2. digital
  3. 1244390067

Hard Drive versis Flash Drive

Hello,

I am planning to buy/build music server based on either MSB DAC or new PS Audio PWD DAC. Meanwhile, I want to start process of ripping CD's. I have not too many may be 500 or so. My question:

Is sound quality differ from storage on hard drive versus that on flash drive ? On one hand, flash drive, as far as I know has only UPS port which is not the greatest for music whereas hard drive may have other digital outputs like HDMI which is (are) much better. On other hand, solid state memory was shown to be superior (for sound again) over magnetic moving memory like a hard disc.

Also, if to use USP port then Flash drive seem to me clearly better (on paper) for one more reason - you plug and play whereas with USP based hard disc you need to use USP inferior cable.

Much appreicate if members will share their sonic experience with these two types of the storage.

Another question: what type of ripping software is the best for sound, and later on for ease of navigation? EAT, Monkey etc.... 955 of my CD collection is classical which may make a difference in navigation, I suspect....

Thank you
Rafael
dob
almarg's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
almarg
9,670 posts
 
Whether the music files are stored on an external flash drive or an external usb or firewire hard drive has no relation to how the music is communicated from the computer to your dac. In each case, the computer has to read the music file from the external drive, process it through its internal circuits, and then send it out via whatever output you have connected to the dac (spdif, usb, etc.).

As long as your computer is reasonably modern and not handicapped by too much garbage software running in the background, it should be able to handle this without any intermittent breakups or other problems. Given that, there should be no sonic difference resulting from what medium the music files are stored on.

Regards,
-- Al
jylee
306 posts
 
Like Almarg said, the audio data is sent from the storage to the computer via high speed bi directional error corrected bus, and it shouldn't really matter whether the source is magnetic drive or solid state. On the other hand, SPDIF, HDMI, or USB audio signal is sent over unidirectional bus where the devices on both side need to synchronize on the clock embedded in the signal, thus the timing error or jitter may affect the sound quality.
elevick
2,636 posts
 
A hard drive is more durable in the long run.
elevick
2,636 posts
 
Also, a flash drive will run much hotter. The flash is quieter though.
More to discover