Vangelis Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 I don't want the complexity of a NAS. I just want to continue with a direct connected external drive for my iTunes Library. My three cloned backup external drives are FW and are about to become boat anchors. I need replace my Mac Mini with a new one and wound'nt know it, Mac no longer incorporates FireWire ports on the Mini. Even my FireWire drives sound different and the I have no idea if ThunderBolt drive in general sound as good as FireWire. Anyone made comparisons between these two formats? TP-LInk 1200 WiFi router>Transparent Audio ethernet cable>Innuos PhoenixNet Switch>Muon Pro ethernet cable>Muon Pro>Grimm Mu2>AudioQuest Dragon XLR>NAD M23> Falcon 2024 Limited Edition LS35a & REL T7Xi sub. Synergistic Research Atmosphere Excite SX powers cords>Puritan Audio 156 pwr conditioner W/Ground Master City. Link to comment
jfaaz Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 The sound of your system has nothing to do with whether you are using a firewire or thunderbolt drive. You can get an adapter to switch from thunderbolt to firewire. Amazon.com: Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter: Electronics Firewire drives still function good with new mac minis. I use them with mine. Link to comment
Vangelis Posted October 30, 2014 Author Share Posted October 30, 2014 The sound of your system has nothing to do with whether you are using a firewire or thunderbolt drive. You can get an adapter to switch from thunderbolt to firewire. Amazon.com: Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter: Electronics Firewire drives still function good with new mac minis. I use them with mine. So you have a brand new Mini and FW external drives and use the adapters? Have you tried a ThunderBolt drive yet for comparison? TP-LInk 1200 WiFi router>Transparent Audio ethernet cable>Innuos PhoenixNet Switch>Muon Pro ethernet cable>Muon Pro>Grimm Mu2>AudioQuest Dragon XLR>NAD M23> Falcon 2024 Limited Edition LS35a & REL T7Xi sub. Synergistic Research Atmosphere Excite SX powers cords>Puritan Audio 156 pwr conditioner W/Ground Master City. Link to comment
Mohawk195 Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Hi jfaaz - does this hold true for dac applications as well? I have a Weiss Dac 202 that I use with a 2012 Mac Mini. I have been planning on using this in a second system (Mac only) and replacing the Mini with a iMac. Will the thunderbolt to firewire be a good choice with the iMac and Weiss? Link to comment
jfaaz Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 My mac mini is the late 2012 version with the firewire 800 port and my fire wire drives work very fast and well. I have read that the FW adapters work fine with mac minis and iMacs, but i have not tried them. As far as Thunderbolt drives, I fail to see the need to pay $200 more when Firewire and USB3 drives are fast enough. I do not know about firewire DACs and if they will work. Link to comment
dmccombs Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 The sound of your system has nothing to do with whether you are using a firewire or thunderbolt drive. QUOTE] Jfaaz: How did you make this statement, if you haven't heard these adapters of thunderbolt drives? To the OP, yes you can use a Firewire->Thunderbolt adapter, and it probably will sound fine. In general, you CAN hear a difference between thunderbolt and firewire drives though. Their interfaces place different loads on the system. There is no set rule, but in general, Thunderbolt > Firewire > USB3. Since you have firewire drives, I would buy the Thunderbolt->Firewire adapter and see how you like it. If you do spend the money for a Thunderbolt drive, you may find it sounds even better. I would stick to a single drive though, rather than a 2 or 3 drive raid-0 setup. While these drives will be faster, they are also noisier (emi-wise). Link to comment
jfaaz Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 The sound of your system has nothing to do with whether you are using a firewire or thunderbolt drive. QUOTE] Jfaaz: How did you make this statement, if you haven't heard these adapters of thunderbolt drives? To the OP, yes you can use a Firewire->Thunderbolt adapter, and it probably will sound fine. In general, you CAN hear a difference between thunderbolt and firewire drives though. Their interfaces place different loads on the system. There is no set rule, but in general, Thunderbolt > Firewire > USB3. Since you have firewire drives, I would buy the Thunderbolt->Firewire adapter and see how you like it. If you do spend the money for a Thunderbolt drive, you may find it sounds even better. I would stick to a single drive though, rather than a 2 or 3 drive raid-0 setup. While these drives will be faster, they are also noisier (emi-wise). The sound of the music coming through your computer and into your headphones or audio source has nothing to do with what type of hard drive you use! To say that it does is just rediculous. If your talking about which hard drive makes more noise, you should specifically say "Hard Drive Noise" not which hard drive sounds better. Link to comment
elcorso Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 The sound of the music coming through your computer and into your headphones or audio source has nothing to do with what type of hard drive you use! To say that it does is just rediculous. If your talking about which hard drive makes more noise, you should specifically say "Hard Drive Noise" not which hard drive sounds better. Really...? Isn't exactly about the "hard drive" itself, but the computer interface for the "drive"... Please read back in this forum (before June 2014) or make your own research. BTW, there is no "ridiculous" in computer audio. Roch Link to comment
DigiPete Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Which sounds better FireWire or ThunderBolt to external, anyone.? Does not matter on well constructed equipment. May however matter even on expensive equipment, as many smaller brands lacks the ability to make a finished and/or consistant quality product. I'll return any product if digital cables or type of connection influences sound. Just my 5 cents. Promise Pegasus2 R6 12TB -> Thunderbolt2 -> MacBook Pro M1 Pro -> Motu 8D -> AES/EBU -> Main: Genelec 5 x 8260A + 2 x 8250 + 2 x 8330 + 7271A sub Boat: Genelec 8010 + 5040 sub Hifiman Sundara, Sennheiser PXC 550 II Blog: “Confessions of a DigiPhile” Link to comment
Panelhead Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Hi jfaaz - does this hold true for dac applications as well? I have a Weiss Dac 202 that I use with a 2012 Mac Mini. I have been planning on using this in a second system (Mac only) and replacing the Mini with a iMac. Will the thunderbolt to firewire be a good choice with the iMac and Weiss? My DW sounds better plugged into the TB port than it does into the FW800 port. It is a FW400 dac. I never expected this. Once compared the two, never gone back. Try it if you have a chance. 2012 Mac Mini, i5 - 2.5 GHz, 16 GB RAM. SSD, PM/PV software, Focusrite Clarett 4Pre 4 channel interface. Daysequerra M4.0X Broadcast monitor., My_Ref Evolution rev a , Klipsch La Scala II, Blue Sky Sub 12 Clarett used as ADC for vinyl rips. Corning Optical Thunderbolt cable used to connect computer to 4Pre. Dac fed by iFi iPower and Noise Trapper isolation transformer. Link to comment
unsleepable Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 I'll return any product if digital cables or type of connection influences sound. I completely agree with that. It's very disconcerting and gives me the chills when a DAC sounds better on one port than another. Obviously, either some ports don't do a good job, or none do. It always surprises me that some DACs that have this flaw still get to be very popular. [emoji15] Link to comment
unsleepable Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 BTW, there is no "ridiculous" in computer audio. Actually, I'd say there's lots… The only thing I would really take into account, is to make sure not to plug the disk to the same controller as the DAC. Link to comment
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