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

[MarkusBarkus]

...oh yeah. A fella named "Jake" will be by a bit later. He enjoys lifting things and setting them down. It'll be the best 40 bucks I'll spend today.

 

[Azjya]

This is actually very helpful, a lot of people have changed their orders, we're at 50/50 silver/black on the remaining orders already!

(I’ll take a bow for suggesting it here )

 

[Steve Williams]

(I’ll take a bow for suggesting it here )

i had a different thought. Some of the rejected silver anodized units were somewhat eye catching to my eyes at least. The time and expense to find a proper anodizer is a monumental, daunting and I’m sure a very expensive task. I’m betting that if Emile showed the rejected units he had and offered to move people up in the queue to accept these as their order, things would fly off the shelf Perhaps also offer them at a small reduction in price. I listen in the dark. To me it’s what my ears hear rather than what my eyes see. One would take delivery of a sonically perfect O/IO at the price of a slight visual imperfection. People will move up in the queue and I bet will be tickled by their decision. This happens all the time and are called “ factory seconds”.

Just a thought rather than sending them back. My mother always said “ it never hurts to ask”

 

[Stbo]

i had a different thought. Some of the rejected silver anodized units were somewhat eye catching to my eyes at least. The time and expense to find a proper anodizer is a monumental, daunting and I’m sure a very expensive task. I’m betting that if Emile showed the rejected units he had and offered to move people up in the queue to accept these as their order, things would fly off the shelf Perhaps also offer them at a small reduction in price. I listen in the dark. To me it’s what my ears hear rather than what my eyes see. One would take delivery of a sonically perfect O/IO at the price of a slight visual imperfection. People will move up in the queue and I bet will be tickled by their decision. This happens all the time and are called “ factory seconds”.

Just a thought rather than sending them back. My mother always said “ it never hurts to ask”

Factory second in that price range? I really hope Taiko has more pride than that.

 

[dminches]

Factory second in that price range? I really hope Taiko has more pride than that.

Plus, one could never get a matching I/O in the future if the O case wasn’t perfect.

 

[Steve Williams]

Factory second in that price range? I really hope Taiko has more pride than that.

Never hurts to ask. I agree with you BTW. . Having said that all manufacturers sell their factory seconds I thought the one shown a few days ago with the swirls in it was very interesting.Members are switching to black to hasten delivery. Some of the rejects frankly are not that bad Taiko does have a high standard. that is to be commended.

 

[Steve Williams]

Years ago I bought an expensive car. When I did the inspection there was a flaw in the paint towards the bottom of a door. I brought it their attention. My option was to forgo delivery, send it back to repaint or to purchase with a discount The car Btw was much higher priced than the Olympus so again just a thought

 

[Steve Williams]

I get it. My point is that Taiko holds itself to a higher standard. There are many rejects and people are getting restless. So if you want to have the factory standard there will be waits such as they are finding. Switching to black has become acceptable to some to hasten delivery. Once again you never know unless an option becomes available. I am agreeing with everyone but there has been an amazingly high presale and that creates a queue. BTW my order was in fact delayed by more than 2 weeks at least because it was rejected upon return from anodizer. .i feel everyone’s pain. You never talk about an Indian until you have walked a mile in his moccasins.

 

[fbhifi]

.i feel everyone’s pain. You never talk about an Indian until you have walked a mile in his moccasins.

With all due respect Steve, you’ve walked about two feet in our moccasins….

 

[Steve Williams]

Again I get it. As Taiko was shipping overseas to the USA they faced a new licensure that allows for shipping of batteries. This was an uphill struggle as they did everything to bring themselves into compliance. They could not ship until they had licensure. To facilitate this they hired a third party company to help them through this hump. The problem was solved and the first few units made it to the USA.. After I waited weeks for mine to be reanodized they were packed up to meet code and shipped to the third party to then be shipped to me. I received Fedex notice that mine had passed inspection and was en route. I tracked the package and it was in Amsterdam for three days until
I got notice that shipment was rejected because of hazardous materials and it was returned to Taiko. I waited another week and got a second notice that it had passed inspection and was em route only to again get a message that shipment was cancelled due to hazardous materials. Again it was returned to Taiko to redo for a 3rd time that which was twice approved. After another 5 day wait it was once again resubmitted and all that was changed was the color of the shipping paper. Nothing else changed. So in this third occasion mine finally made it across the pond. Sadly Taiko was billed by FedEx on each time they picked up the unit. I too received three different invoices from Fedex to clear the shipment that they only cleared once. I had to pay all three invoices as did Taiko So I beg to disagree. You haven’t walked a mile in my moccasins. It was a learning curve that merely required a different colored shipping paper. Everything was done correctly. Overall my shipment was delayed by almost a month plus I paid 3 invoices for the cost of one. So I’d say even the early deliveries were not without incident. I think I’ve made my point “ with all due respect “

 

[Tuckia]

With all due respect Steve, you’ve walked about two feet in our moccasins….

Steve is expressing empathy. That's all that matters. He ordered before many of us. Fair is fair.

 

[Steve Williams]

Sadly no good deed goes unpunished. We all knew when the preorder began. It was up to all of us when to order. I was lucky and got in early. My point is that I was at the beginning of the learning curve wrt anodizing and then shipping. Taiko did absolutely everything correct. My order was twice approved by the third party shipper yet was twice rejected by FedEx. No one ever said that the shipping paper had to be not white but blue IIRC Taiko can’t be faulted for issues with anodizing or shipping. So even though I was early in the queue my mishaps and a month delay has helped the rest of you I paid three invoices to FedEx for the service which they only did once
HTH

 

[Steve Williams]

Having said all of this I can promise everyone that the wait will have been worth it as you will all be rewarded with the best digital sound you’ve ever heard. I have listened to vinyl only once since receiving mine. It’s truly that good.

 

[fbhifi]

Steve is expressing empathy. That's all that matters. He ordered before many of us. Fair is fair.

Fair enough.

 

[adyc]

Yes, you can use free upnp remotes like mconnect to use it then, if you don't mind paying Jplay IOS appears to be very well received at 50 / year or 200 / lifetime.

That’s excellent news! Basically I can use my favorite software Jriver to control Olympus with Olympus as UPnp client.

 

[Tuckia]

Jumping in early is risk/reward. The risk is timing and resource allocation, either funds or moving equipment. The reward is a lower price and being an early adopter. That's the decision we make going in and we just have to accept the outcome which has some uncertainty.

Waiting it out till the dust settles is the other route. This predictable path suits some better.

 

[JYACO]

Did I understand correctly from a prior Taiko post that all current orders would be shipped by the end of January 2025?

 

[gleeds]

As the US distributor of the Ars Machinae turntable from Germany, we have experienced similar pain points, specifically on materials compliance issues. Our turntable uses tungsten power for vibration damping in several places. With the first half dozen turntables landing, we finally have a smooth process to clear German and US customs. This involves using a shipper with a hazardous materials testing facility that pre-certifies our product before arriving at the respective customs clearance location. All in all, this took us 15 months and cost us thousands. Taiko's journey was even more intricate and resource-intensive. This emphasizes that specific achievements are worth the wait; the road to success for any ambitious product, especially in the bespoke audio industry, is filled with challenges.

I had the chance to hear the Olympus/Lampizator Horizon 360 XDMI combo at Steve's event a few weeks back, and all I can say is that I consider the Olympus with XDMI to be the most significant development in digital since Sony brazenly said, "Perfect Sound Forever" in 1982.

Perfect Sound Forever? | Stereophile.com

When some unknown copywriter coined that immortal phrase to promote the worldwide launch of Compact Disc in late 1982, little did he or she foresee how quickly it would become a term of ridicule. Yes, early CDs and players offered low background noise, a flat spectral balance, and freedom from...

www.stereophile.com

I extend my congratulations to Emile and his team for their determination and achievement, as well as to all the product owners who hung in there to see their patience rewarded

 

[Steve Williams]

As the US distributor of the Ars machinae turntable from Germany, we have experienced similar pain points, specifically on materials compliance issues. Our turntable uses tungsten power for vibration damping in several places. With the first half dozen turntables landing, we finally have a smooth process to clear German and US customs. This involves using a shipper with a hazardous materials testing facility that pre-certifies our product before arriving at the respective customs clearance location. All in all, this took us 15 months and cost us thousands. Taiko's journey was even more intricate and resource-intensive. This emphasizes that specific achievements are worth the wait; the road to success for any ambitious product, especially in the bespoke audio industry, is filled with challenges.

I had the chance to hear the Olympus/Lampizator Horizon 360 XDMI combo at Steve's event a few weeks back, and all I can say is that I consider the Olympus with XDMI to be the most significant development in digital since Sony brazenly said, "Perfect Sound Forever" in 1982.

Perfect Sound Forever? | Stereophile.com

When some unknown copywriter coined that immortal phrase to promote the worldwide launch of Compact Disc in late 1982, little did he or she foresee how quickly it would become a term of ridicule. Yes, early CDs and players offered low background noise, a flat spectral balance, and freedom from...

www.stereophile.com

I extend my congratulations to Emile and his team for their determination and achievement, as well as to all the product owners who hung in there to see their patience rewarded

The mind boggling thing for me and Taiko I’m sure was that they did everything perfectly to code and everything was signed off twice by the third party hazardous expert in my shipment only to have FedEx cancel the shipment and return it to Taiko All it took was to change the shipping content from white paper to blue. No one told Taiko until the third attempt to deliver my package. And then they had the brass cajones to charge Taiko and me for all 3 attempts . So yes we’ve all walked in those moccasins

As Gary stated the wait is worth it. Those who are thinking of cancelling will IMHO be making the audio mistake of their lives It will light you up. As I said I’ve listened to vinyl only once since receiving my Olympus and IO. With XDMI digital has assumed a whole new level.

 

[ctydwn]

honestly, let’s drop the moccasins analogy for multiple reasons (let alone ‘Indian’). this is an uber high end audio forum. moccasins are a deeply rooted symbol of native american culture, representing connection to the land and heritage, often passed down through generations. don’t think this has any place/connection with regard to audio and the struggles on this forum (and making the ostensible comparison to their own which just for starters is culturally insensitive). always happy to hear from everyone if your experience translates or is related to those traditions