Taiko Audio SGM Extreme : the Crème de la Crème

[EuroDriver]

XDMS sound profile:
Toggle to alternate - Has this been coded?
Played with it and I'm not sure I hear a difference...

After switching to alternate, you should stop and restart the player. Better still restart XDMS [Logout, Restart etc ]

 

[Kris]

After switching to alternate, you should stop and restart the player. Better still restart XDMS [Logout, Restart etc ]

Is just restarting extreme doing the job Or needs to logout ?

Also is a large ram disc size to be introduced soon ?

 

[cat6man]

@Taiko Audio
Regarding the big SQ improvements of the router/distributor/AP combo and the huge benefit to roon, is this also a big benefit for local WAV files?

 

[Taiko Audio]

@Taiko Audio
Regarding the big SQ improvements of the router/distributor/AP combo and the huge benefit to roon, is this also a big benefit for local WAV files?

Yes.

 

[Koegz]

Trying to understand the router and the switch. What does the switch do that the router doesn’t and visa versa? Wouldn’t it be more efficient if they were combined?
Danger low tech individuell

 

[Armsan]

Is just restarting extreme doing the job Or needs to logout ?

Just restart XDMS, not the Extreme.

 

[RUIN*ish]

After switching to alternate, you should stop and restart the player. Better still restart XDMS [Logout, Restart etc ]

Result:
Well, that's subtle in a not so subtle way...
Mn

 

[SwissTom]

Trying to understand the router and the switch. What does the switch do that the router doesn’t and visa versa? Wouldn’t it be more efficient if they were combined?
Danger low tech individuell

Most of the info is provided here :

Taiko Audio Downloads – Taiko Audio

taikoaudio.com

 

[2ndLiner]

I had never tried the Alternate setting but did so today followed by an uninstall/reinstall of the XDMS app. It's early in the listening process and I haven't A/B'd with Default setting but first impression; it sounds really good, as well I do notice more snap in the presentation...

 

[Levitator]

The last piece of the puzzle is how to power the AP without compromising SQ.

But using a dedicated AP is simply (far) superior to any of the other solutions I tried.

I always try to not not over exaggerate the impact of “upgrades” we launch, but the way I have it running right now, which is one LPS powering the DC Distributor which then powers both the Switch and Router, with the AP (microtik map lite) powered from either a different power grid or battery is simply amazing. I would rate the addition of DC distributor + Router + AP as currently configured, I’m just going to say it, improving things to a larger degree then the Network card and Switch combo. Clarity, dimensionality, purity, naturalness of tone, ink black backgrounds. And this is with Roon (!). XDMS still manages to extract a bit more detail and is a bit clearer still, but it’s really close. This definitely reverts the clock for Roon to pre v1.6 SQ levels, and then some. Which also hints at why “that went wrong”.

As far as the DC distributor goes, I have a very strong preference for the Switch on the default filter and the Router on Alt filter 2, which just matches well with the system/LPS used. By now 6 others have heard this in our system (not counting Christiaan as he heard a previous iteration) and all 6 prefer the exact same settings on all music played (the differences between filters are not subtle btw, it will not be difficult to select your preference which will mainly vary with LPS used, although you can of course use it to alter your system balance if it was not entirely to your taste before).

I understand the desire for convenience, alternative solutions, multiple Roon Endpoints, adding more devices etc, but I cannot imagine you’d want to compromise this new level of SQ once heard. Going back to “just the switch+network card” would require me to not listen to the system for a few weeks to recalibrate as that now suddenly sounds pretty dull. Adding devices, routing more traffic, it all has an impact.

The last thing left to do is to properly filter/power the AP, which nut I’m very confident on we can crack.

My wife and I just spent a couple of days in Oldenzaal to visit Taiko HQ. Firstly, a big thank you to Emile for his time and hospitality - there is no question that there is a lot of exciting stuff happening inside Taiko and for Emile to be able to afford us some of his precious time just shows the high quality person that Emile is.

We spent a good couple of hours listening to the Alsyvox Raphael speakers and despite Emile’s dedicated room still to be completed, the sound was absolutely fantastic. Scale, dynamics, presence it’s just got everything! We also had the opportunity to hear the system with and without the DC distributor in the system - to both myself and my wife, it was very obvious the difference with the DC distributor in the system despite not being fully burned in (i.e. much better with it in the system).

It was also obvious what difference the filters made to the sound and while it will be a personal preference as to which filter settings one uses, the filter setting away from neutral seemed to make a larger difference on the router v switch. We discussed this and Emile suggested it is likely due to the router using much more power than the switch, which does make sense, although it’s hard to believe that you can hear that difference (at least in Emile’s system you can).

I have no doubt that the DC distributor will be a worthwhile investment at it’s price point, particularly if you have both the Taiko router and switch in your system. Now my wife is even happy that we’re onboard the Taiko train!

 

[2ndLiner]

My wife and I just spent a couple of days in Oldenzaal to visit Taiko HQ. Firstly, a big thank you to Emile for his time and hospitality - there is no question that there is a lot of exciting stuff happening inside Taiko and for Emile to be able to afford us some of his precious time just shows the high quality person that Emile is.

We spent a good couple of hours listening to the Alsyvox Raphael speakers and despite Emile’s dedicated room still to be completed, the sound was absolutely fantastic. Scale, dynamics, presence it’s just got everything! We also had the opportunity to hear the system with and without the DC distributor in the system - to both myself and my wife, it was very obvious the difference with the DC distributor in the system despite not being fully burned in (i.e. much better with it in the system).

It was also obvious what difference the filters made to the sound and while it will be a personal preference as to which filter settings one uses, the filter setting away from neutral seemed to make a larger difference on the router v switch. We discussed this and Emile suggested it is likely due to the router using much more power than the switch, which does make sense, although it’s hard to believe that you can hear that difference (at least in Emile’s system you can).

I have no doubt that the DC distributor will be a worthwhile investment at its price point, particularly if you have both the Taiko router and switch in your system. Now my wife is even happy that we’re onboard the Taiko train!

Every Extreme owner’s dream visit, Levitator! My wife is mystified by my recent interest in exploring the Overijssel province of the Eastern Netherlands…

 

[EuroDriver]

Are you talking about Sound profile Defult v Alternative ?
If so, In my system there is very big difference to the point I cant listen for long on Alt .
Defult is just perfect for me .
What is changed between this 2 modes in XDMS?
Buffer size ? Latency ?

Concert caches the next track in the queue to shorten the gap between tracks, but changes in queue order are disabled

With Discovery you can jump around and reorder the Queue, but the gaps are longer

 

[Levitator]

Every Extreme owner’s dream visit, Levitator! My wife is mystified by my recent interest in exploring the Overijssel province of the Eastern Netherlands…

Here’s my tip - show her some photos of Oldenzaal and its surrounding area, and she’ll want to go as well! Stunning scenery and a nice small town to wander around…

 

[cat6man]

Concert caches the next track in the queue to shorten the gap between tracks, but changes in queue order are disabled

With Discovery you can jump around and reorder the Queue, but the gaps are longer

And gapless?????

 

[Steve Williams]

I had never tried the Alternate setting but did so today followed by an uninstall/reinstall of the XDMS app. It's early in the listening process and I haven't A/B'd with Default setting but first impression; it sounds really good, as well I do notice more snap in the presentation...

Why did you uninstall and reinstall XDMS.

 

[2ndLiner]

Why did you uninstall and reinstall XDMS.

I thought I read in our thread to do that after changing from Default to Alternative. Did I misread it?

 

[austinpop]

Concert caches the next track in the queue to shorten the gap between tracks, but changes in queue order are disabled

With Discovery you can jump around and reorder the Queue, but the gaps are longer

Ed,

Say you're listening to a queue in Concert mode. And suppose you want to add more tracks, perhaps reorder them, how can this be correctly achieved? Would this work?
- Stop playback
- Change to Discover mode
- add tracks to queue
- reorder tracks in queue
- Change back to Concert mode
- Start playback.

Is this the correct method? Or is it:
- Clear the queue
- Switch to discover mode
- add to and/or reorder tracks in queue
- Switch to Concert mode
- Start playback?

 

[2ndLiner]

Went back to Default. Not close, Default has more tonal color & texture, dynamics, transparency, overall more emotionally engaging. I won’t be seeking the Alternative any time soon. Anyone else try this?

 

[Armsan]

I thought I read in our thread to do that after changing from Default to Alternative. Did I misread it?

#17,581
Restarting XDMS is enough.

 

[DoctorWhy]

The only problem would be sliding and scratching risks.

Bare minimum shelf size to place everything horizontally would be 17*17"

Would you consider designing an interface that would allow stacking the Modem and Router, if not also the power distributor?