Dutch manufacturer of high-quality audio equipment Taiko Audio has introduced a fanless music server called Extreme, designed for storing audio files in lossless formats, as well as streaming using services such as Tidal. Its price starts from €28,000 for the version with a 2 TB drive.
Image source: taikoaudio.com
The computer is equipped with two Intel Xeon Scalable processors with a 240 W passive cooling system, which guarantees silent operation. Two processors allow it to use dedicated subsystems for independent processes – one chip is responsible for the user interface based on Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019, from which everything except what is necessary for listening to music has been excluded; the second – for the work of music manager Roon.
The operating system uses a 280 GB Intel Optane SSD, and a 2 TB drive is provided for data storage, which can be expanded up to 64 TB for an additional €1,850. The RAM capacity is 48 GB – and this is 12 4 GB sticks, because “smaller volume and lower DIMM speed are better for sound quality.”
A special 400 W power supply with Mundorf and Duelund capacitors, which, according to the manufacturer, do not affect the sound, is also responsible for the sound quality. To connect external devices, there are five USB ports, two copper Ethernet ports, an optical SFP, a VGA connector, an S/PDIF port, and one AES/EBU port in a two- or four-channel configuration.
