Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

[Kris]

Yes, it’s just about the direct switch to server interface. It supports both fiber and copper.

Dear Emile
This is fantastic idea and I hope everyone of us can get this switch soon.
It is going to be hard to wait, but there is nothing we can do to help I think.
I see this switch will work in harmony with the others BUT
I really wanted to know if it will be recommended by Taiko to use other audiophile switches?

In other words:
will additional switches be offering serious SQ benefits ?
OR
Taiko switch will be taking lets say 95% of the final Sound signature and additional Melcos and Telegartners will add 5% only ?
I am sure you will test it for us as you have many different switches and your opinion will be a great value for all of us as always !
thank you

 

[Steve Williams]

Dear Emile
This is fantastic idea and I hope everyone of us can get this switch soon.
It is going to be hard to wait, but there is nothing we can do to help I think.
I see this switch will work in harmony with the others BUT
I really wanted to know if it will be recommended by Taiko to use other audiophile switches?

In other words:
will additional switches be offering serious SQ benefits ?
OR
Taiko switch will be taking lets say 95% of the final Sound signature and additional Melcos and Telegartners will add 5% only ?
I am sure you will test it for us as you have many different switches and your opinion will be a great value for all of us as always !
thank you

Perhaps I am incorrect but my take on this is Emile's way to devise a switch that satisfies the desired SQ of the Extreme without having to use anything else but the Taiko switch. Can someone explain to my simple mind why multiple switches become necessary if all they are doing is tuning the sound

 

[cat6man]

my take on this is that taiko will be able to control the flow of data to/from the extreme.
how often is data transferred, in what size packages/chunks, etc.
if this is under the control of other devices, it can be accounted for to some extent, but if you control the transfer process for the data (how, when) you can control directly a number of factors that can only be mitigated today.
i'd guess it is a way to reduce noise due to uncontrolled (by taiko) data transfer

 

[Kris]

Perhaps I am incorrect but my take on this is Emile's way to devise a switch that satisfies the desired SQ of the Extreme without having to use anything else but the Taiko switch. Can someone explain to my simple mind why multiple switches become necessary if all they are doing is tuning the sound

I hope you are right Steve !
There is so much variability with use of different switches
that good Taiko switch could be the cure for all of this

 

[Taiko Audio]

Dear Emile
This is fantastic idea and I hope everyone of us can get this switch soon.
It is going to be hard to wait, but there is nothing we can do to help I think.
I see this switch will work in harmony with the others BUT
I really wanted to know if it will be recommended by Taiko to use other audiophile switches?

In other words:
will additional switches be offering serious SQ benefits ?
OR
Taiko switch will be taking lets say 95% of the final Sound signature and additional Melcos and Telegartners will add 5% only ?
I am sure you will test it for us as you have many different switches and your opinion will be a great value for all of us as always !
thank you

Hi Kris,

@cat6man described it pretty well. It is indeed about being able to adjust or "tune" the Extreme network interface to a single model switch. We will know exactly which features the switch supports, in fact we selected the switch fabric to support a few features / specific parameters we find to be beneficial to sound quality. It also provides a good degree of what "isolation" should look like from our perspective.

I would like to make it abundantly clear that it is not designed as a "superior" switch to other audiophile switch offerings, it is designed to work optimally in conjunction with the Extreme to take a big chunk of variable performance out of the equation. By now it must be clear that audiophile switch preference is variable as it provides a significant means of altering the total system tonal balance. We can configure the Extreme to perform well with a large range of standard switches which impart minimal "colouration" but when people start using their network to alter the tonal balance to their personal preference and/or adjust balance to what works better in their environment things start to get complicated. The variable feedback on several popular switches are proof of that. We are now moving beyond different price range switches supporting different feature sets which we can compensate for, rather these all provide different sonic perspectives some like and others don't. So you can consider this as our attempt to introduce a factor of performance stability in the (crazy) world of network tweaking.

This will not remove the influence of other network components used, those will still impart their sonic signatures, though to a lesser degree. This switch will enable us to guarantee stability in a balanced combination of clarity, midrange density/palpability/colour saturation, image/soundstage size, vibrancy and energy.

 

[Blackmorec]

By far the biggest influence I’ve experienced is the power supply used with the switch. I also haven’t noticed tonal shifts with PS upgrades...what I have observed are substantial increases in detail, purity and transparency, which I assume are HF noise and stability related.

 

[Skanda]

i know it's early days and all, but any idea of planned pricing for the taiko switch? i'm currently using standard switch etc and waiting till there is a clearer path in that realm before i start plonking down money. to that end, blackmorec, your findings are very interesting and intuitively i had expected that to be a big part of a performance upgrade. maybe i can start by rigging my standard stuff into a better lps....

 

[Taiko Audio]

Really can't say at this stage, I just design and see what it costs later, not planning for big margins so it should be reasonable, though it has 12 separate regulator sections already for 3 ports (2x rj45, 1x SFP) which are going to dissipate around 10 watts, it's going to need heatsinks.

 

[Skanda]

Really can't say at this stage, I just design and see what it costs later, not planning for big margins so it should be reasonable, though it has 12 separate regulator sections already for 3 ports (2x rj45, 1x SFP) which are going to dissipate around 10 watts, it's going to need heatsinks.

wow, this is going to be sick!

 

[Taiko Audio]

Hello everybody,

While work continues on TAS, we have JPlay back in action with a similar effect as it used to have before. If anybody would like to volunteer to test it and provide feedback please let me know. As a reminder, Jplay supports up to DSD128, Roon can automatically down sample DSD256/512 to DSD128 by setting the maximum supported DSD rate to DSD128 in the Roon Jplay device audio settings.

 

[matthias]

While work continues on TAS, we have JPlay back in action with a similar effect as it used to have before.

Hi Emile,

does TAS work best solo or also together with JPlay?
Thanks

Matt

 

[Taiko Audio]

Hi Emile,

does TAS work best solo or also together with JPlay?
Thanks

Matt

Haven't tested yet, but it can be routed through Jplay.

 

[oldmustang]

Quite an improvement in immediacy and vibrancy with JPlay enabled again. Outstanding work from Emile and team Taiko!

Steve Z

 

[pjwd]

View attachment 67109
Quite an improvement in immediacy and vibrancy with JPlay enabled again. Outstanding work from Emile and team Taiko!

Steve Z

Great track thanks OM

Phil

 

[Kris]

View attachment 67109
Quite an improvement in immediacy and vibrancy with JPlay enabled again. Outstanding work from Emile and team Taiko!

Steve Z

I had a great pleasure to get this Jplay update today .
Marcin and Josef did create a great program to support our needs.
Thanks to Emile for his fantastic work updating my extreme I have a great time now with any kind of music .That is rare . Usually I get great results with some specific files or tracks and no so with the others. Here all sounds great.

I must say I totally agree with Steve Z (again ). We must have a simmilar tonal balance in our systems to get to the same conclusions.

I am amazed AGAIN by the Taiko Team and Emile helping us to get
better and better effects every time they touch our Extreme , even if this touch is
from far far away Netherlands.
Fantastic work Emile !
Thank you
Kris

 

[vjayh]

? Sorry, I'm trying to follow the latest- this is JPlay + Roon installed? What does JPlay do, and how is it installed with Roon? If it is downsampling to work on certain files like DXD etc what does it do and why should it be an improvement?

 

[Taiko Audio]

? Sorry, I'm trying to follow the latest- this is JPlay + Roon installed? What does JPlay do, and how is it installed with Roon? If it is downsampling to work on certain files like DXD etc what does it do and why should it be an improvement?

Jplay is an USB exclusive “tweak”. It does DXD, it used to be limited to DSD128 but it does DSD256 on the Aqua Formula and the Lampizator Pacific with the new XMOS USB interface now.

 

[matthias]

Lampizator Pacific with the new XMOS USB interface

Emile,
does the Pac sound better with the new XMOS?
Thanks

Matt

 

[Taiko Audio]

Emile,
does the Pac sound better with the new XMOS?
Thanks

Matt

I don’t have a Pacific with Amanero to compare. I would imagine they primarily switched to XMOS to get away from having to flash different firmwares for different operating systems, but wouldn’t surprise me if it sounds better too. This Pacific is pretty new and burning in but it’s quite an energy bomb already.

 

[Steve Williams]

Emile,
does the Pac sound better with the new XMOS?
Thanks

Matt

I discussed it with Fred who told me the same as what Emile posted. Fred also felt that there is a slight boost in SQ with the new XMOS