Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

[Taiko Audio]

Sounds like its hackable Emilo, you know what i am suggesting Will look into roon appliance - several gb of cache is quite crazy and indeed if thats the case it can explain the slowness - i would actually start wondering how much that impacts on the r/w cycles in the ssds we have if it builds a cache everytime on startup.

Tas is built on the logitech squeezebox platform it seems. Given the squeezebox is no longer in production; is it fair to assume that it is going to be hard for ui improvements? The sound quality is simply amazing - an amazing lifelike voice . Thank you Emile and team for taking on this task and building us what is essentially the best product for my setup in 2021!

We are using Logitech Media Server till we finish developing the bridges and players. After that we are going to develop our own server so we can integrate metadata providers and discovery services. That would also give us full control over music browsing modes, search functionality, online streaming services integration, remote functionality, look and feel. And of course the potential to squeeze out even more SQ performance.

 

[plasmod3]

We are using Logitech Media Server till we're done developing the bridges and players. After that we are going to develop our own server so we can integrate metadata providers and discovery services. That would also give us full control over music browsing modes, search functionality, online streaming services integration etc. And of course the potential to squeeze out even more SQ performance.

now that i am going to look forward so much to!

the vertical integration you have planned here makes so much sense not only from a music point of view but also from a business pov as well. I was meeting with Anthony from Nirvana today and had a very good listening session + chat, one of the things he said surprised me and that was that cds will probably go 'dodo' in the next 5-10years. I now see why and couldnt agree more. Thanks Emile

 

[Taiko Audio]

now that i am going to look forward so much to!

the vertical integration you have planned here makes so much sense not only from a music point of view but also from a business pov as well. I was meeting with Anthony from Nirvana today and had a very good listening session + chat, one of the things he said surprised me and that was that cds will probably go 'dodo' in the next 5-10years. I now see why and couldnt agree more. Thanks Emile

Wilson installed the BETA there last night if I'm not mistaken. Was it up and running when you visited them?

 

[plasmod3]

It was

Wilson installed the BETA there last night if I'm not mistaken. Was it up and running when you visited them?

Indeed it was, I was there right after the install. a few problems after that though when we shut the system down and then rebooted. The dac seems stuck. Originally thought it was a loose usb cable where that fixed the first listen . After another shutdown to change speakers - the dac was stuck in a loop it seems and no music will play - roon or tas. Does the ypsilon use the xmos driver as well? Anthony said there was some mention on a tricky dac.

 

[Taiko Audio]

Indeed it was, I was there right after the install. a few problems after that though when we shut the system down and then rebooted. The dac seems stuck. Originally thought it was a loose usb cable where that fixed the first listen . After another shutdown to change speakers - the dac was stuck in a loop it seems and no music will play - roon or tas. Does the ypsilon use the xmos driver as well? Anthony said there was some mention on a tricky dac.

The Ypsilon uses the JLsounds XMOS based USB interface. It should behave the same as other DACs using it, like Lampizator, Vitus, Aries Cerat, and probably many more, but apparently it doesn't, but there may simply be something else going on. Wilson send me the USB descriptor dump to investigate, looking at it now and it does contain error messages.

 

[plasmod3]

The Ypsilon uses the JLsounds XMOS based USB interface. It should behave the same as other DACs using it, like Lampizator, Vitus, Aries Cerat, and probably many more, but apparently it doesn't, but there may simply be something else going on. Wilson send me the USB descriptor dump to investigate, looking at it now and it does contain error messages.

Ah good that Wilson is onto it. Power cycling the dac didn't resolve the error. Hope there's an answer for them soon. Disconnecting the USB cable there did not resolve the issue though, we also tried using the aes connection once - that gave white noise through the speakers. Not sure if there is an aes data dump as well? useful. It seemed multiple connections didn't work.

 

[Taiko Audio]

Ah good that Wilson is onto it. Power cycling the dac didn't resolve the error. Hope there's an answer for them soon. Disconnecting the USB cable there did not resolve the issue though, we also tried using the aes connection once - that gave white noise through the speakers. Not sure if there is an aes data dump as well? useful. It seemed multiple connections didn't work.

Turned out it was a USB cable connectivity issue.

 

[dminches]

Could someone measure for me the distance, width-wise, between the outside edges of the footers on the Extreme? I need to see if I can fit the unit on a 17 3/4” HRS platform.

 

[Rhapsody]

Could someone measure for me the distance, width-wise, between the outside edges of the footers on the Extreme? I need to see if I can fit the unit on a 17 3/4” HRS platform.

I measured 15 1/2" going from side to side outside of the footers and 14 1/2" from front to back outside of the footers.

 

[dminches]

I measured 15 1/2" going from side to side outside of the footers and 14 1/2" from front to back outside of the footers.

Perfect. Thank you.

 

[Rhapsody]

TAS has again transformed my overall listening experience. Sure it sounds amazing, as a recent installation by Emile to one of my customers noted "jaw dropping" after the first hour. Most everyone although I guess not everyone as noted in a post above, that has listened to Beta TAS understands this.

What has happened to me is that at low to moderate volumes I listen to each album that I play full through, sometimes twice. I've been doing this with a lot of 60's/70's albums. I would have NEVER done this prior, maybe occasionally, but not every album.

Now it's like a religious experience listening to all of these albums, that for me, definitely sound like analog vs digital, but it's about hearing songs that I probably have never even heard prior and they sound amazing. It's really allowing me to enjoy the music vs how it sounds. The whole experience is mesmerizing.

 

[Blue58]

Same thing here Bob. I used to hit play then spend 3 minutes looking at Roon for the next track thereby nit totally immersing myself in the music. Since TAS I ‘m back to old school, 1 album all the way through it’s just totally engrossing. And that makes me happy.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Amazing. You guys are rediscovering how to listen to music. Teaching old dogs old tricks.

 

[Rhapsody]

Same thing here Bob. I used to hit play then spend 3 minutes looking at Roon for the next track thereby nit totally immersing myself in the music. Since TAS I ‘m back to old school, 1 album all the way through it’s just totally engrossing. And that makes me happy.

Agreed, good way of saying it "it makes me happy too"

 

[Rhapsody]

Amazing. You guys are rediscovering how to listen to music. Teaching old dogs old tricks.

It's all personal preference. It's one of the reasons that I have loved digital for the last several years. Unless the album/vinyl that I was listening to was a really good album that I enjoyed the whole album I just did not enjoy listening to tracks that I had no interest in.

For some reason with this current Beta TAS, even individual tracks that I would not enjoy sitting through with vinyl, I like listening to them. No sense to it, but it is what it is. Very personal listening habits, but as I said it makes me happy.

 

[cat6man]

Soun

Sounds like its hackable Emilo, you know what i am suggesting Will look into roon appliance - several gb of cache is quite crazy and indeed if thats the case it can explain the slowness - i would actually start wondering how much that impacts on the r/w cycles in the ssds we have if it builds a cache everytime on startup.

Tas is built on the logitech squeezebox platform it seems. Given the squeezebox is no longer in production; is it fair to assume that it is going to be hard for ui improvements? The sound quality is simply amazing - an amazing lifelike voice . Thank you Emile and team for taking on this task and building us what is essentially the best product for my setup in 2021!

the logitech software is now open sourced, so it does continue to evolve.
i've been running LMS and squeezelite on my NUC and there are regular upgrades available.

 

[Rhapsody]

the logitech software is now open sourced, so it does continue to evolve.
i've been running LMS and squeezelite on my NUC and there are regular upgrades available.

It's in NJ

 

[matthias]

It's all personal preference. It's one of the reasons that I have loved digital for the last several years. Unless the album/vinyl that I was listening to was a really good album that I enjoyed the whole album I just did not enjoy listening to tracks that I had no interest in.

For some reason with this current Beta TAS, even individual tracks that I would not enjoy sitting through with vinyl, I like listening to them. No sense to it, but it is what it is. Very personal listening habits, but as I said it makes me happy.

Hi Bob,

just for clarification:

Do you listen to TAS with ExtremeDirect or HQPlayer as output?

Thanks

Matt

 

[Rhapsody]

Hi Bob,

just for clarification:

Do you listen to TAS with ExtremeDirect or HQPlayer as output?

Thanks

Matt

HI Matt,

I am just using ExtremeDirect.

 

[Steve Williams]

Hi Bob,

just for clarification:

Do you listen to TAS with ExtremeDirect or HQPlayer as output?

Thanks

Matt

Perhaps I am mistaken but it seems to be my impression that the only people who use TAS + HQP are those who use the Chord Dave as a DAC