Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

Thank you. That's the same as mine. The only curveball is I thought I swapped them when I used Ethernet to connect to the DAC. Perhaps I didn't. So, I think it's safe to say your configuration is the correct one.
 
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Yes, I am sure you are right, one goes in 5 and the other goes in 2

The attached installation instructions have the net card in slot 2 and the USB card in slot 5.
(this is my current configuration.)

I also saw a document that had the USB card in slot 2.

My friend who had it extreme and now has an Olympus, said that the cards moved around.

This is why I submitted a ticket and asked Taiko directly.

Thank you for your kind assistance
 
Another thumbs up here for XDMS control Beta update!
Big sonic, and for me functional, improvement. A drop in the noise floor contributes to amazing sq and phenomenal bass. Anyone with an Extreme should really try XDMS beta. Great work by the team!
 
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Noch 1 Stimme für die JMF. Ich habe den größeren Bruder, den PCD302. Ich habe viele Stromaufbereiter gehört, darunter auch den P20. Nichts kam JMF auch nur nahe. Ziemlich schockierend :)
Good morning, do have experience with a JMF PCD vs. SIN Audio (Ghost)?
 
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Shot of my interior....


53755165353_85208c1d84_b.jpg
 
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Hello Taiko loving friends,

I have built a DIY Extreme and I am trying to determine which PCIE slots to put the ethernet and USB cards.
I know which slots were originally used, and I understand that the cards have moved around after Taiko produced their own cards.
I have researched this and saw a recommendation from Taiko that places both cards in slot number two.
I submitted a ticket a couple of weeks ago, but have not received a response yet.

Will you please share with me which slots in your extreme hold the Taiko USB and ethernet cards?

I hope you are enjoying some good music, Will

Hi @drjimwillie ,

The standard Extreme setup has the Network card in slot 2 and the USB card in slot 5, as others have already kindly pointed out.

That said, since you’ve built your own Extreme, the “best” configuration can depend a little on your exact use case. Here’s the logic behind how we place them:

  • Slots 3–5 connect directly to CPU0.
  • Slots 1, 2, 6, and 7 connect to CPU1.
  • In the Extreme, CPU0 is dedicated to audio playback, while CPU1 handles system tasks like networking.

So in the default build, USB sits on CPU0 (where playback happens) and Networking on CPU1 (where system traffic belongs). That’s why we normally recommend those positions.

In some situations, though, we’ve suggested other placements, for example, when @joet was running a network-connected DAC, we had him put the network card in slot 5 to link it directly to CPU0 instead.

Hope that clears it up a bit!
 
Big sonic, and for me functional, improvement. A drop in the noise floor contributes to amazing sq and phenomenal bass. Anyone with an Extreme should really try XDMS beta. Great work by the team!

Admittedly, @EuroDriver caught me by surprise with the NAS detection feature, super handy! And somehow he’s managed to pull another rabbit out of his hat on the SQ front, adding a sweet bonus in a hobby where "maxed out" only lasts until the next surprise drop. :)
 
New Extreme owner here. First, I was a big server skeptic. Thanks to Taiko dealer, Chris Hesse, Dallas, TX for bringing me an Extreme Server and Taiko Switch to demo. It took just a few songs for me to tell him, "It's not leaving!" Been running ROON happily on my Extreme for two months. No problems and sounds great. I was speaking with Vassil, Taiko Audio, the other day and he offered to have Edward contact me so that he could log in to my Extreme Server remotely and setup XDMS 4.0.17 Beta. That completed today (thanks Edward) so I got a chance to get XDMS 4.0.17 running tonight for a listen. Shocking! I'm probably late to the party here with praise but this Beta software easily outperforms ROON on Extreme Server. The upper frequencies are much more open and it seems as if "grain and grit" have been removed. Try Radiohead, Reckoner, from In Rainbows. All of those percussion instruments in the opening have more detail definition and space. Bass is better defined. Play the 2025 remastered version of Bill Evans, Stairway to the Stars, from Moon Beams. How about that upright bass in the right channel! Tight and well defined. This sounded a bit "mushy" on ROON. Piano is beautiful and bright. Brushes and cymbals on drums on my left have more resolution and detail. Not subtle differences at all. It's just more "live" sounding. Very exciting. Great job! Now we shall see about overall stability.
 
Congrats, you won't regret the purchase. Taiko still plans to develop some hardware upgrades for the Extreme as well so hopefully even more to look forward to.

I thought XDMS alpha was good but beta is in a different league. Mine is quite stable but there are a few issues. Some of us have been posting these in Discord so Ed and the dev team can address. Please post your findings, both positive and negative.

Arun
 
Just got an Extreme Switch. I'm going to spend the next few days testing with and W/O my Ansuz D2 Powerswitch in the chain.
 
Way back, when the switch was first released, I seem to recall Emile recommending against daisy chaining switches. But, there's no hurt in experimenting! Im interested to hear what you find, as well as the comparison to the Ansuz. Are you using the network card?
 
...I continued to run a modded Buffalo switch in my system for 6-8 months after adding the Taiko Switch, which was contrary to general guidance. I like to learn directly, where practical.

Eventually, I decided to try things without the second switch and I felt no need to keep the second switch in the chain. IIRC I had the second switch in place with the Extreme and the Olympus.

N.B. I use the Taiko Router now, so please factor that in your thinking.
 
Way back, when the switch was first released, I seem to recall Emile recommending against daisy chaining switches. But, there's no hurt in experimenting! Im interested to hear what you find, as well as the comparison to the Ansuz. Are you using the network card?
I am using the network card. It will interesting comparing the two.
 
Just got an Extreme Switch. I'm going to spend the next few days testing with and W/O my Ansuz D2 Powerswitch in the chain.
Oh, I also use Ansuz so looking forward to your impressions.

Arun
 
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Edward the magician just installed XDMS Beta for me - on a Sunday afternoon/evening! So first of all my gratitude, a big THANK YOU and pull of my hat to this gentleman!

Background: My Alpha just has lapsed and all I hoped for was to play music again with maybe a little bug here and there removed, didn't think about an upgrade sound-wise.

We had a little hiccup because the control App didn't find my Extreme; so while texting with Edward suddenly some violin started playing out of the blue - and though still focused on Edward and connecting the App to the Extreme - I thought this is sounding not "bad at aaaall". It was a Paganini Caprices album I didn't play for a long time and then only in bits. So we then fixed the "issue" by simple reinstalling the app, I said thank you to Edward and queued some familiar music.

Well... what can I say: This Beta Version sound FANTASTIC!!! I remember the upgrade to "NSM" and it was really good compared to the prior XDMS. But for me this upgrade is more significant.

This is what I wrote to Edward:
  • Edward, regarding the sonics of the Beta Version: Haha, if someone would have said this is what an out of the box new Olympus sounds vs. the Extreme, I'd probably have taken it.
  • So natural with beautiful air, tonal colors and lushness!
  • I thought to myself: If I'd bought a new 5k power cord and someone said it sound like this, I thought it well worth the price.
Now I would add it sounds like grounding your components for the first time or upgrading to a top-level power distributor. It feels like so much grain and strain has been drained from the music. So natural with great dynamics. Simply put: My system sounds just more like MUSIC now!

I often complain and roll my eyes about such overly hyped reports (like what I write above), so take it with a grain of salt and of course YMMV. Buuuut let me put it this way: If you own an Extreme, you owe it to yourself to give it a try! And for all the Olympus users: If XDMS (Beta) will be anything remotely to this compared to the prior XDMS (and Roon of course) your Olympus will get you even more to music wonderland.

Now enough hyperbole, I'll be listening to some more music. Happy Sunday to all out there! ... and please give Edward a breather until tomorrow. ;)
 

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