Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

SaiteiMan

Well-Known Member
Jun 9, 2020
19
21
68
First of all we have finalised our new USB card design, the final (still prototype) PCB's are now on order and are expected to arrive in about 4 weeks. These will need final data integrity checks (and listening tests) performed after which we will have a production batch made. As a sneak preview I have attached the bare PCB top assembly below. This will be a PCIe plug in card which can be plugged into a free PCIe slot in the Extreme.

Just wondering if the USB card powers internally (PCI) or externally (DC-In)? What is the power requirement?
 

ray-dude

Well-Known Member
Dec 8, 2019
107
364
150
54
There is a 3rd option as well

1597255399798.png
 

cat6man

Well-Known Member
Feb 6, 2013
891
995
1,155
west of NYC, east of SF
As you all may have noticed I've been less active on the forum lately, for very good reasons though. We are actively working on several projects in parallel.

First of all we have finalised our new USB card design, the final (still prototype) PCB's are now on order and are expected to arrive in about 4 weeks. These will need final data integrity checks (and listening tests) performed after which we will have a production batch made. As a sneak preview I have attached the bare PCB top assembly below. This will be a PCIe plug in card which can be plugged into a free PCIe slot in the Extreme.

View attachment 68224

The switch is not far behind, the first data integrity checks and analysis are being performed now, I expect to order the final (also still prototype) PCB's in about 2 weeks. If it doesn't give away too much design details I will share it's top assembly by that time.

We are making good progress on TAS too, the IOS app is about finished, so is the control interface to the Extreme (without sonic negatives!). I will ask Chris to take/post a few screenshots of the app later today. What we are working on now and what is causing some delays is native DSD playback, especially higher DSD sampling rates are causing us some headaches. We are also working on an interface to HQPlayer. That would give us instant (any rate) native DSD playback capability of course but at a Euro 199 VAT exclusive up price. It's important regardless as we have an increasing number of Chord Dave customers using HQPlayer to replace the Chord Mscaler and/or to be able to use even higher TAP filters then the Chord Dave uses natively.

lots of great sounding progress on multiple fronts, congrats

any update on the mini?
 

Hieukm

Well-Known Member
Oct 2, 2016
271
105
128
As you all may have noticed I've been less active on the forum lately, for very good reasons though. We are actively working on several projects in parallel.

First of all we have finalised our new USB card design, the final (still prototype) PCB's are now on order and are expected to arrive in about 4 weeks. These will need final data integrity checks (and listening tests) performed after which we will have a production batch made. As a sneak preview I have attached the bare PCB top assembly below. This will be a PCIe plug in card which can be plugged into a free PCIe slot in the Extreme.

View attachment 68224

The switch is not far behind, the first data integrity checks and analysis are being performed now, I expect to order the final (also still prototype) PCB's in about 2 weeks. If it doesn't give away too much design details I will share it's top assembly by that time.

We are making good progress on TAS too, the IOS app is about finished, so is the control interface to the Extreme (without sonic negatives!). I will ask Chris to take/post a few screenshots of the app later today. What we are working on now and what is causing some delays is native DSD playback, especially higher DSD sampling rates are causing us some headaches. We are also working on an interface to HQPlayer. That would give us instant (any rate) native DSD playback capability of course but at a Euro 199 VAT exclusive up price. It's important regardless as we have an increasing number of Chord Dave customers using HQPlayer to replace the Chord Mscaler and/or to be able to use even higher TAP filters then the Chord Dave uses natively.

Hi Emile, could you expand a little further on the fact that Chord Dave customers are replacing the Chord Mscaler with HQPlayer?
 

matthias

Well-Known Member
Mar 14, 2019
1,226
545
213
Germany
First of all we have finalised our new USB card design, the final (still prototype) PCB's are now on order and are expected to arrive in about 4 weeks. These will need final data integrity checks (and listening tests) performed after which we will have a production batch made. As a sneak preview I have attached the bare PCB top assembly below. This will be a PCIe plug in card which can be plugged into a free PCIe slot in the Extreme.

Will the new USB card come as standard Extreme configuration or as additional output?
Will the Mini when it comes get the same USB card?
Thank you :)

Matt
 
Last edited:

CKKeung

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,053
3,172
1,410
Hong Kong
Not a surprise at all, after seeing the coversions of Romaz & ray-dude.
:D
 

Taiko Audio

Industry Expert
Feb 10, 2017
4,239
13,030
1,925
The Netherlands
taikoaudio.com
lots of great sounding progress on multiple fronts, congrats

any update on the mini?

What we had in mind to use in the mini is on backorder with unknown ETA. With that said we are reconsidering it's launch and investigating alternatives. One of the issues we are currently facing is a very significant volume of enquiries/questions. We have 3 people spending considerable amounts of time just answering e-mails / phone calls. It has us second guessing if we want to launch a cheaper product which might sell at even larger quantities. We have already discontinued the Setchi, and we might be forced to discontinue the Daiza as well, or at least limit availability to Extreme owners. We consider customer support quality as mission critical and we would not want to be in a situation to see that compromised.

Will the new USB card come as standard Extreme configuration or as additional output?
Will the Mini when it comes get the same USB card?
Thank you :)

Matt

That should really be a standard option, but it's obviously of no use for networked DACs.

Hieukm, I will answer this question for you via PM.

Thank you @romaz ! There's also some information in @austinpop 's writeup linked to above.
 

austinpop

Well-Known Member
May 23, 2017
200
655
223
Austin, TX
What we had in mind to use in the mini is on backorder with unknown ETA. With that said we are reconsidering it's launch and investigating alternatives. One of the issues we are currently facing is a very significant volume of enquiries/questions. We have 3 people spending considerable amounts of time just answering e-mails / phone calls. It has us second guessing if we want to launch a cheaper product which might sell at even larger quantities. We have already discontinued the Setchi, and we might be forced to discontinue the Daiza as well, or at least limit availability to Extreme owners. We consider customer support quality as mission critical and we would not want to be in a situation to see that compromised.

Very understandable, Emile. Scaling up without compromising product quality and customer service can be challenging even in the best of times, let alone in a time of parts shortages. As a customer, I really value your keeping the highest priority on quality.
 

cat6man

Well-Known Member
Feb 6, 2013
891
995
1,155
west of NYC, east of SF
What we had in mind to use in the mini is on backorder with unknown ETA. With that said we are reconsidering it's launch and investigating alternatives. One of the issues we are currently facing is a very significant volume of enquiries/questions. We have 3 people spending considerable amounts of time just answering e-mails / phone calls. It has us second guessing if we want to launch a cheaper product which might sell at even larger quantities. We have already discontinued the Setchi, and we might be forced to discontinue the Daiza as well, or at least limit availability to Extreme owners. We consider customer support quality as mission critical and we would not want to be in a situation to see that compromised.

i understand completely..............maybe(?) time for plan B here (saving many pennies, how much can i get for the stuff that would be replaced, etc)
 

Taiko Audio

Industry Expert
Feb 10, 2017
4,239
13,030
1,925
The Netherlands
taikoaudio.com
i understand completely..............maybe(?) time for plan B here (saving many pennies, how much can i get for the stuff that would be replaced, etc)

A plan B idea we're considering is releasing the design to the DIY market and/or 3rd party builders. What that could look like is we'd make the ATX DC regulator board available for purchase with a recommended motherboard/CPU and software configuration. Perhaps with a few CNC machined parts you'd need to complete the build properly into a HDPlex or Streacom chassis. That way people could still benefit from our design efforts and we'd have a ROI.
 

ASRMichael

Well-Known Member
Feb 20, 2020
14
12
68
45
A plan B idea we're considering is releasing the design to the DIY market and/or 3rd party builders. What that could look like is we'd make the ATX DC regulator board available for purchase with a recommended motherboard/CPU and software configuration. Perhaps with a few CNC machined parts you'd need to complete the build properly into a HDPlex or Streacom chassis. That way people could still benefit from our design efforts and we'd have a ROI.

This is good "Systems Thinking".....& Strategy planning

As per above, scaling up, maintaining your USP requires more resources, people & revenue. Clearly there has been a huge amount of work/cost that has went into R&D, and that obviously needs to continue. (Few steps ahead of your competitors) I presume one of the concerns would be; will it cannibalise, take away sales from the Extreme? The DIY market is niche, so probably not, even if it did, you'll be making profit on the parts. It will give you more revenue/profit to further invest in R&D. Other synergies I see is; DIY feedback (Sure Romaz has giving good feedback so far), free PR/advertisement, which sure will lead more non DIYers purchase a full blown Extreme machine. You will still have control of what sits at top with only selling 80% of what the Extreme is capable off.

Profit leads to investment, Development and quality

I see Taiko as a Blue Ocean Strategy company (if not read the book I encourage you to)

When I'm Strategy planning, we as a team tend to right down on board the pros's and cons, but instead of calling them cons we call them barriers, then we focus on how we turn barriers into Pro's or neutrals.

The fact I would love to get my hands on your design for DIY, there might be some bias here. :)
 

tsaett

Well-Known Member
May 20, 2014
126
178
348
Cologne
Update on TAS

Dear all,

we are making considerable progress on the TAS front and I am happy to be able to share with you our current state of development:

Our Taiko app runs on Android as well as on iOS, tablets and phones are supported.
Android tablet:
Webp.net-resizeimage (1).jpg
Apple iPhone:
rsz_bildschirmfoto_2020-08-17_um_135625.jpg

You start by accessing the Taiko home screen. From here you enter your Extreme’s serial number (you only have to do this once) and your Extreme will show up.

Webp.net-resizeimage (3).png

From here you can either go into the Extreme settings or start TAS right away.

In the settings, you can choose your DAC driver, switch between Roon and TAS, restart the TAS player (TAP) and reboot the Extreme from the comfort of your chair.

Webp.net-resizeimage (2).png

When selecting to open TAS, it will bring up the user interface instantly. A few impressions of the Player, the Album Search and a snapshot of some TIDAL playlists:
Webp.net-resizeimage.png Webp.net-resizeimage (1).png
Webp.net-resizeimage (4).jpg

On a tablet it will scale nicely too.
Taiko App:
Webp.net-resizeimage.jpg

Portrait Mode:
Webp.net-resizeimage (3).jpg

Overview of a selection of available radio stations:
Webp.net-resizeimage (2).jpg

This is just a sneak peek, we are still crushing our heads over native higher red DSD, which we would very much like to see included in the first release of TAS. Sound quality is very promising to say the least.

Watch this space for news, we are getting closer to the release!

Cheers
Chris
 

Tubeman66

Well-Known Member
Mar 31, 2019
45
36
105
A plan B idea we're considering is releasing the design to the DIY market and/or 3rd party builders. What that could look like is we'd make the ATX DC regulator board available for purchase with a recommended motherboard/CPU and software configuration. Perhaps with a few CNC machined parts you'd need to complete the build properly into a HDPlex or Streacom chassis. That way people could still benefit from our design efforts and we'd have a ROI.


Great ide !!
 
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alwayslearning

Well-Known Member
Jan 13, 2011
73
281
958
Two quick questions, Chris.

1) Do you foresee the ability to play TAS on Apple desktop/laptop computers?

2) Do you foresee the ability to create playlists within TAS (not just Tidal playlists or other streaming service playlists)? Or the ability to import playlists created in Roon for playback in TAS?

By the way, I like the idea of making the Extreme Mini design and various parts available to the DIY community. The idea alone is generating waves already in the community, I'm sure.

Thank you!
 

tsaett

Well-Known Member
May 20, 2014
126
178
348
Cologne
Two quick questions, Chris.

1) Do you foresee the ability to play TAS on Apple desktop/laptop computers?

2) Do you foresee the ability to create playlists within TAS (not just Tidal playlists or other streaming service playlists)? Or the ability to import playlists created in Roon for playback in TAS?

By the way, I like the idea of making the Extreme Mini design and various parts available to the DIY community. The idea alone is generating waves already in the community, I'm sure.

Thank you!


Hi,
ad 1) A desktop application has not been in our initial release plan, but it is no big stretch to expand that later on. I'll put that in the backlog but cannot guarantee that it will be available at the time of first launch.

ad 2) Yes, you can generate and save playlists within TAS. Regarding Roon playlists, I'd have to research how they store these technically, it might be possible but that would also be something for a later release. I can envision that mixed local and streaming playlists could cause troubles here.

Chris
 
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wil

Well-Known Member
Jul 22, 2015
1,482
1,510
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Hi,
ad 1) A desktop application has not been in our initial release plan, but it is no big stretch to expand that later on. I'll put that in the backlog but cannot guarantee that it will be available at the time of first launch.

ad 2) Yes, you can generate and save playlists within TAS. Regarding Roon playlists, I'd have to research how they store these technically, it might be possible but that would also be something for a later release. I can envision that mixed local and streaming playlists could cause troubles here.

Chris

Hi Chris,

In my opinion, from a user perspective, it would be ideal to have the Streaming playlists and Local playlist to be separate. Is that how you envision it at this time?

I could see how it might be convenient to be running Roon on one device (like the Desktop) and TAS on another (like the iPad) to make it easier to go between the two. Would a log-in/ log-out procedure still have to occur going between one to the other?
 

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