Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

[Steve Williams]

 

[Kingsrule]

Here is the bottom of Extreme. Front is on left. Place footers on the solid parts of Extreme, not going to be symmetrical. The back right is the only area the has no solid space near the stock foot.

 

[Steve Williams]

It works fine in my system. I suggest you give it a try

 

[Steve Williams]

FWIW the CS feet don’t need to be symmetrical. Mine are slightly asymmetrical. wrt the stock feet

 

[Steve Williams]

I understand your comments about the small perforations. I have found that even if the CS foot is seated under the bottom perforated part of the Extreme, the top of the footer is still firmly applied to the under surface of the Extreme. You should have no problem finding the correct spots

 

[Mobiusman]

Today Edward installed the Taiko Audio Server on my Extreme, and all I can say is that the sonic difference is immediately noticeable, like within 1-2 bars of music, even not so well recorded music. Based on my discussions with Edward during our long discussion, I suspect that he and Emile worked their magic by reducing the noise floor and distortion. The difference is more noticeable on classical and complex music where it is easier to sort out each component of the sound. But most important for me, it makes the sound more believeable rather than sounding like an excellent recording.

I am fortunate to have a system that is totally new and assembled during the past 18 months, with my choice of each componet guided by dropping the noise floor and distortion. So while this change is one of the bigger changes on these fronts, I can say with zero doubt that the improvements I hear are top to bottom and just make me want to listen, almost regardless of the source, just like what happens to me when I hear live music.

I have no doubt that my attention to noise floor and reducing distortion along the entire signal pathn helps the improvements from the TAS shine, but bottom line, I really don't care what is causing the SQ improvement. I just care that I am enjoying the listening experience even more.

Vivaldi's The Four Seasons is simply captivating, whereas previously I merely enjoyed it. Now I am drawn to it.

I agree wtih others that the interface could use improvements and I suspect that Emile's search for perfection for his Extreme owners will remedy that with time, but I love his quest for the best possible sound and at this point would prefer that to a more advanced interface. If I need convenience, it is easy enough to jump back to Roon, but unfortunately it does not sound as impressive as it did before the TAS was installed.

Bravo Emile and team and thank you Edward for talking with me so much today and doing my install 2 days early and at what was night time for him in Germany

 

[Taiko Audio]

Update of the DACs supported by our USB driver:



Currently supported:

-APL DSD-MR

-Aries Cerat

-Aqua Formula xHD V2.0

-Bricasti MDxx

-Brinkmann Nyquist

-CH Precision

-DCS Vivaldi

-DCS Vivaldi Up-sampler

-DCS Vivaldi One

-Esoteric Grandioso D1X

-Esoteric K-01X

-Ideon Absolute

-Lampizator (with jlsounds interface)

-LH Davinci MKII

-MSB Pro USB

-Nagra HD-X

-Pilium Elektra

-Thrax Maximinus

-Totaldac

-Trinity Reference

-Vitus

-Ypsilon 1000



Pending:

-T+A HV 3100 series



To have your DAC added contact us at contact@taikoaudio.com or run the Thesycon USB Descriptor Dumper utility downloadable here: https://thesycon.de/eng/usb_descriptordumper.shtml and e-mail us the output (use the save as file option).

 

[Jpowell]

Has anyone found a way in TAS to simply add a track (Playing or in Queue) to an existing Playlist?

 

[sbo6]

Popping in to read all the positive comments about digital I wonder how many folks were die - hard vinyl fans previously slamming digital as inferior (and doubting my prediction) might now change their mind as to their choice of source listening. ;-)

And it will only get better and cheaper. Vinyl is great as a source @$30K and above. If your source budget is less look no further than digital IMO and IME. And happy listening as always!

 

[cat6man]

Has anyone found a way in TAS to simply add a track (Playing or in Queue) to an existing Playlist?

go down to the track level, hit the 3 dots at the right, and select "append to queue" to add a track

to add an album, go to track level and hit plus sign inside circle to add all tracks on that album

 

[dminches]

Popping in to read all the positive comments about digital I wonder how many folks were die - hard vinyl fans previously slamming digital as inferior (and doubting my prediction) might now change their mind as to their choice of source listening. ;-)

And it will only get better and cheaper. Vinyl is great as a source @$30K and above. If your source budget is less look no further than digital IMO and IME. And happy listening as always!

My guess is that the vast number of people who own an Extreme have over $50k invested in their digital front end. Digital sound can be great but it isn't that cheap to get it.

 

[cat6man]

Some more feedback on my journey into Taiko-land. I initially reported that I thought that, although the sound was superb, I was sure that there was more low level detail to be obtained (based on a battery powered digital front end I had a few years ago).

Reading back in this thread, it seemed likely that the power cable was (one of) my weak link, so I got on Mark's list to demo the
Prince power cable to has so impressed ray-dude and others.

My first response was not quite as dramatic as that of ray-dude, who heard a "i'm done now" gain in SQ as soon as he added the Sablon to his extreme. I did not have that experience but ended up in the same place eventually!

My initial reaction, replacing a Shunyata Diamondback Platinum power cable on a Synergistic Research
powercell 12 UEF SE power conditioner, was a subtle but important improvement in low level detail, for
example the micro modulations of Joan Baez's voice. I attribute this to a lowering of the noise, which impacts both background
silence and the low level details carried on top of louder sounds.

A bigger surprise was taking the Prince out of the system, where the absence of the Sablon cable made a much larger difference than I remember when adding the cable. The sound was now much less relaxing and more edgy. After getting used to the Prince, taking it out was a shock. So I ended up in the same place as ray-dude at the end
The Sablon cable is really really good on the Extreme.

Now, since I have already spent the entire year's audio budget on the Extreme, I'm waiting to hear about the Taiko USB card and map out what is my purchase on the road to audio nirvana/nervosa.

Next step: move the Centerstage2 footers currently under my headphone amp to under the Extreme.

 

[howiebrou]

Popping in to read all the positive comments about digital I wonder how many folks were die - hard vinyl fans previously slamming digital as inferior (and doubting my prediction) might now change their mind as to their choice of source listening. ;-)

Pretty big gap still imo. Each has its place I guess.

 

[Jpowell]

go down to the track level, hit the 3 dots at the right, and select "append to queue" to add a track

to add an album, go to track level and hit plus sign inside circle to add all tracks on that album

Thanks for the suggestion, but unless I'm misunderstanding something (not unheard of), I think your suggestions just allow me to add a track or album to the queue. I'm looking for a simple way to add a track from the queue (or Playing screen) to an existing Playlist.
The only way I can see to do that so far is to add a Playlist to a clean queue, then append a track from Browse to the queue, then save off that new queue to a new Playlist (or start with my newly selected track in the queue by itself, append the Playlist, and then save off as a new one).
Anyway, no big deal--I'll put in a request via the beta channel.
Thanks.

 

[sbo6]

My guess is that the vast number of people who own an Extreme have over $50k invested in their digital front end. Digital sound can be great but it isn't that cheap to get it.

Who said you need $50K to get great digital? And compared to what?

 

[EuroDriver]

Taiko 5.0 USB driver vs 4.9

I have to say the SQ improvement of the 5.0 driver over the 4.9 driver is big. I have done a number of updates ,on many DAC's and the SQ uplift is universal.

There are actually 3 code improvements in the 5.0 over the 4.9 driver which combined together delivers a Wow.

USB Drivers have been a quiet back water for many years, the key thing being did it handshake ? and work or not ?

However on "You can hear everything" systems the difference a SOTA USB driver makes is in the jaw dropping realm

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

@dminches How do you define great digital? I guess it all depends on your expectations and capabilities. What one person considers satisfactory is often deemed unacceptable by another. Some listeners are happier with their $2k DAC than those with their $50K one.
There is no common denominator for satisfaction. The realm of audio is very subjective. Of course there are measurements and the more expensive a product the better the specs hypothetically (as a rule of thumb) but does the higher price and subsequently better specs automatically translate into a greater product?

 

[EuroDriver]

@dminches How do you define great digital? I guess it all depends on your expectations and capabilities. What one person considers satisfactory is often deemed unacceptable by another. Some listeners are happier with their $2k DAC than those with their $50K one.
There is no common denominator for satisfaction. The realm of audio is very subjective. Of course there are measurements and the more expensive a product the better the specs hypothetically (as a rule of thumb) but does the higher price and subsequently better specs automatically translate into a greater product?

Depends on the quality of the implementation ;-)

One thing I have observed the last 6 years, is that the sonic quality and difference "boutique" parts make. It was no surprise in the analog realm, but the interesting observations and datapoints have been how these boutique parts make a comparable difference in the digital realm.

Wire quality, capacitor build and chemistry all make a very audible difference.

The difference a good power cord makes to the Extreme, is not explained by ones and zeroes

 

[dminches]

Who said you need $50K to get great digital? And compared to what?

Where did I say you need to spend $50k? You are the one who started talking about $30k analog in a thread in which the gear being discussed cost $30k without a DAC.

 

[dminches]

@dminches How do you define great digital? I guess it all depends on your expectations and capabilities. What one person considers satisfactory is often deemed unacceptable by another. Some listeners are happier with their $2k DAC than those with their $50K one.
There is no common denominator for satisfaction. The realm of audio is very subjective. Of course there are measurements and the more expensive a product the better the specs hypothetically (as a rule of thumb) but does the higher price and subsequently better specs automatically translate into a greater product?

it is all subjective. Great digital to me is where I feel emotionally involved in the music.