Introducing Olympus & Olympus I/O - A new perspective on modern music playback

[Steve Williams]

Has anyone here with O and or O/IO and using either MSB DAC or Lamp DAC with digital board and XDMI chosen to abandon their digital board and use the analogue board?

Im not aware of anyone . I do know several users who have tried both boards and..........I cannot comment as I have only used the digital board and simply find no reason to consider a change . The other mitigating factor is the task involved to do the switch as the board resides in the IO which is sitting under the Olympus. Im still of the feeling that at some point Emile will find his head above water and will be able to dedicate a visit to my house for an open house event where we can do that comparison. Im hoping the best way to do that A-B test is if he brings a 2nd IO with the analog card and the A=B test can be don by merely switching inputs on the QSFP cable from my IO to his

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...MSB solution has not yet shipped, so far as I am aware.

 

[dminches]

Has anyone here with O and or O/IO and using either MSB DAC or Lamp DAC with digital board and XDMI chosen to abandon their digital board and use the analogue board?

Im not aware of anyone . I do know several users who have tried both boards and..........I cannot comment as I have only used the digital board and simply find no reason to consider a change . The other mitigating factor is the task involved to do the switch as the board resides in the IO which is sitting under the Olympus. Im still of the feeling that at some point Emile will find his head above water and will be able to dedicate a visit to my house for an open house event where we can do that comparison. Im hoping the best way to do that A-B test is if he brings a 2nd IO with the analog card and the A=B test can be don by merely switching inputs on the QSFP cable from my IO to his

Steve, you need to hire the same people who helped you before to swap out the card. You are a critical data point.

 

[Steve Williams]

I totally understand.

I think the corollary to my question also begs asking....Is there any O/IO user who uses an external DAC with the digital board connecting via AES/EBU and prefers it over the analogue board. I Don't think I have read one who does

 

[SwissTom]

Is there any O/IO user who uses an external DAC with the digital board connecting via AES/EBU and prefers it over the analogue board.

I believe @oldmustang tried both options, the DAC and the digital interface.
Unless I’m mistaken, he preferred the Taiko DAC over his dCS Vivaldi DAC.

cheers,

Thomas

 

[dminches]

I believe @oldmustang tried both options, the DAC and the digital interface.
Unless I’m mistaken, he preferred the Taiko DAC over his dCS Vivaldi DAC.

cheers,

Thomas

He did and is selling or sold his dCS.

 

[Steve Williams]

I believe @oldmustang tried both options, the DAC and the digital interface.
Unless I’m mistaken, he preferred the Taiko DAC over his dCS Vivaldi DAC.

cheers,

Thomas

Precisely my point....doesnt the dCS Vivaldi connect digital board via aes/ebu

 

[RUIN*ish]

I totally understand.

I think the corollary to my question also begs asking....Is there any O/IO user who uses an external DAC with the digital board connecting via AES/EBU and prefers it over the analogue board. I Don't think I have read one who does

I have O.. no IO.. I plan to a/b both today. May need some time to run in.

 

[dminches]

I have O.. no IO.. I plan to a/b both today. May need some time to run in.

From other reports it does sound like the analog board needs a while to burn in.

 

[SwissTom]

Precisely my point....doesnt the dCS Vivaldi connect digital board via aes/ebu

When I mentioned the digital interface, I was indeed referring to AES/EBU.

@oldmustang has indeed sold his dCS Vivaldi Stack, and uses the Taiko DAC daughterboard.

That says a lot about having the DAC integrated into the I/O.

Since the XDMI interface is modular, it’s easy to switch DACs.

All it will take is for @Taiko Audio to offer an even better DAC daughterboard, and if it’s not already the case, the Olympus will clearly position itself as a Giant Killer.

 

[SwissTom]

From other reports it does sound like the analog board needs a while to burn in.

It needs at least 2-3 weeks to fully open (@Taiko Audio please correct me if I'm mistaken).

 

[Kingsrule]

When I mentioned the digital interface, I was indeed referring to AES/EBU.

@oldmustang has indeed sold his dCS Vivaldi Stack, and uses the Taiko DAC daughterboard.

That says a lot about having the DAC integrated into the I/O.

Since the XDMI interface is modular, it’s easy to switch DACs.

All it will take is for @Taiko Audio to offer an even better DAC daughterboard, and if it’s not already the case, the Olympus will clearly position itself as a Giant Killer.

Actually it might say how crappy the Vivaldi stack actually is..I owned one and I couldn't wait to get out of it.

 

[Steve Williams]

When I mentioned the digital interface, I was indeed referring to AES/EBU.

@oldmustang has indeed sold his dCS Vivaldi Stack, and uses the Taiko DAC daughterboard.

That says a lot about having the DAC integrated into the I/O.

Since the XDMI interface is modular, it’s easy to switch DACs.

All it will take is for @Taiko Audio to offer an even better DAC daughterboard, and if it’s not already the case, the Olympus will clearly position itself as a Giant Killer.

I think you're missing my point. What I am seeing is that the analogue board bests the digital board if the user connects via aes/ebu to external DAC

 

[SwissTom]

I think you're missing my point. What I am seeing is that the analogue board bests the digital board if the user connects via aes/ebu to external DAC

Yes, I better understand what you meant.

You were referring to XDMI DAC versus XDMI "Native" Digital (LampizaTor, MSB, Total DAC, or Aries Cerat).

These comparisons will no doubt come soon and will be very interesting to read.

If I lived closer to you, I’d happily come over to help with the comparison. By placing the I/O updside down, I believe it’s possible to do an A/B comparison without too much hassle.

 

[oldmustang]

When I mentioned the digital interface, I was indeed referring to AES/EBU.

@oldmustang has indeed sold his dCS Vivaldi Stack, and uses the Taiko DAC daughterboard.

That says a lot about having the DAC integrated into the I/O.

Since the XDMI interface is modular, it’s easy to switch DACs.

All it will take is for @Taiko Audio to offer an even better DAC daughterboard, and if it’s not already the case, the Olympus will clearly position itself as a Giant Killer.

I did indeed sell my Vivaldi APEX DAC and Vivaldi Clock after hearing my Olympus XDMI analog. The Upsampler was already gone before the Olympus was available. XDMS on Extreme made the Upsampler superfluous.

Steve Z

 

[RUIN*ish]

Xdmi analog installed and playing ...
This is the best dac I've ever heard.
There's not a chance I'll ever put back the xdmi digital.
I can't imagine what it will be like (in three weeks) with run in..
Ymmv

 

[Erikl]

...MSB solution has not yet shipped, so far as I am aware.

I installed the MSB card on my I/O on Friday (with great help from Ted) and connected the I/O to my MSB Cascade. It is the best Christmas present I have received since I was a child. It is a major step up from the USB connection with my Ansuz Gold Signature cable. The vocals and instruments are more lifelike, the soundstage wider, and the noise floor lower than I thought possible. If there are any digital artifacts on the recordings, I cannot hear them.

I am extremely grateful for Taiko's hard work in making this possible. It was definitely worth the long wait.

Please forgive me for not comparing the MSB card to the analogue card.

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...whoah! OK...hopefully mine will be along soon. Any other MSB honchos get your boards?

 

[Steve Williams]

I installed the MSB card on my I/O on Friday (with great help from Ted) and connected the I/O to my MSB Cascade. It is the best Christmas present I have received since I was a child. It is a major step up from the USB connection with my Ansuz Gold Signature cable. The vocals and instruments are more lifelike, the soundstage wider, and the noise floor lower than I thought possible. If there are any digital artifacts on the recordings, I cannot hear them.

I am extremely grateful for Taiko's hard work in making this possible. It was definitely worth the long wait.

Please forgive me for not comparing the MSB card to the analogue card.

Throw away your USB cable. You’ll never use it again

 

[DW101]

I installed the MSB card on my I/O on Friday (with great help from Ted) and connected the I/O to my MSB Cascade. It is the best Christmas present I have received since I was a child. It is a major step up from the USB connection with my Ansuz Gold Signature cable. The vocals and instruments are more lifelike, the soundstage wider, and the noise floor lower than I thought possible. If there are any digital artifacts on the recordings, I cannot hear them.

Thanks for posting - I’m so looking forward to hearing for myself!