47 replies to this topic

[Marcin_gps]

JCAT WILL LAUNCH ITS OWN HIGH-END MUSIC SERVER AT AVS 2022 - XACT S1 – FEATURING WORLD’S 1ST  100% LINEAR POWERED MOTHERBOARD.

 

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Designed from scratch, XACT S1, is a purist’s dream for those in the know. Based on JCAT’s ZeNA (Zero-Noise-Architecture) motherboard, the S1 does not rely on switching DC-DC converters. Instead, super-low-noise linear regulators are used exclusively making XACT S1 the world’s first music server running on linear power alone.

 

The market lacked a genuine audiophile-grade motherboard. Most of the available streaming products are assembled using general-purpose PC motherboards. According to Marcin Ostapowicz, JPLAY & JCAT Founder, such motherboards with noisy switching converters all over the place should not be used in a high-end audio system.

 

XACT S1’s proprietary motherboard, apart from linear regulation, features extremely low-jitter OCXO clock with ±5 ppb frequency stability. The extensive power supply section based on JCAT’s renowned OPTIMO linear PSU delivers 140 000 uF of capacitance provided by Nichicon’s flagship Muse and Fine Gold capacitors series.

 

Software is custom made and finetuned personally by JPLAY’s Founder, Marcin Ostapowicz, who promises superb sound quality and ease of use via included brand new JPLAY iOS app which combines Qobuz, Tidal and local content in a single beautiful interface.

 

According to Wojciech Pacuła, chief editor of High Fidelity, the sound of XACT S1 is 'insanely difficult to distinguish from an analog source'.  Come and hear it yourself.

 

When: 28-30th October

 

Where: Warsaw, Poland. Radisson Blu Sobieski Hotel, Room 718

[Iain]

Wow!

[Chanh]

Congrats Marcin. And more info about OS?

Cheers

[Patatorz]

Waiting for more information 👍

[kaka]

The HighFidelity.pl review is up (https://highfidelity.pl)

 

The high end electrical design had me interested, but the XACT S1 is more a streamer than a server - no internal music storage, if you want to play your own material you do it via a USB input port.

It has six ethernet ports

 

The dac outputs are both USB, one with a 5V line and one without which is clever

Sadly neither of my dacs (early Lampizator Big 7, Chord DAVE) are at their best from USB. I feed them reclocked Spdif

 

Lampizator moved to an improved USB input, and then improved on it again but I haven't retrofitted.

[Marcin_gps]

The HighFidelity.pl review is up (https://highfidelity.pl)

 

The high end electrical design had me interested, but the XACT S1 is more a streamer than a server - no internal music storage, if you want to play your own material you do it via a USB input port.

It has six ethernet ports

 

The dac outputs are both USB, one with a 5V line and one without which is clever

Sadly neither of my dacs (early Lampizator Big 7, Chord DAVE) are at their best from USB. I feed them reclocked Spdif

 

Lampizator moved to an improved USB input, and then improved on it again but I haven't retrofitted.

It is a music server - has a SATA port and there is a dedicated slot for installing SSD. The PSU is prepared for that and has a SATA power connector for powering SSD. 

 

In my opinion USB sounds best and is the best suited standard for playing files. i2s would be nice if it was standarized, but if USB is done right, it delivers. 

 

Best regards,

Marcin

[kaka]

My apologies, missed that part of the review

 

Interesting that you mentioned I2S, I've been contemplating I2S into a Rockna dac via a Pink Faun I2S board (they are custom built for the I2S config that you need)

[kaka]

Some pictures of the XACT S1 in action at the Warsaw show (and Marcin's dac)

 

https://www.hifipig....-2022-report-1/

[Marcin_gps]

Thanks for sharing. I"m preparing for the official release and the launch of sales. The XACT S1 should ship by the end of November

 

Best regards,

Marcin

[Marcin_gps]

XACT S1

STATE-OF-THE-ART DIGITAL TRANSPORT & MUSIC SERVER

FEATURING WORLD’S 1ST  100% LINEAR POWERED MOTHERBOARD.

Now available https://jcat.eu/featured/xact-s1/

[Carlosoptico]

XACT S1
STATE-OF-THE-ART DIGITAL TRANSPORT & MUSIC SERVER
FEATURING WORLD’S 1ST  100% LINEAR POWERED MOTHERBOARD.
Now available https://jcat.eu/featured/xact-s1/

Marcin , is the XACT S1 configured with Windows 10 LTSC or with another Operating System , in addition to JPLAY Femto and JPLAY IOs ?

[Marcin_gps]

It is running a custom Linux OS with realtime core. I spent more than 2 years to optimize it for best sound quality. It is running a different JPLAY player. I don't think you can get anywhere near there with any PC-based setup, even with all JCAT XE cards, OPTIMO S ATX etc. With PC-based setups which, of course, can be greatly improved by adding the cards and improving power supplies, but you can improve it up to a certain level - eventually the end result is compromised by the PC motherboard which is not suited for high-end audio playback due to noisy switching power supplies and overall design. 

 

The motherboard in XACT S1 is designed entirely from scratch together with Adnaco. Every component on the motherboard was carefully selected. There are no unnecessary components both in hardware and software design. The motherboard uses LDOs which makes it world's first motherboard running on linear power exclusively. There is an OCXO on the motherboard, there are Nichicon Muse capacitors etc. The power supply is custom designed based on OPTIMO. So is the power transformer, internal wiring etc. 

 

Overall the result is astonishing. Recently I visited a customer here in Poland who is a long-time analog fan, but wanted to try streaming at a high-end level. The competition was heavy - he borrowed some of the best streamers/music servers on the market and chose the best sounding. Guess what was he chose as the best sounding streamer. 

 

Here is a picture of his setup. On the floor is the PC-based server so much praised on WBF forum. I was there when the comparison was made. Taiko sounded so digital in comparison that you could get a headache. I have no idea why it is so popular. Needless to say, taiko server was packed and went back to dealer and xact stayed at the customer. 

 

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Best regards,

Marcin

 

 

 

[kaka]

Hi Marcin

 

The info on the XACT mentions using the IOS Jplay app to control the server

What do you do if you are a PC/Android user?

[Mentanalyste]

It is running a custom Linux OS with realtime core. I spent more than 2 years to optimize it for best sound quality. It is running a different JPLAY player. I don't think you can get anywhere near there with any PC-based setup, even with all JCAT XE cards, OPTIMO S ATX etc. With PC-based setups which, of course, can be greatly improved by adding the cards and improving power supplies, but you can improve it up to a certain level - eventually the end result is compromised by the PC motherboard which is not suited for high-end audio playback due to noisy switching power supplies and overall design. 
 
The motherboard in XACT S1 is designed entirely from scratch together with Adnaco. Every component on the motherboard was carefully selected. There are no unnecessary components both in hardware and software design. The motherboard uses LDOs which makes it world's first motherboard running on linear power exclusively. There is an OCXO on the motherboard, there are Nichicon Muse capacitors etc. The power supply is custom designed based on OPTIMO. So is the power transformer, internal wiring etc. 
 
Overall the result is astonishing. Recently I visited a customer here in Poland who is a long-time analog fan, but wanted to try streaming at a high-end level. The competition was heavy - he borrowed some of the best streamers/music servers on the market and chose the best sounding. Guess what was he chose as the best sounding streamer. 
 
Here is a picture of his setup. On the floor is the PC-based server so much praised on WBF forum. I was there when the comparison was made. Taiko sounded so digital in comparison that you could get a headache. I have no idea why it is so popular. Needless to say, taiko server was packed and went back to dealer and xact stayed at the customer. 
 
IMG_3827.jpeg
 
Best regards,
Marcin

Hi Marcin,

Thank you for the details and your work. It is fascinating.

I understand that you have developed a specific version of JPLAY under your own real time Unix OS.

In the Windows version of JPLAY we had many configurations and in particular:
- DAC Link
- XtreamSize
- Bitstream
- etc...

My questions:
Do we still have access to its settings?
Are you running JPLAY with unique settings, if so which ones?

Personally I have the DAC MOLA MOLA TAMBAQUI. I have configured JPLAY with all the extreme options.

[Marcin_gps]

Hi Marcin,

Thank you for the details and your work. It is fascinating.

I understand that you have developed a specific version of JPLAY under your own real time Unix OS.

In the Windows version of JPLAY we had many configurations and in particular:
- DAC Link
- XtreamSize
- Bitstream
- etc...

My questions:
Do we still have access to its settings?
Are you running JPLAY with unique settings, if so which ones?

Personally I have the DAC MOLA MOLA TAMBAQUI. I have configured JPLAY with all the extreme options.

Hi Zaak,

 

It is a different version of JPLAY with some of the technology from JPLAY for Windows that I ported to Linux version of JPLAY. 

 

I spent a lot of time making sure the configuration I chose sounds best. The customer do not have access to any settings. It's plug & play - customer connects LAN cable to network, USB cable to USB DAC, press power button, open JPLAY iOS app and that's it. As one of the dealers reported, it took him 10 minutes to get XACT S1 singing and most of this time he spent opening the box that XACT S1 was shipped in. 

 

I can only say that DAC Link in XACT S1 is 2000Hz. 

 

Best regards,

Marcin

[Marcin_gps]

Hi Marcin

 

The info on the XACT mentions using the IOS Jplay app to control the server

What do you do if you are a PC/Android user?

 

In that case the only reasonable option is to use Bubble UPnP. However, considering the price of XACT S1, I'd recommend purchasing iPad even if customer already owns Android tablet. The experience of using JPLAY iOS app along with its superior sound quality is totally worth it. Plus, customers purchasing XACT S1 get a free lifetime license for the JPLAY iOS app. 

 

Best regards,

Marcin

[mkmind]

Bubble UPnP sounds cruel, dull inaccurate....

[BernieK]

There have been many reports attesting to the excellent sound quality attained when using the JPLAY iOS app. But to say that 'Bubble UPnP sounds cruel, dull inaccurate....'' by comparison seems a bit exaggerated. Perhaps, as with all other effects of software on the quality of audio playback, the way Bubble UPnP seems to influence sound quality may be, at least to some extent, source, system, room and/or ears-dependent?  

[mkmind]

OK, that is now a bit too expensive for me.

[kaka]

Any more reviews coming?