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JCAT Net Card Femto


DavidZ

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Interesting video and observations.


I'd be interested to know if he'd hear similar differences with the music server far away from the HiFi setup, in a different room (where a music server should be)....

 

...where the music server sends raw PCM or DSD (from either HDD/SSD/cloud streaming) over the network to a renderer like a Sonore Rendu...

 

I used to hear differences when my music server was direct USB connected to my USB DAC but from my own experience and observations (not any expertise) these differences get much smaller when the server is far away.. 

 

 

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Just now, Marcin_gps said:

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

 

The decoding of the FLAC is still done the music server - which in his case is still next to all his HiFi gear (analogue components in particular)..

 

As I mentioned, when I moved the music server far away, then all decoding is done far away and only raw PCM and raw DSD is sent over the network to a renderer like a Sonore Rendu. And this is where the differences between Tidal and HDD/SSD disappeared for me.

 

Only my observations and as I mentioned I'm not pretending to be an expert.

 

It's all interesting and love reading everyone's observations ?

 

 

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I should also add that John Swenson has talked about the importance of signal integrity even applying to ethernet physical interfaces, so even in the setup I describe where a music server is far away from all the HiFi gear and feeds something like a Sonore Rendu, I actually would expect things to sound better with this JCAT net card femto fitted to the music server.

 

I only mentioned the above to share how difference between Tidal and HDD/SSD reduced for me when moving the server away. I'd still expect a very nice boost overall (to both cloud streaming and local drive) with something like this JCAT card fitted to the music server.

 

If only you could make one compatible with Intel NUC @Marcin_gps ! ? Maybe?

 

301660695_ScreenShot2018-07-16at11_16_10pm.thumb.png.85e4bf510aacfff66b0b0cbdb2c27fd9.png

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4 hours ago, Marcin_gps said:

@Em2016


Exactly :)

 

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

M-2-NGFF-NVMe-M-Key2280-To-PCIe-3-0-4x-R

 

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

 

post-21195-0-85627100-1530117848.jpg

 

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

 

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!

 

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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

JPLAY & JCAT Founder

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  • 6 months later...

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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  • 1 month later...
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

JPLAY & JCAT Founder

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Once installed will the Femto card be automatically recognized by Windows 10 without the need for special drivers? 

 

Are there any settings for the ports that are beneficial?

 

I have one ordered and will use it in bridged mode...


"Don't Believe Everything You Think"

System

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1 hour ago, mourip said:

Once installed will the Femto card be automatically recognized by Windows 10 without the need for special drivers? 

 

Are there any settings for the ports that are beneficial?

 

I have one ordered and will use it in bridged mode...

The Intel driver can be downloaded here:  https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/59064/IntelEthernet-Server-Adapter-I350-F2

 

When you receive your card, there is a recommended settings that is helpful to get the most out of the card.

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Once installed and restarted, the card will be recognized by the OS.  However, in order to get the max performance you’ll want to download and install the latest Win 10 driver from Elan120’s link.  Adjust the settings according to the included guidelines.

WS2019 Core Datacenter, dualPC, JPLAY Femto, AO3, Fidelizer Pro 8.8, MC2XY, IOS app.

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 5/3/2019 at 7:14 AM, Marcin_gps said:

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

 

UPS shows my card as on the way now!

 

Really looking forward to it....


"Don't Believe Everything You Think"

System

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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?

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

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?

 

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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.

AS Profile Equipment List        Say NO to MQA

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3 hours ago, mourip said:

 

The cards seem to be stranded in a warehouse in Ozarowice for the last three days...

 

Sorry to hear that mourip! Mine was delivered yesterday so it may have something to do with your tracking not updating or waiting for pick-up. I hope you’ll receive it soon!

 

(and I can tell you it’s worth the wait, installed cold with a brand new PSU I can already clearly hear the improvements; so much more micro detail/less smearing which’ll give improvements over the whole range!)

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19 hours ago, Dutch said:

 

Sorry to hear that mourip! Mine was delivered yesterday so it may have something to do with your tracking not updating or waiting for pick-up. I hope you’ll receive it soon!

 

(and I can tell you it’s worth the wait, installed cold with a brand new PSU I can already clearly hear the improvements; so much more micro detail/less smearing which’ll give improvements over the whole range!)

 

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...


"Don't Believe Everything You Think"

System

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30 minutes ago, 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...

 

No, I’m much closer to Poland. :) I’m based in The Netherlands.

 

Marcin is in Munich at the High-End show right now, hopefully he can find out what’s causing the hold-up Monday. Good luck!

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