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

For those who just started reading up on Olympus, Olympus I/O, and XDMI, please note that all information in this thread has been summarized in a single PDF document that can be downloaded from the Taiko Website.

https://taikoaudio.com/taiko-2020/taiko-audio-downloads

The document is frequently updated.

Scroll down to the 'XDMI, Olympus Music Server, Olympus I/O' section and click 'XDMI, Olympus, Olympus I/O Product Introduction & FAQ' to download the latest version.

Good morning WBF!​

We are introducing the culmination of close to 4 years of research and development. As a bona fide IT/tech nerd with a passion for music, I have always been intrigued by the potential of leveraging the most modern of technologies in order to create a better music playback experience. This, amongst others, led to the creation of our popular, perhaps even revolutionary, Extreme music server 5 years ago, which we have been steadily improving and updating with new technologies throughout its life cycle. Today I feel we can safely claim it's holding its ground against the onslaught of new server releases from other companies, and we are committed to keep improving it for years to come.

We are introducing a new server model called the Olympus. Hierarchically, it positions itself above the Extreme. It does provide quite a different music experience than the Extreme, or any other server I've heard, for that matter. Conventional audiophile descriptions such as sound staging, dynamics, color palette, etc, fall short to describe this difference. It does not sound digital or analog, I would be inclined to describe it as coming closer to the intended (or unintended) performance of the recording engineer.

Committed to keeping the Extreme as current as possible, we are introducing a second product called the Olympus I/O. This is an external upgrade to the Extreme containing a significant part of the Olympus technology, allowing it to come near, though not entirely at, Olympus performance levels. The Olympus I/O can even be added to the Olympus itself to elevate its performance even further, though not as dramatic an uplift as adding it to the Extreme. Consider it the proverbial "cherry on top".

 

I hired professional movers. Last week, FedEx delivered my Olympus on a pallet jack up my steep driveway and just into my attached garage. I made sure I met the driver in the street and made sure we agreed on a plan for getting it into my house. FedEx's delivery communications were good so I was able to be ready on the day of delivery. Realistically, that was the most I could hope for from a single FedEx driver in Seattle -- they were not going to struggle to carry the thing up stairs.

As an aside, I will say that the shipment arrived astonishingly quickly once it was picked up by FedEx at the Dangerous Goods location in the Netherlands. To wit, it was picked up on a Tuesday afternoon in the Netherlands. It was delivered to my house on the following Thursday afternoon. One stop in Memphis, then direct to Seattle and on the delivery truck the same morning.

I will also say that the Olympus sat in Dangerous Good for a really, really long time. My Olympus was completely assembled the last week in April. On or around April 30, it was sent to Dangerous Goods. I would have been ready to accept delivery in early May. Then I was out of town for two weeks and I asked Taiko to put a hold on delivery. I was again ready to accept delivery as of May 21. But it continued to sit at DG for almost another two weeks. Both Julien and Vassil explained that Taiko has no control over when a shipment leaves Dangerous Goods. They also explained that DG has been backed up due to a large volume of shipments (tariffs largely to blame), large shippers getting higher priority, a move to a different DG warehouse in May, and several national Dutch holidays. All in all, a perfect storm. Hopefully things are already smoother for folks who are still waiting.

Getting back to the actual delivery in Seattle, the professional movers I hired (two really strong Samoan guys) arrived the same day that the Olympus was delivered. They undid the shrink wrap on the flight case, moved the case off the pallet and then carried the flight case (by hand) down my steep driveway, up a steep sidewalk (we live on a very steep hill), up a full flight of stairs and then up another half flight of stairs to my front door.

That door opens into our living room, which is also the listening room. After placing the flight case on a rug, I opened it. One guy then very carefully lifted the 130 pound Olympus to a location just in front of my Finite Elemente Pagode rack (I had moved out my speakers to clear a pathway in front of the rack).

Then the two guys carefully lifted and placed the Olympus on my bottom shelf, only touching the bottom of the machine (they had kindly volunteered to wash their hands in advance of the operation). I supervised while they made very small movements to get the Olympus precisely centered on the bottom rack. I do not expect I'll be moving it for many years unless I were to try after market footers, in which case I'll probably use an air bladder to lift the machine while inserting footers one by one (air bladders are very cheap and very effective for this sort of job). The whole thing took about half an hour.

Hiring professional movers was expensive, around $500 USD including 10.5% local tax and a nice tip for the movers. Moving companies typically have a minimum charge; in this case they charted $70 an hour per mover and a three-hour minimum. That's just the going rate in Seattle for professional movers doing a single-item move. They also had to drive from their last move location, which was a good 40 minutes away.

For me, it was worth it both for the convenience and peace of mind. I could have attempted to recruit friends, risking their health and my health. I could have used an internet handyman service like TaskRabbit but I have serious doubts about the quality of the "product." I could have bought a hydraulic lift like Ray suggested above, but that would not have solved the problem of going up and down stairs and steep slopes. Nor would it have solved the problem of moving the Olympus from the shelf on the lift to the bottom shelf on my rack. Considering the cost of the Olympus and the need to take precautions to ensure a safe move (for my house, the Olympus, and myself), $500 seems reasonable.

Just my two cents.

Or your 50,000 cents?

Nice write up and summary of the logistics!

Congratulations to you!!! Mine is sitting at DG right now.

 

Some logistic thoughts for NA...
First, I'm thinking all Taiko products for NA would be expedited through DG and FedEX in NL if they all were shipped to Taiko's NA Distributor(Chicago, Vassil). Clearing customs should also be faster and more consistent
Next, several shipping options, including a white glove delivery service could be offered for all shipments leaving Chicago.
This could all be handled by a logistics company in Chicago representing Vassil and Taiko NA if necessary

No more at the mercy of DG wondering when things will leave there and more consistent times for each step of the shipping process. And finally, a contact for customers in NA (in a great time zone BTW) eliminating that part of delivery angst for the end user
Not to mention taking a load off of the Taiko staff in NL...

 

Some logistic thoughts for NA...
First, I'm thinking all Taiko products for NA would be expedited through DG and FedEX in NL if they all were shipped to Taiko's NA Distributor(Chicago, Vassil). Clearing customs should also be faster and more consistent
Next, several shipping options, including a white glove delivery service could be offered for all shipments leaving Chicago.
This could all be handled by a logistics company in Chicago representing Vassil and Taiko NA if necessary

No more at the mercy of DG wondering when things will leave there and more consistent times for each step of the shipping process. And finally, a contact for customers in NA (in a great time zone BTW) eliminating that part of delivery angst for the end user
Not to mention taking a load off of the Taiko staff in NL...

How does the shipping destination in NA affect the time it spends in dangerous goods?

 

It all boils down to the batteries. Remove the battery, NO DG. But to install the batteries in NA would require additional testing equipment...

 

Yes, but Kingsrule was referring to a fully built Olympus in dangerous goods.

At some point Taiko could decide to assemble all NA sales in Chicago but that isn’t the case now.

 

I agree I don't understand why the destination would influence finial landing for a fully built unit...

 

"I will also say that the Olympus sat in Dangerous Good for a really, really long time. My Olympus was completely assembled the last week in April. On or around April 30, it was sent to Dangerous Goods. I would have been ready to accept delivery in early May. Then I was out of town for two weeks and I asked Taiko to put a hold on delivery. I was again ready to accept delivery as of May 21. But it continued to sit at DG for almost another two weeks. Both Julien and Vassil explained that Taiko has no control over when a shipment leaves Dangerous Goods. They also explained that DG has been backed up due to a large volume of shipments (tariffs largely to blame), large shippers getting higher priority,"


Seems to me shipping a bunch to one destination makes you a larger shipper than individual shipments to individual destinations...but what do I know......

 

At some point Taiko could decide to assemble all NA sales in Chicago but that isn’t the case now.

Speaking of assembly, I'm wondering if Taiko wishes they'd used a chassis similar to the Extreme, less challenging to finish than the milled block.

How are the plans going for the Extreme upgrade, btw?

 

Speaking of assembly, I'm wondering if Taiko wishes they'd used a chassis similar to the Extreme, less challenging to finish than the milled block.

How are the plans going for the Extreme upgrade, btw?

This may have shaved a few months off the start, but as it turns out, anodising quality issues are not limited to the Olympus chassis. For example, not only did it take our long-time anodising supplier nine weeks to process the latest batch of Extreme chassis, but out of 30 units, we had to reject 28 (!).

Fortunately, we are reasonably well-stocked on Extreme chassis, so in this case the impact is limited to a financial loss. But if you run the numbers: suppose the next batch of 30 is 100% acceptable — that gives us 32 usable chassis over 18 weeks, or just 1.77 chassis per week.

The issue seems to stem from the quality of the aluminium supply. The exact cause is still unclear. In Europe, Russia was previously the largest aluminium supplier; now it’s Norway. Perhaps supply shortages or pricing pressures have led to the use of lower-grade sources or increased reliance on recycled, less pure material.

This appears to be a much broader problem — it’s affecting our peer manufacturers as well. This is evident from the growing number of companies switching to coating. We’ve spoken to many manufacturers, and this is widely acknowledged as a relatively recent and widespread issue.

In addition to this, we’re limited in the number of Olympus servers we can produce — the same applies to the Extreme. The actual difference in assembly time between the two is not significant. However, the Olympus requires substantially more testing, fine-tuning, and programming.

This involves skilled labour, which only a few of us here are qualified to perform. These types of servers are inherently not suited for mass production, especially considering that using a standardized set of parameters across all units would compromise their sound quality potential.

Too much testing and component selection is required at various stages of the build process to allow for high-volume manufacturing.

The main hurdle has simply been the overwhelming — and completely unexpected — order volume. For example, we’ve sold more Olympus servers than we sold switches and network cards during their entire first year after launch.

We’re now approaching 200 orders, with over half of those including an I/O. That translates to around 300 complex builds. Due to the initial delays caused by having to find new anodisers and other suppliers, we’ve been working on fulfilling these orders for about a year now.

We’ve gradually ramped up to producing 6–7 units per week, but to reach that level, we had to expand our team from 5 to 11 people. Even so, it’s still not enough — those 11 are consistently working overtime and under high pressure. However it’s very difficult to source qualified staff, for assembly work, on a temporary basis - as this is a temporary situation. We are now “only” 28 anodised Olympus servers — which is still the most challenging object to complete — away from finishing all orders. Concurrent orders are highly unlikely to reach 6-7 a week.

After this, we’ll be able to start offering the Extreme upgrades we’ve developed. I’ll be starting a new thread on this topic soon, as there are several possible approaches, and we’d really appreciate your input on which direction you’d prefer us to take.

 

Some logistic thoughts for NA...
First, I'm thinking all Taiko products for NA would be expedited through DG and FedEX in NL if they all were shipped to Taiko's NA Distributor(Chicago, Vassil). Clearing customs should also be faster and more consistent
Next, several shipping options, including a white glove delivery service could be offered for all shipments leaving Chicago.
This could all be handled by a logistics company in Chicago representing Vassil and Taiko NA if necessary

No more at the mercy of DG wondering when things will leave there and more consistent times for each step of the shipping process. And finally, a contact for customers in NA (in a great time zone BTW) eliminating that part of delivery angst for the end user
Not to mention taking a load off of the Taiko staff in NL...

Yes indeed, this is actually the way things are with our Asian and EU distributors.

 

How does the shipping destination in NA affect the time it spends in dangerous goods?

It could save time by sending fixed items to a fixed destination, perhaps even in fixed-quantity batches. More copy/paste perhaps. But I’d have to verify to be sure.

 

Some logistic thoughts for NA...
First, I'm thinking all Taiko products for NA would be expedited through DG and FedEX in NL if they all were shipped to Taiko's NA Distributor(Chicago, Vassil). Clearing customs should also be faster and more consistent
Next, several shipping options, including a white glove delivery service could be offered for all shipments leaving Chicago.
This could all be handled by a logistics company in Chicago representing Vassil and Taiko NA if necessary

No more at the mercy of DG wondering when things will leave there and more consistent times for each step of the shipping process. And finally, a contact for customers in NA (in a great time zone BTW) eliminating that part of delivery angst for the end user
Not to mention taking a load off of the Taiko staff in NL...

That’s actually the plan, especially now that I’m taking over sales in the US.

We’ll either handle imports ourselves or look at moving assembly/manufacturing to the US - we're flexible and ready to adapt to any future tariff-related developments.

Ultimately, the idea is to have products in stock in the US, ready to ship as soon as orders come in (once we clear the backlog, of course). The goal is to make the entire experience as smooth and stress-free as possible - for both customers and the Taiko team. That includes offering white glove delivery options and full service and support from within the US.

I’m also planning to introduce a try-at-home program for the Olympus. Anyone interested in experiencing a Taiko Olympus server in their own system will have the opportunity to do so - either through your dealer or directly through us. I strongly believe that at this level, products should be evaluated in your own environment, with your own setup. If you’re interested, feel free to email Taiko Support, and I’ll be happy to provide more details.

 

This may have shaved a few months off the start, but as it turns out, anodising quality issues are not limited to the Olympus chassis. For example, not only did it take our long-time anodising supplier nine weeks to process the latest batch of Extreme chassis, but out of 30 units, we had to reject 28 (!).

Fortunately, we are reasonably well-stocked on Extreme chassis, so in this case the impact is limited to a financial loss. But if you run the numbers: suppose the next batch of 30 is 100% acceptable — that gives us 32 usable chassis over 18 weeks, or just 1.77 chassis per week.

The issue seems to stem from the quality of the aluminium supply. The exact cause is still unclear. In Europe, Russia was previously the largest aluminium supplier; now it’s Norway. Perhaps supply shortages or pricing pressures have led to the use of lower-grade sources or increased reliance on recycled, less pure material.

This appears to be a much broader problem — it’s affecting our peer manufacturers as well. This is evident from the growing number of companies switching to coating. We’ve spoken to many manufacturers, and this is widely acknowledged as a relatively recent and widespread issue.

In addition to this, we’re limited in the number of Olympus servers we can produce — the same applies to the Extreme. The actual difference in assembly time between the two is not significant. However, the Olympus requires substantially more testing, fine-tuning, and programming.

This involves skilled labour, which only a few of us here are qualified to perform. These types of servers are inherently not suited for mass production, especially considering that using a standardized set of parameters across all units would compromise their sound quality potential.

Too much testing and component selection is required at various stages of the build process to allow for high-volume manufacturing.

The main hurdle has simply been the overwhelming — and completely unexpected — order volume. For example, we’ve sold more Olympus servers than we sold switches and network cards during their entire first year after launch.

We’re now approaching 200 orders, with over half of those including an I/O. That translates to around 300 complex builds. Due to the initial delays caused by having to find new anodisers and other suppliers, we’ve been working on fulfilling these orders for about a year now.

We’ve gradually ramped up to producing 6–7 units per week, but to reach that level, we had to expand our team from 5 to 11 people. Even so, it’s still not enough — those 11 are consistently working overtime and under high pressure. However it’s very difficult to source qualified staff, for assembly work, on a temporary basis - as this is a temporary situation. We are now “only” 28 anodised Olympus servers — which is still the most challenging object to complete — away from finishing all orders. Concurrent orders are highly unlikely to reach 6-7 a week.

After this, we’ll be able to start offering the Extreme upgrades we’ve developed. I’ll be starting a new thread on this topic soon, as there are several possible approaches, and we’d really appreciate your input on which direction you’d prefer us to take.

I’m probably misunderstanding this: “only 28 anodized servers away from finishing all orders.” ?

This sounds like you’re nearer the finish line than I thought. Or, am I overlooking a few dozen I/O ‘s and coated coated servers? I’m sure this will be clarified when the next production update comes up.

Assuming the anodized chassis rejection rate is still a major production snafu (with an astounding 28/30 recent Extreme chassis failures!!) wouldn’t it make sense to offer coating only (which also is beautiful).

Like many, I’d like to see Emile and Taiko back to the joyful task of pushing the digital sq horizons. In particular, I’m hoping to see analog dac card V2 someday!

 

That’s actually the plan, especially now that I’m taking over sales in the US.

We’ll either handle imports ourselves or look at moving assembly/manufacturing to the US - we're flexible and ready to adapt to any future tariff-related developments.

Ultimately, the idea is to have products in stock in the US, ready to ship as soon as orders come in (once we clear the backlog, of course). The goal is to make the entire experience as smooth and stress-free as possible - for both customers and the Taiko team. That includes offering white glove delivery options and full service and support from within the US.

I’m also planning to introduce a try-at-home program for the Olympus. Anyone interested in experiencing a Taiko Olympus server in their own system will have the opportunity to do so - either through your dealer or directly through us. I strongly believe that at this level, products should be evaluated in your own environment, with your own setup. If you’re interested, feel free to email Taiko Support, and I’ll be happy to provide more details.

As is the case with many others on this forum, I've been a believer and customer since the original SGM days.

From the beginning, I've viewed being a Taiko customer as an investment in a startup. One in which I had faith because I saw first hand in every interaction with the owners/team members that they brought talent, diligence, perseverance, musical passion, commitment to customer support, and above all else integrity to the effort.

Even if Taiko had not succeeded, as many startups are likely to do, the investment would have been a good one and the "trials and tribulations" well worth it, regardless.

But now, that the well deserved success is on the verge of moving to the next phase as outlined in the entries by nenon and Emile above, the inevitable "trials and tribulations" through the journey have been a small price to pay for the pleasure to see this digital juggernaut emerge.

 

I’m probably misunderstanding this: “only 28 anodized servers away from finishing all orders.” ?

This sounds like you’re nearer the finish line than I thought. Or, am I overlooking a few dozen I/O ‘s and coated coated servers? I’m sure this will be clarified when the next production update comes up.

Assuming the anodized chassis rejection rate is still a major production snafu (with an astounding 28/30 recent Extreme chassis failures!!) wouldn’t it make sense to offer coating only (which also is beautiful).

Like many, I’d like to see Emile and Taiko back to the joyful task of pushing the digital sq horizons. In particular, I’m hoping to see analog dac card V2 someday!

28 anodised, it’s about 50/50 anodised/coated.