TAIKO AUDIO SGM EXTREME MUSIC SERVER REVIEW

Due to the frequency of inquiries about the various aspects of setting up digital front-ends and general questions about top-level digital reproduction, the subject of digital audio, its associated paraphernalia, and its complexity has become a rather daily undertaking. We have reached a point where everything related to the reproduction of music through digital consumption has its degree of sophistication and complexity. Each and every detail matter and contribute to the final outcome. 

My introduction and involvement with Taiko Audio began with an invitation to the special kick-off event at BMW Welt in 2016 during the Munich High-End Audio fair. With so many commitments/meetings at the show and afterward, it is never easy to decide which to attend and which to leave out. But I am more than happy that I was present at the initialization of the SGM music server as what followed is way more than just a story of success. 

In just a few years, under the leadership of Emile Bok Taiko Audio has shaken top tier digital front-end market and utterly shifted the perspective of how audiophiles and music lovers look at computer-based music servers. 

Fast forward to the middle of last year. Emile Bok visited me personally and installed the Taiko Audio SGM Extreme review unit. We spend all day immersed in the digital world. All I can say is that after the first impact, it was not easy to get back into usual realms once you are affected by the Extreme bug. 

During the installation, we spent almost an hour or two just moving the music server on the Exoteryc high-end audio rack by Artesania Audio, millimeter by millimeter, and the difference was amazing. More than a dozen times we just looked at each other in amazement and both of us nodded quietly. 

This “experiment” has clearly shown that SGM Extreme is remarkably sensitive to any change, making it possible to accelerate performance to what its sheer name suggests: the Extreme!

Like everything in high-end audio, digital is no longer a question of trial and error. Many of us who have been involved with computer audio in one way or another began to play with different combinations of built-in, off-shelf, or retrofit parts. The results varied for many reasons. Many lost their interest in the search for perfection, but a few discovered some degree of sonic nirvana. As you can read on, it takes a tremendous amount of time to reach the sonic sweet spot, and with all the unknowns associated with the software, it takes even longer to contain it. 

As has been proven recently, a basic or even deeper knowledge of computers and components is no guarantee of building a high-end audio server with a satisfactory result. Those more closely associated with the SGM Extreme or Taiko Audio know that a number of computer-savvy hardcore listeners have received the SGM Extreme even though they have built their own, over-specified, state-of-the-art music servers. But why…

 

During the evaluation, I followed Bok’s tip and tried different settings of the Ethernet. What at first glance seems to be a causal adjustment of little or no importance turned out to be a major sonic shift. I dug deeper but felt lost in an endless universe, and Bok came to my rescue with his established and sonic proven settings. 

The difference in sound was in the order of magnitude of the change from one type of preamplifier to another. Imagine the level of a solid-state preamplifier compared to a tube preamplifier. Two different, not exactly opposite settings caused the variance that amazed me. How can an Ethernet network setting affect the sound this way! Even theoretically it should not be what you would say about sound effects in the real world… But to be reasonable, I listened a lot critically. Over and over again. No placebo effect!

This of course opens up new territory and clearly points to something strange: the importance of integrating software and hardware and the interchangeable potency! We are already mentally prepared and acceptable for the hardware changes and the resulting sonic differences. But software!?

To a certain extent, some of the audiophiles and music lovers have explored various playback software, software plug-ins, etc. But this might rather fall under the label of the general software agenda associated with different applications and programs. 

Here we enter the area of the nth degree and deal with the Russian doll phenomena of several Pandora Boxes, which are within the Pandora Box! Every time a new layer is revealed, more questions and amazing findings are waiting to be discovered. 

The main question remains how all these non-subtilities can be addressed, recorded, and objectively verified. How can they be relativized and put into a sustainable form? This is far above curiosity on both fronts; from the reviewer’s point of view and from the manufacturer’s, from a technological point of view. 

Bok follows his logic from past IT experiences by comprehending the rules of scientific methods. All scientific observations require severe data point acquisition. I cannot even imagine how much time and effort Bok and his team have spent alone exploring the Ethernet settings and collecting the necessary data to firmly lock two “factory” recommended settings, which I jokingly referred to as the red and blue pill. 

Obviously, we are still missing a few pieces of the puzzle and a clear explanation of what makes the sound quality in such a complex product as the SGM Extreme server. What is known and what is a fact is that with every positive improvement in sound quality we learn something about what is really important in the digital/computer domain. 

A general observation. We cannot say that research and development in the field of analog and turntables have stopped. There are many products on the market that push analog to the top. However… It is a fact that everything that has to do with computers (and basically music servers are computers) works in completely different dimensions. In the computer field, technology is not only driven by a consumer market, but also by the highly demanding professional IT industry, where the demands for progress in resolving complex tasks and solving real everyday computer problems are of paramount importance. Not just ones and zeros for solid audio craftsmanship :).

What Bok and Taiko Audio do with the music servers of SGM Extreme falls, so to speak, into reverse engineering Modus Operandi. By reverse action, they try out hundreds if not thousands of possibilities, take a seemingly endless stream of memos and find a node where different settings provide a reproducible sonic benefit.

The more data points are collected, the better it is understood which effects influence the sound quality in which way. The sum of several findings results in a final product which – whether you like it or not – is voiced! As controversial as this may sound, especially in the digital domain and even more astounding in the computer-aided environment, this is a proven fact. So does Taiko Audio work on the fringes of science? Yes and no. 

What distinguishes Emile Bok and Taiko Audio is its heritage. Since he is both an IT expert and an extreme audiophile, many discoveries address both poles: the technological and the sonic. With Bok’s track record on both sides, the balance in terms of market acceptance seems more than right. 

The analog should not be seen as an opponent. It took decades, more than a hundred years to refine and bring vinyl reproduction up to the latest state of the art. With digital sound, we are finally entering an era in which rapid development has made a necessary technological breakthrough possible, and it seems as if we are only scratching the surface of what is possible.

Here I see my role as an assessor. To report on these discoveries and to share these discoveries that go beyond me or Taiko Audio. They are important for the development of our still niche industry.

The recent introduction of the updated Nagra HD PREAMP to the NAGRA HD HV version in my reference system has produced exceptional results in both digital and analog terms. 

The system, which works with the SGM Extreme music server from Taiko Audio, followed by MSB Technology Select and Nagra HD PREAMP HV, brings revelations that I have never encountered before. 

I am a strong advocate of systemic gain, and it is an art in itself to get it right. With all the possible permutations and different outputs (mV), cables, etc. it is never easy to get it right. Even within the same branded audio products, the synergy is not essential. 

This review deals with the analog and digital thorough the text for many of the important reasons. 

With the help of the Nagra HD PREAMP HV, the Thrax Audio Dionysos phono preamplifier, Taiko Extreme, and the MSB Technology Select DAC, I was able to achieve the exact gain matching I needed to go deeper into the secrets of the analog and digital worlds and, for the first time, make a unique and, dare I say it, revolutionary discovery and a balancing act that, instead of separating, creates a pleasant fusion of what was considered to be an eternal rivalry. 

There are many good examples of music in reference quality, but a practical example of this particular discovery is a debut album by Counting Crows. 

August and Everything After Analogue Productions 45 RPM Vinyl Record compared to the latest Qobuz High-Definition-Streaming-Album revealed something extraordinary. Please note that we are talking about streaming and not about files from the hard drive! This is the subject of a separate essay. 

The Qobuz version and Analogue Production plated and pressed by Quality Record Pressings, mastered by Ryan Smith, Sterling Sound which expands to four sides, maximizes the dynamic range of the recording, which was equivalent to the Qobuz version or exceeded in a few attributes. But… To make things even more complex, the Qobuz version stood out on its own with a few parameters that competed with a large dose of the antidote. 

When listening more relaxed and not ultra-critically, the differences felt to be smaller and not immediately obvious. Yet, even slightly more efforts easily proven that this is not the case.

To keep it beyond self-deception, this was confirmed a few days later by two hard audiophiles and music lovers. One of them is considered to be one Golden Ears with decades of track record in dealing with top-tier high-end audio products and systems. 

The result was so astounding for these extremely critical listeners that they were completely pushed out of the safe zone by rethinking their firm convictions. As I learned later, the word quickly got around and caused quite a stir among peers. 

What is the secret to getting to the point where all these qualities became apparent? Is it a combination of Taiko Audio SGM Extreme and Nagra HD PREAMP HV that, together with MSB Technology Select DAC, makes these discoveries possible? 

In the first part of the Nagra HD PREAMP HV, I addressed the issue of the correct timing between the fundamental frequency and the overtones of the notes. Taking into account the temporary resolution of the ear and maintaining the phase could be the reason for this. Timing is all too often overlooked, but it brings back an important insight from some time ago and the Taiko Audio Extreme music server brought these exact aspects into the focus.

I had the luxury of listening to direct digital and analog masters in the studio coming from the same original feed. The differences between the two were marginal, and the sound quality was equal. What is the reason for this proximity? 

It seems that something is inherently right with the analog in terms of timing. This particular issue has never been touched upon in any substantial way since the usual attention to analog is not related to timing or phase. Yet, the Extreme server has proven continuously to nail this exact trait beyond well.

The logic of these findings brings more than interesting facts that not only point to the future mechanics of ultra-high-end audio but also lay the foundation for it and the Taiko Audio music server comes with pivotal gradients to let these aspects to come to life. 

Here are some of the tracks that easily and immediately bring out the extreme potency…

Silver and Black.

45kg / 99Ibs.