External HD VS Flash Drive Sound Quality Question

hmmm... OK. So I put Beck's Sea Change on a usb drive. I then compared the USB drive to the SSD for Stereo mix. Nothing obviously different. I then compared it to a wired network connection to the same file on my server. Also, nothing obviously different. Then I tried the 5.1 mix from my server over the network. No choppy buffering issues. I switched back to Wi-Fi. I tried the same 5.1 mix, and no issues! So maybe the wi-fi issue was transient, but i'm not reproducing the issue. However, when I compared my 5.1 mix to stereo mix, I was surprised at how much more detailed it was in 5.1. This makes a little bit of sense (more information if done right), but more than expected. So I pulled out the actual DVD-A and tried the Stereo mix. It is harder to switch back and forth on the oppo, but I think the DVD-A stereo version is better than the ripped one. So now I will have to try ripping it again and make sure I didn't screw something up. It reports as 88khz, but maybe I accidentally set it to 16 bit or something.

This drives me crazy. I re-ripped about 300 CD's because I did screw something up on some of them (something didn't sound "right"), but couldn't easily tell which few I screwed it up on. :( Luckily, I don't have too many DVD-A.

Regarding the A/B test, it probably wasn't super fair given to switch back and forth, the SSD was always plugged in, so any weird side effects may exist even if playing off of the flash drive. Also, if it isn't my imagination and I did screw up the rip of the stereo mix, maybe I can't sense any differences between flash and SSD because it starts off with somewhat less than ideal music for the test.

Thanks for doing the test Kriskdf, I hope we didn't take up your whole Saturday. At least you got the wifi working.

Let us know if you come to a firm conclusion that there is or is not any difference in sound quality between flash and SSD.

Hi Moomoo, How is your hard drive into the Oppo 95 experiment going? Are you happy with the sound?

I don't have many further opinions yet. I also spend time paying discs, & work. I continue to lean towards the USB wired/powered hd seems to cause a slight drop in sound quality & adds a ton of convenience but I don't feel that I have formed a definitive (for me at least!) opinion yet.

Commons sense would seem to say that an SSD with a male USB plug built in shouldn't have any disadvantages to a flash.
That's an interesting idea.

I'd appreciate an explanation I can understand as to why Power cords & digital cables make a dramatic difference with transports, but not with an hd.

I also know there is a big market for audiophile US cables. It could be a scam, but I can sat with 100% certainty that
digital cables make a HUGE difference from transport to D/A.

I do apologize that I haven;t had much time for my experiment. Other then yet another redundant backup, it almost feels like it was a waste of money.

The only other a/b I've had time for was Joni's Court & Spark in 192/24. I didn't hear as much difference as with the Jarrett, but there seemed to be a better sense of ease with the Flash. I'll be the first to admit I am developing a bias & what I hard on the Joni COULD be psychological.

I also agree with a previous poster that factory pressed discs seem to out perform both files & iso's sonically.

I'd appreciate an explanation I can understand as to why Power cords & digital cables make a dramatic difference with transports, but not with an hd.

I attempted to explain that, with respect to digital cables, in my post in this thread dated 8-4-13.

Basically, differences in digital cables connecting transports and DACs can directly affect the signal that is received by the DAC in such a way as to affect jitter (timing fluctuations) when the digital signal is converted to analog within the DAC. Jitter at the point of digital to analog conversion has directly audible effects. A lot has been written on that subject.

None of that has any relevance to the connection between between a USB hard drive and your Oppo.

As far as power cords are concerned, if I recall correctly you are using a bus powered drive that does not have an AC power cord or power supply. So the drive receives 5 volt DC power from the Oppo, while a transport receives 120 volt AC power. A transport is a physically large component containing extensive amounts of circuitry and parts that generate electrical noise, which can be fed back into its power cord and pollute the AC that is received by other components. Again, none of that has any relevance to the situation of a bus powered USB hard drive.

Now, I am not saying that it is impossible for the cable connecting your hard drive to the Oppo to have any audible effects. But if it were to, it would be in ways that are subtle, indirect, unpredictable, and much less audibly significant than in the transport to DAC situation. What I am basically saying is that the fact that you have found cables to make major differences in the transport situation should not create an EXPECTATION that differences will occur in the hard drive situation.

Regards,
-- Al