XACT N1 Network Switch

A purpose-built reference network switch for the streaming chain — custom audio motherboard, fully linear power, OCXO master clock, and a galvanically isolated audiophile output port for the music renderer.

The N1 is XACT Audio’s network switch — and the word switch is doing a lot of work, because what XACT actually built has more in common with their music server than with anything in the IT category. Marcin Ostapowicz designed it from a blank sheet around the same engineering question that defines the rest of the XACT line: what does the network sound like to the DAC, and what would happen if the network were treated as a piece of audio engineering instead of a piece of computer infrastructure.

The architecture is uncompromising. A 100% custom-designed motherboard developed exclusively for audio over Ethernet — no modified IT board, no shared voltage rails, no switching converters in the signal or power path. The OPTIMO N1 internal linear power supply delivers three separate, galvanically isolated voltage rails with linear regulation throughout. A dedicated OCXO master clock — oven-controlled, with its own independent linear supply — handles timing for the entire device. Military-spec connectors and transformers carry the signal. The audiophile port — the one you connect to your music renderer — is fully isolated by a 1 Gbit optoisolator, separating data lines, clock, control signals, and ground from the rest of the network upstream. Four additional gold-plated 1 Gbit RJ45 ports and an SFP fiber port handle everything else.

Place the N1 between your home network and the rest of your streaming chain. The isolated audiophile port goes to the music server, streamer, or DAC; the four standard ports handle other network-connected devices (NAS, control tablet, additional renderers). The result, in the audiophile press’s language, is a network signal arriving at the DAC’s input without the digital harshness that adapted IT switches carry — clarity, lowered noise floor, and what reviewers consistently describe as a more analog, more relaxed presentation. It pairs naturally with the rest of the XACT family — the S1 EVO Music Server downstream, Phantom LAN cabling between them — but the N1 is system-agnostic: any Ethernet-connected DAC, streamer, or Roon endpoint benefits from cleaner network audio at the input.

“The N1 delivers a natural and fatigue-free sound, without any digital harshness.”
— Christiaan Punter, HiFi-Advice, July 2025

“It has an ease that one associates with good analogue, and in my book there’s no higher compliment.”
— Jason Kennedy, The Ear, 2026

Main Features

01. 100% custom audio motherboard. Developed from a blank sheet for one purpose: deliver the cleanest possible Ethernet to a high-end music renderer. Not a modified IT switch.

02. OPTIMO N1 linear power supply. Three separate, galvanically isolated voltage rails. 100% linear regulation throughout — no switching components anywhere in the signal or power path.

03. OCXO master clock. Oven-controlled, in-house developed, with its own dedicated linear supply. Stability and precision at the level the rest of the architecture demands.

04. Fully isolated audiophile output port. A 1 Gbit RJ45 port providing complete galvanic isolation via state-of-the-art optoisolator — separating data, clock, control signals, and ground from the upstream network. This is the port that goes to your music server, streamer, or DAC.

05. Four standard 1 Gbit ports plus SFP fiber. Gold-plated, EMI-shielded RJ45 connectors with low-noise signal transformers; auto-negotiating; for everything that isn’t the music renderer (NAS, control devices, additional endpoints). One SFP port for fiber.

06. Military-spec connectors and transformers. Hand-picked components throughout — no IT-grade shortcuts.

07. Aluminum chassis. Fanless, EMI-shielded; sized to live among serious source components rather than in a network closet.

Specifications

Function: Reference network switch for high-end audio streaming over Ethernet

Motherboard: 100% custom, audio-only (in-house developed)

Power supply: OPTIMO N1 linear PSU — three separate, galvanically isolated voltage rails; 100% linear regulation throughout

Master clock: OCXO with dedicated independent linear power supply

Ports: 1× SFP (fiber); 4× 1 Gbit RJ45 (gold-plated, EMI-shielded; auto-negotiating; non-isolated; for general network use); 1× 1 Gbit RJ45 fully isolated audiophile port (1 Gbit optoisolator; full galvanic isolation of data, clock, control signals, and ground; for the music renderer)

Connectors and transformers: Military-spec; low-noise signal transformers on all Ethernet ports

Chassis: Aluminum, fanless

Dimensions: 241 × 270 × 97 mm (W × D × H)

Weight: 5 kg

Designed by: Marcin Ostapowicz (founder of JPLAY and JCAT)

Designed and built in: Poland

For more information visit the dedicated N1 Network Switch page on xact.audio