Jcat USB XE and Pico Nano – Beauty from within

The Sound

We can be very brief: this plays very well. Better than the Ambre via the Mutec MC3+. We hear more rhythm, energy and detail through this PC than through the Ambre. Now you will think… cool! I am also going to make such a pc. Know however that this has a price. It now contains almost €2000 worth of Jcat upgrades, plus the motherboard, processor, SSD, RAM, power supply(s) and case. We estimate that this pc will cost €3500 on hardware.

The Streacom FC10 costs about €350 to name but one. A suitable power supply €150 euros we think, then RAM, motherboard and a decent processor … €450 euros approximately. SSD, external power supply for the network card…. and maybe a filter for the SSD… €400. Then you are already in for €3350. It goes pretty fast very quickly as you can see. And then you have to connect an external DAC. In our case, the Mutec MC3 + the interface that also reclocks for the Metrum Acoustics Pavane. If we include the MC3 + USB, then we are at € 4550.

If we put the performance of this pc next to the Ambre, the Ambre does very well. After all, that one is around € 1200. That is 3300 euros less than this PC. And you don’t have to be an IT professional with the Ambre; it’s plug and play.

Transparent

But enough about price and the differences: this review is about the new Jcat cards. The fact is: this upgrade from Jcat makes a computer so good that we no longer hear a computer playing music. We hear an ultra-transparent pass-through of bits to the dac. And a “bare PC” just isn’t up to that level of performance. They often sound harsh and glassy and overly sharp. That seems detail-rich, but in the end, it is sharpness you perceive.

That sharpness is completely gone with the Jcat USB and NET XE cards. A feat of greatness. Of course, we can switch fairly easily by running the cables either through the Jcat cards or through the Gigabyte motherboard. The differences are really not subtle. The Jcat cards immediately show more calmness and refinement. And that delivers an audibly smoother and more pleasant result. We certainly want to hear more. And we want to play it louder, which can be dangerous, of course. So keep a dB meter at hand :-).

We have been playing with the Alpha Audio PC for a few weeks now. And we are very pleased with it. Much better than expected if we are honest. With the new Jcat cards we think we will just leave it as it is, although we will experiment with some more operating systems…

Internal

A nice and handy accessory is the Optimo Nano. This is an internal filter that filters the 5 volt line so you can cleanly power internal drives or expansion cards. Jcat supplies a splitter cable with a regular molex and a sata power plug. Now, of course, you can split these again to power more devices, but the question is whether you would not be better off buying two filters then; you can also transfer interference between them again.

The Optimo Nano costs 375 euros, which is of course significant; an Sbooster costs about the same. However, this Optimo Nano you can build in and feed two – or more – components. In addition, the application is different. And it works like a charm… oh… and you can keep everything in one housing, which is also nice.

Rounding off

Is it a nedy product? Yes, it is. Definately.

Is it a serious investment? Yes… 100%.

Does it work? Also 100%.

In short: 100% Alpha Approved!