Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

[Nils]

I see. When they said "XDS" I assumed it was XDMS.

Sorry for the confusion - it was TAS (I'll update post to avoid further confusion), we are all waiting for XDMS!

 

[cat6man]

Have Patience little grasshopper

my birthday is at the end of the month, and my wife asked me if i had any ideas for presents.
my reply of "xdms" was met with a look of confusion, then a sad nodding of the head after i explained what that was.

i had been tempted to say "stax x9000" but that would have meant admitting to the price

 

[Taiko Audio]

Update:

Dear Extreme owners. I'm sure you are all wondering what happened to the announced pre-Christmas XDMS release. We are currently rewriting XDMS to implement some fundamental process changes for the following reason:

Digging deep into the wondrous realms of software influence on playback sound quality we have made a few rather significant discoveries. Right now we have an Extreme here fitted with an updated operating system, running Roon, which significantly outperforms the current operating system, running TAS and even XDMS (!). We are now working on implementing this to work with TAS, so it will be ahead again, and XDMS is being partially overhauled to implement this natively into its code.

We will release this update, which can be applied by a remote teamviewer session, as soon as we have TAS up to speed, which I expect to be ready in about 2 weeks. TAS is now actually at a disadvantage as it relies on the good old Logitech Media Server for the front end, but XDMS being 100% native and "modern" efficient 64 bit code lacks this disadvantage and with the code changes currently implemented should be the solid sound quality leader.

 

[Muni]

WOW - this makes my heartbeat a bit faster than before reading this message - cheers to Emile and the Extreme!

 

[Blue58]

”It's only just out of reach
Down the block, on a beach, under a tree
I got a feelin' there's a miracle due
Gonna come true, comin' to me”

 

[heebrog]

Update:

Right now we have an Extreme here fitted with an updated operating system, running Roon, which significantly outperforms the current operating system, running TAS and even XDMS (!).

Hi Emile. OS like in version of Windows?

 

[dminches]

Update:

We will release this update, which can be applied by a remote teamviewer session, as soon as we have TAS up to speed, which I expect to be ready in about 2 weeks.

Emile, just to clarify, will the update you expect to release in approx 2 weeks going to include an OS + TAS update or just a TAS update?

 

[Taiko Audio]

Hi Emile. OS like in version of Windows?

Emile, just to clarify, will the update you expect to release in approx 2 weeks going to include an OS + TAS update or just a TAS update?

It's an update to the existing OS.

 

[Stereophonic]

Update:

Dear Extreme owners. I'm sure you are all wondering what happened to the announced pre-Christmas XDMS release. We are currently rewriting XDMS to implement some fundamental process changes for the following reason:

Digging deep into the wondrous realms of software influence on playback sound quality we have made a few rather significant discoveries. Right now we have an Extreme here fitted with an updated operating system, running Roon, which significantly outperforms the current operating system, running TAS and even XDMS (!). We are now working on implementing this to work with TAS, so it will be ahead again, and XDMS is being partially overhauled to implement this natively into it's code.

We will release this update, which can be applied by a remote teamviewer session, as soon as we have TAS up to speed, which I expect to be ready in about 2 weeks. TAS is now actually at a disadvantage as it relies on the good old Logitech Media Server for the front end, but XDMS being 100% native and "modern" efficient 64 bit code lacks this disadvantage and with the code changes currently implemented should be the solid sound quality leader.

Don´t misunderstand me, but ,at this level, after 9000 posts, discovering an update operating system running Roon outperforms the current operating system is very surprising and hoping that XDMS "should" be solid is only a guess.
Excuse me, but this kind of trial and error method is very disturbing.
You are talking about this from months ago. IMHO you should present your discoveries when they will be ready.
There are a lot of people who can feel frustated with so many words and promises followed by these changes that doesn't correspond to any clear goal and path.
Just my 2+.

 

[dminches]

Don´t misunderstand me, but ,at this level, after 9000 posts, discovering an update operating system running Roon outperforms the current operating system is very surprising and hoping that XDMS "should" be solid is only a guess.
Excuse me, but this kind of trial and error method is very disturbing.
You are talking about this from months ago. IMHO you should present your discoveries when they will be ready.
There are a lot of people who can feel frustated with so many words and promises followed by these changes that doesn't correspond to any clear goal and path.
Just my 2+.

Do you own an Extreme? Just curious since I am an Extreme owner and Emile's email was good news to me, not a "disturbing" one.

Unlike many manufacturers, Taiko Audio is constantly looking to get the sound to the next level.

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...ah, but that's the software biz my audio brother. Even when you have a plan, there are discoveries.

 

[Taiko Audio]

Don´t misunderstand me, but ,at this level, after 9000 posts, discovering an update operating system running Roon outperforms the current operating system is very surprising and hoping that XDMS "should" be solid is only a guess.
Excuse me, but this kind of trial and error method is very disturbing.
You are talking about this from months ago. IMHO you should present your discoveries when they will be ready.
There are a lot of people who can feel frustated with so many words and promises followed by these changes that doesn't correspond to any clear goal and path.
Just my 2+.

Which part of the "trial and error" concept is disturbing to you?

Trial and error is a fundamental method of problem-solving.[1] It is characterized by repeated, varied attempts which are continued until success,[2] or until the practicer stops trying.

According to W.H. Thorpe, the term was devised by C. Lloyd Morgan (1852–1936) after trying out similar phrases "trial and failure" and "trial and practice".[3] Under Morgan's Canon, animal behaviour should be explained in the simplest possible way. Where behavior seems to imply higher mental processes, it might be explained by trial-and-error learning. An example is a skillful way in which his terrier Tony opened the garden gate, easily misunderstood as an insightful act by someone seeing the final behavior. Lloyd Morgan, however, had watched and recorded the series of approximations by which the dog had gradually learned the response, and could demonstrate that no insight was required to explain it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_and_error

 

[Taiko Audio]

...ah, but that's the software biz my audio brother. Even when you have a plan, there are discoveries.

Indeed it's unlikely these discoveries would have been made had we not embarked on the huge project of writing our own playback software.

 

[Levitator]

Indeed it's unlikely these discoveries would have been made had we not embarked on the huge project of writing our own playback soft ware…

I think it’s fantastic that the Taiko team are able to break new ground and push the boundaries of the digital realm - obviously people can get frustrated when commitments are made but not delivered on, however I feel another 2 weeks for what sounds like an even bigger jump in SQ is not unreasonable and I for one am happy to wait for an even bigger change!

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...ah, being reminded that the Taiko Extreme wasn't a gift from heaven given by the Audio Gods is sobering...that mortals had to design and make it.

It sounds so delicious, it's easy to forget the thousands of hours it would have taken to get to heaven.

And that when you arrived...you wondered what was upstairs! Carry on, sir. And thank you for the info. Everyone wants it *now*...including me, but this ain't McD's drive-thru.

 

[cmarin]

Do you own an Extreme? Just curious since I am an Extreme owner and Emile's email was good news to me, not a "disturbing" one.

Unlike many manufacturers, Taiko Audio is constantly looking to get the sound to the next level.

Couldn’t agree more dminches!

I am another long term, and extremely supportive and satisfied Extreme Owner who is very appreciative of all the work, technical progress and great customer service provided by Emile and the Taiko team to keep the Extreme on the cutting edge.

Emile’s email put a big smile on my face!

 

[Zeotrope]

Couldn’t agree more dminches!

I am another long term, and extremely supportive and satisfied Extreme Owner who is very appreciative of all the work, technical progress and great customer service provided by Emile and the Taiko team to keep the Extreme on the cutting edge.

Emile’s email put a big smile on my face!

Totally agree, this is great news. As a new owner, I wholeheartedly support and welcome Taiko's transparency and initiative.

Clearly @Stereophonic has never built anything new, or he/she would understand that it's *ALL* about trial and error; which is essentially what the scientific method is. (+1 for my block list after that post).

 

[jbrrp1]

Update:

Dear Extreme owners. I'm sure you are all wondering what happened to the announced pre-Christmas XDMS release. We are currently rewriting XDMS to implement some fundamental process changes for the following reason:

Digging deep into the wondrous realms of software influence on playback sound quality we have made a few rather significant discoveries. Right now we have an Extreme here fitted with an updated operating system, running Roon, which significantly outperforms the current operating system, running TAS and even XDMS (!). We are now working on implementing this to work with TAS, so it will be ahead again, and XDMS is being partially overhauled to implement this natively into it's code.

We will release this update, which can be applied by a remote teamviewer session, as soon as we have TAS up to speed, which I expect to be ready in about 2 weeks. TAS is now actually at a disadvantage as it relies on the good old Logitech Media Server for the front end, but XDMS being 100% native and "modern" efficient 64 bit code lacks this disadvantage and with the code changes currently implemented should be the solid sound quality leader.

Running Roon as the UI sounds fantastic to me! I have been following Mike Lavigne's thread on his Wadax move, and finding myself envious of his getting, to his ears, clearly superior sound quality while also using the Roon interface. I use Roon for a living room system, and enjoyed its features so much while entertaining family here over the holidays - - really made me yearn for that + the Extreme's sonic advantages. Sounds like we're getting just that, and then some!

And about Stereophonic's (to me) odd take on all of this, I'm a manufacturing guy where we all live by the credo: Plan, Do, Check, and Adjust. The world is driven by trial and refinement, step by step. To not pursue the better path, recently discovered, would be an unfortunately "foolish consistency".

 

[marty]

IMHO you should present your discoveries when they will be ready.

Ready for what? Let’s take a look at an investigational drug for reference. When should Biogen have announced Aduhelm, their new drug for Alzheimer’s? When it was discovered? When it was in clinical trials? When it was approved by the FDA? Or when the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services refused to pay for it? The correct answer is all of the above and for good reasons but the chief reason among these is…to instill hope that progress is being made for a serious unmet medical need.

The need for SQ improvement in audio playback is trivial by comparison, but for those of us always hoping for such improvement, Emile’s R&D efforts are analogous and welcome. Did you ever think the day might come that Roon will outperform TAS? Or that XDMS might trump them both? And who is bringing that to us? Roon? HA! I’m a happy Extreme/Roon user and welcome Emile’s product development updating in real time and can only commend his efforts. In fact, it's frankly inspirational. A rising tide lifts all boats.

 

[Taiko Audio]

Running Roon as the UI sounds fantastic to me!

We remain committed to extract the best possible sound quality we can achieve for both Roon and our own software.