Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème
- Thread starter CKKeung
- Start date
So now I am curious about my Uptone EtherREGEN does about address segmentation, I will ask Alex Crespi and report back what I learn from him.
Alex from Uptone just replied that "Since the EtherREGEN functions as an unmanned switch (not a router), it passes through all packets as addressed and does not plan an active role in address segmentation."
Considering that my router is a Huawei 4G, is that a good or a bad thing in relationship to how the Extreme likes to see incoming network data?
By the way I am now using the ER as prescribed by the manufacturer, i.e. with the A-side (Gigabit ports) to the router and the "regen" B-side (100MBit port) to the Server. Lastly, the ER is not grounded.
Oh don't worry, the first time I accessed that screen, the same thing happened to me as you.
I’ve been running this hack with a Edge Router for about two years with zero issues or dropouts. I get full 1 gig speed.
Took 2 weeks to get it working and I definitely don’t want to go through that ever again. Got lots of help from the person selling the cert on EBay. I suggest who ever you are getting the cert from install in on a Edge router for you. Pay them for the router and their time, will be well worth your time.
This line is dedicated for my music only so security was not too big of a concern, but I did have a very network savvy friend check that he couldn’t access my laptop or anything if I hooked it up to this line.
I’m running ONT—> EdgeRouter —> Extreme where the ONT and EdgeRouter are being powered by a very mediocre LPS
Edit: I found the contact info for the guy I purchased the cert from who was willing to put it on the EdgeRouter for $100. He was referred to me by someone else on this thread and I believe he has helped a few others.
Shoot me a DM if you want his contact info.
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Had the privilege of Emile uploading the latest software update earlier today, a bit late to the party. After 3 hours, I just can't get enough. As many have already said, the tonal density, saturation of notes, their greater imaging, emotion and realism are addictive. I recall upon first hearing the Extreme in my system it sounded like I had added additional amplification. I sense that again now after this update. I dare say it adds at least an additional 25% to the value IMHO.
I also was quite curious to compare my cat 6 run direct to the Extreme versus through my Edgerouter (w Nordost Qsource LPS) and M12 Gold switch (w Plixir Elite BDC LPS). When the Extreme arrived two years ago the added combo was a noticeable uptick in SQ. Fast forward to today, I can barely tell a difference. Perhaps the slightest nod to the combo on certain tracks, but will need to do more critical comparisons to split hairs.
Again, massive kudos to team Taiko and the dream team of external testers that has allowed us to further appreciate the beauty of music, across all genres, and unlock the technological mysteries behind it, none of which I can claim to understand. Very much looking forward to the rest of this year and what remains hidden up the Taiko sleeve...
I also was quite curious to compare my cat 6 run direct to the Extreme versus through my Edgerouter (w Nordost Qsource LPS) and M12 Gold switch (w Plixir Elite BDC LPS). When the Extreme arrived two years ago the added combo was a noticeable uptick in SQ. Fast forward to today, I can barely tell a difference. Perhaps the slightest nod to the combo on certain tracks, but will need to do more critical comparisons to split hairs.
Again, massive kudos to team Taiko and the dream team of external testers that has allowed us to further appreciate the beauty of music, across all genres, and unlock the technological mysteries behind it, none of which I can claim to understand. Very much looking forward to the rest of this year and what remains hidden up the Taiko sleeve...
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Here is another installment in my continuing series of listening impressions using a Chord DAVE/SRC-DX combination with Taiko's new USB drivers for the SRC-DX. When Emile had finished installing the drivers on my Extreme, he sent an email:
"Pretty sure it should be USB4 with roon set to 32-bits, but feel free to try others, USB3 with roon at 24 bits, or USB2 with Roon to 32-bits, or USB1 with roon to 24 or 32!"
Since these were all-new drivers as applied to the SRC-DX, Emile is encouraging experimentation. Among the users of the same gear that I've been in touch with, it seems that there is a consensus that Taiko's USB4 profile sounds best and that this driver sounds better than the old ComTrue driver in the SRC-DX. I know of at least one person, however, who still prefers the ComTrue driver in their system.
I had heard that the USB4 driver produced a distinctly different sound if Roon is set to 24 bits max rather than the 32 that Emile is suggesting in the above quote. So I experimented going back and forth between 24 and 32 bits this morning in Roon. Since I wasn't switching to a different USB profile, I could go back and forth fairly quickly by just changing the Roon setting.
When I switched to 24 bits, what jumped out at first was a change in perspective. To my ears, this is a more forward, up front sound, almost like the microphone placement was a little closer. It sounds a little more raw and there is a sense of heightened detail, but the longer I listened, the more I believed that there really was no increase in detail, just a change in perspective. Perhaps more importantly, the longer I listened to tunes I was familiar with, the more I felt challenged by this 24 bit setting -- challenged in terms of what I thought the music should sound like. To my ears, there seemed to be something "off" in every tune and that interfered with my musical engagement.
By comparison, the 32 bit setting provides a more distant perspective, but maybe counterintuitively, I experienced greater engagement. I heard greater layering front to back and I heard a more beautiful, smoother, and seemingly more natural tone. Overall, I preferred this presentation, which was gentler and more inviting, and gave a greater sense of wholeness and cohesiveness to the music.
I should mention that all of the tunes I listened to were PGGB'd at 24 bits. It is confusing to me why a 32 bit setting on Roon would sound better when all the files were 24 bit and when the SRC-DX can only send a 24 bit signal to the DAC pursuant to the S/PDIF protocol. But I heard what I heard and it seems Emile may be suggesting that the 32 bit setting is more technically correct for this USB4 driver.
Of course there are three other USB drivers and so I did some additional listening. Per Emile's suggestion above, I listened to USB3 at 24 bits and I liked it better than USB4 at 24 bits. Essentially, I heard the same sort of sound from USB3 at 24 bits that I heard at 32 bits (and which I covered a few days ago in a separate post): a forward, bold sound that some might find exciting but I found a little too in my face. By comparison, USB4 at 32 bits was more relaxed and refined and allowed me to follow complex music more easily.
I also listened to USB1 and USB2 but by this time I was getting tired. I had listened to both a few days before at 32 bits and they didn't sound bad to my ears but also did not engage me the way USB4 at 32 bits does. But I've given options 1 and 2 pretty short shrift, so don't take that as gospel.
As always, I am very interested in what others are hearing and I'm sure Emile & Co. would like to hear as well.
"Pretty sure it should be USB4 with roon set to 32-bits, but feel free to try others, USB3 with roon at 24 bits, or USB2 with Roon to 32-bits, or USB1 with roon to 24 or 32!"
Since these were all-new drivers as applied to the SRC-DX, Emile is encouraging experimentation. Among the users of the same gear that I've been in touch with, it seems that there is a consensus that Taiko's USB4 profile sounds best and that this driver sounds better than the old ComTrue driver in the SRC-DX. I know of at least one person, however, who still prefers the ComTrue driver in their system.
I had heard that the USB4 driver produced a distinctly different sound if Roon is set to 24 bits max rather than the 32 that Emile is suggesting in the above quote. So I experimented going back and forth between 24 and 32 bits this morning in Roon. Since I wasn't switching to a different USB profile, I could go back and forth fairly quickly by just changing the Roon setting.
When I switched to 24 bits, what jumped out at first was a change in perspective. To my ears, this is a more forward, up front sound, almost like the microphone placement was a little closer. It sounds a little more raw and there is a sense of heightened detail, but the longer I listened, the more I believed that there really was no increase in detail, just a change in perspective. Perhaps more importantly, the longer I listened to tunes I was familiar with, the more I felt challenged by this 24 bit setting -- challenged in terms of what I thought the music should sound like. To my ears, there seemed to be something "off" in every tune and that interfered with my musical engagement.
By comparison, the 32 bit setting provides a more distant perspective, but maybe counterintuitively, I experienced greater engagement. I heard greater layering front to back and I heard a more beautiful, smoother, and seemingly more natural tone. Overall, I preferred this presentation, which was gentler and more inviting, and gave a greater sense of wholeness and cohesiveness to the music.
I should mention that all of the tunes I listened to were PGGB'd at 24 bits. It is confusing to me why a 32 bit setting on Roon would sound better when all the files were 24 bit and when the SRC-DX can only send a 24 bit signal to the DAC pursuant to the S/PDIF protocol. But I heard what I heard and it seems Emile may be suggesting that the 32 bit setting is more technically correct for this USB4 driver.
Of course there are three other USB drivers and so I did some additional listening. Per Emile's suggestion above, I listened to USB3 at 24 bits and I liked it better than USB4 at 24 bits. Essentially, I heard the same sort of sound from USB3 at 24 bits that I heard at 32 bits (and which I covered a few days ago in a separate post): a forward, bold sound that some might find exciting but I found a little too in my face. By comparison, USB4 at 32 bits was more relaxed and refined and allowed me to follow complex music more easily.
I also listened to USB1 and USB2 but by this time I was getting tired. I had listened to both a few days before at 32 bits and they didn't sound bad to my ears but also did not engage me the way USB4 at 32 bits does. But I've given options 1 and 2 pretty short shrift, so don't take that as gospel.
As always, I am very interested in what others are hearing and I'm sure Emile & Co. would like to hear as well.
First of all, I'm really enjoying the latest OS+driver update..........keep bringing it on.
I have two questions:
@everyone:
I'm using roon for the first time ever and while I love getting rid of the gap between tracks, I find it incredibly difficult to find and navigate to my music without directory/file navigation. I'll live with it because I have to, because gapless is more important to me.
Is there any other client, on a phone/tablet/pc that can interface with Roon on the Extreme and provide a simpler way for me to find my music in the way I'm accustomed to and which I have optimized for years? Or am I stuck with the Roon client for now?
@emile
Since xmds will give me what I'm looking for in SQ, gapless-ness and directory navigation, can you provide an approximate time when it might become available, say 1Q22 or 2Q22?
I have two questions:
@everyone:
I'm using roon for the first time ever and while I love getting rid of the gap between tracks, I find it incredibly difficult to find and navigate to my music without directory/file navigation. I'll live with it because I have to, because gapless is more important to me.
Is there any other client, on a phone/tablet/pc that can interface with Roon on the Extreme and provide a simpler way for me to find my music in the way I'm accustomed to and which I have optimized for years? Or am I stuck with the Roon client for now?
@emile
Since xmds will give me what I'm looking for in SQ, gapless-ness and directory navigation, can you provide an approximate time when it might become available, say 1Q22 or 2Q22?
I'll let @EuroDriver answer that question, he's heading that project.
The best way to access music in roon is to create Bookmarks which are a collections of rules, or focus. Some example:
1 - Artist - John Coltrane; bit rate = 24 or DSD.
2 - File location = d:\music\classical
3 - Genre = Jazz
that's a non-starter here, way too much effort for 80,000 tracks and up to 5 levels in directory structures.
thanks anyway, i'll wait for xmds
When you go to pick music in TAS how do you do it?
The examples I gave where 3 independent ones.
I feel your pain. I too find it useful to use directory browsing as an aid to finding particular versions of albums. This is yet another area where Roon leadership are adamant this is not a valid usecase, and have vowed never to support it. Here's just one of many such threads in the infamous Roon forum: https://community.roonlabs.com/t/how-can-i-browse-by-folder-or-location/59893
That said, there is a hack-y kludgy way to do it. It's ugly, but it's something. The key is to view Tracks, not Albums. In the Tracks viewer, scroll all the way to the right, click on Gear icon, and make sure the Path column is enabled. Now sort the Path column as shown, and after this, you just have to scroll to navigate. It's not pretty for sure!
Well, there is this:
Not exactly what you were looking for but it kinda works.
Edit: Oops, I see Rajiv posted essentially the same work-around. Well, great minds and all. . .
Steve Z
Not exactly what you were looking for but it kinda works.
Edit: Oops, I see Rajiv posted essentially the same work-around. Well, great minds and all. . .
Steve Z
With the sonic success of the OS upgrade and the new USB drivers working with Roon, we have put a halt to the completion of XDMS 1.0 and have turned all of our resources to XDMS 2.0 with it's much nicer User Interface and a totally reworked player to take advantage of the latest network architecture of the OS.
Omicron has been causing significant time off periods with a gradual getting up to speed for some key team members, and we might have more timeouts down the road. For this reason I think q2, of 2022 is a realistic guess.
We hear you about folder tree search, and that will be in XDMS 2.0
For those who wish to switch USB profiles themselves, for instance, due to the purchase of a new DAC, please refer to the USB Profile Selection Guide that can be downloaded from the Taiko website via the link below. This guide contains easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions.
https://taikoaudio.com/taiko-2020/sgm-extreme-music-server/ (please scroll down to the Downloads section)
If you'd rather receive assistance, just let us know at support@taikoaudio.com, and we will make sure that you get the best sounding driver for your DAC installed via a TeamViewer session.
Many thanks!
Christiaan
https://taikoaudio.com/taiko-2020/sgm-extreme-music-server/ (please scroll down to the Downloads section)
If you'd rather receive assistance, just let us know at support@taikoaudio.com, and we will make sure that you get the best sounding driver for your DAC installed via a TeamViewer session.
Many thanks!
Christiaan
I feel your pain.
A suggestion, since you are new to Roon and you have 80K tracks: let Roon Radio be your friend.
What's Roon Radio and how does it work?
There is a possibility in Roon to sort by directory path via Bookmarks but for that to work, you need to enter a separate storage location for every directory that you want to be able to filter on (see attached screenshot Roon1). To make a directory bookmark, use Focus - Storage Locations and select the desired location (see Roon2), and create a bookmark from that view. After that, you can select that bookmark using the drop-down menu shown in screenshot Roon3.
The good news is that from that moment on, Roon keeps the contents of the bookmarks updated as you add or remove music.
Attachments
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Roon2.jpg -
Roon3.jpg -
Roon1.jpg
Hi @Christiaan Punter, thanks for posting this manual! Soooo, when listening via TAS should PCM and DSD buffers be set to Auto or is that only when listening via ROON. Previously, when listening via TAS, at Emile's suggestion I had them set at 4096 and 8192 respectively. Thanks!
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