JCAT Net Card Femto

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Interesting post this one on the comparison between Tidal and locally stored music. I listened to the music and the preamble by the presenter first, then stopped at the presenter's judgement to review the tracks. In every case when the Tidal version was played, the SQ took a dive and an increase in the annoyance factor, and couldn't wait for the change to a different track to take place.  This was listening on my laptop's in built speakers. I agree with the presenter's findings, and one of the (many) reasons that I don't continue to use the Tidal service.

 

The video would have taken some time to prepare and I commend the presenter's efforts. While I'm not convinced the microphones and recorders create more of an issue with their A/D, these differences didn't matter since the system didn't change and the SQ between the two sources are very clear.

 

Notes : I use a JCAT USB PCIe version for a few months now, and it's still installed, haven't needed the incentive to remove it, highly recommended.

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Today added a Kingrex PSU MK-II 5V 3A Linear PSU to the NET FEMTO card. Lydian Collective's Loops has a very active drum sequence in the middle of the track, quite a tough ask for any audio system to playback. That so far has not been that clear, Sophie Alloway's very quick rendition, so far being obscured by the mix, but the linear supply has removed some grunge to reveal every beat and cymbal, which is rather a nice touch. 

 

I imagine a 'better' PSU may offer different results, the Kingrex has a 3 standard terminal regulator, the low noise types arrived a few years later have a better noise performance, the Kingrex was idle doing nothing, so thought to give it a shot. AC input is balanced power. 

 

@Marcin_gps, I see both the 400W and 200W PSU are out of stock, can you tell what principle regulator is used and how fast the overvoltage protection works. There a hundreds of linear PSU, but so far unable to see a fast reacting overvoltage protection, like 150% for 300ms, that will kill a 5V circuit. What's the voltage tolerance on the JCAT NET FEMTO?  

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3 hours ago, Ricardo007 said:

One question from a network audio beginner:

On JCAT link:

http://jplay.eu/ml_post_slider/jcat-net-card-femto/

there are 3 scenarii for use of a JCAT NET card femto.

In scenario 1,

question 1: do you NEED to bridge the 2 ethernet ports on the JCAT card?

In that situation, that's yes, since the router and the Player need to see the same network, the only way to do this is to bridge the adapter.

 

3 hours ago, Ricardo007 said:

question 2: Is bridging possible if you use DAPHILE on the server as an OS?

Daphile is Linux? Don't use this, sorry, no idea.I thought Audiolinux or Euphony was the FOTM.

 

3 hours ago, Ricardo007 said:

In scenario 3, called dual PC setup, especially for JPLAY users (but only?), there is a "control PC " and an "audio PC". To my understanding, this is a 2 box solution like scenario 1 where you have a "server" and a "player". So what is the difference between the 2 configuration (dual PC versus separate server and player)???. In scenario 3 diagram there is no connection of control PC to a router so only local playing, no streaming?

 

The last scenario is the server has local files and send to the other PC. you're right, no external network streaming possible like TIDAL, SPOTIFY, QOBUZ., unless you bridge the server to the router with another Ethernet card With Daphile? No idea.

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12 hours ago, Marcin_gps said:

I'd also try bridging both ports on the NET Card. 

 

Regards, 

Marcin

That works for me. The LPS that’s connected to the jcat is the same as the audio system power from a Topaz.

the power to the music server where the Jcat is installed, is for operation reasons from a 230V UPS with a step  down transformer to 120V.

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If I could ask @Marcin_gps on an application re-config.

 

I don't stream Tidal/Qobuz. Music files are stored on Win2016 single Xeon music server, Roon core. End Point is Ethernet Lumin UI.

Lumin requires active access to the rest of the network, has DHCP, but would the PCIe serve as a bridge? Win2016 has routing capability, wonder if this could be put to use. Bit of a learning curve, rather keep the network on one side and the JCAT Net Femto on the other.

 

Chain at the moment

Router -> Switch -> JCAT port A [Bridged] -> JCAT Port B -> Baaske filter -> Lumin U1

 

Propose (will it work?)

Router -> Switch -> Baaske filter -> Music Server Internal NIC 

JCAT Port B -> Lumin U1

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13 hours ago, Marcin_gps said:

 

Yes, of course, you can bridge motherboard ethernet port with the port on JCAT NET. 

Thanks and to @mourip, will experiment this weekend.

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On 4/2/2020 at 11:40 PM, mourip said:

 

This is similar to what I did until I got the EtherRegen switch however I bridged both Femto ports and disabled the internal port. It sounded great. I was very surprised at how the bass tightened up with the Femto card.

 

Once I got the ER from Uptone my config changed. I had originally thought that I would keep my Femto card bridged and just put the ER between the server and endpoint but instead I opted to follow Uptone's suggestion. I disabled the bridged ports on my server and now just use one port out to the ER A side which also connects to my LAN. The ER and the Femto make a wonderful combination. Somehow very synergistic.

I couldn't Ethernet bridge the internal NIC to the Femto, initially it would accept (Ethernet to Ethernet 4), then on a reboot, the existing Bridge on the Femto was maintained, (Ethernet 3-4). The PC had net access which is fine, but the Lumin was showing a disconnected mode, easy to spot "Network error".

 

The connections now are:

Router -> Switch -> Baaske filter -> JCAT port A (Ethernet 3) [Bridged] -> JCAT Port B (Ethernet4) -> Lumin U1

 

I need network access to monitor the server and to add/subtract new music files.

 

When playing music, "Atomic Blonde" OST Redbook, the two internal NICS (Ethernet and Ethernet 2) were disabled on the fly, and wow, the bass improved, deeper, very nice tip there thank you! 

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Windows 2016 discussion below.

 

Bridging revisited, wasn't happy with the outcome of just using the JCAT NET Femto card for incoming and outgoing connections to Lumin. This allowed noise pollution from the network to be connected directly to the output of the JCAT Net Femto Card. OK, each input probably has transformers, but common mode noise can easily pass over. By sepearating the clean and dirty sides with software then gives the JCAT NET Femto to work at its full potential. 5V dc is supplied by a Kingrex Linear supply. This maybe changed out later with an Acopian linear Gold box PSU, the big plus with those is the compensation sensing circuits that allow for extended cable lengths. The concept is explained here.  

 

Found a different page on how to bridge Ethernet adapters, and realised, like most computing commands, the old needs to be destroyed, before a new can be created, rather than change an existing concept. Deleted the current bridge of the JCAT (Ethernet 3 & 4) and created a new bridge between Ethernet and Ethernet 3. The bridge takes care of the DHCP for both incoming and outgoing connections.

 

Wiring

 

Router -> 24 port switch -> Baaske Isolator -> Media-Server Ethernet NIC

JCAT Net Femto Ethernet 3 -> 25m Cat5e -> Lumin U1

Unused NICs - Disabled

 

Works!

 

 

 

I may substitute the Baaske Isolator with the Jcat model, when the XE version of the NET Card is released. This connection allows a single EtherRegen to be used between the JCAT and the Lumin, otherwise it would have needed two EtherRegen.

 

SQ wise, need some time to listen, main thing is the connections are working fine.

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@WilliamWykeham, I ran into trouble due to something I did without referencing the connections to a photo... anyway, this is how I resolved the Bridge not connecting for Win2016 and Windows LTSC.

 

1. Delete the existing Bridge connection, reboot

2. Connect say the lower port or the left port only to the network (router/switch), leave the other connection to the Lumin disconnected for now, but keep the Lumin powered on. It will say Network Error, no problem.

3. Using IPconfig /all, find the MAC address of the port where the network cable is connected to.

4. In your router settings, assign a permanent IP to that network MAC address, eg 192.168.1.243 

5. Back to the Network adapter page, Bridge the 2 JCAT ports together, don't assign any IP/DNS/GW and leave it DHCP

6. Shutdown the server

7. Connect the Lumin U1 (it must be powered on) to the the right or top RJ45

8. Reboot the Server

9. Once settled, the router assigns the IP address (192.168.1.243) to the network port and a DHCP address to the Lumin.

10. On the Lumin app, check the IP address, it will not show on Ipconfig (dunno why).

11. On the server, IPCONFIG /all again and check the IP address is assigned to the MAC address. If you end up with a 169..... type number, reboot and all should be good.

12. Trim the Config for the network adapters on the JCAT for 1GBs, I have all the offloads disabled seems to speed things up

 

If either the server shuts down or the Lumin switches off or vice versa, the Lumin will always connect within 10s or less once the server is operational. 

 

The U1 is awesome, it needs a good clean Ethernet front end and configuring the JCAT will reap even more benefits. For now I have a Baaske filter on the network side, seems to keep most of the noise out. Also have a look at the bonding of the hard drives, chassis and mobo, this reduces more noise ending up with a really great image, height and if the recording is good enough, spatial positioning. 

 

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15 hours ago, WilliamWykeham said:

However I can't get HQPlayer to recognize my endpoint, despite verifying that it's now connected to my network

 

HQPlayer will only connect to its own NAA adapter on another computer over Ethernet or by a USB direct connection. I have tried NAA on a Mac mini years ago and found the additional step of another computer adds more noise and the endpoint is still a USB local to that NAA machine.

 

HQPlayer can be an engine, such as a Roon front end, but the output is then local USB or NAA.