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Introduction For the unfamiliar, JCAT is a sub-brand of JPLAY dedicated to hardware components. The company believes that use of their products will help JPLAY users to maximise performance of their systems. JPLAY is already well-known as software designed to optimise the PC as a digital audio transport (sadly for me, only available for PC). The explosive growth of computer audio has in turn spawned a whole industry, with aftermarket components and accessories such as USB cards, SATA cables, power filters for hard drives and fans, etc. JCAT's product line-up includes cables for USB, SATA and ethernet, a USB card, and a battery PSU. Marcin Ostapowicz of JPLAY / JCAT kindly sent me their flagship USB cable, the JCAT Reference USB Cable ("JCAT Reference" for short) for purposes of this review. I previously reviewed the base model JCAT USB cable, and was suitable impressed ( see review ). Description The JCAT Reference is physically finished to high standards similar to the J

Espresso anyone ? Introduction Mizik is a new company helmed by Javier Guandalajara. Javier is best known for his products sold by Wadax. Unfortunately, Wadax products are priced beyond the reach of most audiophiles, and thankfully, that is where Mizik steps in. Mizik's product range consists of two products at the moment, a DAC cum preamplifier (the dPlay) and a phono-stage cum A/D converter (the dVin). I understand that Mizik should be ready with the dStream soon, a streamer/server product. At the heart of Mizik is it's MusIC process - a patented Wadax process. To quote Mizik verbatim, "All audio circuits are susceptible to parasitic error mechanisms, mechanical and electrical effects that distort and alter the musical signal passing through them. To make matters worse, these distortions differ depending on the size and nature of the signal and effect not just resolution and information, but time and phase relationships within the music. The result is a loss of det