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

[DW101]

Thanks @oldmustang - that looks awesome!

 

[cat6man]

No experience with the HiFiStay racks here, but I can vouch for the efficacy of concrete floors and ASC's Iso-Wall construction.

I moved my system from our living room (solid wood floor, two layer subfloor on posts and beams) to a music room I built in our large garage on the concrete slab. ASC Iso-Wall construction throughout.

Since I changed a bunch of variables all at once with the move I can't attribute the overall improvement in music to specific elements of construction, but it has been a very large improvement. I've heard the same sort of improvement before though not as large in magnitude, when I moved a system from the first floor (carpet, wood floor on joists) to the basement (poured concrete slab) in another house.

Here's the current setup:


View attachment 162739

Much as I'd love to try out the HiFiStay rack system I haven't worn out my Stillpoints ESS rack yet, so that will have to wait. . .

Steve Z

That's beautiful steve!

 

[dminches]

No experience with the HiFiStay racks here, but I can vouch for the efficacy of concrete floors and ASC's Iso-Wall construction.

I moved my system from our living room (solid wood floor, two layer subfloor on posts and beams) to a music room I built in our large garage on the concrete slab. ASC Iso-Wall construction throughout.

Since I changed a bunch of variables all at once with the move I can't attribute the overall improvement in music to specific elements of construction, but it has been a very large improvement. I've heard the same sort of improvement before though not as large in magnitude, when I moved a system from the first floor (carpet, wood floor on joists) to the basement (poured concrete slab) in another house.

Here's the current setup:


View attachment 162739

Much as I'd love to try out the HiFiStay rack system I haven't worn out my Stillpoints ESS rack yet, so that will have to wait. . .

Steve Z

Steve, your room looks amazing (and probably sounds even better).

 

[RUIN*ish]

Me thinks you're in an optimal situation Dave. I don't have a lot of experience with racks (audio) lol, but I do with concrete. Those HiFi Stay Racks do look impressive. Talk to Marc @RUIN*ish after he gets setup or the other gentleman @kadiddle. Which ever you use decoupling becomes an important aspect. Depending on the rack's design, the rack itself may need decoupling and certainly the components. Your on your own adventure regarding the myriad of different choices there.

Concrete provides the optimal substrate do to its Mass, and Rigidity. Its excellent for limiting vibration.

I'll have the Hifistay stands including AP footers but waiting for my IO to install everything all at once... Including new speakers.
So.. it'll be a while..
Marc

 

[dminches]

I'll have the Hifistay stands including AP footers but waiting for my IO to install everything all at once... Including new speakers.
So.. it'll be a while..
Marc

Congrats on all the new gear.

 

[RUIN*ish]

Congrats on all the new gear.

Thanks Dave.

 

[oldmustang]

Thanks @oldmustang - that looks awesome!

Thank you, Dave, David, John and Marty. There were times this summer I was wondering if I was ever going to get the room done. But now that it is, all that do it yourself sweat-equity has been worth it.

Steve Z

 

[2ndLiner]

I'll have the Hifistay stands including AP footers but waiting for my IO to install everything all at once... Including new speakers.
So.. it'll be a while..
Marc

What are your new speakers, Marc?

 

[RUIN*ish]

What are your new speakers, Marc?

Rockport Lyra

 

[audio42]

Congrats Marc, very interesting indeed.

 

[audio42]

Ah yes, that is normal, DSD has less usable headroom than PCM, so it’s normalized 6 dB lower to prevent distortion and allow safe modulation.

This is why DACs typically output DSD about 6 dB quieter unless they internally convert it to PCM and re-normalize.

That leaves the 6dB absolute difference which is a matter of configuration on the H360 side.

Didn't know that about DSD vs PCM Emile, thanks.

Arun

 

[RUIN*ish]

Congrats Marc, very interesting indeed.

Thank you Arun..

 

[StefanK]

@Taiko Audio
I've noticed that when I group both XDMI and USB outputs in Roon and play music, the drop-outs are happening very often (let say every 1-2 hours). When only XDMI is playing I get the drop outs maybe 1-2 times a day (and sometimes not at all).
So I think during debugging/optimising the new buffering solution Taiko team could use this method to validate if it is robust enough.

 

[Taiko Audio]

@Taiko Audio
I've noticed that when I group both XDMI and USB outputs in Roon and play music, the drop-outs are happening very often (let say every 1-2 hours). When only XDMI is playing I get the drop outs maybe 1-2 times a day (and sometimes not at all).
So I think during debugging/optimising the new buffering solution Taiko team could use this method to validate if it is robust enough.

Thanks, very useful information! We’ll add this to the test protocol.

Interestingly, the Linux rewrite of the driver has now been running uninterrupted for 9 days on Ubuntu. Obviously there are multiple variables at play here: the Linux OS itself, the rewritten driver, and Roon for Linux.

That said, this is a strong data point, and we’re closing in on the culprit!

 

[RUIN*ish]

Chicago Hifi (@nenon) never fails to give the absolute best experience as a dealer..
Ok. 1 down... 2 to go.

 

[2ndLiner]

View attachment 162929
Chicago Hifi (@nenon) never fails to give the absolute best experience as a dealer..
Ok. 1 down... 2 to go.

Christmas comes early! I admit it, I am a @nenon fan boy

 

[Bobvin]

So as to not double post:

Some Olympus thoughts…

 

[Kingsrule]

Any observations on the Roon 1598 update?
I think it sounds thin and bass shy..also there was a combo of page changes I made that crashed Roon on my MAir, which I thought this update fixed. Unfortunately I was changing so fast I didnt observe the sequence that caused the crash

 

[dminches]

Any observations on the Roon 1598 update?
I think it sounds thin and bass shy..also there was a combo of page changes I made that crashed Roon on my MAir, which I thought this update fixed. Unfortunately I was changing so fast I didnt observe the sequence that caused the crash

I think the bass is a little quieter. It still gets as deep but the bass volume is slightly decreased.

 

[joet]

I used Winbag Air Wedge to lift the Olympus and slid in the footer and lowered it gently. I went overboard and placed a piece of wool material between Olympus and the Absolute point to prevent any scratches. That is just me

Thanks for the advice. I just used an air wedge to experiment with footers under the IO and it was great. I felt like I invented the wheel.