The Setup
Contents
We connect the Jcat Optimo S ATX to our Alpha Audio PC. That PC consists of and Intel Core i3, Gigabyte uATX motherboard, Jcat XE network card, Jcat XE usb card, 16GB ram, Samsung Pro SSD and a Jcat Optimo Nano power supply/filter for the SSD and Network card.
The usb card is powered with a Sbooster. The PC has run on both Windows with ROON bridge, Ubuntu 20 with Roon bridge and now ROON Rock, purely as an endpoint. There is indeed a sound difference in those three operating systems, with Ubuntu sounding by far the worst. Rock and Windows are different, but we have yet to determine which is better. For now, our preference is for Windows (really…).
Furthermore, the test system consists of:
- Pass Labs XP-12
- Bryston 4B SST3
- Focal Sopra No1
- Sonnet Pasithea
- Metrum Acoustics Ambre streamer
- Driade Flow speaker cables
- Grimm TPM interlink (Pass Labs / Bryston)
- Isotek filters: Titan EVO3 on the Bryston 4B and the Aquarius V5 on the sources.
