TAIKO Extreme User manual

Taiko Audio Extreme Manual (English), v1.0 1

Contents
Thank you for your trust 3
Introduction 4
Technical Description – Hardware 5
Technical description – Software 6
Your new Extreme – front 7
Your new Extreme – back 8
Power cycle routine 9
Quick start guide 10
Access your Extreme Desktop 11
VNC Troubleshooting 15
Access your Extreme Desktop – TeamViewer 16
Add music to your Extreme 17
Add a network drive 18
Add a driver for your DAC 21
Remove a driver from your Extreme 22
Roon – Quick start guide 24
Roon – Adding music 25
Roon – Adding Streaming Services 26
Roon – Connecting your DAC 27
Roon – The Interface 28
Troubleshooting 29
Advice for HiFi OCD 30
Safety instructions 32
Taiko Audio Mission Statement 33
Warranty and service 34
Technical Specifications 35
Your Notes 36
Copyright statement 37
Taiko Audio Extreme Manual (English), v1.0 2

Thank you for your trust
Taiko Audio is an innovative Dutch high-end audio laboratory, equally passionate about music and technology.
Through extensive research and development, we create new solutions where needed and improve upon
existing technologies. We have a strong professional background in science, engineering and IT and like to use
our knowledge for making your musical experience at home all the more exiting.
You can be sure that every component that left our factory went through a meticulous quality control process
and has been thoroughly tested. Should you still encounter any unexpected behavior from your Taiko Audio
product, contact us anytime at
[e-mail]
You can also visit our FAQ and troubleshooting area at
www.taikoaudio.com
Thank you
Your Taiko Audio team
Taiko Audio Extreme Manual (English), v1.0 3

Introduction
Emerging from many years of relentless researching, comparing and listening, the Taiko Audio Extreme is the
culmination of what is possible in the field of music servers.
It combines many technology breakthroughs completely unseen before in the world of digital High End Audio.
Only the best components from the most respected vendors are sourced for it, many of which are custom designed
from the ground up.
During the lengthy design process, no stone has been left unturned, giving equal attention to resonance control,
prevention of electric pollution, reliability and user friendliness.
It is designed to deliver the most realistic sounding reproduction from stored music files and streaming music from
Qobuz and Tidal.
Due to its flexible and modular architecture, you can expect a very long life expectancy with both hard- and software
updates, giving you the confidence of a future proof investment in the best digital source for years to come.
Taiko Audio Extreme Manual (English), v1.0 4

Technical Description - Hardware
•Dual CPU design for the lowest queue depths and latencies possible.
•All data and software storage is non SSD, and utilizes non SATA, non volatile solid state storage modules.
•Selected custom high speed RAM modules.
•The Extreme is powered by a linear power supply with Lundahl choke regulation and a large capacitor bank
utilizing the highest audiophile grade Duelund and Mundorf capacitors.
•Music files can be stored in the internal storage up to 32 TB or in a NAS (Network attached Storage).
•45kg / 99lbs Aluminium/Copper/Panzerholz hybrid chassis with radiation waveguide drillings.
•Custom built passive cooling system for completely silent operation and noise.
Taiko Audio Extreme Manual (English), v1.0 5

Technical description – Software
•Custom Windows-based OS
•Roon Core (default)
•Jplay (default)
•HQPlayer (on request)
•Teamviewer
•VNC Viewer
Taiko Audio Extreme Manual (English), v1.0 6
Installation of any additional piece of software is quite likely to
audibly degrade the sound quality by making demands on the
Windows task scheduler and disrupt the carefully optimized
allocation of Roon and JPlay processes to the cores of the two
CPU’s.
Clean and complete removal of User installed software is often
quite labor intensive and may incur customer service charges.

Your new Extreme - front
Taiko Audio Extreme Manual (English), v1.0 7
1
1

Your new Extreme - back
Taiko Audio Extreme Manual (English), v1.0 8
2
24
3
58
9
10
3
4
5
6
7
8
10
6
9
7

Power cycle routine
Powering on the Extreme from cold state and booting up
The Extreme has a rear panel power switch and a front panel start button. The turning on from cold sequence
is as follows
1. Turn rear panel power switch on
2. Press the front panel start button momentarily
3. The front panel button should be illuminated immediately and stay on. The operating system boot and
software startup should take about 25 seconds
Shutting down the Extreme
1. Press –release – press the front button
Complete power off of the Extreme to cold state
1. After the completion of the front panel button panel shutdown (light goes off), turn off the rear power
switch
Taiko Audio Extreme Manual (English), v1.0 9

Quick start guide
1. Make sure your Extreme is standing firmly on a solid surface in a dry environment
2. Connect your Extreme to your home mains supply with
•Stay within the accepted voltage range of 100V –250V
•Use a power cable with a safety ground connector
3. Connect your Extreme to your home network using a Cat network cable. Use either port from or
4. Connect your DAC with an USB cable, using output
5. Make sure is in the ON position
6. Press
7. The button will light up and the system is ready for operation after about 25 seconds. Please note that the
Extreme is completely silent and will not make any noise during operation
8. Control the server with any computer device using the Roon Application
•Apple iPad /iPhone (recommended)
•Mobile device using Google Android
•Desktop computer (MacOS or Windows) using Roon desktop
9. Should you wish to activate the video output for monitor usage, press once while the Server is running
Taiko Audio Extreme Manual (English), v1.0 10
3
10
2
8
1
Tip:
Try keeping the
USB cable
length under 2m
1
6

Access your Extreme Desktop
•Should new updates be available for any software that is installed on the Extreme, you can access the desktop via
a tool called VNC, which is available on iOs, Android devices, Mac’s and Windows 10 PC’s.
•You will find the app in the Appstore, Playstore or directly here:
https://www.realvnc.com/en/connect/download/viewer/
•If you know the IP adress of your Extreme (you can easily find this out using Roon) you can dial into the
Extreme from your mobile or desktop device.
The following pages will provide an overview how to set up your Taiko Music Server.
Taiko Audio Extreme Manual (English), v1.0 11
Tip: You won‘t
ever need to
connect a mouse,
keyboard or screen
to the Extreme

Access your Extreme Desktop – step by step
Start Roon (see here how
to setup Roon), go to
Settings àGeneral
Note down the
IP Address
Run the VNC
application on
any device
connected to
your local network.
Click the „+“
symbol top right,
enter the
IP adress and enter any name, e.g. „Taiko Extreme“,
then click „save“
Taiko Audio Extreme Manual (English), v1.0 12

Access your Extreme Desktop – step by step
Click on the newly created connection profile with
your given name
Click on „Connect“
Taiko Audio Extreme Manual (English), v1.0 13

Access your Extreme Desktop – step by step
Enter the VNC credentials, select „remember
password“, then click „Continue“
Username: admin
Password: SoundTest
The Extreme‘s desktop will show and can be navigated.
The keyboard if needed can be accessed at the top bar
More info how to navigate can be found here:
https://archive.realvnc.com/products/vnc/documentat
ion/4.2/win/winvncviewer.pdf
Taiko Audio Extreme Manual (English), v1.0 14

VNC Troubleshooting
If the IP address of the Extreme has changed due to a LAN
switch restart, the VNC app on your iPad or other device will
need to have a new connection profile created with the new IP
address.
You will need to enter the new IP Address and re-enter the
VNC password, effectively repeating steps 1-4 of the VNC
setup guide.
Tap on remember password and then connect to the Extreme.
Taiko Audio Extreme Manual (English), v1.0 15
Tip: You can
contact Taiko
anytime for help

Access your Extreme Desktop – TeamViewer
Should your Taiko tech support ask you for a
TeamViewer session, here‘s how you do it:
Click on the TeamViewer icon
A new window will pop up with a session ID and a
password. Share this data with your Taiko rep
Taiko Audio Extreme Manual (English), v1.0 16

Add music to your Extreme
Your Extreme sounds best by using its internal PCIe storage drives, we recommend to move all your music there.
Also Roon will be slicker to navigate and the scanning of the drives will happen much faster.
The easiest way is to copy music from an USB mass storage drive, using port
Simply connect your USB drive and it will show up below Local Disk C:
Now simply drag and drop your stored music to the Extreme‘s
internal drives.
If you want to include network drives, the following guide
will show you how to do this.
Taiko Audio Extreme Manual (English), v1.0 17
4

Add a network drive
Should you want to integrate a network drive such
as a NAS to your Extreme, here is how you do that:
Click on the File Explorer symbol at the bottom
Right click (or press with 2 fingers if on a mobile
device) on „This PC“
choose „Add a network location“
Taiko Audio Extreme Manual (English), v1.0 18

Add a network drive
The network setup wizard will open, follow the steps
Click „Next“
You want to choose a custom network location
Click „Next“
Taiko Audio Extreme Manual (English), v1.0 19

Now enter the network location of your shared drive
This can be the network address of e.g. a NAS, USB
drive connected to a router, other computers on the
network, FTP servers,…
Taiko Audio Extreme Manual (English), v1.0 20
Add a network drive
Your network drive is now ready to be accessed and can
be either integrated in your Roon library directly, or you
can move your stored music to the Extreme‘s internal
PCIe drives.