JaguarAudioDesign.com, High Performance Music Servers - 1 Demo Unit Left (Dual Operating Systems - Realtime Linux and highly-modified Windows 8.1)

We have one Jaguar music server left in a clear blue enclosure.  These units come with our dual operating systems, so you can select whether to boot into the Jaguar Linux OS with a Realtime Audio Kernel or the Jaguar highly-modified Windows 8.1 OS.  A warranty and ongoing support is not included at this price, but we will spend time with you to get your DAC up and running and also help you get your disc ripping set up.

Shipping in the US is $30.

Contact us now at JaguarAudioDesign.com with your questions.
* Toll Free: (844) GOAUDIO
* fork at jaguaraudiodesign.com



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http://jaguaraudiodesign.com


From the original server listing:

The Jaguar Music Player Computer pushes the boundaries of what’s possible with computer audio playback.  This product represents the most sophisticated computer music transport device on the market.  The Jaguar Music Player Computer is about only one thing, achieving Ultimate Sound Quality!

Our goal with the Jaguar Player is to achieve the absolute lowest level of Jitter. We achieve this with a combination of hardware and devices and the ultra-low-latency dual operating systems Jaguar has custom-built for this product. The result is a natural, ultra-quiet and flowing digital sound that will make it impossible for you to go back to listening to digital files with your old laptop or desktop. Read the Blog post below to learn more about Latency and Jitter and its effect on audio performance.

http://www.jaguaraudiodesign.com/blog/2013/02/the-basis-of-computer-audio-performancelatency-and-jitter

Features:

• Dual Operating Systems: the Jaguar Music Player offers you a choice to boot into either our highly-modified Windows 8.1 operating system or our Linux Real-time Kernel operating system. Each will sound somewhat different from the other, depending particularly on the audio driver employed. Our custom Windows 8.1 OS is compatible with pretty much every DAC on the market and having extensive modifications it runs with approximately 10x lower latency than a standard Windows laptop. Our Real-time OS has even lower audio latency, because transmission of the audio data is given priority over all other non-essential processes executed inside the kernel/core of the OS.

• Media Players: the Jaguar Windows 8.1 OS uses the Foobar player, which has been highly customized with our own layout and settings and the Jaguar Real-time OS uses the Rhythmbox player, which is one of the few Linux players that features an iTunes-style interface (so you don’t have to create playlists).  Note that due to licensing issues we are not able to pre-install the Foobar player on the machine, so we will walk you through a few easy instructions to do this.

• Solid State Drive: both operating systems and players are hosted on a Solid State drive.

• Hard Drive and CPU Fan Power Filters: we insert these devices between the Music Library hard drive and the CPU fan to prevent electrical and mechanical noise from the drive and fan from feeding back into the motherboard. Some audiophiles have been known to spend thousands of dollars on multiple solid state drives for their music library…this is a much more sensible approach to solving the same problem.

• High-Quality Fanless Power Supply: we believe using a quality power supply is important to sound quality, even in a computer.  There is no cooling fan in this supply, so there is no additional electrical noise fed into the circuit or mechanical noise introduced into the chassis.  

• 3TB Music Library Drive: we believe in using the largest hard drive we can, to accommodate audiophiles with extensive music collections and leave plenty of room for adding high resolution music in the future.
  

• Music Ripping DVD Drive and Exact Audio Copy Software: a DVD drive is installed for ripping CDs, along with Windows software from Exact Audio Copy, for the most accurate rips.

• BIOS Settings: the settings on a motherboard’s BIOS have a dramatic impact on your sound quality. Through years of experimenting and experience we’ve learned how to set a BIOS to yield maximum performance.

Player to DAC Interfaces

• SOtM USB Card: this card is made for USB audio. It connects the player to your DAC like any other USB port, except it buffers and conditions the USB power, lowering the noise floor.

• Asus Xonar Essence ST Sound Card: the Asus Xonar Essence represents one of the best performing sound cards on the market in the under-$500 range. The Essence has an RCA SPDIF output (if your DAC only has a BNC connection use an RCA to BNC cable).

• I2S to HDMI Card: this interface uses an HDMI cable between the player and DAC; it’s meant for DACs with an HDMI digital input, such as the PS Audio and Wyred4Sound. I2S on HDMI is an attractive option, because the clock and data signals are carried on separate wires.

• Lynx Studio AES16 Sound Card (w/ custom digital cable included): the Lynx AES16 has always been popular in professional recording environments and many audiophiles have adopted it for 2-channel stereo. The AES16 is more expensive (about $600 more), but it has fantastic performance. We include a custom-made, 1M, digital cable with this interface, terminated with RCA, BNC or AES/EBU.

Note: the SOtM USB or ASUS come standard with the player and the other two options are upgrades.

Case / Enclosure

• Home Theater PC Case and Fanless Power Supply: we use a HTPC case that looks like a stereo or component and the size allows us to use a high-quality fanless power supply. The fanless supply can improve your sound quality, by feeding less noise back into the electrical system. (17.5" W x 6" H x 13" D - 440mm x 150mm x 330mm)

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Jaguar operating system should I use with my DAC?

The first question is DAC compatibility. If your DAC uses a proprietary Windows/Mac driver for the USB connection you’ll only be able to use the Windows 8.1 OS. As described in the Player to DAC Interfaces section above the Jaguar Player can be ordered with a choice of four interfaces: USB card, ASUS Xonar Essence Sound Card, I2S to HDMI Card and Lynx AES16 Sound Card. The ASUS and I2S options work with both operating systems, the USB option works with both if your DAC does not require a special driver installation or just Windows 8.1 if it does and the Lynx option works only with Windows 8.1.

Should I plug the Jaguar Player into my power conditioner?

Try plugging the Player into your power conditioner and directly into the wall to hear which sounds better. If possible, also try using an extension cable to connect the machine to an outlet that’s on a different circuit breaker than your system.

Does the quality of the cable that connects the Jaguar Player to my DAC matter?

We believe everything matters when trying to get the best computer audio sound and that includes the USB or SPDIF cable. It’s not a primary factor, but when using a product at this level you should match it with a high quality cable.

Can I use my tablet or phone with the machine?

No, as we said above, our only goal is to achieve Ultimate Sound Quality.  As such, we make no sacrifices to Sound Quality for Features.  These type of functionality is turned off in the Jaguar Player to minimize jitter.

Can I play high resolution and DSD files with this machine?

Yes, you will be able to play anything your DAC is capable of playing. Note that DACs using a SPDIF connection are not capable of resolution above 24/192.