Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

cat6man

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Feb 6, 2013
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west of NYC, east of SF
My music listening time was cut short by a wind storm that came up this afternoon and has intensified this evening. I generally turn off non-essential electronics when I see the lights start to flicker because power outages often follow.

What I can say from the couple of hours I spent listening to music is that the TAS beta sounds lovely. eD, DoP on, PCM buffer set to 4096 (which gives 8192 for DSD). Everything I tried works and the additional features are very nice. Lyrics and artist info are perfectly readable on my iPhone X:

View attachment 74236

I think the beta is another significant step forward for TAS and Taiko -- the app is stable and functional, the development team are incorporating more functionality, and most importantly, the sound quality is stellar.

I look forward to more musical enjoyment when the current wind blows itself out. . .

Steve Z

Congrats Steve! I hope your wind/power situation has stabilized.

A question for you and other betas.
Did you install a new driver at the same time, separately at a later time, or not yet?
 

oldmustang

Well-Known Member
Dec 1, 2012
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Congrats Steve! I hope your wind/power situation has stabilized.

A question for you and other betas.
Did you install a new driver at the same time, separately at a later time, or not yet?
Thanks very much -- it was still windy when I went to bed but in the night the storm blew itself out. Not an uncommon occurrence this close to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, particularly in the winter. All safe and sound now.

I didn't install anything -- from the start other than me installing my library on the Extreme and grabbing the Testflight/TAS apps from the Apple store, Emile, Wilson, Christoph or Ed have installed the TAS program and done all the tweaking and other installs. I didn't watch Wilson 100% of the time for this install, but I don't think he changed anything in the USB driver.

One of the things that is "bought" with the Extreme is a level of support that frankly eclipses anything I've experienced with any other purchase, audio or otherwise. Since my dCS Vivaldi Upsampler and DAC have XMOS USB chipsets, it's one of the platforms already optimized by Emile and company, so my sense is my USB driver has been updated for awhile.

Steve Z
 
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Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Thanks very much -- it was still windy when I went to bed but in the night the storm blew itself out. Not an uncommon occurrence this close to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, particularly in the winter. All safe and sound now.

I didn't install anything -- from the start other than me installing my library on the Extreme and grabbing the Testflight/TAS apps from the Apple store, Emile, Wilson, Christoph or Ed have installed the TAS program and done all the tweaking and other installs. I didn't watch Wilson 100% of the time for this install, but I don't think he changed anything in the USB driver.

One of the things that is "bought" with the Extreme is a level of support that frankly eclipses anything I've experienced with any other purchase, audio or otherwise. Since my dCS Vivaldi Upsampler and DAC have XMOS USB chipsets, it's one of the platforms already optimized by Emile and company, so my sense is my USB driver has been updated for awhile.

Steve Z
IMO it is the TAS driver that is the "secret sauce" to make everything sound so amazing. For me it was worth switching out the USB Amanero board for the JL Sounds USB board which uses XMOS and that is necessary for full function of TAS as well as being able to use the TAS driver

I was a bit bummed to see that shortly after Ed installed Tidal to my TAS Home Page it literally disappeared. I guess Tidal has once again changed their security for login. Emile has told me that Wilson has written code 3 different times for Tidal installation, all of which worked until Tidal each time changed their security. I am told Wilson is working on a permanent fix
 

Esotar

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Mar 27, 2016
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www.digituslabs.kr
I'm digital products seller in Korea.

I think I have many knowledge about digital, but by TAS I realized digital world have new area.

SGM Extreme is no rival music server in the world, but Extreme's real perfect quality was not shown by now.

TAS made SGM Extreme be much more perfect and changed my entire system.

I knew software is important for music server, but TAS' role was too much greater than thing I thought.

Emile's hardware quality is the most perfect but Edward's TAS team is same to hardware.

Emile and Edward said official TAS will be much more greater.

I found one TAS weak point, but no need to mention it.

SGM Extreme's limitation doesn't seem to be existed.

Agree, guys??
 

cat6man

Well-Known Member
Feb 6, 2013
899
1,004
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west of NYC, east of SF
IMO it is the TAS driver that is the "secret sauce" to make everything sound so amazing. For me it was worth switching out the USB Amanero board for the JL Sounds USB board which uses XMOS and that is necessary for full function of TAS as well as being able to use the TAS driver

Is the driver optimized to be DAC specific or USB chip specific?
 

Taiko Audio

Industry Expert
Feb 10, 2017
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taikoaudio.com
Is the driver optimized to be DAC specific or USB chip specific?

Neither, it enables functionality in TAS to provide a more optimal USB to DAC driving mode. This means the driver on it's own does not provide this enhanced functionality when it's not called from TAS. DACs not fitted with a XMOS or U-hear USB controller (interface) like the Amanero fitted in the Chord Dave, older Lampizator DACs, older Denafrips DACs and entry level T+A DACs do not support this. However those do still benefit from all the other TAS features. In general when you pass the 10-12.000 EURO retail DAC pricing range, it virtually always comes with a XMOS or U-hear controller based interface, and nowadays it's even often found in cheaper DACs as more and more manufacturers are starting to notice interface controller quality can have a significant impact on sound quality.

The current supported DAC list:

Supported:
-MSB USB Pro ISL from firmware rev 2.00
-DCS Vivaldi + Upsampler
-Lampizator Pacific (with JLsounds USB interface)

Pending:
-All Totaldac DACs
-Pilium Elektra DAC
-Bricasti Mxx
-Ypsilon DAC 1000
-Davinci DAC mk2
-Aries Cerat Kassandra
-Aqua Formula
 
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Rhapsody

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Jan 16, 2013
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I had not loaded the alpha or beta as I am always doing demos. Emile just loaded it. 15 minutes.

First song. Goosebumps. Almost tears, eyes did water as it was such an emotional experience to hear what I was hearing.

Bow down to Emile/Ed/Wilson and team. Quite amazing.
 

onlychild

Well-Known Member
Sep 18, 2019
133
352
150
I had TAS installed this morning and to be honest, I was a little nervous. TAS not sounding good was the least of my worries. In fact, my concern was what if TAS sounded too good not to use, but then the user interface sucked, like HQplayer, and missed the most basic functionally that was provided by my beloved Roon.

Well I am happy to report that I have finally closed the door on Roon, thanks to TAS. Haven’t tested streaming yet, but for playing locally stored music, the interface is very slick. Super responsive and fast. No crashes. Multiple ways to browse your collection and full ability to manipulate the queue in any manner you please.

This is a great start and the fact that the Taiko team has put together something this good this fast is truly amazing. The music discovery feature still needs a lot more work to catch up to Roon, but I have full confidence the team will get it done based on what I am seeing now. Oh yeah, and it sounds great too!
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
TAS with the TAS driver was truly a revelation in my system
you’re correct in saying that Roon is a thing of the past. I haven’t used it since November
 

matthias

Well-Known Member
Mar 14, 2019
1,251
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Germany
The music discovery feature still needs a lot more work to catch up to Roon, but I have full confidence the team will get it done based on what I am seeing now.

Is it possible to have the features of Roon without compromising sound quality?
Thanks

Matt
 
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EuroDriver

Well-Known Member
Sep 16, 2015
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Is it possible to have the features of Roon without compromising sound quality?
Thanks

Matt
Yes but it takes time

the top priority is working on the first full release with some more SQ uplift

Then we will attack the functionality wish list
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Yes but it takes time

the top priority is working on the first full release with some more SQ uplift

Then we will attack the functionality wish list
"all good things comes to he who waits" :)
 

Rhapsody

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After hours of listening to TAS, my analogy is that Roon is like a nice mid-size SUV. Overall good user experience.

TAS in comparison is like a helicopter. We have lift-off.

I am having a hard time comprehending the difference that it made over Roon. I loved the user experience of Roon, it changed/enhanced my overall musical experience over the last few years.

I will never listen to another track on Roon.
 

kswanson27

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Nov 21, 2018
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After hours of listening to TAS, my analogy is that Roon is like a nice mid-size SUV. Overall good user experience.

TAS in comparison is like a helicopter. We have lift-off.

I am having a hard time comprehending the difference that it made over Roon. I loved the user experience of Roon, it changed/enhanced my overall musical experience over the last few years.

I will never listen to another track on Roon.
Bob--what gear are you listening with?
 

Rhapsody

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A boom box that I found down on 6th Ave:)
 

kswanson27

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Nov 21, 2018
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Rhapsody

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Ken, Are you running the Beta?
 

kswanson27

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Nov 21, 2018
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Ken, Are you running the Beta?
Not yet. Waiting for a USB/AES converter which will be here Monday. I can't run the TAS driver without it.
 

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