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

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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".
 
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Ahh. So the input being used is the legacy USB.

No, no... To avoid confusion - they were playing their turntable at the time Jason recorded the Aries Cerat video (which is where I took that screenshot from).
It looked like the Olympus was turned off as I did not see the LED lights on the front. But because of the angle and lighting that could have been misleading. Maybe that was early in the morning when they were starting... I have no idea.
But if/when they play the Olympus I would expect to see the DAC on AES/EBU and the lights on the Olympus ON.

Perhaps people in Munich will report soon. We are eagerly awaiting more feedback...
 
No, no... To avoid confusion - they were playing their turntable at the time Jason recorded the Aries Cerat video (which is where I took that screenshot from).
It looked like the Olympus was turned off as I did not see the LED lights on the front. But because of the angle and lighting that could have been misleading. Maybe that was early in the morning when they were starting... I have no idea.
But if/when they play the Olympus I would expect to see the DAC on AES/EBU and the lights on the Olympus ON.

Perhaps people in Munich will report soon. We are eagerly awaiting more feedback...

They actually prefer to use USB over AES/EBU, I guess implementation plays a role too.. All good, sounds great in that room aswell, like a supercharged Extreme I guess, nothing wrong with that!
 
They actually prefer to use USB over AES/EBU, I guess implementation plays a role too.. All good, sounds great in that room aswell, like a supercharged Extreme I guess, nothing wrong with that!
Strange. I remember the claim that AES XDMI was far superior to USB.
 
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Emile, now with the Olympus running 100% of battery, has the power cord still an audible influence when not recharging?

Here is Emile's answer to that specific question :


More usefull info here :


Hope this helps,

Cheers,

Thomas
 
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