Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
One more: if the switch + network card + router are 100% without the power distributor, where would you and Christian put the combination -with- the power distributor.
To me the likeliest spot will be on the same shelf as the router and switch but at the back of the shelf with the router and switch in the front of the shelf...or is that a mistake on my part. What I am clueless about is the access point. Will everyone need this and if not under which circumstances would it be necessary
 

RUIN*ish

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To me the likeliest spot will be on the same shelf as the router and switch but at the back of the shelf with the router and switch in the front of the shelf...or is that a mistake on my part. What I am clueless about is the access point. Will everyone need this and if not under which circumstances would it be necessary
It appears you can use your house wifi...
 

MusicFellow

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spiritofmusic

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Jun 13, 2013
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Thought this might be a first glimpse of what‘s about to happen once the BPS gets released.
I hope she got a good round of applause.
 

John T

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Johnny Moondog

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The DC Power Distributor is currently listed as an option when ordering the Router. Will the DC Power Distributor be available to purchase separately in the future?
 

John T

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I'm guessing on this so....

The dc strip will be a great option for those who decide not to go with bps
This would seem the case...
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Hp
This would seem the case...
However if the Taiko DC power director is not needed for BPS but seems to be integral in the power connection of the switch and router. So if we purchase the DC Power director but don't need it for the BPS would this be something taiko would take back in exchange for purchase of BPS
 
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Taiko Audio

Industry Expert
Feb 10, 2017
4,314
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taikoaudio.com
About the Taiko Extreme DC power distributor:


DC2.jpg

chassis1.jpg

chassis2.jpg

chassis3.jpg




Specifications:

-Chassis machined from solid copper block
-Size 160*160*40mm, weight 10kg
-1 DC input, 6 DC outputs, 2 unfiltered (pass through), 2 default filters, 2 (differing) alternative filters
-DC connectors: 2.5mm inner diameter, 5.5mm outer diameter, 11.3mm length (same as the switch and router)
-Maximum current capacity 10A, maximum input voltage 25V, voltage in = voltage out, so this would typically be used with a 12V LPS to power multiple 12V devices.

This is a very recent discovery / development as we were working on addressing noise issues associated with wifi access points. Although DC power supply filtering is something we obviously have years of experience with, zooming in on specific aspects of noise, and the way they affect sound quality took an interesting turn with investigating noise generated by devices which are not designed with sound quality in mind. For example the discovery that the degradation caused by wifi noise is in fact not dominated by the airborne / radio function but by it's interaction with the supply it is powered with and how that in turn affects and the mains supply, which powers our entire systems, gave us a different perspective to investigate.

We started analyzing these noise spectra and started designing filters to specifically target this type of noise, only to discover that this is a limited solution, as the supply powering the device is a big part of the equation, to make matters worse, different designs interact differently, with rather dramatic differing effects on sound quality as a result, keep in mind this even applies to a wifi access point which is only connected to the mains, as the connection on the output side of the device is airborne...

While testing a variety of power supply designs and various filters on wifi access points we started including the switch and router which sound quality performance, both being extremely low noise designs, are vastly dominated by the noise generated by the supplies powering them. The switch and router in fact perform better being powered by a single supply in stead of dual power supplies, simply because a 2nd power supply, even a very low noise linear supply, produces more (interacted) noise then the switch and router combined, additionally, when you connect the switch and router with the lowest noise producing option, being a DAC cable, there's a direct/common ground between the 2 devices, which is unfavourable if being "modulated" by 2 different power supplies, simply put, one shared ground is better from a noise perspective, taking into account the very low current draw of both devices. Still the switch drawing 100mA is an unavoidably lower noise device then the router which draws 500mA and which performs more processing. Hence there's a benefit "isolating" these 2 devices from each other while maintaining a common "ground" and reducing total setup noise by using one power supply.

On to the filters. Each of these provide over 80dB of additional noise filtering. Something I wish to add is that each of its 64 parts has been selected by ear, some are exotic and costly, like Duelund capacitors, and each of these have an effect at this level, just a small anecdote of what is involved and how much actual listening went into designing these. We have 2 default filters which we consider to be neutral sounding, they don't change the sound, they just (significantly) improve upon what's there. The extend to which they do that even caught me by surprise, it's far from subtle, perhaps as much as a 20% improvement on the whole package. However, there's more to this story, when I write they don't change the sound from neutral, that is in fact not true, that is referenced to a battery supply I consider to be neutral, the story changes when using different power supplies and when mains "quality" differs. For that reason we included 2 alternative filters allowing you to tune the sound towards getting a neutral balance with varying power supplies and mains conditions. Alternatively you can divert from neutral to taste. These alternative filters allow you to "tune the sound" towards a darker, fuller, more expansive sound, or to a brighter more incisive, and therefor a subjectively more detailed sound.
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Hi Emile

Starting to make sense

Two questions

1. What cables are used to connect DC Power Director to the switch and router

2. Is the Power Director essential for those who will use BPS and if not can it be traded back for those who buy it now but won't need it for BPS
 

Taiko Audio

Industry Expert
Feb 10, 2017
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taikoaudio.com
So my questions....

1. If the user ultimately buys the BPS , will we still need the Taiko DC Power Distributor'
2. Will an access point be part of the purchase package and where will it fit in the schematic
3. What type wire is used to connect the taiko DC power director to the Router and Switch

1. Naturally we will entertain trading them back in should you upgrade to the BPS and if they subsequently become superfluous.
2. Currently no, but we might offer it as an option should it turn out to provide an upgrade, this would be a low cost addition though.
3. DC barrel - DC barrel DC cables. We'll look into including these.
 

Armsan

Well-Known Member
Jan 28, 2016
219
229
275
Portugal
That was my thought as well. I hope indeed that is the case
Sure but, a separate Wi-Fi isolates the audio control device from your regular home devices
 

Taiko Audio

Industry Expert
Feb 10, 2017
4,314
13,458
1,925
The Netherlands
taikoaudio.com
One more: if the switch + network card + router are 100% without the power distributor, where would you and Christian put the combination -with- the power distributor.

I'm inclined to say ~20%, @Christiaan Punter may have a different rating, we listened to a lot of configurations today, direct to wall, with switch, with switch and router, with switch, router and dedicated access point, and listened to a wide array of filters, he took notes and will likely post a report on his subjective impressions tomorrow as he just left to drive back to Amsterdam, and it's 9:30PM here now.
 

dminches

Well-Known Member
Oct 22, 2011
3,482
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Emile, the bank details do not work with Wise.com.
 

VPN

VIP/Donor
Dec 28, 2013
369
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318
About the Taiko Extreme DC power distributor:


View attachment 108693

View attachment 108689

View attachment 108690

View attachment 108691




Specifications:

-Chassis machined from solid copper block
-Size 160*160*40mm, weight 10kg
-1 DC input, 6 DC outputs, 2 unfiltered (pass through), 2 default filters, 2 (differing) alternative filters
-DC connectors: 2.5mm inner diameter, 5.5mm outer diameter, 11.3mm length (same as the switch and router)
-Maximum current capacity 10A, maximum input voltage 25V, voltage in = voltage out, so this would typically be used with a 12V LPS to power multiple 12V devices.

This is a very recent discovery / development as we were working on addressing noise issues associated with wifi access points. Although DC power supply filtering is something we obviously have years of experience with, zooming in on specific aspects of noise, and the way they affect sound quality took an interesting turn with investigating noise generated by devices which are not designed with sound quality in mind. For example the discovery that the degradation caused by wifi noise is in fact not dominated by the airborne / radio function but by it's interaction with the supply it is powered with and how that in turn affects and the mains supply, which powers our entire systems, gave us a different perspective to investigate.

We started analyzing these noise spectra and started designing filters to specifically target this type of noise, only to discover that this is a limited solution, as the supply powering the device is a big part of the equation, to make matters worse, different designs interact differently, with rather dramatic differing effects on sound quality as a result, keep in mind this even applies to a wifi access point which is only connected to the mains, as the connection on the output side of the device is airborne...

While testing a variety of power supply designs and various filters on wifi access points we started including the switch and router which sound quality performance, both being extremely low noise designs, are vastly dominated by the noise generated by the supplies powering them. The switch and router in fact perform better being powered by a single supply in stead of dual power supplies, simply because a 2nd power supply, even a very low noise linear supply, produces more (interacted) noise then the switch and router combined, additionally, when you connect the switch and router with the lowest noise producing option, being a DAC cable, there's a direct/common ground between the 2 devices, which is unfavourable if being "modulated" by 2 different power supplies, simply put, one shared ground is better from a noise perspective, taking into account the very low current draw of both devices. Still the switch drawing 100mA is an unavoidably lower noise device then the router which draws 500mA and which performs more processing. Hence there's a benefit "isolating" these 2 devices from each other while maintaining a common "ground" and reducing total setup noise by using one power supply.

On to the filters. Each of these provide over 80dB of additional noise filtering. Something I wish to add is that each of its 64 parts has been selected by ear, some are exotic and costly, like Duelund capacitors, and each of these have an effect at this level, just a small anecdote of what is involved and how much actual listening went into designing these. We have 2 default filters which we consider to be neutral sounding, they don't change the sound, they just (significantly) improve upon what's there. The extend to which they do that even caught me by surprise, it's far from subtle, perhaps as much as a 20% improvement on the whole package. However, there's more to this story, when I write they don't change the sound from neutral, that is in fact not true, that is referenced to a battery supply I consider to be neutral, the story changes when using different power supplies and when mains "quality" differs. For that reason we included 2 alternative filters allowing you to tune the sound towards getting a neutral balance with varying power supplies and mains conditions. Alternatively you can divert from neutral to taste. These alternative filters allow you to "tune the sound" towards a darker, fuller, more expansive sound, or to a brighter more incisive, and therefor a subjectively more detailed sound.

Dear Emile, Will this improve the sound for those who later purchase the Taiko BPS? Or is this an upgrade only for those who will not purchase the BPS?
 

Alex G

Well-Known Member
Feb 1, 2021
43
84
83
California
@Taiko Audio did you test the distributor with a range of LPSs? As it is the same cost as most top end LPSs, I am wondering if it at all mitigates need for the most expensive LPSs. Additionally, curious how much the sound signature of the LPS and DC cable connecting it to the distributor still comes through. Thanks.
 
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