OK, it is not a new idea. I have been reading about this on various forums for almost two years, but never decided to try this approach myself.
For one, I see no reason why separetely powering an SSD (a few chips in a box) could make any meaningful difference in SQ, when there is MoBo with literaly dosens, if not hundreds of chips sitting next to it, that still get the regular MoBo power. Doesn't make sense to me at all.
Secondly, all the solutions that people tried were a DIY ones, that required homebrewing various cables, not to mention the need to periodicly recharge the batteries. All too much for me.
About two months ago I have learned that Jcat introduced their own, plug & play solution - a complete product that comes with all neccessary cables and autocharging battery, that anyone could install within seconds. It also looked like sth that I could finally place next to my hifi rig ...
Unfortunately, I have learned about this too late, and when I finally did - the whole batch was sold out
I had to wait till mid January to get one and ... it proved to be a true revelation.
The Jcat battery PSU powering the SSD gave me one of the biggest SQ improvement in my 5 years long computer audio adventure. It by far exceeds improvement brought by various software, like Windows Server 2012 or Audiophile Optimizer or different USB cables. In my case, the magnitude of changes is eaqual to going full linear PSU from the swichers (both on the MoBo and the USB card).
The battery power gives you - for a lack of better word - less noise. Noise, that you were not even aware was there, until it was gone. The resolution increases greatly, as is the overal smoothness and fluidity. Colors become more vivid and saturated. Everything starts sounding more analog and more ... real. It is like going from SD resolution to 1080p HD. This is this kind of a difference that you hear within the first 10s on a recording your are familair with. No back and forth changes neccessary to find out the differencies. And once you hear it, there is simply no going back !
This is absolutely amazing piece of gear that I recommend everyone to try.
And for the record:
I have tried the Jcat battery PSU on the Samsung 850 Pro SSD in my C.A.P.S. v4 Pipeline server. The only modification I did to Chris recipe was the inclusion of Jcat USB card instead of the SOtM one + a lower TDP, Xeon 1230L v3 CPU.
I did not try this on my C.A.P.S. v3 Lagoon, as it uses the mSATA SSD (that would require installing a regular SSD drive).
Jcat comes with all necessary hardware, so all I had to do was to substitute SATA power cable feeding the SSD for the Jcat supplied SATA power cable. I made the cable exit the computer case via the empty PCIe card opening at the back of my Streacom FC-10 case.
The PSU is made for Jcat by the Japanese company Bakoon. The PSU features analogue automatic charging circuit. This design allows the connected device for continual operation by utilising two embedded batteries - one of the batteries is always powering the SSD (beeing completely off the grid) and the second one is beeing charged. After the first one depletes, batteries are changed. The change between the batteries is fully automatic and works completely in analogue domain (relays). Needless to say, the power delivery is uninterrupted when it happens.
The PSU can be used to power other devices that need +5V DC power - like the Jcat USB card for example. I didn't try that yet, as I only have one PSU and my Jcat card is powered by excellent Teddy Pardo LPSU anyway.
For one, I see no reason why separetely powering an SSD (a few chips in a box) could make any meaningful difference in SQ, when there is MoBo with literaly dosens, if not hundreds of chips sitting next to it, that still get the regular MoBo power. Doesn't make sense to me at all.
Secondly, all the solutions that people tried were a DIY ones, that required homebrewing various cables, not to mention the need to periodicly recharge the batteries. All too much for me.
About two months ago I have learned that Jcat introduced their own, plug & play solution - a complete product that comes with all neccessary cables and autocharging battery, that anyone could install within seconds. It also looked like sth that I could finally place next to my hifi rig ...
Unfortunately, I have learned about this too late, and when I finally did - the whole batch was sold out
I had to wait till mid January to get one and ... it proved to be a true revelation.
The Jcat battery PSU powering the SSD gave me one of the biggest SQ improvement in my 5 years long computer audio adventure. It by far exceeds improvement brought by various software, like Windows Server 2012 or Audiophile Optimizer or different USB cables. In my case, the magnitude of changes is eaqual to going full linear PSU from the swichers (both on the MoBo and the USB card).
The battery power gives you - for a lack of better word - less noise. Noise, that you were not even aware was there, until it was gone. The resolution increases greatly, as is the overal smoothness and fluidity. Colors become more vivid and saturated. Everything starts sounding more analog and more ... real. It is like going from SD resolution to 1080p HD. This is this kind of a difference that you hear within the first 10s on a recording your are familair with. No back and forth changes neccessary to find out the differencies. And once you hear it, there is simply no going back !
This is absolutely amazing piece of gear that I recommend everyone to try.
And for the record:
I have tried the Jcat battery PSU on the Samsung 850 Pro SSD in my C.A.P.S. v4 Pipeline server. The only modification I did to Chris recipe was the inclusion of Jcat USB card instead of the SOtM one + a lower TDP, Xeon 1230L v3 CPU.
I did not try this on my C.A.P.S. v3 Lagoon, as it uses the mSATA SSD (that would require installing a regular SSD drive).
Jcat comes with all necessary hardware, so all I had to do was to substitute SATA power cable feeding the SSD for the Jcat supplied SATA power cable. I made the cable exit the computer case via the empty PCIe card opening at the back of my Streacom FC-10 case.
The PSU is made for Jcat by the Japanese company Bakoon. The PSU features analogue automatic charging circuit. This design allows the connected device for continual operation by utilising two embedded batteries - one of the batteries is always powering the SSD (beeing completely off the grid) and the second one is beeing charged. After the first one depletes, batteries are changed. The change between the batteries is fully automatic and works completely in analogue domain (relays). Needless to say, the power delivery is uninterrupted when it happens.
The PSU can be used to power other devices that need +5V DC power - like the Jcat USB card for example. I didn't try that yet, as I only have one PSU and my Jcat card is powered by excellent Teddy Pardo LPSU anyway.
