Taiko Audio XDMS - Extreme Direct Music Server Software

[Christiaan Punter]

​

Introduction​

---

XDMS is our proprietary Server/Player/Control software built from the ground up. Because it is created and maintained by in-house developers and coders, we are always in full control of every aspect of the software. That way, we can very effectively prevent unexpected changes in functionality, sound quality, and stability. Using several proprietary techniques that tie in directly with the firmware and operating system on the Extreme Music Server and its output section, we can further elevate the sound quality beyond what’s possible with 3rd party music server software. In addition, we can implement certain features that many users crave, such as direct folder browsing in addition to full metadata browsing.

Naturally, the software seamlessly integrates Qobuz and Tidal, along with track- and album favorites and full playlist functionality.

The app also works as an important central interface by offering direct access to some of the Extreme Server’s proprietary functionalities, such as RAM disk size, USB Sound Profiles, and various functions to optimize the USB output to the connected DAC. More functionality will be added later.

No need to choose

With XDMS, the user does not need to abandon Roon. Rather, an XDMS/Roon toggle switch in the XDMS app allows easy switching between the two software suites.

Control from all devices

The XDMS Control App is optimized for Apple iPad and runs on any screen size. Additionally, we have Control Apps available for Android, Windows 10 & 11, and MacOS 11.5 and newer. And at a later point, we will also release a phone-specific Mobile version for iOS and Android.

XDMS is currently in development but available by request for install in its Alpha release. Please note that Alpha is pre-beta and, as such, is not yet 100 stable nor entirely complete. To request an XDMS install, please get in touch with us via support@taikoaudio.com.

XDMS on Discord

We have a dedicated server on Discord where we publish release notes and further info, updates, and downloads whilst providing a dedicated place for users to discuss and receive support.

XDMS Policy​

---

Please read this policy carefully before using XDMS. By using the software, you agree to our terms. Do not use XDMS if you do not agree with these terms.

Access and Support

Please use only our dedicated ‘Taiko XDMS’ Discord channel to post issues and/or request support.

To receive an invite for Discord, send a request to support@taikoaudio.com. Do not send other XDMS-related requests via this email address, as we prioritize non-XDMS support calls.

Our XDMS channel on What’s Best Forum provides information about XDMS. This forum is not intended for support.

Important Notes

We strongly advise not to rely on XDMS as the only playback software.

We urge users to keep Roon up to date by logging in at least monthly, so as not to miss an update. Allowing the software to lapse too far behind can cause issues that may require a Roon reinstall.

XDMS is installed next to Roon. Switching back from XDMS to Roon is always possible.

Disclaimer

XDMS is provided only as part of Alpha testing. The program provides early access to cutting-edge software to
find bugs and advance its state. Alpha testing is intended for people with inquisitive minds. It is not intended for those who seek a replacement for Roon and want to rely solely on XDMS as their primary music playback solution.

The XDMS software is still being developed and lacks certain features. It undergoes frequent changes, during which features may be added or removed. The software can become unstable or inoperable due to back-end or control app updates. Personalized playlists or settings may be wiped as a result of updates or reinstalls. Switching between Roon and XDMS is done via the XDMS app. As a result, a change in the XDMS software may make Roon unavailable.

XDMS requires basic Windows operating skills, such as familiarity with Windows Explorer and knowledge of Network Drive Mapping (Samba Shares), TeamViewer, and VNC. Additionally, using XDMS assumes familiarity with Discord for retrieving information and updates.

While we have a dedicated team of developers working on XDMS, we do not have unlimited time available for support. We provide the fastest response time via Discord, but we are not always able to respond to every request. We do not offer XDMS support via our regular helpdesk.
The points outlined above are considered part of standard Alpha/Beta testing and cannot be grounds for complaint.

Do not join the XDMS program:

• If you lack basic Windows operating skills
• If your aim is not to contribute to the development of XDMS
• If you want to rely solely on XDMS in place of Roon
• If you are not prepared to take the risk of XDMS becoming inoperable
• If you are not prepared to temporarily lose access to Roon due to an issue with XDMS

 

[admin1959]

Nice new thread guys!

 

[Legolas]

Indeed.

 

[steve williams]

It has taken me the past 6 hours to break away from my sound room as I felt the following post was going to detail something special and I was pondering as to what I should call this following post.........
WTF Did I Just Hear
I need a Depenz As I Just Peed My Pants
I'm Pinching myself to Be Sure I'm Not Dreaming

Or

I Heard NSM

As many know I have been in Hawaii for the past week and haven't had a chance listen to my system until yesterday after 9 day absence. I turned everything on and let it warm up for an hour and had a great couple of hours listening to XDMS mainly and a finally a few demo tracks on Roon. I thought honestly both were excellent and I understand the dichotomy of preferences here at WBF. It's a flavor and both to my ears sounded excellent.

I woke up this morning with a text >>>>"do I want NSM installed"

That was when I called for the Depenz and said 'Duh'

As always it happened via Team Viewer and I watched the install which took less than 10 minutes and a few trouble shooting minutes confirmed something that another Taiko member heard I, had the same problem and an instant patch was done and it was business as usual

I was told that I am only the 6th person in the world to hear NSM so I was stoked as I have been awaiting this since it was announced in June

For now NSM is being used over the XDMS control app until Monday when there will be a new control app specific for NSM. My XDMS app is Build 81 and Scanner version 95 ( the latest)

Before signing off, I asked if there is any thing that I should avoid and was told not to use the forward button on the mini player but was told how for now to stop what you are playing and how to advance to whatever track you wish to play. It was no big deal.

As soon as I played the first file I knew immediately I was hearing something special

Thats when I said "WTF did I just hear?"

Cut to the chase and to try to put some understanding to what I heard the best comparison is this. Yesterday when I listened to XDMS and Roon, I felt both were equal and pick your flavor. Today I can say in no uncertain terms that NSM has not only equalled the beauty of Roon but sonically it was giant steps ahead of not only Roon but so also XDMS

That's when I said "I'm Pinching myself to Be Sure I'm Not Dreaming"

To address Roon, which I felt essential, as I admittedly have bias to XDMS, I found Roon when compared to NSM sound somewhat grainy and distant and veiled when compared to NSM

I played 4 different demo discs that I always use and in every format. I can tell you that it didn't matter what format was being played as the SQ was so magnificent.

But here is the interesting part, NSM has a Roon sound to it but so much better

As the saying goes, you cannot unring a bell once heard and such was the case with NSM

I have referenced many files I play to demo certain features and heard me talk about Duende by Black light syndrome . The deep bass from about 17-33 seconds is the best resolution I have ever heard. I made the same statement a few weeks ago when Emile didi the fix for the Roon update problems and added some NSM special sauce. Well today it was the best I've heard by a long shot.

Forget the proverbial deeper, wider...etc, etc what was immediately noticeable in no particular order was huge improvement in
Decay, texture, and micro detail. I was , as the saying goes hearing things I had not noticed before. The snap of the drum skins and the sound coming off a plucked guitar string literally brought me to attention. What I am pretty certain I also heard with respect to XDMS was a reduction in high frequency noise which somehow must have been affecting the signal as I once again found the need to reduce the gain on my preamp. Beyond that I have no idea what Emile, Ed, Pavel and especially Wilson have been doing as unbeknownst to me NSM has been a complete rewrite of XDMS by Wilson

All of the above brings me back to memories several years ago when with a new update the SQ of Roon took a nose dive and there was great discussion in the Taiko Extreme thread as to cause. Several days later Emile posts something to the effect that he did some research into the cause and proudly said with no hesitation that he felt he could produce a product such as Roon but with only one thing in mind and that was to deliver the best SQ. That caught my attention. Soon thereafter TAS was introduced by Emile to start the ball rolling and I became an alpha tester and have been on this amazing Taiko ride through TAS, then every control app build and scanner update of XDMS which has now received Qobuz licensure and hopefully Tidal too to follow at which time I gather NSM alpha will be introduced. I would encourage anyone who is on the band wagon still with respect to Roon and switching to XDMS, updating to NSM is an absolute must I listened for hours and everything I played brought such a sense of presence that I knew that Emile long go promised the two biggest sonic upticks were to be
NSM followed by the Battery Power Supply which he felt would bring the biggest sonic uptick to date with the promise that NSM is going to become better still

After today I believe this and am convinced that Emile and his amazing Taiko team are on the verge of breakthrough in advancing the state of digital audio and I a looking forward to Emile's presentation on Wednesday

For now I can deal with the fact that the forward button doesn't work because today was a day in digital that I never knew possible and I say this from someone who prior to obtaining my Extreme was virtually all analogue. To say that Taiko has reached the sound of analogue has been reached by NSM is still a stretch but it used to be a hop, skip and a jump

I, for one, cannot wait to hear the BPS and as I understand it there is an easy field installable version and a one box version. My interest lies with the latter for no other reason that I have run out of shelf space

For now however, once all the alpha users who huddle every day in Discord helping to iron out the bugs and make great suggestions, if you are given the chance to have NSM installed on your system, I can tell you the hype with this update is more than I ever imagined possible, yet I find myself saying the same thing with each Taiko update. So run, don't walk the the opportunity presents itself

BTW, having NSM is backward incompatible if you wt to go back to compare although Ed said there are 4 files which can be installed that allows one to go back to XDMS

TBH, once you hear NSM, you won't feel the need to listen to XDMS and compare. I certainly don't

For now there are 3 assigned alpha users of NSM and I am privileged to be one of them. I have no idea who the other two are

My kudos to Emile, Ed and the great Taiko team. The past few years watching all of this happen has been a privilege for all of us devoted users

OK, I've said enough and am going back to listen.

and that's when I said, "I heard NSM"

 

[steve williams]

The future is here now !!

 

[theaudiogeek]

It has taken me the past 6 hours to break away from my sound room as I felt the following post was going to detail something special and I was pondering as to what I should call this following post.........
WTF Did I Just Hear
I need a Depenz As I Just Peed My Pants
I'm Pinching myself to Be Sure I'm Not Dreaming

Or

I Heard NSM

As many know I have been in Hawaii for the past week and haven't had a chance listen to my system until yesterday after 9 day absence. I turned everything on and let it warm up for an hour and had a great couple of hours listening to XDMS mainly and a finally a few demo tracks on Roon. I thought honestly both were excellent and I understand the dichotomy of preferences here at WBF. It's a flavor and both to my ears sounded excellent.

I woke up this morning with a text >>>>"do I want NSM installed"

That was when I called for the Depenz and said 'Duh'

As always it happened via Team Viewer and I watched the install which took less than 10 minutes and a few trouble shooting minutes confirmed something that another Taiko member heard I, had the same problem and an instant patch was done and it was business as usual

I was told that I am only the 6th person in the world to hear NSM so I was stoked as I have been awaiting this since it was announced in June

For now NSM is being used over the XDMS control app until Monday when there will be a new control app specific for NSM. My XDMS app is Build 81 and Scanner version 95 ( the latest)

Before signing off, I asked if there is any thing that I should avoid and was told not to use the forward button on the mini player but was told how for now to stop what you are playing and how to advance to whatever track you wish to play. It was no big deal.

As soon as I played the first file I knew immediately I was hearing something special

Thats when I said "WTF did I just hear?"

Cut to the chase and to try to put some understanding to what I heard the best comparison is this. Yesterday when I listened to XDMS and Roon, I felt both were equal and pick your flavor. Today I can say in no uncertain terms that NSM has not only equalled the beauty of Roon but sonically it was giant steps ahead of not only Roon but so also XDMS

That's when I said "I'm Pinching myself to Be Sure I'm Not Dreaming"

To address Roon, which I felt essential, as I admittedly have bias to XDMS, I found Roon when compared to NSM sound somewhat grainy and distant and veiled when compared to NSM

I played 4 different demo discs that I always use and in every format. I can tell you that it didn't matter what format was being played as the SQ was so magnificent.

But here is the interesting part, NSM has a Roon sound to it but so much better

As the saying goes, you cannot unring a bell once heard and such was the case with NSM

I have referenced many files I play to demo certain features and heard me talk about Duende by Black light syndrome . The deep bass from about 17-33 seconds is the best resolution I have ever heard. I made the same statement a few weeks ago when Emile didi the fix for the Roon update problems and added some NSM special sauce. Well today it was the best I've heard by a long shot.

Forget the proverbial deeper, wider...etc, etc what was immediately noticeable in no particular order was huge improvement in
Decay, texture, and micro detail. I was , as the saying goes hearing things I had not noticed before. The snap of the drum skins and the sound coming off a plucked guitar string literally brought me to attention. What I am pretty certain I also heard with respect to XDMS was a reduction in high frequency noise which somehow must have been affecting the signal as I once again found the need to reduce the gain on my preamp. Beyond that I have no idea what Emile, Ed, Pavel and especially Wilson have been doing as unbeknownst to me NSM has been a complete rewrite of XDMS by Wilson

Al of the above brings me back to memories several years ago when with a new update the SQ of Roon took a nose dive and there was great discussion in the Taiko Extreme thread as to cause. Several days later Emile posts something to the effect that he did some research into the cause and proudly said with no hesitation that he felt he could produce a product such as Roon but with only one thing in mind and that wa stop deliver the best SQ. That caught my attention. Too thereafter TAS was introduced by Emile to start the ball rolling and I blame an alpha tester and have been on this amazing Taikoride through TAS, then every control app build and scanner update of XDMS which has now received Qobuz licensure and hopefully Tidal too to follow at which time I gather NSM alpha will be introduced. I would encourage anyone who is on the band wagon still with respect to Roon and switching to XDMS, updating to NSM is an absolute must I listened for hours and everything I played brought such a sense of presence that I knew that Emile long go promised the two biggest sonic upticks were to be
NSM followed by the Battery Power Supply which he felt would bring the biggest sonic uptick to date with the promise that NSM is going to become better still

After today I believe this and am convinced that Emile and his amazing Taiko team are on the verge of breakthrough in advancing the state of digital audio and I a looking forward to Emile's presentation on Wednesday

For now I can deal with the fact that the forward button doesn't work because today was a day in digital that I never knew possible and I say this from someone who prior to obtaining my Extreme was virtually all analogue. To say that Taiko has reached the sound of analogue has been reached by NSM is still a stretch but it used to be a hop, skip and a jump

I, for one, cannot wait to hear the BPS and as I understand it there is an easy field installable version and a one box version. My interest lies with the latter for no other reason that I have run out of shelf space

For now however, once all the alpha users who huddle every day in Discord helping to iron out the bugs and make great suggestions, if you are given the chance to have NSM installed on your system, I can tell you the hype with this update is more than I ever imagined possible, yet I find myself saying the same thing with each Taiko update. So run, don't walk the the opportunity presents itself

BTW, having NSM is backward incompatible if you wt to go back to compare although Ed said there are 4 files which can be installed that allows one to go back to XDMS

TBH, once you hear NSM, you won't feel the need to listen to XDMS and compare. I certainly don't

For now there are 3 assigned alpha users of NSM and I am privileged to be one of them. I have no idea who the other two are

My kudos to Emile, Ed and the great Taiko team. The past few years watching all of this happen has been a privilege for all of us devoted users

OK, I've said enough and am going back to listen.

and that's when I said, "I heard NSM"

Thanks ! That is awesome to hear.. I can't even imagine the sonic bliss from NSM when we are already dazzled with the sound quality coming from XDMS.. looking forward to hearing NSM..

 

[steve williams]

Thanks ! That is awesome to hear.. I can't even imagine the sonic bliss from NSM when we are already dazzled with the sound quality coming from XDMS.. looking forward to hearing NSM..

It is the real deal

 

[John T]

It has taken me the past 6 hours to break away from my sound room as I felt the following post was going to detail something special and I was pondering as to what I should call this following post.........
WTF Did I Just Hear
I need a Depenz As I Just Peed My Pants
I'm Pinching myself to Be Sure I'm Not Dreaming

Or

I Heard NSM

As many know I have been in Hawaii for the past week and haven't had a chance listen to my system until yesterday after 9 day absence. I turned everything on and let it warm up for an hour and had a great couple of hours listening to XDMS mainly and a finally a few demo tracks on Roon. I thought honestly both were excellent and I understand the dichotomy of preferences here at WBF. It's a flavor and both to my ears sounded excellent.

I woke up this morning with a text >>>>"do I want NSM installed"

That was when I called for the Depenz and said 'Duh'

As always it happened via Team Viewer and I watched the install which took less than 10 minutes and a few trouble shooting minutes confirmed something that another Taiko member heard I, had the same problem and an instant patch was done and it was business as usual

I was told that I am only the 6th person in the world to hear NSM so I was stoked as I have been awaiting this since it was announced in June

For now NSM is being used over the XDMS control app until Monday when there will be a new control app specific for NSM. My XDMS app is Build 81 and Scanner version 95 ( the latest)

Before signing off, I asked if there is any thing that I should avoid and was told not to use the forward button on the mini player but was told how for now to stop what you are playing and how to advance to whatever track you wish to play. It was no big deal.

As soon as I played the first file I knew immediately I was hearing something special

Thats when I said "WTF did I just hear?"

Cut to the chase and to try to put some understanding to what I heard the best comparison is this. Yesterday when I listened to XDMS and Roon, I felt both were equal and pick your flavor. Today I can say in no uncertain terms that NSM has not only equalled the beauty of Roon but sonically it was giant steps ahead of not only Roon but so also XDMS

That's when I said "I'm Pinching myself to Be Sure I'm Not Dreaming"

To address Roon, which I felt essential, as I admittedly have bias to XDMS, I found Roon when compared to NSM sound somewhat grainy and distant and veiled when compared to NSM

I played 4 different demo discs that I always use and in every format. I can tell you that it didn't matter what format was being played as the SQ was so magnificent.

But here is the interesting part, NSM has a Roon sound to it but so much better

As the saying goes, you cannot unring a bell once heard and such was the case with NSM

I have referenced many files I play to demo certain features and heard me talk about Duende by Black light syndrome . The deep bass from about 17-33 seconds is the best resolution I have ever heard. I made the same statement a few weeks ago when Emile didi the fix for the Roon update problems and added some NSM special sauce. Well today it was the best I've heard by a long shot.

Forget the proverbial deeper, wider...etc, etc what was immediately noticeable in no particular order was huge improvement in
Decay, texture, and micro detail. I was , as the saying goes hearing things I had not noticed before. The snap of the drum skins and the sound coming off a plucked guitar string literally brought me to attention. What I am pretty certain I also heard with respect to XDMS was a reduction in high frequency noise which somehow must have been affecting the signal as I once again found the need to reduce the gain on my preamp. Beyond that I have no idea what Emile, Ed, Pavel and especially Wilson have been doing as unbeknownst to me NSM has been a complete rewrite of XDMS by Wilson

All of the above brings me back to memories several years ago when with a new update the SQ of Roon took a nose dive and there was great discussion in the Taiko Extreme thread as to cause. Several days later Emile posts something to the effect that he did some research into the cause and proudly said with no hesitation that he felt he could produce a product such as Roon but with only one thing in mind and that was to deliver the best SQ. That caught my attention. Soon thereafter TAS was introduced by Emile to start the ball rolling and I became an alpha tester and have been on this amazing Taiko ride through TAS, then every control app build and scanner update of XDMS which has now received Qobuz licensure and hopefully Tidal too to follow at which time I gather NSM alpha will be introduced. I would encourage anyone who is on the band wagon still with respect to Roon and switching to XDMS, updating to NSM is an absolute must I listened for hours and everything I played brought such a sense of presence that I knew that Emile long go promised the two biggest sonic upticks were to be
NSM followed by the Battery Power Supply which he felt would bring the biggest sonic uptick to date with the promise that NSM is going to become better still

After today I believe this and am convinced that Emile and his amazing Taiko team are on the verge of breakthrough in advancing the state of digital audio and I a looking forward to Emile's presentation on Wednesday

For now I can deal with the fact that the forward button doesn't work because today was a day in digital that I never knew possible and I say this from someone who prior to obtaining my Extreme was virtually all analogue. To say that Taiko has reached the sound of analogue has been reached by NSM is still a stretch but it used to be a hop, skip and a jump

I, for one, cannot wait to hear the BPS and as I understand it there is an easy field installable version and a one box version. My interest lies with the latter for no other reason that I have run out of shelf space

For now however, once all the alpha users who huddle every day in Discord helping to iron out the bugs and make great suggestions, if you are given the chance to have NSM installed on your system, I can tell you the hype with this update is more than I ever imagined possible, yet I find myself saying the same thing with each Taiko update. So run, don't walk the the opportunity presents itself

BTW, having NSM is backward incompatible if you wt to go back to compare although Ed said there are 4 files which can be installed that allows one to go back to XDMS

TBH, once you hear NSM, you won't feel the need to listen to XDMS and compare. I certainly don't

For now there are 3 assigned alpha users of NSM and I am privileged to be one of them. I have no idea who the other two are

My kudos to Emile, Ed and the great Taiko team. The past few years watching all of this happen has been a privilege for all of us devoted users

OK, I've said enough and am going back to listen.

and that's when I said, "I heard NSM"

Thanks a lot Steve! In my fragile state I shouldn't be reading information such as this! LOL!! Good stuff thanks...

 

[simorag]

Fundamental questions ... do we know what NSM means yet?!

New Sonic Magnificence
Next Sorcerer's Magic
Nothing Sounds More
Never Sounded Melius
Nothing Short of Magical
No Sh*t, just Music
....?

 

[Taiko Audio]

Fundamental questions ... do we know what NSM means yet?!

New Sonic Magnificence
Next Sorcerer's Magic
Nothing Sounds More
Never Sounded Melius
Nothing Short of Magical
No Sh*t, just Music
....?

My vote: Nothing Short of Magical

 

[wil]

Maybe I missed this detail, but I’m wondering when NSM will be available to the rest of the XDMS alpha users?

 

[steve williams]

Ed says it means "No Shit, just Music

He's onto something as he told me that after I listened and said "I think I just shit my pants"

 

[steve williams]

Or for doubters how about “ Never Say Maybe”

 

[Zeotrope]

WTF Did I Just Hear
I need a Depenz As I Just Peed My Pants
I'm Pinching myself to Be Sure I'm Not Dreaming

After ~6 months of not reading these posts, I really missed this hyperbole!
Exciting to hear that another big sonic improvement is (almost) here!

 

[Christiaan Punter]

Maybe I missed this detail, but I’m wondering when NSM will be available to the rest of the XDMS alpha users?

We're now moving full force ahead with NSM. Without being able to commit to a timeline, I can say it will be soon!

 

[EuroDriver]

We expect to be testing the NSM Control App 2.3.1 aka v 1 tomorrow morning and thereafter planning on about 3-5 NSM installs this week

Next week we will do 10 to 20 NSM installs

I will be in Oldenzaal this Wednesday for a Sound Check and functionality review

 

[MusicFellow]

We expect to be testing the NSM Control App 2.3.1 aka v 1 tomorrow morning and thereafter planning on about 3-5 NSM installs this week

Next week we will do 10 to 20 NSM installs

I will be in Oldenzaal this Wednesday for a Sound Check and functionality review

I already can feel the mail server at Oldenzaal breaking down with people trying to get on the list.

Ed, please make sure you wear your Santa outfit when doing the NSM installs for the full Taiko Christmas wonderland experience. Santa never had a soothing voice as Edward! ??

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...Ed, would it be possible to give a top-level description of the relationship between XDMS and NSM? I recognize Taiko has some news Wednesday, but maybe this is a different tact? Cheers...

 

[Christiaan Punter]

...Ed, would it be possible to give a top-level description of the relationship between XDMS and NSM? I recognize Taiko has some news Wednesday, but maybe this is a different tact? Cheers...

NSM is a further development of the data handling technique used to play music with XDMS. It achieves Sound Quality previously unachievable with the older architecture.

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...thanks @Christiaan Punter
That was what I was looking for to understand the "size" of the undertaking on my end. So, it is "in harmony" with XDMS, it sounds like, only it sounds like it's mo' better. Cheers...