Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

[oldmustang]

...that case should help a lot. I was able to chase the threads and get the foot installed A-OK.

f= m*a and that little switch has a BIG freakin' "a" as we know!

a? The switch has a lot of m(ass). The a(cceleration) is supplied by the delivery service.

I'm not a physicist but I did see a movie about one once.

Steve Z

 

[MarcelNL]

I've seen a 747 cargo plane being unloaded by literally pushing a crate out of the cargo door, dropping it onto the ground, needless to say that the tube amp it contained was wrecked.
That is the sort of event you need to package for.

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...yes, yes, big M! Big A when they chuck her around and "force" my little foot out of whack! That'll teach me to drink and post! Cheers, Steve Z!

 

[Downtheline]

Send me the scratched one. Seriously.

 

[jbrrp1]

The switch and card a very nicely uplift in sound quality. So, what was Emile saying about the battery power supply relative to them?

 

[ctydwn]

Catching up on the last 6-7 pages. Some seemingly a bit harsh criticisms/feedback aside, I must say that Taiko seems to be doing its utmost best to ship the new switches and cards and of course quickly found a solution to the bracket issue. All in real-time. And replacing any parts, making sure every owner is taken care of individually, and now new protections for future shipments. This is how they have always operated, and no doubt as early adopters often can run into some challenges, Taiko has already taken steps to avoid any troubles in the future. And of course independent shipping channels are as unpredictable and out of anyone’s control as ever. All u new fortunate switch owners, keep the sonic feedback coming, and enjoy!!

 

[Ackcheng]

Hi Emile. Any good news for Hong Kong customers?

 

[John T]

We have this on order:

View attachment 106274

Not as pretty but should be more resilient to mal handling.

This will prevent many shipping issues...

 

[John T]

The switch and card a very nicely uplift in sound quality. So, what was Emile saying about the battery power supply relative to them?

The BPS is the icing on the cake. Electrical grid influence will be NO LONGER part of the sonic delivery with the Extreme...

 

[Taiko Audio]

Hi Emile. Any good news for Hong Kong customers?

We’re almost through, last shipments tomorrow.

 

[Taiko Audio]

The switch and card a very nicely uplift in sound quality. So, what was Emile saying about the battery power supply relative to them?

I’d say still kind of a huge difference. Even with very good mains quality. But there’s more to it then just running of batteries, it includes a whole new regulator design optimized around running on battery power.

 

[DW101]

I

I’d say still kind of a huge difference. Even with very good mains quality. But there’s more to it than just running of batteries, it includes a whole new regulator design optimized around running on battery power.

The more I think about the BPS and new regulator and what Emile is saying about it, I’m getting increasingly excited.

Responding to the LPS comments a few pages back: My experiences have led me to believe that the lower the noise of the LPS the better the sound will be (on any / every component) as long as it can also deliver the current needed in a timely fashion. The best I’ve owned is as far as I know Uptone LPS 1.2, which is stated as 0.8microV (800nanoV), but limited to 1.1A. Fortunately I’ve got a couple of them to use on the switch & router until I get the BPS!

I believe Emile said in a recent post that the BPS regulator is down in the 200 nanoV range, but at huge power / current.

This seems to be a great achievement, and as we all start the hear the benefits of reducing noise from what already seems to be very low levels - e.g. people’s experiences with the low noise switch / network card - it’s a mouthwatering prospect.

 

[Olivier59]

Hi, any news about XMDS update? I know only the Taiko with roon and when everybody say is so much better with XMDS I feel sad

 

[Di-fi]

Has anyone tried either of these two LPS units with the Switch?
FARAD Super3 or Ferrum Hypsos?
If so, I would love to hear your impressions of the results. I’m shopping for an LPS and unlikely to have a chance for an audition before purchase.

Not that I tried with the Switch but I both like them very much and can recommend them. Different concept and they will sound different. At roughly twice the price one can absolutely not say the FH sounds twice as good. The Farad being a LPS the FH actually is a linear/switching hybrid design.

Ferrum Hypsos should have a 30 day trial. You can verify with your local dealer.

As Nenon mentioned they can be tuned with a power cord. You can upgrade both with a better fuse (for both beneficial).

The FH delivers a voltage between 5-30V and has a feature without risk to find the optimal voltage for your Switch (Sweet Spot Tuning). It is more difficult to find different DC cables for the FH due to the excellent but rare WEIPU connector they selected for the connection between unit and DC cable.

(…)Two wires delivering the power and two wires providing the feedback to ensure flat voltage at every moment. This eliminates the harmful effects of the cable's resistance effectively improving transient response.(…)

The FH included DC cable is good quality and made with Canare 4s6 star quad. Both PSU’s are available with the required DC plug for the Switch.

HYPSOS - Ferrum

The Hypsos really did it. More dynamics, better bass performance… – Morten Mohr & Marius Smolinski, Germany HYPSOS defines a brand new category of a hifi products. It’s not a simple power supply but an audio component of its own … Read More

ferrum.audio

Super3 - Farad Power Supplies - High-end Linear Power Supplies

Farad Power Supplies contributes to an audible more beautiful sound with our Super3 high-end linear power supplies and cables.

www.faradpowersupplies.com

 

[Taiko Audio]

Hi, any news about XMDS update? I know only the Taiko with roon and when everybody say is so much better with XMDS I feel sad

@EuroDriver will post an update soon.

 

[Taiko Audio]

Update regarding the "bracket issue":

Unfortunately it appears the replacement bracket does not fully solve the interrupted connectivity issue for everyone. We have scaled up our investigation efforts with an additional engineering team. It's a puzzling problem as there does not actually appear to be something wrong with the cards. They perform very well in the lab, even in a 80 degree Celsius heat chamber. We will have a complete batch of thoroughly tested replacement cards ready to ship out in days, possibly as soon as Wednesday, in case it turns out it this has "just been" a few bad apples in the previous production run. However we cannot verify that right now as we are not in the possession of any malfunctioning cards. We will do whatever it takes to provide everyone with a fully functional card asap. Meanwhile we do strongly recommend to just use the switch with the "old" SFP card which still provides most of the performance improvement to avoid possible frustration.

A few photos of the team at work:

 

[dminches]

Since most (if not all?) people using the card are also using the switch, have how you ruled out the switch being the cause of the interruptions?

 

[Taiko Audio]

Since most (if not all?) people using the card are also using the switch, have how you ruled out the switch being the cause of the interruptions?

Yes. The card is disabled by the operating system after an hardware error threshold has been crossed. There are no problems while using the old SFP card.

 

[alwayslearning]

@Taiko Audio - Just received the message "TAS Beta has expired." Can't get TestFlight to renew it without a link in an email or an invitation code. I know this has happened before.

I'm hoping that TAS can be renewed since I generally prefer it to Roon. I would shift to XDMS but the large file issue and gapless issue have kept me from doing that. Can TAS be renewed?

 

[theaudiogeek]

Update regarding the "bracket issue":

Unfortunately it appears the replacement bracket does not fully solve the interrupted connectivity issue for everyone. We have scaled up our investigation efforts with an additional engineering team. It's a puzzling problem as there does not actually appear to be something wrong with the cards. They perform very well in the lab, even in a 80 degree Celsius heat chamber. We will have a complete batch of thoroughly tested replacement cards ready to ship out in days, possibly as soon as Wednesday, in case it turns out it this has "just been" a few bad apples in the previous production run. However we cannot verify that right now as we are not in the possession of any malfunctioning cards. We will do whatever it takes to provide everyone with a fully functional card asap. Meanwhile we do strongly recommend to just use the switch with the "old" SFP card which still provides most of the performance improvement to avoid possible frustration.

A few photos of the team at work:

View attachment 106331

View attachment 106332

View attachment 106333

View attachment 106334

View attachment 106335

Hi Emile and the Taiko team, Thank you for the excellent customer service and more importantly keeping us informed on the fix to the bracket issue. Man, the new switch and the card are a game changer. I never used to spend time listening music during my work hours. I have been doing just that during my breaks. The sound quality is incredible. There is simply no words to explain the listening experience. Thank you and the Taiko team for the excellent product and the support!