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

[Taiko Audio]

Glad to see you finally got your Olympus. I’ve been absolutely stunned, amazed, gobsmacked at what I’ve been hearing. Had a few audio buddies over last night to listen (i have maybe a few hundred hours in the analog card) and everyone was similarly astonished what they were hearing from a streaming source.

Bravo Team Taiko.

(My prior DAC has been kicked to the curb with a steel toed boot. Its just laying there, licking its wounds, whimpering!)

We’ve recently reviewed the output-option registrations across our user base, and the distribution is surprisingly decisive:

Current usage share
• 50.6% — Analog
• 29.4% — Lampizator
• 14.1% — MSB
• 4.7% — AES/SPDIF
• 1.2% — USB

What this makes very clear is that analog output isn’t just popular, it’s the dominant path by a wide margin. With over half of all systems running our Analog output, and the bulk of the remaining users tied into other high-end analog ecosystems (Lampizator, MSB), the direction of demand is unambiguous.

Because of that, it’s only logical that we move forward with a V2 Analog output option. The share is large enough that continued development here isn’t a side project, it’s where most of our customers are already invested.

Secondly, given the strong presence of Lampizator and MSB users, it also makes sense to expand with additional custom interfaces for other state-of-the-art high-end DACs. There’s clearly appetite for tightly integrated, performance-first connections tailored to specific DAC architectures.

More details will follow as development progresses, but given these numbers, the course ahead is obvious.

 

[adyc]

We’ve recently reviewed the output-option registrations across our user base, and the distribution is surprisingly decisive:

Current usage share
• 50.6% — Analog
• 29.4% — Lampizator
• 14.1% — MSB
• 4.7% — AES/SPDIF
• 1.2% — USB

What this makes very clear is that analog output isn’t just popular, it’s the dominant path by a wide margin. With over half of all systems running our Analog output, and the bulk of the remaining users tied into other high-end analog ecosystems (Lampizator, MSB), the direction of demand is unambiguous.

Because of that, it’s only logical that we move forward with a V2 Analog output option. The share is large enough that continued development here isn’t a side project, it’s where most of our customers are already invested.

Secondly, given the strong presence of Lampizator and MSB users, it also makes sense to expand with additional custom interfaces for other state-of-the-art high-end DACs. There’s clearly appetite for tightly integrated, performance-first connections tailored to specific DAC architectures.

More details will follow as development progresses, but given these numbers, the course ahead is obvious.

Can you disclose which DAC makers you are talking to at this moment?

 

[MusicFellow]

We’ve recently reviewed the output-option registrations across our user base, and the distribution is surprisingly decisive:

Current usage share
• 50.6% — Analog
• 29.4% — Lampizator
• 14.1% — MSB
• 4.7% — AES/SPDIF
• 1.2% — USB

What this makes very clear is that analog output isn’t just popular, it’s the dominant path by a wide margin. With over half of all systems running our Analog output, and the bulk of the remaining users tied into other high-end analog ecosystems (Lampizator, MSB), the direction of demand is unambiguous.

Because of that, it’s only logical that we move forward with a V2 Analog output option. The share is large enough that continued development here isn’t a side project, it’s where most of our customers are already invested.

Secondly, given the strong presence of Lampizator and MSB users, it also makes sense to expand with additional custom interfaces for other state-of-the-art high-end DACs. There’s clearly appetite for tightly integrated, performance-first connections tailored to specific DAC architectures.

More details will follow as development progresses, but given these numbers, the course ahead is obvious.

This is great news! First, it means Taiko has a top-notch alternative that sounds terrific and also simplifies systems in a budget-conscious way. Second, for those users who have SOTA DACs these can still be used and potentially sound even better. Yet, the bottom line is that both alternatives are sounding superb! Third, if I remember correctly if XDMI can/will be implemented for the Extreme this large number of users can also enjoy this stunning implementation - for a probably not astronomical price. I'm thinking of an "Simplified Olympus with analog card without the fancy BPS". This way Taiko can also recoup some of the unexpected anodizing costs that came with the Olympus assembly.

 

[Steve Williams]

it also makes sense to expand with additional custom interfaces for other state-of-the-art high-end DACs.

perhaps I2S for XDMI might make XDMI available far more readily

 

[joet]

We’ve recently reviewed the output-option registrations across our user base, and the distribution is surprisingly decisive:

Current usage share
• 50.6% — Analog
• 29.4% — Lampizator
• 14.1% — MSB
• 4.7% — AES/SPDIF
• 1.2% — USB

What this makes very clear is that analog output isn’t just popular, it’s the dominant path by a wide margin. With over half of all systems running our Analog output, and the bulk of the remaining users tied into other high-end analog ecosystems (Lampizator, MSB), the direction of demand is unambiguous.

Because of that, it’s only logical that we move forward with a V2 Analog output option. The share is large enough that continued development here isn’t a side project, it’s where most of our customers are already invested.

Secondly, given the strong presence of Lampizator and MSB users, it also makes sense to expand with additional custom interfaces for other state-of-the-art high-end DACs. There’s clearly appetite for tightly integrated, performance-first connections tailored to specific DAC architectures.

More details will follow as development progresses, but given these numbers, the course ahead is obvious.

As a focus group of one, I'm using the DAC card (which sounds fantastic, by the way) but I'm waiting for a DAC that is tightly integrated with XDMI that handles DSDs better than AO does. As much as I love the AO card, previous DACs I've owned did a much better job with DSDs, and I have a large collection. As for using a Lampizator, I'm tempted to experiment with a used Poseidon, but really don't want to deal with tubes. (I'm probably in the minority there and might change my mind.) As for MSB, I believe the XDMI integration isn't as tight as it could be. It's more of a tight handoff to their proprietary protocol. So if I go that route, right or wrong, I'll always feel as if I'm missing something. If future versions of AO are better with DSDs, I can see myself staying with it. Otherwise, it's an enjoyable wait. Like in a four star resort.