[iFi audio]

Right'o Captain Obvious but talking about music is like dancing about architecture

...and ?

 

[ok computer]

Right'o Captain Obvious but talking about music is like dancing about architecture anyhow and I bet the sonic improvements of XE USB + USB Enhancer would be impossible to measure, so at the end of the day there really is only one way to find out. Been listening to Morricone for decades for that matter.

Hey Lee, do you plan on getting the new jcat master clock? I want to get an XE at some point, but I don't think there's any way I can swing a $1200 clock on top of that.

 

[mogelsvs]

I saw on another forum that someone was able to use the RPI Compute Module 4 and IO Board (to gain a PCIe slot) plus the jcat femto card for USB audio. Anyone here try something like this? Any insights to share?

 

[ok computer]

Finally found a used JCAT XE USB and it is on the way. Will do a comparison vs the matrix element H and post here with my findings.

 

[OCC7N]

Finally found a used JCAT XE USB and it is on the way. Will do a comparison vs the matrix element H and post here with my findings.

Upgrading power supply on computer makes wonders…

Make that thing the next if you dont have one with good measurements. Ripple/Transients

Corsair AX1600i will make you doubt Audiophile PCIe card

 

[ok computer]

Upgrading power supply on computer makes wonders…

Make that thing the next if you dont have one with good measurements. Ripple/Transients

Corsair AX1600i will make you doubt Audiophile PCIe card

I'm using a Corsair RM750. Do you think there would be much difference? My power consumption is always low.

 

[OCC7N]

I'm using a Corsair RM750. Do you think there would be much difference? My power consumption is always low.

The exact same PSU I had when JCAT USB XE made a good improvement.

I am not saying 100% sure it will make and improvement now with Corsair AX1600i

However I am saying something impressive happened to sound and visual/graphics when adding the Corsair AX1600i

When I confirm it I will sell all my cards.

From a 20minute test I remember motherboard being better. That was 2months ago, the motherbord was not even breaked in…

Look at it this way. I rather get the:

1. Corsair AX1600i + JCAT USB XE

THAN:

2. JCAT + expensive LPSU. iFi Elite won’t match option 1.

If you just buy the Corsair AX1600i and test you can always add JCAT with the internal molex(1600i) and get better performance than a iFi Elite as an example.

This ATX PSU is just best of both worlds. Save your money on external psu

What motherbord do you use?

 

[OCC7N]

crucial information.

Some pci slots on computers connects to the PCH bridge which is my use case right now…

Only my GPU is connected to the CPU.



This could be the reason I may prefere the USB port on the motherboard, it bypass the PCH bridge and goes directly to the CPU.

Well now I have to buy a motherboard where I can have 2x (x16) that is connected to the CPU.

 

[dougms3]

I'm using a Corsair RM750. Do you think there would be much difference? My power consumption is always low.

I second the titanium power supply upgrade.

It made a noticeable difference in my system as well.

Not huge but its noticeable.

 

[OCC7N]

I second the titanium power supply upgrade.

It made a noticeable difference in my system as well.

Not huge but its noticeable.

There are non titaniums that have better ripple and transients.

So it depends on which Titanium you bought.

Also AX1600i is the only one GaN transistors

 

[dougms3]

There are non titaniums that have better ripple and transients.

So it depends on which Titanium you bought.

Also AX1600i is the only one GaN transistors

Well, there are other criteria that affect the sound, theres incoming rush, better quality caps and other factors as well.

But maybe quality is different amongst brands, whatever it is platinum / titanium, is going to be better than bronze / gold.

 

[ok computer]

So I've had the XE for a little bit now, and instead of posting impressions I want to try something a little different. I made a song recently and I wanted to see how doing a loopback through my convertor would be affected by the quality of the usb port. So the link below is to said song recorded out from my RME ADI-2 PRO directly back into it's inputs. The only difference between the files is which USB port my convertor is plugged in to.

The objectivists here will say there can't possibly be any difference, because it's all ones and zeros yada yada yada.... and yet, to me, the files sound different. Anyone is welcome to download the files and listen for yourself.

The files are labeled A, B, and C. One is the JCAT XE, one is the motherboard usb 3.0, and one is the Matrix Element H. All are being powered by the internal psu so it's an even playing field.

EDIT: Redacted because I mixed up the files and can't rerun the test since I traded away my ADC LMAO

 

[OCC7N]

Does anybody know the USB power output specs?

5V and 900mA?

I can not seem to find it anywhere for JCAT USB XE.

 

[yoktjah]

Does anybody know the USB power output specs?

5V and 900mA?

I can not seem to find it anywhere for JCAT USB XE.

That is about right, rarely goes above 1A. I think JCAT states 1.5A is the ceiling so they recommend 5V/2A PSUs just in case for headroom

 

[ok computer]

So I've had the JCAT XE USB for a little while now and just received a FEMTO NETWORK card. The JCAT XE very easily beats the Matrix Element H IMO. I would say the jump from the Matrix to the XE is about the same as the jump from MOBO to the Matrix.

Diminishing returns is kicking in hard, but it's also a substantial gain for me. Hard to explain exactly what gets better because it's a little bit of everything. But if I had to say, the biggest thing that improves for me with the XE card is the tangibility of the sound. Things sound more focused and solidified. Imaging is more stable. Treble is less tizzy.

I received the FEMTO network card this evening and installed it. I was not expecting just how big of an upgrade this thing is. Like holy smokes. I was more skeptical of the benefits of adding a network card, so I avoided it for a long time, but I found a good deal in the classifieds so I jumped on it. Wish I did this a lot sooner, is all I can say.

Anyone else running a JCAT network card here?