Doesn't the JCAT NET Card give u "direct ethernet" ?
It was a rhetorical question! LOL
PB so there's your answer as I posted in #11 above...
This? I am trying to install it - currently the stream goes through the Netgear router.
A noticeable improvement in fluidity, bass, articulation, separation and presence - everything seems more detailed, but not etched.
I know that the JCAT femto card is very good but just because Emile says he can fit it in his server doesn't mean he thinks that's a good idea or superior to something he may be working on at the level of the SGM's performance envelope.
I know that the JCAT femto card is very good but just because Emile says he can fit it in his server doesn't mean he thinks that's a good idea or superior to something he may be working on at the level of the SGM's performance envelope.
(...)
1) To have enough horsepower to apply extremely heavy computational filters and to offer a smooth Roon browsing experience simultanuously combining the ultimate user experience with ultimate sound quality.(...)
(...)
We succeeded in doing just that however we have no control over the DAC's interface implementation and this is where things are getting less obvious. There are plenty of DAC's out there which just don't have very well implemented USB interfaces, in some of these the SPDIF interface outperforms the USB interface. Luckily manufacturers nowadays take a more extensive approach designing their USB interfaces where it used to be just a feature they annoyingly had to implement, but you'd be surprised how many still have stone age, sub par performing USB interfaces.
In the new SGM, next to having majorly improved Sound Quality, we will offer high quality output options to match the best performing interface in your dac. We have and are in the process of testing several USB, Ethernet, SPDIF, AES/EBU and even Thunderbolt output options.
My apologies for the late reply, we are currently busier then usual expanding to a new facility and installing new machinery.
At risk of stating the obvious, streaming to networked devices is nothing new, Jcat/Jplay and Signalyst HQPlayer have been promoting this for maybe over a decade by now. This has been extensively trialled, mainly in the DIY world, for that same period of time. Jplay had their dual PC setup, one handling library management / user interface, the other being a maximally stripped down PC, ideally only having a network stack and audio driver, receiving an audio stream over the network and outputting through usb, spdif or direct i2s to the DAC. HQPlayer has their NAA (Network Audio Adapter) "seperating" the heavy workstation needed to being able to process their algorithms from the actual device feeding the DAC. Now none of these are Plug&Play solutions and require The younger startup Roon has quite succesfully managed to turning this, really the same, basic concept into an easy to operate, virtually Plug&Play system, leading to high-end manufacturers incorperating networked streaming endpoints into their products. At this point it may be important to note that Jplay and HQplayer focus on sound quality where Roon's main focus is on creating the ultimate user convenience / experience.
Some of the design goals of the original SGM2015 were:
1) To have enough horsepower to apply extremely heavy computational filters and to offer a smooth Roon browsing experience simultanuously combining the ultimate user experience with ultimate sound quality.
2) To have a single box solution outperforming a dual system setup.
3) Providing a high quality USB output capable of driving every DAC to its maximum potential and/or resolution.
We succeeded in doing just that however we have no control over the DAC's interface implementation and this is where things are getting less obvious. There are plenty of DAC's out there which just don't have very well implemented USB interfaces, in some of these the SPDIF interface outperforms the USB interface. Luckily manufacturers nowadays take a more extensive approach designing their USB interfaces where it used to be just a feature they annoyingly had to implement, but you'd be surprised how many still have stone age, sub par performing USB interfaces.
In the new SGM, next to having majorly improved Sound Quality, we will offer high quality output options to match the best performing interface in your dac. We have and are in the process of testing several USB, Ethernet, SPDIF, AES/EBU and even Thunderbolt output options.
Thanks.
Is there any reason, other than convenience, to insist in having just one CPU/system carrying all the work? It would apparently seem that a distributed approach - Roon for music selection, another machine/system for computational filters, if desired, and and a data cleaning system would solve the all problems.
Another question that can be asked is why someone having an Ethernet renderer should pay for a more complex system having USB and SPDIF.
And yes, I know that the proof of the pudding is in the eating!
(...) USB and SPIDF are backward looking IMO.(...)
Thanks.
Is there any reason, other than convenience, to insist in having just one CPU/system carrying all the work? It would apparently seem that a distributed approach - Roon for music selection, another machine/system for computational filters, if desired, and and a data cleaning system would solve the all problems.
Another question that can be asked is why someone having an Ethernet renderer should pay for a more complex system having USB and SPDIF.
And yes, I know that the proof of the pudding is in the eating!
Unfortunately, there are no "cleaning systems" able to exclude the influence of the other parts of the system. The system containing your internet router, cabling, switch, FMC's, NAS, sources, renderers and so forth. It comes down to how influential each component is. (...) .
Thank you! I have been looking for someone to optimize exactly whet you describe as far as sound quality (HQ), interface (Roon) and hardware (power isolation, grounding etc., etc.) but to do it around the ethernet output only. USB and SPIDF are backward looking IMO. Ethernet renderers like what MSB is doing with their Renderer 2 which go direct to I2S with the close physical proximity to the dacs clock are the way of the future. Yet all of the best designed inits are still coming with a lot of the the unit cost, and optimization committed to the dinosaurs. IMO the market is craving for a SGM type device with ethernet reclocking and optimized for ethernet output only.
I'm with Pb on this....no reason to have/pay for extreme implementations of USB, SPDIF etc. Hopefully it will all be optional. Or at least be able to be turned completely off.
Why should we think so?
IMHO no one has proved (and will never be able to prove) that Ethernet is intrinsically better than USB, although in our particular DACs we can have a preference. In the end all depends on the implementation, both formats are bit perfect.
I really think an all out server like the SGM EVO should be interface specific.....
Also, Emile are you inferring that only ethernet requires tweaking the networking environment and that USB does not? Not sure what u mean here....
Emile
During all our communications I forgot to ask (LOL)
What is the lead time for the SGM EVO?
Assuming that should read "the SGM EVO should NOT be interface specific" I agree.
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