Before I tried the Pinkfaun 2.16 ultra, Ive had Taiko sg extreme for about 2 years. Tbh, I didn’t really expect much from Pinky, maybe Im biased taiko since im the owner, or by looking at the size and weight of two different machines.
During the comparison session, I firstly made quick ab tests of each song, and the both machines were connected and powered by exact cables. after several hour of the quick switch a test, I then listened to Pinky for about 1 week constantly. So I could build up kinda sonic understanding of the new unit, and be more clear what was the differences after switching back to taiko.
So in my first quick session, I could hear some differences, not huge huge differences, but I was not sure which one I preferred. Basicall, the first impressions was as below
1. taiko has little more powerful bass
2. taiko is slight warmer
3. you feel more energy from taiko
4. pinky has better deeper sound stage
5. pinky sounds more delicate, but still very good body
After one week of pinky, then I switched back to taiko. This time, there was definitely more understanding the differences between the two.
1. yes, the pinky has deeper sound stage, and I like anything Can bring the deep sound stage to my system
2. the sound of instruments and whatever sound is more separated, and spatial
3. sound more comes from far behind the speakers, with taiko, occasionally i still feel some sound from the speaker.
4. with pinky software stylus, it is the most analog sounding in my system, very natural, smooth but still dynami.it’s very close to my DS audio W2 set. i have to say that stylus sounds really really wonderful. What about taikos software? For many reason, I still haven’t got it installed in my unit in the past 2 years, so i Dont know actually. Before the comparison I emailed taiko asking for the new software, the answer is they are waiting for qobuz certification, and asked me to wait. So I tried.
so I listened to taiko for about 15mins, and decided I’m keeping the pinky and will sell taiko. For me, Pinkfaun is a better spatial sounding, very analog sounding unit, these features attracted me the most. That’s the end of my story, quite a surprise tbh. Coz I never felt like to test another streamer, or even change my taiko. But life is full of surprises. Btw, analog is still the heaven…digital is when I’m feeling lazy.

During the comparison session, I firstly made quick ab tests of each song, and the both machines were connected and powered by exact cables. after several hour of the quick switch a test, I then listened to Pinky for about 1 week constantly. So I could build up kinda sonic understanding of the new unit, and be more clear what was the differences after switching back to taiko.
So in my first quick session, I could hear some differences, not huge huge differences, but I was not sure which one I preferred. Basicall, the first impressions was as below
1. taiko has little more powerful bass
2. taiko is slight warmer
3. you feel more energy from taiko
4. pinky has better deeper sound stage
5. pinky sounds more delicate, but still very good body
After one week of pinky, then I switched back to taiko. This time, there was definitely more understanding the differences between the two.
1. yes, the pinky has deeper sound stage, and I like anything Can bring the deep sound stage to my system
2. the sound of instruments and whatever sound is more separated, and spatial
3. sound more comes from far behind the speakers, with taiko, occasionally i still feel some sound from the speaker.
4. with pinky software stylus, it is the most analog sounding in my system, very natural, smooth but still dynami.it’s very close to my DS audio W2 set. i have to say that stylus sounds really really wonderful. What about taikos software? For many reason, I still haven’t got it installed in my unit in the past 2 years, so i Dont know actually. Before the comparison I emailed taiko asking for the new software, the answer is they are waiting for qobuz certification, and asked me to wait. So I tried.
so I listened to taiko for about 15mins, and decided I’m keeping the pinky and will sell taiko. For me, Pinkfaun is a better spatial sounding, very analog sounding unit, these features attracted me the most. That’s the end of my story, quite a surprise tbh. Coz I never felt like to test another streamer, or even change my taiko. But life is full of surprises. Btw, analog is still the heaven…digital is when I’m feeling lazy.
