Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

[audio42]

I finally got around to installing the 4.08 backend last night after work. When I was beta testing earlier this year, I thought earlier versions were a big improvement in sq and noise floor reduction over alpha. But this is another level. Not evolutionary, but revolutionary.

Suddenly, there's a richness to the overall sound. It's very pleasant to my ears. Quite a big noise floor reduction that I didn't think we would see in the Extreme without (expensive) hardware changes. Bass lines are so distinctive.

On top of that, it's ventured closer to the Olympus sound. The imaging and soundstage is rather spooky. It's way more enveloping - like you're there with the artist wherever they are.

It will take me a bit more time to wrap my head around this level of improvement on the Extreme. Yes, there are a few bugs, but they will get fixed, I have no doubt.

Big kudos to Ed, Lucy, Pavel, and any others who have worked on this new standard of audio software. Incredible.

Arun

 

[cat6man]

i'll just add to the well deserved adulation for xdms beta 4.0.8. the noise floor is clearly lowered and the ability to separate parallel instrumental lines and voices has really been enhanced, back across a threshold i refer to simply as 'magic'.

my previous favorite was the old "jan11 alpha" from last year which made a huge advance after taiko released a set of parameter optimizations (even prior to the actual back end software update, just the parameter updates alone were astonishing). when the alpha software architecture changed (last summer/fall) to enable gapless playback, i felt there was a bit of a step backwards in SQ and spent much of last year oscillating between the 'jan11' and 'gapless' versions.

the beta 4.0.8 back end release brings all the above and more, gapless playback and SQ even better than 'jan11'. clearly the 'queue management'/'parameter optimization' brought to the beta software re-emphasizes the importance of software to SQ and the intricacy of how parameter optimization (even alone) can be a game changer. [bits are bits? huh?]

ed says that there are additional improvements to come that will further lower the noise floor.
then somewhere down the road lies xdmi to replace usb output. yum.

if you've got an extreme and it is still on alpha, this is a no brainer--contact support and request the beta upgrade.

to the many folks we can thank, let's add wilson, the software magician behind queue management and the backend evolution.

disclaimer: 95% or more of my listening is with local WAV files and that is the basis for my comments. currently however, i'm listening to the qobuz playlist for the late great Steve Cropper (RIP).

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...yeah, that January timeframe was very good, for sure.