Buy expensive sata cable or go PCI Express SSD ?

[Larry2B]

When I bought a SSD drive I could now use the sata 3 port on my motherboard, but it clearly degraded the sound. The music sounded thinner, smaller in sound stage and more muddy/ noisy. So I went back to good old sata 2 and things got back to normal again.

 

I want to get even better sound here in 2014 and I´m considering an expensive sata cable, but know the future also is holding PCI express SSD like the Asus ROG 240 GB PCIe SSD, with no cables needed just plug it straight on the motherboard. So my question is, have any of you tried PCIe SSD and how did it sound compared to sata port ? Could there be as much noise as using Sata 3 ? As I´m not that technical it´s difficult for me see all the pros and cons here. One pro for the sata cable buy is that I can also connect clean power to my Samsung SSD with external PSU where PCIe draw power from the board.

 

I ought to say I´m a strong cable believer and my question is mostly about best sound quality not the wise choice in spending the money, future proofing or GB space. Though if PCI express is not that noisy, it could be a good choice .

[sandyk]

Larry

Have you tried using the shortest possible SATA3 6GBs cables, which have 2 separate screened cables internally ?

They are inexpensive and are compatible with either type of SATA port .

 

Alex

[blownsi]

You have brought up an interesting point. IF a pricy sata cable is so much better then a msata drive should be just as good or better as it would have even less resistance. Personally I would try sandyk's method first. If you hear no results from that then you won't hear any result going a step further and eliminating the cable altogether.

[Larry2B]

Thanks for reply and thoughts guys. I bought a nice 30 $ sata 3 cable (40 cm = 16 inch ?) with the SSD and I have been too long in the cable game to know that cable quality can matter a lot if your system is up to the task. So I think I´m jumping in the deep end, it´s just which pool to choose. I also got inspired by the change of my Nordost Blue Heaven USB cable to the Audioquest Diamond USB cable. Great improvement overall with soundstage, inner detail, more deep bass, though Diamond has a more smooth approach than Nordost, at least in my system. Next step is thinking inside the box (pc) and upgrade . Jplay is releasing their PCI USB sound card ( remove noise in pc) in a few weeks, it´s on my short list, so would be nice with a SSD PCI or sata cable to welcome the card to its new home.

[sandyk]

Larry

The SATA 3 cables I am using are only 25CM long, which means they aren't draped over the motherboard.

Alex

[coxhaus]

I am also interested in the outcome of this and JPlay’s PCI USB sound card. I think my problem will be JPlay will only release a PCIe card and not a PCI card as I don’t have any PCIe slots in my old motherboard. I can replace my motherboard and build a new system but my old system sounds better than any newer computers I have compared to in my system. I am sure there are better sounding computer systems out there after reading on these forums but I have not heard one yet.

 

I can tell you a large power isolator does make a computer sound better. I mean large as I tried a 1200 watt APC old transformer power conditioner not UPS and it was not large enough as the sound was lean. I mean large like a 2500 watt 120 pound unit that I use.

[Larry2B]

Okay, thought the JPlay card could work with PCI too. I´m also interested in more clean power in my system, will hopefully come later this year.

[mattpitts74]

I also have a question about sata cable, I have just build a CAPS v3 server based on Chris's design and was wondering about how much difference these really expensive sata cables make??

 

All my music is on a NAS, so I kinda assume upgrading the sata cable would make little difference is that correct?

 

Thanks in advance

[blownsi]

I also have a question about sata cable, I have just build a CAPS v3 server based on Chris's design and was wondering about how much difference these really expensive sata cables make??

 

All my music is on a NAS, so I kinda assume upgrading the sata cable would make little difference is that correct?

 

Thanks in advance

 

The difference is subjective. Some say they hear no difference and others say it completes their setup. Most do run the cable on their OS drive so that would still apply to you.

[Larry2B]

Paul Pang should make some nice sata cables in different price categories and he has also helped (or made) JPlay with their expensive sata cable. I just found out last night that my motherboard only have one PCIe left and it´s going to the Jplay USB card, so I guess I´m in for the sata cable .

 

SHOPPING AREA: SATA CABLE

 

Paul has a sata 2- 10 cm cable for 49 $, but other cables and more expensive ones (300 $) as well.

[John G]

One reason for using a cable-fed SATA drive is so you can power it from a linear power supply. I don't believe this is possible with the MOBO-plugin type drive. In my case (CAPSv3, Pang USB and SATA cable, Keces power supply feeding the SSD and USB), I sat and listened to the same piece of music before and after installing the cable and could hear an improvement in sound quality.

[Larry2B]

Good timing with your post John , I have just received the JPlay JCat battery PSU (made by Bakoon for JPlay) and agree with you. It can be difficult to choose what hardware path to take, it took time to decide. I ended up buying the JCat sata cable for my SSD and the JPlay USB card last year, good improvements in removing noise and in getting more clear and analoge sound. The new 5V battery PSU has a dual cable for both SSD and the USB card, plus it has a smart internal system with 2 batteries that do shifts, one in use the other recharge. So music all day long by battery. In my setup the PSU gave more full body sound and better attack. Also sounds better to play music from USB stick in the JPlay card than directly from SSD with the OS. Not cheap but if you have the money the JPlay JCat trio is a nice upgrade. Next up I think is a quality ethernet cable, maybe Wireworlds new Starlight CAT7a, we´ll see .