SSD more musical than HDD!

[FairPlayMotty]

I used TuneDem prior to joining this forum and continue to do so. Now can you move on please Spannko.

[FairPlayMotty]

On evaluation criteria I also use the 06:45 method.

[Spannko]

On evaluation criteria I also use the 06:45 method.

Which just happens to be?

[FairPlayMotty]

On evaluation criteria I also use the 06:45 method.

Which just happens to be?

If I'm still listening from well before midnight to 06:30 any change I made exhibits musicality.

[lejonklou]

On evaluation criteria I also use the 06:45 method.

Which just happens to be?

If I'm still listening from well before midnight to 06:30 any change I made exhibits musicality.

That's a funny name, but it isn't the Tune Method.

I have many times stumbled on interesting sounding circuits that seem very rewarding to listen to. Often the listening becomes centered around a particular genre - like how audiophiles often let their systems dictate the record collection - and it can almost feel like new insights are being made. But in the longer run, it turns out to be colored and simply worse.

For instance, a valve-like sound can tint live acoustical gigs and make the atmosphere seem more lifelike. And a slight staccato tint (in some ways the opposite of the valve-like coloration) can give electronic music an extra edge.

But when judged with the Tune Method, these colorations are quickly found to be more difficult to understand and therefore worse. This is the reason why I always recommend using unknown pieces of music (which highlights your ability to understand and appreciate the music) and if in doubt, listen from another room, where you're less spellbound by all the pretty sounds.

[FairPlayMotty]

That's a funny name, but it isn't the Tune Method.

I have many times stumbled on interesting sounding circuits that seem very rewarding to listen to. Often the listening becomes centered around a particular genre - like how audiophiles often let their systems dictate the record collection - and it can almost feel like new insights are being made. But in the longer run, it turns out to be colored and simply worse.

For instance, a valve-like sound can tint live acoustical gigs and make the atmosphere seem more lifelike. And a slight staccato tint (in some ways the opposite of the valve-like coloration) can give electronic music an extra edge.

But when judged with the Tune Method, these colorations are quickly found to be more difficult to understand and therefore worse. This is the reason why I always recommend using unknown pieces of music (which highlights your ability to understand and appreciate the music) and if in doubt, listen from another room, where you're less spellbound by all the pretty sounds.

It's not meant to be the TuneDem Method. It's my additional indication that what I'm hearing has zero fatigue and is highly enjoyable. Each time I make a major change I vary the material I listen to between new music and pieces I know well. My music collection changes markedly month to month (especially during the pandemic) and I listen to almost every genre. I have taken your tip about listening from a different room on board. Quiet coffee making in the kitchen covers it.

If I'm listening for that length of time I feel like I have the ability to judge the system.

I do love it each time I make a change and it feels like the whole system sounds better.

[FairPlayMotty]

I also find it useful to make a series of clips of the before and after to send to trusted friends to validate (or otherwise) my findings. I retain copies of all the clips I make so I have a historical log if needed in the future.

Nobody wants to be cavalier.

[lejonklou]

Fair enough, FPM!

[FairPlayMotty]

rps20200927_011042.jpg

The one thing that surprises me about using the 19 pin USB header on the Gigabyte motherboard is how quiet it is. Some time ago I tested it for use in a NAS to ascertain how many SATA drives I could attach to one Gigabyte board. Having attached the header to SATA SSD and tested it for SQ I couldn't detect any difference between that drive and others connected via normal SATA ports.

For some reason I thought it might be more noisy when it came to running an OS device via the header but it's proved to be quiet thankfully. It's a very useful expansion route for the Gigabyte boards. You have to be very careful with the USB header. The pins are easily bent apparently. To date I've had no issues but I am very careful with motherboards.

With the Orico NVME case it appeared in the BIOS as a Realtek bootable device.

Further burn-in and testing is required. The Orico case will work with the Intel Optane H10 version which is on the way. It's got 256GB capacity and I'll partition it to see if it's equally or more musical and how it performs for storage and play of flac files.

[Rutger]

Interesting thread !

Now, is there any conclusion that a SSD is sounding better than a HDD in general ?

[lejonklou]

Our conclusion is that it depends on where you’re using them and what the circuit looks like.

In general I prefer SSD’s, but they vary a lot between brands and models. The controller ic plays a crucial role, so if you compare SSD’s that use the same controller, you will find that they have similar sound characteristics.

[Rutger]

Our conclusion is that it depends on where you’re using them and what the circuit looks like.

In general I prefer SSD’s, but they vary a lot between brands and models. The controller ic plays a crucial role, so if you compare SSD’s that use the same controller, you will find that they have similar sound characteristics.

Thanks ! ’
I have a Kingston XS1000 2T SSD for evaluation, apparently it lacks hardware-based encryption. Maybe this is an advantage or maybe not, will report back about sound quality.

https://uk.pcmag.com/ssds/149162/kingst ... ternal-ssd

[lejonklou]

Interesting!

That could be an advantage.

[tokenbrit]

I have a Kingston XS1000 2T SSD for evaluation, apparently it lacks hardware-based encryption. Maybe this is an advantage or maybe not, will report back about sound quality.

Curious to hear what you think, musically.
Kingston don't say what storage/drive is inside, and they don't sell an internal SSD that's an obvious candidate... closest would be the mSATA KC600, at least for form size, but XS1000 performance is NVMe territory.
If the XS1000 is musical, it would have been interesting to try as an internal SSD as well. Still, promising as an external SSD.

[Rutger]

Interesting!

That could be an advantage.

A report from testing for a couple of days.

The Kingston xs1000 2T SSD loaded with flac files is definitely sounding better to my ears than an external Toshiba canvio basic 2T HDD with the same digital material when used with a Mac M1 as transport, with audirvana software to a Rega dac R .

The same difference , on about the same soundquality level, can be heard using a cheap WiiM ultra with Kingston xs1000 2T or the Toshiba HDD using usb on the Ultra.

The music with Kingston xs1000 SSD is less ”all over the place” , less ”hifi” and more relaxing and natural to listening to.

I will try to test Kingston with a better transport/streamer to see if this still holds true.