Perceived SQ differences playing local files

[bodiebill]

A new moOde user here and a pretty happy one so far!
I run it on a RPi4 with Pi2AES.
Based purely on SQ, I prefer moOde to Volumio.

I do not use streaming services as I prefer playing local files for reasons of availability (my strange music taste) and SQ. So I did some listening tests, playing from:

(1) pc (JRiver or UPplay) to pi2aes UPnP
(2) nas
(3) usb drive connected to the pi2aes with a 15m fiber based usb cable
(4) local usb drive
(5) sd card (the same one containing the os)

The perceived SQ increased from (1) to (5).

Therefore I decided to boot from a tiny usb stick rather than from the sd card and now use the latter as dedicated music storage (so no os).

Due to this nonstandard practice, the usb drive with the os is now listed as 'SDCard' in moOde. Can this be changed? No big deal of course.

Also copying files to the sd card seems a little faster this way.

Anyone else doing this?

Network is CAT6-fiber-CAT6 with the PS of the downstream fiber-ethernet converter (currently a battery pack) especially important! But as always: the best network is no network, and deactivating the network when moOde is playing results in the best (open, smooth, relaxed) SQ. So that is what I do when playing longer playlists. I ordered an AC plug with RF remote that will enable me to turn on and off the downstream converter (and thus the network) from my easy chair.

Also I have done some of the optimizations documented elsewhere by changing the config.txt file, such as underclocking, disabling wifi, bt, hdmi, network led's, etc.

[Skip Pack]

I've used moOde for 7 years now on three generations of RPis with three dacs, and have used methods 2,4, and 5. I agree with your sound quality order, though sd card and local usb are so close to a tie I wouldn't want to be quoted (especially with usb ssd in use). Currently my network only provides for interface and radio connectivity with my music on direct hard drive to my RPI4B running moOde

[Jandu]

......

[Jandu]

A new moOde user here and a pretty happy one so far!
I run it on a RPi4 with Pi2AES.
Based purely on SQ, I prefer moOde to Volumio.

I do not use streaming services as I prefer playing local files for reasons of availability (my strange music taste) and SQ. So I did some listening tests, playing from:

(1) pc (JRiver or UPplay) to pi2aes UPnP
(2) nas
(3) usb drive connected to the pi2aes with a 15m fiber based usb cable
(4) local usb drive
(5) sd card (the same one containing the os)

The perceived SQ increased from (1) to (5).

Therefore....

Suggestion:
Try a CF(compact flash) card USB reader and use the CF card as music storage. I find that storage medium gives the best SQ. 
I do expect to see a few responses saying that bit is bit and there should not be any differences.

[Gekel]

Oh,
more people joining the snake oil train.

Before spreading this nonsense, ask someone else to switch playback between the same sound file stored different media without telling you the source, and you will see that as soon as you do a blind test you will not find any difference anymore and also can't rank the quality based on media anymore.

Placebo is a really strong effect.

Or well, dig more into this and then decide that other parts also have an influence on the sound quality and your wallet, and start spending some serious money on "hifi" USB cables. Not my money 


If you have the slightest knowledge about digital data, digital data transfer and sound encoding (flac, mp3,....) you would know any perceived SQ difference is just your brain playing jokes on you. The only way to really destroy the sound quality is to create a ground loop, and this can be easily identified and is a well known effect.

[DRONE7]

Each to their own... and I have no problem whatsoever whether an improvement, or not, is found for the poster....:-)

Be kind in these times of uncertainty..... support where you can be most helpful...then let everything else go... :-)

Best to you,
BoB

[Gekel]

Be kind in these times of uncertainty.....  support where you can be most helpful...then let everything else go... :-)

That's what I do. I try to tell people how digital data works, but if they still prefer to believe they can use analog approaches (exchange of cables or the data source) to enhance the sound, I point them to the snake oil department where a whole industry is waiting to pull their money out of their pockets. 

The only way to enhance digital media data is to decode it, run the information through some analyzer/equalizer software, pick some frequency bands and either enhance or suppress them and then recode the data stream. After the recalculation the data can be sent to the DAC which finally decodes it into an anlog information stream and sends it to the hifi equipment. 

Any change/enhancement in such a digital data stream automatically leads to a change of the data - you can't change the sound while keeping the same bits and bytes of the data, and the data doesn't change just because you store it on a different media or use computer 2 instead of computer 1 with a slightly different layout of the cables. This is a fundamental principle which makes computer usable, and it would be horrible if the outcome of the calculations of a computer would be depending on the cable/data path used to transmit, or like claimed by OP, the medium the data is stored on. 

If you feel you have better sound when streaming from a local source, just calculate the CRC sum of the music file and compare the result when storing it on different media and/or reading the file other ethernet, wifi or from a local data source. If it is the same, you get the same sound output. Bits are really only bits...

On top, if you feel your sound is better when streaming the file from a sdcard than another media or by sending it over a different path (cable vs wifi), then the media needs to perform what I mentioned: decode the data, run some calculations (FFT as exmaple), reencode it and the forward it to the DAC. In realtime, without knowing what data format you are using and unaware of any changes you can apply (like changing the encoding mechanism). Clever cable or in case of wifi: clever air. 
Or the media must be even more clever and perform this job by manipulating bits in the correct way while they are sent over it, without knowing what these bits mean. Clever cable, clever air.


Last but not least: I did some tests, just to be sure. I used a whole bunch of different cables with different qualities, different builts and lengths. I stored the audio files on sd cards, on SSDs, on regular hard drives, pushed the data over wifi with different bandwidths chosen, exchanged the PSU of the equipment and so on. Results: as long as I don't produce a nasty ground loop by accident, the sound is 100% identical. I still bought a bit of a little bit higher priced USB cable because it looked better than the one costing 1 USD at aliexpress. And yes, my equipment is good enough for such tests.

[MikeyFresh]

Be kind in these times of uncertainty.....  support where you can be most helpful...then let everything else go... :-)

That's what I do. 

I think you entirely ignored or missed the point of the post you were replying to.

Please give this a break, I doubt anyone wants to hear you get up on a soapbox and preach here. 

You don't need to be a consumer protection hero, nor do you need to piss on someone else's approach to a hobby. These accusations of delusion, snake oil, and such are derogatory in the sense that you are claiming others are so gullible or easily mislead, when you don't actually know that to be true in any specific instance. You give the members on forums such as this far too little credit, as if you know you are 10x smarter than they are.

No one needs to have their experiences or impressions of any given aspect of this hobby ratified or approved by you, seriously... they just don't. You are free to your opinion of course, but it's only that, and no more valid or correct than anyone else's despite your strong stance to the contrary.

I won't engage in any back and forth here, and I once again ask you to just leave it alone, however I've seen by your pattern here that you'll no doubt insist on the last word. Read that last post you responded to again, and try to absorb what was stated, rather than continue with an unimpressive know-it-all a-hole routine.

[bodiebill]

I do admit that the difference between (4) and (5) above could be placebo. Of the other differences I was pretty sure, for what it is worth.

On a philosophical note, let us accept that audiophile truth does not exist and that audiophiles per definition are comparing their placebo effects in this hobby where we are all aiming for the optimal goose bumps producing illusion.

[DRONE7]

we are all aiming for the optimal goose bumps producing illusion.

Yes! well said and long may we all strive for that !!

I am 100% welcoming others narratives, explorations, and suggestions

Many is the time I have tried something I have no knowledge of only to find it worked.... that is how I came from a compleat newbie to a traveller on the road to " optimal goose bumps producing illusion"

We all start with no knowledge and as we gain it we must always remember to be more open and not less....we owe that to others but even more to ourselves :-)

Peace to you all.
BoB