform that has the ability to perform in exactly the way we as a community want it to. There is no doubt in my mind that the direction in which Emile takes this server will be based on his judgement together with the collective opinions of everyone here. IOW Emile is determined to make this the very best SQ as well as creating a metadata system that will work for all of us. I don't recall when I got a life time subscription to Roon that my input was solicited as to what I would like to see and hear.
The give and take here with respect to ideas and opinions is so vastly different than the Roon forum and community. They think they know what's best for everyone and to have an opinion there serves only for them to say we are full of hot air and don't know what we are talking about. And as I have read, only 5% of all Roon subscribers are audiophiles. So here in our neck of the woods I find that we have a manufacturer whose sole interest is to provide the best SQ to his users and to solicit our input as to how the metadata should be searched
Emile started with a blank slate and only one goal. The fact that this is a work in progress and he is soliciting our input as he goes, for me speaks volumes as to how committed he is to bring us the very best. I have made the decision that for my ears Roon is not the answer and I am all in for whatever Emile does as I feel that he has taken up the gauntlet as to metadata and is exploring all feasible options having solicited outr input
I totally agree with Steve. who is the one who turned me onto the Taiko Audio Extreme and how it changed his overall audio relatedness. As a long-term, friend, I had a sense of how Steve listens, saw huge parallels with myself and took the leap. Yes the sound quality has fluctuated from time to time, but bottomline, I am listening to more music daily than I can ever remember (easily 5+ hours a day and up to 15 hours).
Dealing with Emile and Christoph has been a dream. They are so responsive and their objectives largely match mine. So as an Extreme owner I am more than 100% thrilled. I have seen enough to realize that Emile is a combination, of an audiophile, brilliant computer scientist, and perhaps most important, a very good human being who is passionate about producing the best for his customer base, who seem to essentially universally trust Emile's objectives and goals. I have a very elaborate system, but the cost of and Taiko SGM Extreme is not a pitance for this newly retired guy with an income reduction of 80%. BUT to date, the Extreme and its impact on my listening and related personal happiness from my system ranks as the single best investment I have made during my decades of being audiophile.
For me at this point on my audiophile front, Emile, Christoph and his other new employee's are my guide. I will cherish any improvements they make as I continue to enjoy, make that be thrilled to be privileged to be able to own a Taiko SGM Extreme and have a system capable of revealing most of it's current abilities as it continues to progressively evolve at an amazing rate in my opinion.
Bravo Emile, Christoph and all of the other contributors at Taiko Audio. You are my kind of people.