Building a music server - JCAT way

[Marcin_gps]

Hello Guys,

 

I am starting a new thread where I will post my own experiences how to build and optimize a music server. Everyone is free to join and ask questions. I will try to reply all of them if time permits. 

 

I will be posting a recipe for the upcoming JCAT music server. The details of the JCAT music server will be open to anyone and the parts available from JCAT: power supply,  enclosure, USB & NET cards 

 

It is a 2 box music server as keeping the music server part and a truly linear ATX power supply is simply impossible at this power rating. The power supply alone is over 20kg and a size of a hefty integrated amplifier. 

 

Below is a sneak peak (the upper enclosure is a music server part, the bottom part is the ATX PSU enclosure). We are finalizing CE documentation at the moment and 1st production run is scheduled within a month.

 

I will be updating the topic on a regular basis.  

 

Best regards,
Marcin Ostapowicz

JPLAY & JCAT Founder

 

 

 

 

[Topk]

Thank you for creating this thread. Here are my first questions:

- can you share your personal system, and what were the goals and principles of this system? I do believe it is interesting to understand your own hifi journey and your own perspective on sound 

- does Jcat has a voicing “philosophy” or target sound signature, and if yes, what is it? Similar to what hifi brands might have. 

[Marcin_gps]

3 hours ago, Topk said:

Thank you for creating this thread. Here are my first questions:

- can you share your personal system, and what were the goals and principles of this system? I do believe it is interesting to understand your own hifi journey and your own perspective on sound 

Sure. My personal system at the moment consists of:

 

Digital:

JCAT music server prototype with JPLAY FEMTO software player

JCAT music streamer prototype (it will be announced very soon - I will start a separate topic as this project is separate and targeted for a broader market)

APL DSD-MR MKII DAC (I am going straight into the custom JLsound USB input board that is used in the APL)

 

Network:

1Gbit fiber modem -> Ubiquiti Edgerouter X with hardware offloading enabled (powered by OPTIMO 3 DUO PSU) -> Ubiquiti AP-AC-PRO (WIFI access point)

 

M12 SWITCH GOLD (powered by OPTIMO 3 DUO) ->  Music Server / Music Streamer

LAN cables are JCAT Signature LAN Cables GOLD and JCAT Signature LAN Cables GOLD M12 X for the M12 SWITCH GOLD

 

AC power:

Dedicated AC line from Gigawatt fuse using Neotech NEP-3001III cable -> Furutech  NCF socket -> Siltech Double Crown power cord (with Furutech FI-50 NCF connectors)  -> S.I.N. Audio PSD-6 FFO power strip placed on foQ IP-22 board and 4x foQ HEM-25S footers 

 

Siltech Triple Crown power cord goes to DAC

Siltech Double Crown power cord (with Furutech FI-50 NCF connectors) goes to Music Streamer

Acrolink 8N-PC8100 PERFORMANTE power cords ((with Furutech FI-50 NCF connectors) go to monoblocks. 

 

All connectors on the power cords are equipped with Furutech NCF braces. There is a Furutech NCF booster on the connector going into the power strip.

 

AMPS:

SPEC RPA-MG1000 monoblocks (4 boxes, each monoblock has an external power supply unit)

 

SPEAKERS:

YG Acoustics Carmel2 with spikes placed on foQ HEM-25B footers 

 

CABLES:

Absolue Creations TIM Signature speaker cables

Acrolink 7N-DA6300 MKIV XLR IC

USB: JCAT Signature USB Cable

 

VIBRATION TREATMENT:

foQ AR-100 racks foQ AB-4045 platforms and foQ HEM-25S footers under all components

 

I am satisfied with this system. It combines excellent resolution and transparency without going into dryness. It is not easy to achive harmony especially with speakers such as YG. The speakers are the best known to my ears. I bought the speakers during  JPLAY FEMTO development and they made my work so much easier - they're ruthless in revealing the changes in the system which is a big advantage for me and I find them excellent 'tools'. 

 

Now that I moved the system to a bigger room, I consider upgrading the speakers to YG Hailey 2.2. Otherwise I do not see what I could improve except for the digital part which can be improved all the time due to new developments in hardware, software and networking. 

 

I will take some pictures of my system next week if you are interested to see them here. 

 

Regards, 

Marcin

 

 

 

 

 

[Marcin_gps]

3 hours ago, Topk said:

 

- does Jcat has a voicing “philosophy” or target sound signature, and if yes, what is it? Similar to what hifi brands might have. 

 

Yes. My voicing philosophy is getting as close to the real sound as possible. Working in digital domain it means extracing as much as possiible from the recordings. This can sometimes be problematic with poor recordings. 

 

My credo is here: https://jcat.eu/about/

 

I was raised in a family with deep musical traditions - my father is a professional musician and lecturer at National Music school in Poland. I also have music background; I graduated National Music school on piano and guitar - 10 years of music education. 

 

Growing up with the sound of real music in my home and then education  in National Music school helped me develop high sensitivity for music and sound. I am very grateful to my father who had 'formed' me. 

 

I have a bachelor in IT and econometrics. I do not develop my products myself. I work with different companies and engineers around the globe.

 

JCAT power supplies (and soon JCAT music server) are the products designed, manufactured and assembled entirely in Poland. I have a new business partner here in Poland who is an excellent engineer - he  and his team are responsible for developing the OPTIMO 3 DUO, INITIO 3 and OPTIMO S ATX power supplies. 

 

I will be on the road today, so I won't be able to reply until Saturday. (I'm in CET zone)

 

To be continued

 

Regards, 

Marcin

[beautiful music]

5 hours ago, Marcin_gps said:

I will take some pictures of my system next week if you are interested to see them here. 

 

Your setup is awesome, congratulations and why not, the picture worth 1K words.

[Topk]

5 hours ago, Marcin_gps said:

Sure. My personal system at the moment consists of:

 

Digital:

JCAT music server prototype with JPLAY FEMTO software player

JCAT music streamer prototype (it will be announced very soon - I will start a separate topic as this project is separate and targeted for a broader market)

APL DSD-MR MKII DAC (I am going straight into the custom JLsound USB input board that is used in the APL)

 

Network:

1Gbit fiber modem -> Ubiquiti Edgerouter X with hardware offloading enabled (powered by OPTIMO 3 DUO PSU) -> Ubiquiti AP-AC-PRO (WIFI access point)

 

M12 SWITCH GOLD (powered by OPTIMO 3 DUO) ->  Music Server / Music Streamer

LAN cables are JCAT Signature LAN Cables GOLD and JCAT Signature LAN Cables GOLD M12 X for the M12 SWITCH GOLD

 

AC power:

Dedicated AC line from Gigawatt fuse using Neotech NEP-3001III cable -> Furutech  NCF socket -> Siltech Double Crown power cord (with Furutech FI-50 NCF connectors)  -> S.I.N. Audio PSD-6 FFO power strip placed on foQ IP-22 board and 4x foQ HEM-25S footers 

 

Siltech Triple Crown power cord goes to DAC

Siltech Double Crown power cord (with Furutech FI-50 NCF connectors) goes to Music Streamer

Acrolink 8N-PC8100 PERFORMANTE power cords ((with Furutech FI-50 NCF connectors) go to monoblocks. 

 

All connectors on the power cords are equipped with Furutech NCF braces. There is a Furutech NCF booster on the connector going into the power strip.

 

AMPS:

SPEC RPA-MG1000 monoblocks (4 boxes, each monoblock has an external power supply unit)

 

SPEAKERS:

YG Acoustics Carmel2 with spikes placed on foQ HEM-25B footers 

 

CABLES:

Absolue Creations TIM Signature speaker cables

Acrolink 7N-DA6300 MKIV XLR IC

USB: JCAT Signature USB Cable

 

VIBRATION TREATMENT:

foQ AR-100 racks foQ AB-4045 platforms and foQ HEM-25S footers under all components

 

I am satisfied with this system. It combines excellent resolution and transparency without going into dryness. It is not easy to achive harmony especially with speakers such as YG. The speakers are the best known to my ears. I bought the speakers during  JPLAY FEMTO development and they made my work so much easier - they're ruthless in revealing the changes in the system which is a big advantage for me and I find them excellent 'tools'. 

 

Now that I moved the system to a bigger room, I consider upgrading the speakers to YG Hailey 2.2. Otherwise I do not see what I could improve except for the digital part which can be improved all the time due to new developments in hardware, software and networking. 

 

I will take some pictures of my system next week if you are interested to see them here. 

 

Regards, 

Marcin

 

 

 

 

 

Definitely interested :-) and thank you for sharing, very cool and interesting!

[Elberoth]

I'm looking forward to try the new ATX PSU. 

 

I had the Optimo Duo 3 PSU on loan (based on LT3045 LDOs) and it is really a great performer. 

[Marcin_gps]

On 4/16/2021 at 10:04 AM, beautiful music said:

 

Your setup is awesome, congratulations and why not, the picture worth 1K words.

 

As promised, here is a picture of my reference system. At the moment a prototype JCAT streamer is connected (more details about this product will be disclosed very soon) 

 

 

 

[MarkusBarkus]

Marcin, that is a very tidy looking set-up. Very nice. What is the approximate distance from the Carmel2s to your listening chair, would you say?  Nice of you to post the pics. Cheers...

[Marcin_gps]

2 hours ago, MarkusBarkus said:

Marcin, that is a very tidy looking set-up. Very nice. What is the approximate distance from the Carmel2s to your listening chair, would you say?  Nice of you to post the pics. Cheers...

Thanks. 
 

Approximately 3 meters. 
 

The speakers are 160 cm from the wall. 
 

This is a new room and still WIP

 

Cheers,

Marcin

[ASRMichael]

3 hours ago, Marcin_gps said:

 

As promised, here is a picture of my reference system. At the moment a prototype JCAT streamer is connected (more details about this product will be disclosed very soon) 

 

 

 

Beautiful Marcin! What material is that you have on your tv wall? 

[Marcin_gps]

19 minutes ago, ASRMichael said:

Beautiful Marcin! What material is that you have on your tv wall? 

Thank you!

 

These are wooden lamellas

[beautiful music]

4 hours ago, Marcin_gps said:

 

As promised, here is a picture of my reference system. At the moment a prototype JCAT streamer is connected (more details about this product will be disclosed very soon) 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful setup Marcin, I figured out that you're paying attention for everything even the color (black) of your internal parts of your streamer is matching the speaker and lamellas colors😁, kudos to you👏🏼.

[Topk]

9 hours ago, Marcin_gps said:

 

As promised, here is a picture of my reference system. At the moment a prototype JCAT streamer is connected (more details about this product will be disclosed very soon) 

 

 

 

Oh my gosh, that’s stunning, to say the least! Congratulations. Isn’t the TV acting as an acoustic mirror? Maybe you should cover it for critical listening? I use a projector and solved the issue entirely :-)

[ASRMichael]

On 4/16/2021 at 3:34 AM, Marcin_gps said:

Sure. My personal system at the moment consists of:

 

Digital:

JCAT music server prototype with JPLAY FEMTO software player

JCAT music streamer prototype (it will be announced very soon - I will start a separate topic as this project is separate and targeted for a broader market)

APL DSD-MR MKII DAC (I am going straight into the custom JLsound USB input board that is used in the APL)

 

Network:

1Gbit fiber modem -> Ubiquiti Edgerouter X with hardware offloading enabled (powered by OPTIMO 3 DUO PSU) -> Ubiquiti AP-AC-PRO (WIFI access point)

 

M12 SWITCH GOLD (powered by OPTIMO 3 DUO) ->  Music Server / Music Streamer

LAN cables are JCAT Signature LAN Cables GOLD and JCAT Signature LAN Cables GOLD M12 X for the M12 SWITCH GOLD

 

AC power:

Dedicated AC line from Gigawatt fuse using Neotech NEP-3001III cable -> Furutech  NCF socket -> Siltech Double Crown power cord (with Furutech FI-50 NCF connectors)  -> S.I.N. Audio PSD-6 FFO power strip placed on foQ IP-22 board and 4x foQ HEM-25S footers 

 

Siltech Triple Crown power cord goes to DAC

Siltech Double Crown power cord (with Furutech FI-50 NCF connectors) goes to Music Streamer

Acrolink 8N-PC8100 PERFORMANTE power cords ((with Furutech FI-50 NCF connectors) go to monoblocks. 

 

All connectors on the power cords are equipped with Furutech NCF braces. There is a Furutech NCF booster on the connector going into the power strip.

 

AMPS:

SPEC RPA-MG1000 monoblocks (4 boxes, each monoblock has an external power supply unit)

 

SPEAKERS:

YG Acoustics Carmel2 with spikes placed on foQ HEM-25B footers 

 

CABLES:

Absolue Creations TIM Signature speaker cables

Acrolink 7N-DA6300 MKIV XLR IC

USB: JCAT Signature USB Cable

 

VIBRATION TREATMENT:

foQ AR-100 racks foQ AB-4045 platforms and foQ HEM-25S footers under all components

 

I am satisfied with this system. It combines excellent resolution and transparency without going into dryness. It is not easy to achive harmony especially with speakers such as YG. The speakers are the best known to my ears. I bought the speakers during  JPLAY FEMTO development and they made my work so much easier - they're ruthless in revealing the changes in the system which is a big advantage for me and I find them excellent 'tools'. 

 

Now that I moved the system to a bigger room, I consider upgrading the speakers to YG Hailey 2.2. Otherwise I do not see what I could improve except for the digital part which can be improved all the time due to new developments in hardware, software and networking. 

 

I will take some pictures of my system next week if you are interested to see them here. 

 

Regards, 

Marcin

 

 

 

 

 

Marcin “Satisfied” ? Based on your system above I’d be elated not satisfied! Wow! What a system that is! Really wow! 

[Marcin_gps]

10 hours ago, Topk said:

Oh my gosh, that’s stunning, to say the least! Congratulations. Isn’t the TV acting as an acoustic mirror? Maybe you should cover it for critical listening? I use a projector and solved the issue entirely :-)

 

Thank you. 

 

Yes, the TV acts as a 'mirror'. It is a compromise. I am considering a projector as a next step. 

 

The room's acoustics will be measured soon and I will consider using acoustic treatments, but I'd prefer to use paitings and 'natural' interior decoration to mitiigate acoustic issues, because visual aesthetics are important for me as well. 

 

 

10 hours ago, ASRMichael said:

Marcin “Satisfied” ? Based on your system above I’d be elated not satisfied! Wow! What a system that is! Really wow! 

Thank you for your nice words :)

 

Regards, 

Marcin

 

[Tokyokyoto]

It’s kinda hard to see what the component is bottom center but if you don’t have an analogue signal to maintain why not use DSP?

[Marcin_gps]

41 minutes ago, Tokyokyoto said:

It’s kinda hard to see what the component is bottom center but if you don’t have an analogue signal to maintain why not use DSP?

I wrote above it's a prototype of my upcoming JCAT streamer (I can't disclose details yet). 

 

I don't like DSP, only real stereo. 

[Marcin_gps]

I have not updated the topic for a while. Finally I have big news to share: the OPTIMO S ATX PSU so many computer audiophiles have been waiting for will be released next week! 

 

 

Regards, 

Marcin

[beautiful music]

2 hours ago, Marcin_gps said:

I have not updated the topic for a while. Finally I have big news to share: the OPTIMO S ATX PSU so many computer audiophiles have been waiting for will be released next week! 

 

 

Regards, 

Marcin

 

Congratulations @Marcin_gps looking forward to see an impression soon.

[Marcin_gps]

THE LAST WEAK LINK OF COMPUTER-BASED SYSTEMS CAN NOW BE REMOVED

 

https://jcat.eu/product/optimo-s-atx/

[beautiful music]

16 hours ago, Marcin_gps said:

 

 

THE LAST WEAK LINK OF COMPUTER-BASED SYSTEMS CAN NOW BE REMOVED

 

https://jcat.eu/product/optimo-s-atx/

And it should be the most important link in computer-based system 😉.

[One and a half]

@Marcin_gps, the JCAT streamer and can't find the exact name for the control point must be close.

 

Can I ask a few questions about these two?

 

Does /can the streamer pull from a network drive from another local server on the system, such as JPLAY server, Minimserver (or DLNA server, Jriver.. (just kidding))?  So there would be two Ethernet connectors?

 

Does the streamer have hard drive capability? (I am thinking not).

 

The JPLAY controller software can connect to Tidal/Qobuz/non mp3 streaming services?

[Marcin_gps]

16 hours ago, One and a half said:

@Marcin_gps, the JCAT streamer and can't find the exact name for the control point must be close.

 

Can I ask a few questions about these two?

 

Does /can the streamer pull from a network drive from another local server on the system, such as JPLAY server, Minimserver (or DLNA server, Jriver.. (just kidding))?  So there would be two Ethernet connectors?

 

Does the streamer have hard drive capability? (I am thinking not).

 

The JPLAY controller software can connect to Tidal/Qobuz/non mp3 streaming services?

 

Of course. You may find most details and more in the interview with me in High Fidelity magazine. The interview can be found here:

http://www.highfidelity.pl/@main-1121&lang=en

 

But in short: yes, it will support UPnP/DLNA servers, NAA and more. There are 6 ethernet connectors, because it can also act as a switch and router (!). It has a SATA port, so you can use it as a complete server/streamer. 

 

JPLAY iOS app integrates Qobuz, Tidal and local libraries. Will be launched in January. We have a small delay. 

 

Regards, 

Marcin

[zebo67]

Marcin, May I know the latest update on JCAT streamer, release date? Like many, I am anxiously waiting to hear the JCAT streamer in my system. With a switch and router capabilities on board, does that means one may not need a switch M12 Gold?