JCAT Net Card Femto

[Marcin_gps]

Feeding it with linear PSU directly will improve it further, but I guess Mojo Audio's PSU does a good job. 

I hope you're using a decent LAN cable too

 

Best regards,
Marcin

[Marcin_gps]

37 minutes ago, Elberoth said:

OK, so the arrangement is very much like the Femto USB card (which is great). I hope Marcin will give use the exact current requirement numbers. 

 

Strange things those SSDs - I have mine powered by Jcat battery PSU and indeed the increase in SQ was noticable, if surprising.

 

Correct. Power connectors are the same as with JCAT USB Card FEMTO except that there are automatic switches that select which power input to use. On the JCAT USB Card FEMTO one needs to do this manually via jumpers on the card. 

 

As the network controller chip is much more power hungry, the power requirements of the JCAT NET card FEMTO are higher compared to JCAT USB Card FEMTO. I recommend 5V/2A. It may work with 1.5A if only one port is used. 

 

Best regards,

Marcin

[Marcin_gps]

@DavidZ if you could skip the PCIe riser cable somehow, there would be another improvement. I realize it may not be possible

[Marcin_gps]

4 hours ago, lateboomer said:

Hi Marcin,

 

I am not sure has anyone raised it in somewhere, from the Femto site in the Scenario 1 scheme, is it less ideal or not advisable to use 2 Ethernet ports at the same time?  Or this only applicable to USB femto card only?

 

Scenario 3 scheme should have a router to manage DCHP between control pc and audio pc?

 

I'd use both ports on the card in Scenario 1. 

I use scenario 3 in my setup. Router or switch is not required. PCs can be connected directly. The only thing needed is a static IP address on Audio PC. 

 

Best regards,

Marcin

[Marcin_gps]

On 12/14/2017 at 3:22 AM, lateboomer said:

 

Thank you and I hope to find out more from user implementation and impression. This is very important product yet very much less talked about.

 

There are few reasons:

1) Limited number of cards on the market and not many users posts feedback online

2) No hifi magazine reviews yet - there are only a few writers who are into computer audio & use desktop PC as a transport/music server

3) Market awareness is very low: everyone nowadays understands that USB chain needs to be upgraded, but almost noone is aware that the same applies to network. 

 

 

On 12/16/2017 at 2:35 AM, simonklp said:

Thank you again for your kind reply. But I do not understand why you need to use the JCAT Net Card Femto for the playback if you are using single PC setup.

 

Actually, the NET Card will improve SQ also on a single PC even with the local library and USB Audio output if playback is controlled remotely (over network). It shows how sensitive this area is. 

[Marcin_gps]

1 hour ago, simonklp said:

Thank you for your information.

 

As I have also just asked above, how is the effect of the NET Card on SQ when compared to optical network? Thanks.

I don't have good experiences with optical connections. They kill dynamics in my opinion. 

[Marcin_gps]

On 12/22/2017 at 3:19 AM, simonklp said:

 

I am using fibre NIC instead of FMC on both the PC with HQPlayer and the Audio PC for NAA that is powered by a LPS. In other words, the fibre NIC on NAA draws the power indirectly from LPS.

 

For the clock on fibre NIC, I am not sure it is cheap or not. But it is another discussion about how much this clock affects the SQ, given the fact that asynchronous FIFO of NAA paired with HQPlayer provides maximum isolation between processing and audio reproduction which also achieves via asynchronous USB playback by DAC.

 

This is something that I am interested to know. Thanks.

 

This is a similar setup to JPLAY dual PC mode with Control PC doing most processing & Audio PC. Installing NET Card in either PC brings improvement. 

[Marcin_gps]

4 hours ago, Em2016 said:

 

Hi Marcin

 

I understand this card doesn't work with an Intel NUC since the NUC only accepts mini PCIe

 

Are there plans to develop a mini PCIe NET card for the NUC?

 

 

 

Hi Em2016,

 

You can use it with the NUC too with an adapter.

Here is a report from a customer that might be helpful to anyone who'd like to use the card, but his PC does not have a PCIe slot, only Mini PCI-E:

 

I received my card today and had zero issues connecting it to my mini-itx system.

Since my mini-itx doesn’t have a pcie slot, I had to purchase one of these ($17.75 + shipping USD):

 

The same applies to JCAT USB Card. 

 

BR

Marcin

[Marcin_gps]

21 hours ago, tboooe said:

I am very much on the fence about the NET card.  Is there a way to get demo?

You can try it in your system for 2 weeks and if it's not to your liking, you can send it back for a refund. You will have to cover shipping both ways though. 

 

Best regards, 

Marcin

[Marcin_gps]

It gets interesting. Here the guy claims that the network stream sounds better than the internal SSD once the card was installed. 

[Marcin_gps]

12 hours ago, chauphuong said:

Any chance the network card will work on this mobo?

 

Of course - you can install it in any PCI Express slot

 

Best regards,

Marcin

[Marcin_gps]

On 5/20/2018 at 6:05 AM, chauphuong said:

Pls consider offering the net card in a box plus riser cables so that it can be used externally. I guess your sales will be up a great deal.

 

Thank you - I'll think about it

 

 

Best regards,

Marcin

[Marcin_gps]

Guys, here's an interesting experiment and I wonder if you can hear the difference from the YouTube video and what is your opinion in general about sound quality from lossless streaming services vs. locally stored files?

 

CD rip (FLAC 16/44) played from a local SSD vs. TIDAL HI-FI (FLAC 16/44). Via onboard LAN and via JCAT NET card.

 

 

[Marcin_gps]

@One and a half Thanks for the report. I see you've not watched (listened) the entire A/B for the reasons you've stated. But if you have time please check the 2nd part when Tidal is streamed via JCAT NET Card instead of the motherboard's network interface. You're up for a surprise

[Marcin_gps]

But then how do you explain the differences with TIDAL stream? Tidal servers are far far away

[Marcin_gps]

@Em2016

Exactly

 

The card is compatible with NUC. You just need to use a M.2 to PCIe riser cable, sth like this:

 

And probably a bigger enclosure... Otherwise, it will look like this

 

 

But it works. 

 

BTW - I don't believe that a music server should necessarily be away from the main hifi system. Only if it's noisy it should.   If it's a relatively low TDP, powered by an LPS etc - it can sit right next to the system as another hifi component. 

 

Best regards,

Marcin

[Marcin_gps]

15 hours ago, Em2016 said:

 

Oh cool. Now does it all work with Linux on the NUC? Do you have any clients using it with a Linux based OS / distribution on Intel NUC?

 

Any special drivers required or it works straight out of the box?

 

Cheers!

 

Drivers for Linux are available from intel and can be downloaded here

 

I have many customers using the card with Linux. The customers who use the card in NUC use Windows, but it will work fine under Linux too. 

 

Best regards,

Marcin

[Marcin_gps]

There is a new A/B video which demonstrates the difference in the sound of locally stored files on SSD with music server connected via onboard LAN & via JCAT NET card:

 

 

[Marcin_gps]

On 1/26/2019 at 12:20 AM, One and a half said:

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?  

 

Somehow I missed your message

 

Regarding PSUs, you may see the details on hd-plex website as these are from hd-plex.  

 

Maximum temporary voltage that the NET Card FEMTO will tolerate is 10V, but it is not safe to run it like this. Up to 20% voltage tolerance should be safe. 

 

I'm  glad you're enjoying the sound with the NET Card!

 

Regards,
Marcin

[Marcin_gps]

Hello Guys, 

 

Just a quick update: both JCAT NET Card FEMTO & JCAT USB Card FEMTO are back in stock and all pre-orders will ship on Monday. 

 

Regards, 

Marcin

 

[Marcin_gps]

On 5/11/2019 at 1:30 PM, mourip said:

 

Thanks Dutch. I am curious. I am in the US. Are you? 

 

My tracking information still shows the card still in the UPS warehouse in Poland. It arrived there 4 days ago. I know that the tracking could just be off but it is consistently updating the location daily. I wonder if any others have their card stalled there?

 

Marcin said that he will look into it on Monday...

Hi Paul, 

 

I called UPS and they will get to me today, but I think it could be some issue in the UPS tracking system and you should receive the package today. I've just received an email from a customer in Japan that there was no movement since last Monday and 5 minutes later he wrote again that the package arrived despite UPS system saying it's still in Poland. I will let you know what UPS says. 

 

Best regards,
Marcin Ostapowicz
JPLAY & JCAT Founder

[Marcin_gps]

16 hours ago, mourip said:

 

Based upon Marcin's recommendation of only using one of the JCAT ports when bridging I am doing that and using my onboard NIC for the LAN connection. I was using FMCs to go from my onboard NIC to my LAN switch and powering the clean-side FMC from an LPS. That worked fine until recently but for some reason I cannot get my FMC's to link up.

 

Are you isolating your network bridge on the LAN side?

 

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

 

Regards, 

Marcin

[Marcin_gps]

On 5/17/2019 at 10:54 PM, mourip said:

 

I tried bridging the two ports on the Femto card and that worked for getting the fiber link up. Sounds great. I may still try switching back to the on-board NIC to see if I can get it to work and if taking that load off of the Femto is worthwhile.

 

Thanks Marcin. Great product.

Thank you! 

[Marcin_gps]

1 hour ago, StreamFidelity said:

 

I do not think it's the OS. What bothers you? 

 

I got very good experience configuring the network card following this guide: Computer Audio Best Practices Guide: https://pdf.highend-audiopc.com/computer_audio_best_practices_guide.pdf

 

You should also change some settings in the network adapter. For example, disable Interrupt Moderation and Green Ethernet (reduces latency).

 

Did you load the latest drivers?

 

There is a lot to consider and it would be nice to get a compendium of the recommended settings from JCAT. 

 

There is a guide I wrote available for all customers who purchased the card. Please send me a PM if you have not received it. 

The article is not publicly available - it's a free bonus for everyone who purchased the card.

 

Regards, 
Marcin

[Marcin_gps]

19 hours ago, mourip said:

 

Thanks Marcin. I did follow your excellent guide when I bought my card last May.

 

Are there any new configuration changes that would apply specifically to WS2019?

 

Thanks!

No. Although I'd recommend updating the driver from intel once in a while. 

 

Regards, 

Marcin