Taiko Extreme Switch and Network Card feedback from What's Best Forum

The sound is instantly more organic, more natural, and yet retains the edge acuity. It just sounds much more organic doing it. Separation and sense of holography has increased a lot, and microdetail just flows. It sounds incredibly effortless. The midrange also now sounds beautifully expressive.

This is not one of those unnatural ‘popping of details’ type of change- everything sounds very natural, and the music ebbs and flows in a very coherent and balanced way. Then you listen closer and you realize that everything also sounds more detailed and easier to make out (aka clearer, but in the way where it feels you removed a window and saw the real thing). As different singers in a band sing, for example, you can more clearly hear their voice entering the sound stage from different places. The music is layered front to back, north to south, and east to west, beautifully.

As I listen to mainly pop music in redbook, one thing I look for is whether refinement increases- otherwise, my music tends to sound very harsh as it clips. This switch manages to make the music instantly both more dynamic and detailed, while still increasing refinement and not bringing it over the edge. Previously my Melco switches helped tame the harshness, but seemed to subtract some detail, which led me to try and add more and more transparency to counter it. I eventually sold both switches when the OS upgrade came along. This switch is definitely one step above and better.

No-brainer upgrade imo.

My FedeEx man knocked on my door short of breath (and he’s pretty buff). He smiled and asked “What do you have in there, gold ingots?”…I smiled back and said, “pretty much”!

I have never used a switch in my system as I always felt they added coloration to the signal and that was not something that interested me. I said I would only use a switch if Emile brought one to market, for several reasons. First, he would only do it if he felt it would be an uptick in SQ, but most importantly, Emile believes in a neutral and uncolored sound and that for me was the clincher. 

As to how it sounds, I am a Fink fan and my go-to track is “Sort of revolution” as the drug set is spectacular. I heard it today as I’ve never heard. I heard things in the deep bass which I have never heard before, along with a beautiful organic midrange that made imaging such that you felt you could touch the singer.

I’ll have more to say later, but the message from me is just how extraordinary Emile is. With this strong growth and consumer satisfaction Taiko will become the global leader in audio streaming. I’m glad to be a part of it.

I first listened to the Taiko Switch/card only vs my two JCAT M12 switches which I have been using. Without a doubt vs the two each JCAT switches that I am used to with the Switch only there was more bloom to the sound. More of a 3D holographic projection with layering and a distinct openness and natural quality to the sound. It was immediately noticeable. Also, individual instruments when they come in have distinct individual dynamics that make each instrument VERY noticeable. Bass had texture.

Voices especially have an uncanny realism to them. It makes previous listening to voices appear that there was a restriction or an outline of a voice. In real performance, there is no restriction to voice when signing. It seems that previously when hearing the restriction around the edges of the voices it made things seemingly focused. NOW, hearing voices is a surreal experience with zero restriction and an openness that I’ve personally never experienced prior. Beguiling!!!

Superlative SQ observations aside with the new network card and switch, it is starting to sink in (ha, call me slow) how revolutionary and relieving Taiko’s full network solution to hi-end audio (network card, switch, router package, not to mention XDMS, BPS, or future pipeline products) will become.

Amazing to watch/hear this evolution in digital audio on this thread. I am sure more accolades will be pouring in.

Listening to “Tanya” from Dexter Gordon’s “One Flight Up.” Such depth to the music and to hear the bass strings vibrate is amazing.

Really enjoying the sound that the new switch and card are producing.

It’s very dynamic, expansive, fuller, better bass, more transparent, etc. but the word that keeps coming to my mind is organic. For those of you who remember adding the Taiko USB card… the switch does something similar but more of it… it’s more impactful.

There is a sense of increased energy in the room, naturalness and ease, weight and tonal/timbral saturation, and texture. Everything seems much more present and visceral — little details I wasn’t fully aware of before are clearer in a very natural, coherent way. No hint of edginess, or rather if any edginess exists it does so as part of the source track and not as system noise. Voices sound so real and present in my room that I’ve spent several hours just queuing up any and all vocal tracks I could think of just to enjoy having singers present in my room singing directly to me.

voices sound so much more realistic and present it is uncanny. Overall, while I had a hard time imagining how an improvement in sound quality was going to manifest itself with the new switch and NIC, what I’m hearing far exceeds any expectations I might have had.

I am speechless with the sound quality. You can hear every instrument very clearly. I am extremely happy with this switch/network card.