Thanks for watching the video, I think I got something wrong here, I said the server uses Nichicon Fine Gold caps based on their appearance, but the new website says they are Nichicon top of the range Muse capacitors. Sorry about that mistake

Really sounds like you are smitten over with this product😍. Emotions and feelings are showing though when talking... Nice to see. Great review.

🤗 THANKS TERRY FOR SHARING YOUR AUDIOPHILE JOURNEY 😎💚💚💚

Thanks for bringing this tech to my awareness. It is out of my price range…but I appreciate the purity of the linear audio motherboard. I have built a dedicated Roon Server from an Intel NUC, and have it powered by a dedicated linear power supply. I understand that the Jcat is much "purer". I have to say I think that Roon and Roon Arc give me every thing that the Jcat software does and more. It is also very versatile and super FAST/IMMEDIATE.."For me" Roon has opened a whole new opportunity to explore, discover and organize all of my music at a much lower cost factor for the average audiophile. (I have a $30,00 system for streaming Qobuz and CD/SACD playback only…no turntable). I am thrilled for you that you get to experience digital audio at such a high level…and The Jcat software seems surprisingly LUSH as an audiophile interface, at a lower cost than Roon! 👍🏼

Terri…"SOUL" is very enjoyable and well-recorded! Sounds fantastic on my much more humble system….THANKS! 👍🏼

fantastic review and i think i spotted the Network Acoustics MUON Pro ethernet filter next to the S1. Did you find it improved things?

Looking forward to your next review of that big gryphon 333 int not so much hidden in the background 🧐☝️

Nice review Terry. The XACT looks to be an interesting product I love the linear power supply and high accuracy clock these two items alone will make a sizable difference in terms of sound quality and the software on top maybe the icing on the cake. Would have been nice to see a side by side comparission with say with a Lumin, Aurender, Auralic or HiFi Rose. Priced at £12k its a big lump to drop on a server maybe you would get better returns investing in a better DAC, AMP, speaker? Another comparisson would be to drop in a very cheap streamer say a Raspberry Pi connected to the same DAC the differences would make an interesting review I always like to see how a budget product compares to a hi-end component and listen to differences......

I’ve got the feeling that the quality of non-linear devices will continue to improve and match or exceed linear devices. Kind of like the advances of class D amplifiers compared to where they started.

Keep up the good work

I can relate to the comment about digital sounding more analogue . I have invested a lot in digital components and although this was not done with the sole intention of having a more analogue sounding system, it has worked out this way. My turntable cost a small percentage of the digital components so it would be unfair to compare them but it does mean that I have some experience of how analogue sounds, as does the 6-7 turntables I’ve previously owned. It would be interesting to see how a turntable costing the same as the digital components I have sounds, although my record collection is far too small to justify the outlay and I just don’t have the storage space for a large collection of vinyl.

How does the S1 compare to the HiFi Rose RS130, night & day? I would recommend trying some of the better Vertere Turntables if you are looking for Great Vinyl Sound. Thanks for the Great Review as usual!! P.S. Did you do a video on your room treatments?

Had no inkling of your DIY roots. Sounds like a fascinating product, but it will be years before I can afford it.

The streaming is really The futuro. I Live áudio and vídeo streaming like tidal and KZfaq e now i have a Sony Uhp-h1 Thatcher is hi definition áudio, but I would like of more. Do you know any better ?

Thanks for bringing this product up! Jcat has very long standing building highend usb cards, as well sound cards. I'd still not recommend anymore to go for such expensive music server-only without proper DAC. WHY? because we have great products like Grimm Audio MU2, which are at least on this level and combine the functions. Also the roon core so awesome fast on the Grimm, outstanding. Yes, I own several unique DACs, but mostly used for my CD players and MU2 is my roon core. Keep going, love your reviews!! 😊

Very cool looking product. You can approximate it with a standalone LPS and an RPI4 for about $200 all in. This produces very low EMF noise.

I live very close to a park which provides me the luxury of live music in the house. And quite simply, it makes my hifi sound shit.

I’d love to know how this solution compares to a Lumin U2 connected via optical fiber (convert the LAN connection to optical fiber, and connect into the U2 through its optical LAN input). Lumin’s view is that the bigger noise contributor is the LAN electric connection but going optical provides perfect galvanic isolation. I wonder how the two technological solutions would compare sonically, especially since the lumin is less than half the price. Ultimately you probably need both solutions in one product but wondering about the relative impact of each.

Sounds fascinating, however I think I'll wait for the trickle down technology into more budget products.

Thanks

Run of the mill NUC or any motherboard have switching power components with-in the circuitry of the board… the Xact-S1 is true pure liner power supply..

I use JPlay, and I too love it. I just wish it had Internet Radio integration.

I googled the price midway through. I'm sure it sounds amazing... 😮

Long live those collectors who take pride, in building a physical media library. Streamers are left with nothing, except a monthly fee, for a limited variety of releases. It’s all sourced from a digital WAV.file. The best I’ve heard & collect, are the Japanese Mini LP remixes, which are stellar. Enjoy the music, regardless of the format🔊🎶😎.

I love your review. You' were genuinely surprised. These products are a hard sell until you hear them. I own a Luxman D-10x cd player/DAC and nothing sounded as good as what it can do with CDs through its DAC until I bought an Aurender N20. Not even the A30 which i owned before and is their jack of all trades. But with a totally different design philosophy from the N20. it was then that my system came together. Describing digital as analog is a paradigm shift that can almost seem blasphamous with the pitchforks and tourches out. Lol But it's true and highend streamers have made leaps and bounds as have DACs, but just like a great cornerstone DAC they're not cheap and their design philosophy is just as important. So often times the benefits of highend streamers/servers depend on the DAC and vice versa. It's then that when both work on the same plane that all if the high praise audio metaphors and descriptors apply. Then it's a second take moment of what is possible from streaming through Tidal or Quobuzz. 👍

Currently trying Jplay. Been trying for a couple of days when your video showed up. Speed was impressive vs several other solutions and the interface vs something like MConnect is really good. Unfortunately, Roon still sounds more dynamic, natural, and with better sound stage impression. I will give Jplay a few more chances, especially as Roon on iOS currently has some issues that do take them quite long to fix, apparently. I really want to skip that Roon core… we will see whether I get used to the slight differences in sound and maybe see them in a different light.

To you it started from iPod? What about Minidisk? What about Cassette's? What about everything else? :))

Is this a streamer? I have a Chord Dave MScaler with a Project ultra Stream box. The Project was only £500 and the sound is truly excellent from Tidal and USB drives. What more can that 12000 euro streamer add?

Facinating serious high end streamer, way above anything Ive enjoyed auditioning and very interesting. Id have to hear it side by side with something like a Auralic G2. 2 to see if it has any sonic merits Id be prepared to pay for. As for digital glare, im not sure its an issue im suffering from - im using a Mcintosh Ma252 hybrid amp feeding Wharfdale Elysian 3's..not chasing truth, but loving my sound. The app looks pretty decent, but as a Roon user, Jplay is not quite there yet, though it looks a very good option. Thanks again for discussing an area of hifi that I didnt know about with that server.

Imho, the argument around the “audio specific motherboard” doesn’t make too much sense, because music recorded or mixed/mastered over the last 2 decades was likely handled by a computer (most likely from Apple), which certainly had a full computer motherboard. 😉 If we go back in time in digital audio, we’re talking about the red book CD format, and there’s only so much that could be improved over the best CD players from 25 or 30 years ago. Even if we’re talking about a transfer from the original master tape to digital hi-res, a computer was almost certainly involved, although with the best external ADC, pre-amps and DAC possible. 😉 This doesn’t mean that computer audio or audio streamers are all the same (that’s certainly not the case), but I wouldn’t put that much of a relevance on motherboards. I’m glad to see manufacturers doing dedicated products like these, and there’s certainly a value on having a product that has its software, drivers and internals with the best audio reproduction as a priority, don’t get me wrong. I’m only referring to the motherboard theme, as we’re creating an issue that wasn’t even an issue for all the audio engineers that worked on those same albums. 😉 On the digital/analogue sound subject, analogue _can_ sound better at times, because it can never be as accurate as digital. There are things that no analogue recording format can handle (not even tape) without introducing its own artifacts, like audio compression, distortion, etc. We may like or even love those artifacts, and they were (and still are) deliberately used during the recording and mixing stages, as they add their own sonic characteristics, but if anyone wants all music to have those traits, it makes a lot more sense to stick with analogue sources in the first place, or if that isn’t always possible, to add analogue gear between the source and the loudspeakers. There are a lot of different ways to get there with analogue gear, and that’s what one should do if analogue sound is what we’re looking for. I would like to clarify that I’m confident that these products under review are certainly amazing, and all of that thought and engineering has its price to pay, like any other state of the art product. In the end, they’re trying to reach the absolute neutrality between what comes in (a digital file or source) and the analogue output signal. But what comes in is a digital file, and if it sounded analogue in the end, it would mean transparency got lost in the way, which would be suspicious. 😉 Whenever we playback any digital file, it’s important to understand that it was converted from analogue signals to digital ones way before we even get the file on our drive or internet connection. More often than not, it was likely converted to digital after the microphone pre-amp, during the audio capture stage, and the went through the mixing, processing and mastering stage (where it was deliberately processed/changed in the digital domain to achieve a particular sound). This channel is a true “believer” in digital room correction, and I’m also a serious proponent of it, despite the fact that any digital room correction (like Dirac Live) will resample the signal and apply several digital filters to the signal. That’s not accurate or transparent by definition, but it usually solves room and loudspeaker issues that are so many times bigger in both magnitude and importance to how we hear sound that it easily offsets any inconvenience of the resampling process. It can’t be avoided at all, and even if it could, any loudspeaker and room will definitely make the biggest change to the signal, no matter what. The most that any loudspeaker (even Uber expensive ones) can try to aim for is being as neutral as possible, but none ever came close to being totally neutral. Not even headphones pulled that out after all these decades, despite not having to deal with a room at all. But in the end, this HiFi hobby isn’t about that, or we would all be looking at high end professional active monitors for music listening. This hobby is all about trying to reach the sound that we love the most while listening to our music, increasing our pleasure to the max. That’s also why listening to vinyl is rarely the most accurate way of reproducing music, but it can definitely sound amazing and fun. 🙂👍

My friend had the early versions of JPlay for PC - where it could go into 'hibernate' mode, turning off almost every PC motherboard function to lessen any type of EMF or processing interaction that could effect the USB signal output. This hibernate mode would be an obvious and large increase in realism and transparency compared to the regular Jplay USB audio mode. I always wondered when a purpose built, stripped down audio motherboard would appear that would do purely in hardware what Marcin was trying to achieve in software. Well I guess it didn't appear, and Marcin had to do it all himself, 12 years later and at 12k euro.

I am thinking my MacBook Pro with Audirvāna is all I need. The circuitry is not fully linear but it runs with battery power. My system is also above 100k (with vinyl playback which is the most expensive source) and I have to admit that streaming does not sound as good as vinyl. There is something in vinyl playback you can’t copy. It sounds even better than cd or sacd hd cd you name it. And I would argue a top of the range cd player (10k and well above like D10x or K3) even beats the best streaming in sound. Audirvana now is subscription only too I think but I bought the latest version that is free of charge and i leave my MacBook as a music server and never update it (updates will ultimately make your software not working).

Im thinking of building a diy music server since I have a really good PSU. But like you said streamer boxing are getting better these days. How close was your diy music server to for example the Mu-1 or others in this ballpark? And how does this new Jcat compar?

Dude the the Naim Uniti Core came out years ago "linear power supply custom computer" Music server and ripper with a fantastic app and it's £10,000 cheaper and made in UK

12K ! Think IMO, Innuos Zenith will do a good job at less then half the price ( 5K ) and the other 7K, upgrade the rest of the system, or have a nice holiday. 🤣

$40 a year is pretty good. Can the J Play app allow for classical music search criteria such as instruments, ensemble name, etc?

Will jcat be implementing Apple Music to streaming ?

I can't find a thing on what CPU this computer uses? Nor what OS it runs on? For that much money I sure want to know! What chip for switching?

I really like the built in switch but for the price I would like to have seen more output options like i2s. I use the Jcat extreme usb card in a custom made streamer with a linear power supply. The Jcat card sounds better than any streamer that I’ve tried , the most expensive around $8k iirc. They definitely know what they’re doing when it comes to sq but this still seems very expensive for what it is

I'm looking forward to the R11 Metta review!😍

You didn't mention what the sound difference between streaming from the £12k (!) streamer and using the same software from your phone? Be interesting to know, and if you were able to blind test that.

App only for Apple???

Terry... first networked computer audio streamer with custom motherboard for Audio output? Runs on Linux, via a SD card, has high quality USB Audio output and you can connect your external USB drive via another USB? Are you familiar with the SoTM SMS200 line of networked streamers? These came out in 2016 and have everything your expensive Jcat device has at 1/10th the price except the network switch with multiple Ethernet ports and a built in linear power supply. And, even the SoTM isn't the first because Sonore also came out with theirs around the same time. Perhaps you're more familiar with Jcat because of your PC Computer background. But look around.others have plowed this ground for years before Jcat.

Is anybody able to repair this when it goes wrong or is it another box of electronics destined for landfill?

My understanding is that the 2011 NVA TFS digital music source used a fully linear power supply. It was an interesting product for its' time. So there's nothing new about linear power supplies with streaming devices. The bespoke motherboard, however, is not something I've come across before... I've been really impressed with the DSD audio demos I've had. However, some or most or all of that could be down to the mastering care taken with DSD recordings. Maybe something for a future video on your channel?

A user was comparing his Taiko to his 200k turntable and the Xact to a reel to reel tape, which he prefers. Sounds like your statement “more analog than analog” ! My main concern to buy one at this high price point is longevity and possible obsolescence. Like any other “computer-like” component (even if Xact is the first non-computer). Not sure to thank you for this review that makes me willing to buy it :) Ok, thank you anyhow :)

€12,000 ?? 🤔 IMO that's an insane amount of money to pay for simply making your music library a bit more convenient to access, but each to their own. I do prefer to listen to whole albums rather than skip from one artist to another, so I'm perfectly happy with a simple DAP and a collection of CDs plus a few CD players and prefer to spend my money on music. I'm not at all surprised that other people's listening habits may be better served by a music server, but I _am_ surprised some might be willing to spend €12,000 for that convenience.

Awesome and informative. Someone should just design a linear powed audio motherboard and sell or license it to Wiim. Wiim can order a million of these from china to put in their streamer and then you just buy an aftermarket lps like an sbooster. Probably be sub 1k. Just need a usb out or an i2s or coax. Keep it simple. Combine that with their software and roon compatibility and that would be amazing value. Glad companies like this are breaking new ground.

The title of the video should realy be something like "Digital That Sounds More Analog Than Vinyl!" That would bring you lots of comments and views for sure😄

BluOS rules, forget the rest 😊 Shunyata Denali 6000s v2 20A

Nothing compares to Roon😊

I find the best way to get good sound from a computer is to use a digital output instead of an analogue output. I found using a digital output will reduce, if not eliminate, the noise of switch mode power supplies as digital is just a series of 1's and 0's. You do need a high quality digital audio card, but aside from that, any computer bits will do the job. You don't need anything, other than the digital audio output, to be designed for music because the rest makes no difference to the sound, other than software of course. All inside the computer it is just a series of 1's and 0's. A nice case is probably important too if you have your system on display. You have to remember streaming music comes from INTERNET sources mostly, and ALL the devices on the internet are not all this "Audiophile" stuff. Your ISP, your modem/gateway, the millions of network switches and hops, the servers that the streaming music service use, None of these are "Audiophile" and 99% of them are using switchmode. You have to remember this. It's like power conditioning. Everything up to the outlet on the wall is just the same as anyone else. Powerlines outside above or below ground... You get the idea.

I'll be a dim future for audio if it is.

Jplay is Jriver/Jremote?

Raspi pi2aes mercury for geeks that can't afford hifi over 1k . It's the clocks and i2s that make the most difference.

This streamer will easily compete against the Taiko and Pink Faun at only 40%of the cost of the 30k streamers

I prefer the Eversolo DMP-A6 which can play Apple Music lossless natively, and can be upgraded to a linear LPS (by Beateknik)

Check out Computer Audio Design and interviews with Scott Berry. Its a total rabit hole... But fascinating!

Why is JCAT XACT S1 Music server not in the title of this video? Everyone looking for this exact (pun intended) gear will never find your video.

12.000 euros 💶 😮buy a good cd player and amp with speakers 🔊 😅😊😂

12k for a 4T SSD server? Personally, I'm happy with my Cambridge Azur streamer that has two usb’s in the back. With a powered usb hub, i have a 20t digital music library of ripped CD wavs (several ssd hard drives)plugged into the back and I'm very happy with the quality of the “source”. Even if i was a billionaire i would never spend 12k on a product like this as it just seems so excessive. And I'm a major fan of building your own music library as opposed to relying on streaming.

If you want to hear digital and you like that sound then you need to get a DS cartridge they're about 2300£ but you need to buy the special phono stage! what is a bit more I think. it is a photosensitive cell cartridge it uses light not a coil of wire. And if you play digital recordings on vinyl you should get more of that digital woki sound, you seem to like anyway. Your leads have a big importance to how bright it sounds as well don't go with this audio rubbish stuff. keep it no more than two feet and low capacitance cable try Blue Jeans no capacitance interconnects, I'm not sure if they do half a metre but it's better than nothing or you cut it down. this is to the phono stage from the turntable you can have longer interconnects after the phone at stage and that's probably advisable. The best cable would be the Belden 43ohms 12 pico fabrics per thousand feet and you need to use 50 ohms interconnect plugs, or better still BNC change it for rca's, rubbish connectors worst thing out there. you can get lxr 50ohms ideally all of your analogue signal should be 50 ohms or less cable and plugs and sockets. Try not use any room correction as well that's not good for records some low frequency correction can help below 20 hertz but it's not good for vinyl and you bring the bass in to a mono somewhere between 100Hz-50Hz is beneficial

For me this product hits most if not all the wrong spots. Forces you to use USB that is a huge no since standard itself degrades the signal aside various issues with DACs like Chord Qtest that is just bad on USB, 5xRJ45 ports for unkown reason, but no optical networking. for 10k you can get an Auralic or a Rockna transport that has none of this HUGE shortcoming. For a 500 Euros ProJect transport, you give it a pass. When you ask 20 times that price, none of it is actually acceptable. I got Jcat products and I love them and looking to use them to try a DiY stramer, but they really dropped the ball on this specific product.

I am sorry did you say 12000 pounds I think this applies to wealthy people. If you ask me one I would immediately sell it and use the money for real living. I think two thousand pounds is where I am at and that would be for a power amplifier. I would not make an opinion on a product of this nature without double blind listing sessions before I would endorse the sound quality. And it would need to be picked out consistently as the best sounding streamer by a number of different people. Otherwise it just suits your tastes. Unless you are comparing to an Amstrad or something like that.

Linear power supply is outdated just as everything the current market has to offer

Certainly 😢

Sorry but having to subscribe and pay endless time a fee just to use this thing in a proper way makes me even more mad than the price. Yes, I heard it first here but I am sure this company will soon learn what competition means and then they can’t rob you an arm and a leg anymore 😅

JPlay sounded exactly what I was looking for. In fact, as I was typing the word JPlay, you came out with.. "only for iOS users" Aw man, what a bummer

Optical dac from a normal pc. Easy fix

Using a linaer PS in a pi computer as a server is nothing new, People are even using supercapacitors.but this is mostly DIY.

Infinitely better, but not perfect?

Innuos.

You could always just put a cd or a record on and enjoy the music. This seems like a whole load of expensive faff, for subjective gains. Next thing will be that Asus motherboards sound better than MSI, because of reasons......

Streaming services rely on the use of [military] satellites. Jump forward to some intense multi-national conflict where access to those satellites is restricted/stopped and the internet becomes intermittent to terminated. This is NOT hard to imagine in 2024. How will the enjoyment of 'streaming' services look then? CD users.....😂😂😂😂

No, only streaming won`t be the future, a even bigger part will stay analog

I don't get why anyone needs something like this, if, let's say you have a streamer like the Eversolo that can access an NAS. If the S1 is going to a DAC anyway, the heft of the musical difference is going to be in the DAC and amps and not in...a motherboard. Maybe I'm missing something but this sounds like one of those audiophile products that no one really needs, especially not at that price. The review doesn't offer a distinct argument for a product like this.

Streaming is low quality compared too a wave file ..streaming is a hoax

For low current applications, like in a streamer, a well designed high frequency SMPS is much better than ANY linear power supply. The rest is just snake oil and audiophoolery. Ask any engineer.

Your videos are too long. Get to the point(s) man! You talk too much