Music Server Enhancement Ideas

Good job Chris.<br />

Just seeing if it's cost effective to have one sent to England after postage and Tax.<br />

Would you be happy to use this as your main storage given your experience of it so far?<br />

Just love the Ethernet Isolator. Talk about bullit proof.

Following a hint from Chris, I tried this out with some mixed results. I used both the standard supply and a 5V li-ion battery. For USB devices that are having problems with grounds, power, or RFI, the Opticis improved the sound -- a lot.<br />

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For a USB interface device (ART Legato) that already achieves galvanic isolation and has its own internal power, I got some improvement until the manufacturer supplied a USB cable with no internal power wires -- this sounded better than the Opticis.<br />

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Where I was hoping to hit a home run was with the HiFace USB->S/PDIF interface which uses USB power. The Opticis cable and the battery seemed like the perfect combination since the HiFace would have complete galvanic isolation as well as a solid DC source. Unfortunately, the Opticis cable appears to the system as a USB hub and the HiFace drivers could not find the HiFace; the device could not be selected for playback even though it was known to Windows.<br />

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It was, however, a nice theory.<br />

Furman Sound makes a Reference line of home theatre products that feature symetrical balanced power. In addition, the large transformer that creates the balanced power (via a precision center tap), has separate windings for each duplex outlet on the unit, and additionally floats the ground. I've spoken at length with the designer, Garth Powell, and he certainly knows a lot about power, electrical engineering, music, relevant compromises, and the fact that in audio "everything matters." Furman claims that due to their approach, each duplex has isolation at least as good as running a dedicated circuit from the breaker box to each outlet. In my experimentation, this has been true. With a plasma hooked up to one duplex, and my MacBook / external hard drive plugged into another, there is no discernable effect on the rest of my system (i.e., the same results as when the plasma is unplugged and I'm running the MacBook from battery power with files on its internal hard drive).<br />

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The 4-outlet (2-duplex) unit (IT-Reference 7i) is great for creating a Chinese Wall of power to separate switching power supplies and the nasties they generate from you audio system. Something to consider.

I've only been using this hard drive from OCW the past few weeks and haven't had any issues with it. <br />

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/EliteALmini/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB<br />

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It appears to be quite similar to the Oyen Digital MiniPro (chipset, cost, size)

The external drives look great. I am now glad I have procrastinated.<br />

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A couple of basic questions:<br />

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1. Bigger ones seem to rotate slower. Is this ever an issue with music? I want to get the 1 TB firewire 800.<br />

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2. Is there any disadvantage to powering it via firewire vs. the DC power supply?

Chris, nicely written, about some toys for us audiophile geeks.<br />

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Juergen<br />

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PS: @MR: The HiFace won’t go with the Opticis, not because of the introduced hub, but because of the needed USB 2 interface for the HiFace, instead of the USB 1.1 of the Opticis.

I have also taken the advice of other users on the forum and gotten an Oyen Digital MiniPro FW800 external drive, the drive works as advertised, however, there are issues that notebook and Windows 7 users might want to be aware of. I use a HP Elitebook 2530 NB.<br />

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1. If you have an onboard FW400 port it might not provide enough juice to run your portable drive, in my case I used the Oyen supplied DC to USB cable, problem solved but one more cable running around;<br />

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2. There is known issues regarding the default Windows 7 FW driver, in my case, even switching to the suggested 'legacy' FW driver my Oyen still would not work. After getting an FW400 ExpressCard with TI chipsets solved my problem, a bit more to haul around, nothing big deal, but not from a simplicity angle.<br />

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The Oyen runs hot, but I guess like what Chris says it is doing its job but I would say proper ventilation is a must, unless you don't worry about hard drive failure.<br />

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All in all, a much better solution for me than streaming music from my NAS, one less thing to worry about.

Hi breadvan - Thanks for the information. I'm a little surprised you needed the FW400 TI ExpressCard. The Oxford chipset on the Oyen drives should be no problem for Windows. I guess the key word is <u>should</u>. Did you talk to anyone at Oyen about the issue? They have been very helpful to many other readers. <br />

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Anyway, thanks again for the info.

Hi Chris, there is nothing wrong with the Oyen drive, as I said, they work as advertised and like you said their tech support is first rated. <br />

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The issue is with the default Windows 7 FW drivers not working with every FW devices out there, the issue has been noted and discussed online since Windows 7 RC version.<br />

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Hopefully other users will not be disheartened if they ran into the same situation, and know there is a workaround. Now my Oyen drive works flawlessly after using the 'Legacy' driver and the transfer speed is MUCH faster than USB2.0 on my NB.

These bus powered drives look very nice; particularly with the advantage of avoiding another power supply and cable. A few questions:<br />

Has anyone compared the two drives?<br />

Any advantage to the 5400 vs 7200 versions in terms of drive noise?<br />

Finally, on the Oyen site, they push Shadow 4 as a backup solution with the drives; any experience or advice on this versus another backup program?<br />

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Great job Chris.

This might be a silly suggestion but could you use a simple timer box (outlet) in conjunction with HyperMac battery so that you can keep it charged at all times. Set the timer to come "on" say late at night and then turn "off" during the day when you might want to listen to music. My problem with something like this is remembering to plug it into the wall. This way could always have the battery plugged in but it would only be connected to the power grid when you would not be listening to music.<br />

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Just a thought.

Hi Eric - That appears to be a decent idea but I don't know enough about how the timers operate to know if they would defeat the purpose of total isolation. Hopefully someone can chime in here with more info.

I think the timer is a great Idea. I have an older Panasonic and a Sansui that I picked up at a garage sale. Both work fine, with the Sansui being the nicer made unit. It's good enough to place in a high end rack.<br />

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I've looked inside, and basically the switch disconnects the ungrounded conductor(Hot), assuming its plugged in correctly. But in any case there would be no incomming noise or current from the house circuit. <br />

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There can however be RF existing like any other wire. Whether it can get in through the battery circuit is another question. Probably not, but what you can do is put a large ferrite on the cord where it enters the battery pack. There may be one in the charger if it was designed that way, but most likely not. <br />

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If you have one of those Furmann units, or equivalent, plug the timer into it.

I have had the OWC 1TB drive for several months. It's a great drive, quiet and has performed flawlessly for me. It's my main source now and I can keep my entire music collection in lossless format, with the exception of my hi-res stuff that has enormous file sizes. I ordered the Oyen this week from the Amazon deal. <a href="http://gallery.me.com/jjudger#100102">Here are some comparison pics.</a> <br />

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I have only had it for a couple of days, but so far I like the Oyen form factor much better and its LED is much less intrusive. Both run hot and after copying my 500+GB music collection over they both were of similar temp at the heatsinks. The oyen also has an additional fw400 port which is handy for firewire dacs, thereby leaving an open fw800 port. I do like the rounded edges of the OWC, makes it easy to slide into a pouch in my messenger bag. And the drive in the OWC is cushioned by rubber bumpers for a little added shock protection. <br />

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Thanks for this valuable feedback. <br />

Is there much size difference between the two drives or much noise difference - as I'd like to use one as my primary storage (no power cable) and retire my 3.5 OWC drive to backup use.

Has anyone considered the Ultravox+battery combo? It's perfect USB isolation.<br />

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http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/USB-isolation-experiment-great-success

Amazon appears to have a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/MiniPro-External-FireWire-Portable-Drive/dp/B003AXYA28/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1278639689&sr=1-15">a real good deal</a> on one of these firewire drives.<br />

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Bummer. They fixed the decimal problem. I guess someone decided $18K was too much to pay.

I do not detect any difference in noise, both are very quiet, but can be heard if close to your ears.<br />

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As for size, the OWC is slightly bulkier in all three dimensions. <br />

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Of note, when I have both drives running, there is more vibration (as detected by putting my hand on the drives) coming from the Oyen unit.

What's the actual difference between 5400 and a 7200 drive, when used as simple music storage, via firewire? I understand the 7200 rpm drive is faster, but what about noise and heat?<br />

Thanks

I'm trying to decide whether to get a mini drive and power it via firewire 800 from my mac mini, or to get an ordinary drive with an external power supply.<br />

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The thing that concerns me is that if the external drive draws power from the mini, which now has a built-in power supply, it might cause the mini to heat up more, which might be more harmful than whatever noise might be generated by an external power supply.

<code>What's the actual difference between 5400 and a 7200 drive, when used as simple music storage, via firewire? I understand the 7200 rpm drive is faster, but what about noise and heat?<br />

Thanks</code><br />

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It is deceptively complex:<br />

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http://www.zdnet.com/blog/ou/how-higher-rpm-hard-drives-rip-you-off/322<br />

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Sonic aside, my Oyen with a 5,400 WD drive works great, starting of music is almost instantaneous, I see no benefits of going to 7,200rpm drives except for transfer of music files, power consumption of 7,200 drives might also be worth considering for battery powered laptop users.

Good to see some attention being paid to some finer points of system elevation by addressing electrical separation & confinement or eradication of possible artifacts.<br />

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Would have been nice too to have gained some assignment (subjectively of course) as to each items influence/elevation of the system’s resultant audio quality too. Nice. Very good. Night & Day better! Etc., etc.<br />

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Ten years ago or so, I decided to get back into audio and devote more energy to compiling a more than nice stereo system for myself. Having a background of commercial, industrial and electronic tech service installation, and repair I figured I had much of it all figured out. I was amazed at how much I really didn’t know about the finer aspects of audio like component synergy, cabling influences, power line anomolies, isolation from electrical and dynamic/resonant energies, and room interactions. <br />

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I learned. A lot. I use what I’ve learned too. If it worked of course…. And if I could afford to do it. I now have so much junk on hand that it’s a job just to do it all service and listen to it regularly. The funniest thing to me is I spend more time listening to my least audio quality system than my best. All of the listening however is thru PC sourced materials.<br />

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The personal confuser facet although containing differing technologies and hardwares & softwares, is no different from a standard single source arrangement, afterall. Isolation is key with respect to BOTH electrical AND physical resonances… and why shouldn’t it be? It’s merely a multi boxed source unit when you get right down to it. <br />

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We’ve traded in our CDPs and perhaps LPs, for albums we need magnifying glasses or microscopes were we to even begin to see them and control them with buttons slides, and knobs we can’t even touch!<br />

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We all have a choice as to how far down the rabbit hole we descend or, even to enter into it. Initially I balked at the very thoughts of exchanging power cords for some greater gains in sQ. Likewise for ICs, AND then of all things was the spectre of power line conditioning!! Right. Sure. Now isolation. Sheesh! In the interests of finding out for myself I tried some DIY resonance controls and later, some more upscale types. ONLY because I found out the electrical isolation/conditioning additions I made to eventually, all of my systems, paid great dividends.<br />

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I’ve found using this “multi boxed source configuration”, addressing physical resonances, or vibrations JUST as important as addressing the electrical aspects of a system.<br />

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Simply place your hand on any hard drive or storage device you own and tell me it’s not vibrating. Diminish, eliminate, Contain or siphon off these inherent and produced resonances and your outfit will sound better still…. Run smoother, and cooler too. BTW…. In the majority of instances addressing vibrations for each and every device in the HDD based system can cost mere pocket change compared to what electrical isolation expenses do.<br />

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This is not to say do one and ignore some other… ignore nothing, do something. Doing more via keeping an open mind gains you greater ground, far faster.<br />

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Everything matters. Just how much is the real question, but if we don’t remain open to new ideas and concepts or we don’t examine & experiement with them on our own as best we can, we remain blissfully ignorant and might fall well short of the audio nirvana we all seek.<br />

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Never allow your decided good to be a barrier to the best.<br />

I've just placed an order for a G-Tech G Drive mini, 500GB, 7200rpm.<br />

I live in UK and order a drive from Oyen Digital in US would have been too expensive, given shipping and customs.<br />

I'll report later.<br />

Just to report I got the G-Tech G-Drive today. This drive is noisy as hell!! <br />

The build quality is very good, but it's louder than my mac mini. Really, I cant understand why it's so noisy.<br />

I'll return it tomorrow, and I think I'll go for a Oyen Digital, though shipping to UK is more than $30.