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External HD VS Flash Drive Sound Quality Question

Hi have an Oppo BDP-95. I am up to around 25 Flash drives which is getting ridiculous.

2 questions (hoping for folks who know the definitive answers; I have my own guesses, bu that's all they are.)

1. HD Tracks has written that the Flash drives sound better than any spinning disc or drive due to lack of jitter from lack of a spinning disc. Is that accurate?

2. I have noticed a new generation of external hd's that get all there power through the USB port, & do not require an out board power supply.

A. Would there be any detectable sonic difference either way? If so, which is better: the cheap wall wort power supplies or getting power solely through the USB line?

B. The Western Digital USB drives with no power supply have a proprietary cable that looks quite cheap. Would the lack of an audiophile USB cable be sonically problematic?

I'm basically trying to decide whether to ditch the lash drives or a USB hard drive; & if so whether to go with a powered or unpowered drive. A couple +'s re the new WD's: they are teeny & they run cooler than the Seagates I've used.
moomoo
mihorn
446 posts
 
08-02-13: Moomoo
what to do with the 25+ flash drives??!

I have Oppo bdp-95 and use USB flash drives for FLAC and MP3 music files. Music files on root directory sound better (transparent, faster, and musical) than files in sub-directories or folders. If you hear the difference of sound quality between root and sub-folders, you want few flash drives for your favorite music in root directory rather than all music in sub-folders in Seagate.
moomoo OP
81 posts
 
I've been very pleased with the Flash Drives re: the Oppo sonically; but they're impossible to sort (I just put files on the drives as I get them, so they're in no order); & my collection of hi rez is getting huge. Even as far as cd goes, I really need to physically downsize. That & the sale price made me pull he trigger.

What made me think of the question when I posted is that with 2 piece cd players I've always heard HUGE differences between digital cables (I am currently using an Illuminati between my aging Esoterc P-10 & PS Audio SL3 which FYI sounds better on red book cd than the Oppo does; though the Oppo blows the cd set up away on hi-res); & it dawned on me that USB cables would likely have the same issue. Possibly worse as generic USB cable is ike generic radio shack cable quality wise.

Additionally the flash drives are 100% solid state & there is no wire involved.........

Will report back.
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
What made me think of the question when I posted is that with 2 piece cd players I've always heard HUGE differences between digital cables.
There are many reasons why large differences can be expected between digital cables that connect CD transports to DACs. Not only the type of cable, but even the length of the cable can make a major difference. See this paper for starters.

Basically, in those applications the effects of impedance mismatches between the cable and the components it is connecting, the introduction of noise due to ground loop effects or RFI pickup (both of which are cable sensitive), and other ways in which the cable may affect waveform integrity can ultimately have very significant effects on jitter at the point where D/A conversion is performed within the DAC (to a greater or lesser degree depending on the jitter rejection capability of the particular DAC).

None of those factors have any relevance to transmission of digital data from a USB hard drive to your Oppo, as long as nothing involved is defective. The technical considerations are completely different, and vastly less critical with respect to their potential effect on sonics.

Regards,
-- Al
koestner
625 posts
 
What about using an SSD with the SATA to USB converter? I know they're expensive, but the available sizes 500 GB for about $350 would hold all those flash drives and you wouldn't need external power either. It would be like having a giant flash drive.
audiolabyrinth's avatar
audiolabyrinth
4,555 posts
 
@ Almarg, Hi, your 8-04-13 post is interesting and quite a learning exsperience for me, on a different thread called,, what are the best source direct to amp,, I was wanting to ask you if you may repost that post there, I have questions I believe you can help me with, that have nothing to do with the ops thread here, that is the reason of the asking if you can repost to the other thread,all of the post if you do not mind, thankyou.
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