CD Player? PC Music? Naaa Flash Memory Music.


Do you have a CD Player? Throw it away!
I wouldn’t rest until I’ll share this with the rest of you, audiophiles in the world!
First of all forgive my English. My native language it’s Portuguese.
Second, If your source of music is the analog LP (you know, turntables and needles, etc.) this article it´s not for you.
Do you enjoy hear music? You consider yourself an Audiophile?
Are you an Audio CD based system? Ok. Nothing wrong whit it.
Do you have a decent Amplifier and Speakers? Ok.
Do you have already a separate DAC (Digital to Analogic Converter)? Great.
If not, I’m sorry but you must buy one. No big thing, two or three hundred dollars and you will buy a decent one (Cambridge DacMagic ?).
If you comply with the requirements above then…
Throw away your CD Player!
Or you CD Transport!
PC Music, USB cables, firewire, etc? forget it
I’ll guarantee you that, whatever is your CD based system is, this will sound better! (Much better)
And I’ll promise you that you wouldn’t miss him anymore (the CD player or CD transport, not any one you love, although after this I cannot guarantee that you will not find some troubles with your other half, if you have one)
Hoops, I forgot one thing. You must have at least one or two hundred dollars more. But it will be the most well employed money you ever spend (in music, of course).
So, what you need to replace is your devil machine (the CD player or transport) with 3 things:
• A Media Player (yes, it works with the PS3) that reads wav files. The ones I know are the O!Play from Asus and the WD TV Live from Western Digital;
• A flash drive. Could be a USB flash drive or a SD card or similar (depends on the media player interface). With a 32 Gb pen (or card) you can store aprox. 50 albums.
• A digital interconnect cable (SPDIF). Here, it depends on the media player. Most of all work with the optical Toslink. But I’ll guess that with the coaxial it also works fine (even better?)
Note: It must be a flash card, not a HDD.
So, you are ready for your most rewarding audiophile change you ever made.
Connect this all (if you are an audiophile guy I don’t need to explain how, right? ) and…ENJOY.
Beautiful, quasi-analogic music, coherent, smooth, detailed, you name it, the best sound you ever had hear with your own system (digital). Of course, if you have a friend that have better amplifier, speakers (and DAC) and also did the something you did, probably his system will sound better than your own.
But in the same system, this solution will play better than any other solution Transport+DAC ,CD Player or PC Music. Promise.
Now you ask: Hey! Are you crazy? Where do I put my dears CD’s in, to play?
Nowhere!
Hey. Wait, don’t go away. I mean, you don’t need, no more, to introduce the CD’s in any machine at all. Except one time, in your PC, in is CD drive.
Here I must introduce you to that beautiful program named EAC – Exact Audio Copy by http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/
Maybe there are others CD grabbers out there that work fine. But this one I know and I love him. It also let you access a free data base with track names and covers.
Install it and rip your entire CD collection in an UNCOMPRESSED way. This will create a wav file (*.wav) for each track. Put them in a folder with the album name.
Copy your collection for the Flash Drive( or several, if you have a lot of CD’s) , insert it in the media player and you’re on!
And another thing: You never always need to get up to change CD’s (or even change the volume, because most of the media players have their one volume, although I don’t recommend it for sonic reasons)
You don’t need to thanks me. Just spread the word. Maybe this way we can change the format they sell us the music.
CD (16 bit 44.1KHz) it’s not bad. But it could be sold in flash drives, not in cd disks.
HR Music (24 bit) it’s better than CD. Yes but, it could be sold in flash drives, not in sacd disks.
Why flash drives, not CD’s?
Because the big problem with the Digital Music is one thing called jitter. And with this solution you throw away the major source of problems in this matter. Optical drives and their Digital MASTER internal clock’s. (read this site http://www.lessloss.com )
With Flash Drives and Media Players you don´t have those problems. And you can let your DAC do what it was meant to do. Convert Music not garbage.
Enjoy and ear the most music you can.
Fernando Pereira
fmnp

Showing 22 responses by fmnp

Hi, Almarg,

I'm so sorry but you are wrong, so wrong.
I challenge you to do what I sad earlier, I mean, replace any CD by a media player abd a USB pen (same DAC or the digital input of the CD). You will be amazed!
The major source of the CD is the optical devide and all the electronic needed to try to get it trough.
I deed this experience not only at home but with a friend that has: Meridian Transport and DAC, amp Mcintoch and Speakers Sonus Faber.
He was dazzled!
So make your one experience and by the way I don't use coaxial. I use Toslink.
Regards
Fernando
Hi Tom,

Just buy a SDD portable USB (3.0, will be better) and you are ON.
Regards
Hi, Almarg,

Forgett the HDD, they have mechanical parts and angular velocity that must be corrected by the system (more jitter).

Regards
Hi all,

One thing more:
You don't need to use SDD!
The USB Pen's or SD cards they work fine.
Any pen or card will easily transfer 5 MB/s (or better) of data. It's more than enough!
The 16 bit WAV file have a 1411 kb/s bit rate.
The 24 bit WAv file have a 4608 kb/s bit rate.
So, you don't need no SDD (if you don't mind change your card once in a while.
But remember that you can store 40 to 50 albums depending on size.
So, if you'll do the math:
with just 10 cards you can store 500 album's.
10 cards x 30$ = 300$. And you'll store 500 album's (16 bit)
Regards.
Hi Almarg,

Do you want a better Transport than the Meridian?
I don´t know what are the technical reason's that you mentioned but I'll be glad to read them.
But one thing I know. this sounds better. But its not only better. It's all most perfect.Analogical.
Probably because the data is send to the DAC in a LAMINAR WAY?
With no asynchronous clock issues? I think so.
Another source of jitter are the cables. Mainly the coaxial and their RF antenna problems. that's why I use toslink. Of course, this must be a good glass fiber and not plastic.
I agree with you that this small boxes can be improved of course.
But with less things and not more.
One improvement is the power supply as in many other components in a audio system.
I'm working in a DC/DC power supply but it must be LPS (limited power supply) or you damage your little box.
Again, Almarg, do the experience, please. And then forget the "good cd transports".
Regards
Hi you all,

I just found one thing!
And I already experiment with SUCCESS.
If your little box as two USB entries, you can have a HDD attached with as good as 2 TB (and with all your collection of album's, unless you have more than 5000 album's).
Then, all you need to do is COPY the album you want to hear to the USB Flash Drive or SD card (my WD Live TV, have two USB's).
But remember to ALWAYS DISCONNECT THE HDD from the box each time you ear music!
That's a BIG DIFFERENCE. Mainly if it is a portable USB HDD, because the souce of the power it will be your little PS form the box.
From now on, you just need to spend as less as 30$ for a 32 GB USB pen or SD card. And you can have your 50 favorite albums ready to listen.

Regards
Hi again Tom,

If you want to use SDD, dont use portable. Use a SDD hard drive with their own PS (power supply).
But I still believe that the SD card or the USB pen will be better.
Because they don't' need more PS attached to the box (and their problems associated) and they consume less power than a SDD (I think, but I'm not sure). If any one noes, please tell us.
But, the best thing, always is to experiment. So, go ahead and do it.
Regards
Hi Sandra,

Not even close.
There is so many noise in a PC (netbook, whatever)that the difference is tremendous.
welcome
Hi Almag,

No again!

I don't dispute that the s/pdif could introduce some jitter.
But it will much, much less then that introduced by the optical device, mechanical parts and vibrations, Power supply, correction errors, angular velocity corrections, etc, etc. and time misalignment.
Of course, if we could have a LAMINAR STREAMING with no s/pdif it would be even better.
But the solution that I found is BETTER even with the S/PDIF than the best CD Player because of those problems I've mentioned.
And it would be something to prove that the toslink S/PDIF introduce jitter (at lest, audible). Why? there's no RF interference (unlike coaxial).
Ask what the studios use in there's SPDIF connections.
The only losses could be the quality of the fiber or the lengh. But with so small lenght's (1 to 2 m)...
So, buy a good fiber glass (not plastic) cable and do the trial.
Regards
Hi Almarg,

I dont want any more to argue about a thing that I already LISTEN that it's MUCH MUCH BETTER.

As I said before, surly the cables have their problems, but they are much better solution compared with all problems of the mechanical transport as I've said many times(too many) before.

Please, do me a favor! Go do the experience and then if you still think that you are right them post it.

If not, don't listen so much to the people that want to produce and sell CD Players, transports and PC cards.

Regards

P.S. The dinner is still ON.
Hi Clio09,

That's exactly what have sad before.
But, I’m already using it with my economical solution: read the beginning.
You have the best approach that can be done with an optical device to read the data.
But what I’m talking about is even better than any CD Player or transport.
Right now I have finished my DC/DC power supply for the media box and...BEAUTIFUL, JUST BEAUTIFUL, just beaten with the best of the best turntables. Believe me. Do the experience.
Regards
Hi Smw30yahoocom (what a nickname!)

I'm glad to explain you whatever you need to know because I'm so happy with the sound that I achieved.
If your media player support CF (compact flash) SD card or other memory card, it will be fine.
The 32 Gb Pen it's a USB Pen! The media players have normally 1 or 2 USB inputs.
One of the secrets is to hear your music files trough one memory card or USB Pen.
The music files MUST BE in the WAV format and be ripped from the CD's trough a rip program (I suggest EAC),
If you don't want to have to many Pen or Memory cards, and if you have 2 USB input's, you could have a HDD with your complete collection and a PEN in the other USB input.
But ALWAYS listen the music trough the Memory card or USB Pen.
Good Listening.
Regards
Hi Sandra,

2 things:
If I was you I would buy the WDTV Live (no HDD) if you like to hear music mostly. Because all the electronics and mechanical parts involved with HDD contribute a lot for the noise in the signal.
Second with a WDTV Live you can have as many USB HDD (external) as you want. Since the WDTV Live has two USB inputs you can always have your collection in a HDD and a USB just to hear the music (copy from HDD to USN Pen).
Ok?
Rgds
Hi Sandra
Another thing:
You don't need any music player. The WDTV do all that (and many other thing, play movies, display photos, internet wifi, etc.)
And I just listenWAV files (although the flac is not bad, it must be decompressed by the player and that contributes for sound degradation
Rgds
Hi Sandra,

I'm glad you like it!
About the HDD, yes you will, but it will not be the same.
You could attach the HDD in one USB but ALWAYS listen though the USB PEN.
And, yes, you do right to buy a good Toslink (GLASS FIBRE, not plastic)
And listen to files in WAV format!
Good listening.
FP
Hi Sandra,

I'm glad you enjoy. Regarding the hi-res music the guys from WD have promise that they will release a new firmware to fix the down-sampling. Since they fix this, you (and me)could hear hi-res music (if the DAC support it).
Welcome.
Hi Marqmike,

I don't know if the firmare for your box is the same of the WD TV Live. So, you must be aware of the uptade for your device (if it does the down-sampling, what I don't know).
Regards
One Update to this post.
I now have a coaxial output digital source: the TVROI player.
You don’t need to have this particular device. But...

One thing is certain: The coaxial output is even much better than the optical (if you have a good interconnect cable).

And if you (like I already did) get a good aluminum box to protect the player (the inside, not the whole device), connected to ground to isolate the RFI am EMI then...

Even much better, than my previous solution.
Hi Almarg,

I believe that this article shows that I'm right.

If you read carefully he said:

"But that low jitter only matters at one critical point—at the D/A chip itself".

In this LAMINAR STREAMING there's no time misalignment and not any kind of jitter produced by optical devices with their error correction systems and angular velocities problems!

That's why it sounds so good!

I hope you will do the experience by yourself.
If it will not sound better, I'll buy you a dinner.
Regards
Hi Sandra,

You need a DAC to ear music trough the WD.
As I understand you have a good DAC.
But, don't listen to "the best Input". Listen trough the optical attached to the DAC.
For me, the best output is the electrical coaxial, but the WD those not have it.
FP