Do Audiophiles want a stand alone high end HDD source?

If someone made a bit perfect low jitter HDD media source, would you buy it?


  • Total voters
    248
Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.
I found this in the docs:

-scd NUM : select sub-device number (for WIN and WDS only) (use -sct to display device numbers (0,1,2))
-scc NUM : soundcard sub-config (currently for WDS only: +1 use primary buffer, +2 loc-hardware, default=1) (value 3 can give the best sound quality, but doesn't work in every cases)
-sct CARD : soundcard test (without CARD argument it tests and displays all detected cards)
-scv NUM : set sound card volume (master & pcm together)(0-100(%))(at some soundcards under Win9x use 100% (ie: SB16 emu of SB Live/Audigy))

I'm not certain if you can go bitperfect under windows - but this way you can test the interface and options as much as you want. Mpxplay supports a lot of isa and PCI cards directly under DOS.

I suggest you try -sct first to see the available output options.
 
The QLS QA350 might be the solution for some.

I pickup one about a month ago.
It is just plain awesome. Most of the outputs one would want. Battery operated for great portability. A handful of 32G SDs can easily store my library of CDs in EAC extracted WAV files. It handily out perform my other CD transports. Analog out is surprisingly good. Just as good or better than my external DAC. I skipped my DAC in the chain altogether for simplicity. The headphone section is darn good also.
I thought the small limited screen would be a pain, but there is no need to even looking at the screen. Press a button on the device or the remote change the directory and another to change the song. Super simple and intuitive by ear.

QA350 :up: :up: :up: , especially considering the price.
 
Hi, Erin!
Have You tried LPS vs. battery? What type of battery in use?

Hi bekki,
I don't know what you mean by "LPS"

I am using a Sealed Lead Acid battery. Many people report that the A123 (LiFePo4) battery is good for audio. I have not tried this as I am happy with my SLA battery.

I would suggest that you try different batteries for yourself if you want to know the difference. :)
 
Last edited:
A few people sometimes ask me some questions about the WD mini and the i2s and power connections. The most important thing that I think I forgot to mention in my earlier post was that all ground points must be common.
Here is a diagram that may help. I also recomend the use of the Silicon Chip USB power injector , as seperate power to the USB device which stores the music files gives much improved sound quality over plugging the USB stick straight into the WD mini.


DAC and WD mini connections.png
 
Last edited:
Another question that is often asked is, whether a USB isolator is better than a USB power injector when used with a media player.

I think that either one would be beneficial, the main reason is that both the isolator and injector allow for a seperate independant 5 Volts to be supplied to the USB stick.

If used exclusively with the media player using a USB flash drive, I think the injector is sufficient, as there is no need to isolate the ground in this case. If connecting your media player to an external HDD that uses mains power, then the isolator would probably be beneficial to isolate the ground of the HDD (which will use a SMPS) from the ground of the media player.
 
Hello Erin,
do you mod anything else In this Wd mini to improve The SOUND?

Actually. yes. But I have not done many tests or comparisons with various caps. I have put some NCC PSA capacitors across a couple of the Ceramic capacitors on the WD board and bypassed another of the ceramics with a PPS capacitor. I think it was an improvement. I wont make any specific recommendation, other than to just try various things for yourself.
 
Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.