490 replies to this topic

[Mellowman]

Marcin, FYI: I solved LittleScarabee's problem: with jumpers placed for Molex supply, the card works perfectly.

[OctavianH]

Hi Marcin, it seems I was able to solve my problem. Many thanks for your time. It seems the problem was related to an imperfect contact on the DAC side with the USB-B conector. I reinstalled OS, switched several cables, several DACs, moved the card in the PC in 3 places, made a combinatorial craziness until I realized that all parts are working except that in 9/10 times the DAC + JCAT and a specific USB cable was going crazy and afterwards it was not very easy to make the JCAT work again fine. But the JCAT is OK, and after rearranging all my cables and stuff somehow now all works.

 

 

Crazy, but it seems the relationship of the JCAT with the Chord DACs is fine.

 

PS. Soon I'll upgrade to Ryzen, anyone tried the JCAT Femto on a PCIex 4.0 slot? Any problems?

[Marcin_gps]

good to hear! 

 

PIce x4 is  fine

[OctavianH]

Well it might take some time. By the way, related to the advice to always connect the USB Femto to a PCIex slot connected directly to the CPU. It seems that the X570 boards have support for 2 x PCIex 4.0 x16 only if they support multi-GPU SLI. The others provide a secondary slot from the chipset, but in the X570 boards the chipset is connected to the CPU via PCIex 4.0 bus. Anyone has experience with USB Femto connected in a X570 board vs older boards (like mine, Z97 where PCH is connected to CPU via PCIex 2.0 and there is an audible difference on a PCI slot connected to the CPU and PCH)? I know my question is somehow gaming related and not audio, but honestly I do not see a reason to keep a desktop if you do not play on it, for audio it is much more simple to use another source, so I expect the other users have such motherboards.

[OctavianH]

I investigated a lot disconnections of my Chord DAC from the PC recently, and found something of use to some of you, so I want to share it here. In my case I use an AMD Ryzen and the JCAT is inserted to a PCIex x16 slot. I observed that from time to time the DAC was not seen and I was able to fix this via the following OS setting:

 

 

I will do further tests, but I want to advise anyone to check the Power Management settings, check the Advanced Power Plan settings and disable that Link State Power Management which was for me by default on some "Moderate Power Saving".

Well, it was so moderate that my JCAT appeared as not Installed nor powered on. I hope this helps anyone.

[jgwtriode]

Marcin: 

 

I just realized you had a firmware update for the JCAT Femto.   So one question.  After you push startupdate.exe.  there is a window that says extract all or run.  So You push run then hit any key and the box comes back up

Is this working properly...There is no indication that anything is even being done.  

 

What am I missing here?  There seems to be no indicator of when the process is down.

 

Enlighten me please,

 

jgwtriode

[jgwtriode]

 

 

 

Marcin:

 

I saw this post a few pages back!   Is the Startupdate.exe supposed to bring up a command line batch file to run this application.   When I clicked on that file it simply opened a box that said extract all and Run.  I hit run and it did absolutely

nothing.  Any ideas on what may have or may have not happened and how do I resolve that.   I saw a read file in the Port 2 that talked about  going into Command line with an instruction string.     There was nothing like that in the main read me

document.   What am I doing wrong?

 

Thanks,

 

jgwtriode

[Marcin_gps]

Did you extractr the file before opening? Please try

[jgwtriode]

Marcin:

 

 

Yes I did!  I think the reason it wont run is because it appears there is a virus in it.  I had to fight the damn thing to let me download because it kept failing.  When I push run It immediately pops up another virus notification that I

cannot get past.  Is there some way you can email me the zipped file perhaps or another way of getting a hold of it.  

 

Thanks

 

Jgwtriode

 

 

jgwtriode@gmail.com

[jgwtriode]

Marcin:

 

It was my virus software preventing it from installing.   Ran from my dedicated music system boot drive and it worked just fine.    My word the difference is huge.  I don't even know where to begin.  My ZMF Auteurs are sounding like the best speakers I have ever heard now.  Sound stage got about 10 to 15% larger in every dimension, but that doesn't really even explain.  It's likely looking a t 5 years old coloring book..  They get it reasonably correct but the image is not completely filled in or evenly colored across the page.  The update fills in all the space  between and that is uncanny how it creates real venues on live recordings.  It also creates solid focused layered images within that space anchored to the floor.. It creates size and volume in ways i am going to have to find words to clarify. It's like I need a new vocabulary to do justice verbally to what I hear. Dynamics are much improved at both ends and the noise floor has clearly been dropped significantly lower.

 

Tone and harmonics are not so much changed as much as they are just much more fleshed out and integrated.  It again fills in the things that were previously missing and I wasn't aware I was missing them and then over a few hours listening I realized this is a whole new world of sound.  Pace, Rythmn  and Timing (PRAT) and intelligibility; my favorite things to immediately find improvement, are far more present now.  Music is alive in ways I have only previously experienced at very good performances in acoustically correct venues.   David Byrne's American Utopia(Live on Broadway) really shows all this off.   And you truelly are up front, sitting in the middle of the audience; dancing in your chair, tapping your feet and bobbing your head because the drive and power of the music and the lyrics compells you!   Details of breath and intonation are uncanny in their sense of reality and the intelligibility of lyrics makes it almost impossible not to just start singing along.  I am hearing words in the songs that used to have to pull out a lyrics sheet to follow.  That really isn't neccessary any more.  Bass has much more realistic weight  and body not just extension, the Auteurs come surprising close to really good speaker in that regard, just not quite pulling out that last octave, but with the improvements I dont really miss it all that much.  Put on some Pyromania and I was there listening to Joe Elliot saying thanks for having us Denver!  It sounded like a real Def Leppard concert. Amazing.  I may never need to go to a concert again to feel like this.   

 

As the Brits like to say "Brilliant, absolutely Brilliant Marcin!"   I can hardly wait to scrape up another thousand for the XE.   If this is the appetizer I can hardly wait for the main course.

 

Congrats,

 

Ecstatically happy listening,

 

jgwtriode

[Marcin_gps]

Great to hear - enjoy and spread the good word

 

Regards,

Marcin

[easyenemy]

Hi, my linear power supply output 5.46v, is it safe to use it to power the JCAT USB Card FEMTO?

[Marcin_gps]

Hi, my linear power supply output 5.46v, is it safe to use it to power the JCAT USB Card FEMTO?

It's safe

[Kuni]

Triode, great words to describe. If you go windows core mode, it will be another step up.

[sj46]

I've just purchased a USB femto card, is it safe to power it via a USB to Molex adapter from an Anker 5v 3A power bank. I want to test this before committing to buy a linear supply.

[easyenemy]

may i know if it is safe to unplug external power supply to the usb card while the computer is on for the purpose of AB-ing LPS, or do i have to power down the whole pc? thank you.

[Marcin_gps]

I've just purchased a USB femto card, is it safe to power it via a USB to Molex adapter from an Anker 5v 3A power bank. I want to test this before committing to buy a linear supply.

Yes, you maay use it with the USB Card FEMTO

 

may i know if it is safe to unplug external power supply to the usb card while the computer is on for the purpose of AB-ing LPS, or do i have to power down the whole pc? thank you.

 

I do not recommend this. It's safe only when PC and PSU are switched off. 

[sammy]

Hello, I just installed my card. Worked fine. Can I actually use hipernate mode in AO's core mode?

[Marcin_gps]

Hello, I just installed my card. Worked fine. Can I actually use hipernate mode in AO's core mode?

Yes

[sammy]

Thanks, I'm waiting, I still think with the core mode, sounds so nice with hipernate in the Gui.

Edit. I love jplay since the first time. I had a Paul Pang card.