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  External hard drives and sound quality
I've just about filled up the internal hard drive on my Macbook with music files and am now looking at external hard drive options. Was wondering whether folks report any difference in sound quality when playing files from an external drive versus the internal?

I'm especially interested in hearing people's experiences using wireless hard drives. An Apple rep told me it would be no problem, as the hard drive wouldn't directly interface with the USB output, but I of course always like to be skeptical of anything an Apple rep says.
Coverto  (Threads | Answers | This Thread)

02-20-10
  Responses (1-65 of 65)
Click title to read one, or click date to read all below it.

02-20-10   Bits are bits...no inherent difference in sound quality betw ...   Mapman

02-21-10   i agree with there is no appreciable sonic improvement or d ...   Blindjim

02-21-10   Mapman and blindjim are quite correct. there is no sonic dra ...   Bryoncunningham

02-21-10   I have some recent experience with this topic and some odd o ...   Richard_stacy

02-21-10   You ask a question that only you can answer. the only way yo ...   Herman

02-21-10   Take a look at western digital's heavy duty drives enterpris ...   Grinnell

02-21-10   Two different computer configurations can and may well sound ...   Mapman

02-21-10   Thanks folks - some very helpful comments all around. sounds ...   Coverto

02-21-10   The biggest issue i see with networked storage is with backu ...   Mapman

02-21-10   everytime i've bought a brand new hard drive, regardless if ...   Blindjim

02-21-10   Blindjim, hmm, do you notice deterioration in your digital ...   Mapman

02-21-10   Mapman...same files, same dac cables etc. the only change wa ...   Richard_stacy

02-21-10   Ssd's, that support trim and garbage collection, are pretty ...   Prpixel

02-21-10   Fyi - i just picked up an airport extreme and a glyph gt050q ...   Coverto

02-21-10   I should add that an audio/video specialist at the store whe ...   Coverto

02-22-10   Blindjim - your internal drive could be maxed out, or heav ...   Kijanki

02-22-10   Kijanki...it was a tough choice deciding on the nas. connect ...   Richard_stacy

02-22-10   Map... i'm the last guy to ask about image or video file de ...   Blindjim

02-22-10   Richard_stacy - i completely forgot about laptops. it's goo ...   Kijanki

02-22-10   excellent point. one way in which such a disaster could hap ...   Almarg

02-22-10   Al like i said… it is what it is.. hence some of what i’ve ...   Blindjim

02-22-10   jim -- i think you might be referring to the fact that fat32 ...   Almarg

02-23-10   live and learn i suppose. the wireless security precautions ...   Blindjim

02-24-10: Cio52
Hello all. Would like to offer a tweak that everyone above will find beneficial. Every piece of gear mentioned above suffers from internal vibration plus digital jitter which lowers the fidelity of your system. Putting your drives (internal or external)and receivers on 3 brass footers supported on a wood plinth (preferably maple) and rubber/cork supports under that will provide significant gain in the quality of the sound produced. Mapleshaderecords dot com can provide pictures of the above solution. I use isoblocks (rubber/cork) to support my Logitech Duet Receiver and home made wood blocks (2 pieces of 1"x1"x8" with 2 deck screws through each) under my PC to penetrate the carpet and drain the vibration from the hard drive. This solution is very cheap and produced positive results for my system. Happy Listening.
Cio52  (Answers | This Thread)


03-13-10   It depends mainly on the software you are using for playback ...   Singleendedsingle

04-24-10   Really depends on the resolution ability of your system the ...   Johnss

04-25-10   "on many systems, you wont hear a difference. on a high ...   Larry_s

04-25-10   I have to agree with johnss, in general. to me, there is a m ...   Richard_stacy

04-25-10   Larry_s - i don't understand it either. if data is there th ...   Kijanki

04-25-10   cio52 there are similar tweaks that work well too. mostly ...   Blindjim

04-25-10   Some disk drives are physically noisier than others (fans, e ...   Mapman

04-26-10   Kijanki - the only reason why some people claim they a diffe ...   Larry_s

04-26-10   Larry...with all due respect, that is a very grandiose posit ...   Richard_stacy

04-26-10   The only thing i can add is that with my music server setup ...   Mapman

04-26-10   Richard, you can believe what you want. one doesn't have to ...   Larry_s

04-27-10   I'm going to agree with mr stacy on this one. i'm not saying ...   Herman

04-27-10   Larry_s is correct. people can believe what they want but t ...   Mapman

04-27-10   just because you can't come up with a technical reason why ...   Herman

04-27-10   "are you a hardware and software engineer well versed i ...   Mapman

04-27-10   Mapman - name brand of the drive is also very important. na ...   Kijanki

04-27-10   Assuming you really are, it still doesn't refute any of what ...   Herman

04-27-10   Herman, well, i am what i say. and someone actually pays m ...   Mapman

04-27-10   Coverto, regarding wireless (nas) drives, i tried one prior ...   Mapman

04-27-10   Why do you assume i would not use them? i have 3 external dr ...   Herman

04-27-10   Herman, i have some evidence to support my "hypothesis ...   Mapman

04-27-10   Mapman wrote: "i have used internal, external usb, and ...   Kijanki

04-27-10   Kijanki, i reread your post a few times and i'm not sure whi ...   Herman

04-27-10   Herman - the key is to make some sorting. most of items you ...   Kijanki

04-27-10   The issue here is the whole idea that something may in fact ...   Richard_stacy

04-27-10   Once people encounter something counter-intuitive like digit ...   Kijanki

04-27-10   Kijanki, i agree with your last post but there are some thin ...   Herman

04-27-10   all of a sudden in the last week the sound in my headset ha ...   Puerto

04-27-10   So when my investment house calculates the interest on my po ...   Onhwy61

04-27-10   Herman - russian fleas are very special. i would go back to ...   Kijanki

04-27-10   Kijanki, i think we are in agreement on this. when we get ou ...   Herman

04-28-10   Thanks herman for pitching in since this thread took off in ...   Larry_s

04-28-10   "if you are going to use a pc for a "high quality& ...   Mapman

04-30-10   there are plenty of grey areas for end users in the arena o ...   Blindjim

06-04-10   Lots of long posts here on this thread... i'm in the midd ...   Mb9061

06-04-10   Btw, i do think it is a good idea to use an external hard dr ...   Mapman

06-04-10   If you use computer for anything else (i do) - use firewire ...   Kijanki

06-04-10   granite digital offers firewire cables that include a numb ...   Almarg

06-17-10   Alright. this kind of applies here. i have a sonos player an ...   Tiggerfc

09-23-10   Hi i have a p4 based system with windows xp sp3 os and use c ...   Effective1

09-23-10   Doesn't seem like you've read any of the previous posts.   Larry_s


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