Norton Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 I'm not a particular fan of networked solutions, the idea of a local SD card transport that works just like a cd transport but with the advantage of multi album capacity, hires capability and above all SQ vs. a spinning disc really appeals. I tend to listen to complete CD sized folders one a time, rather than surfing individual tracks, so navigating say 10-20 folders via a built in screen and remote is no particular hardship, if I get SQ benefits in return. I appreciate I'm probably in a very small minority in this but I wondered if anyone had experience of this approach to CA? I'm aware of a part- DIY solution, the sdtrans386 and also a seemingly amazingly heavy and I imagine fabulously expensive projected product from Lessloss ( which seems to have been projected for quite a long time now...) but haven't heard of anything else. I'm also aware of some professional products which offer replay from a SD card, but I'm looking for a dedicated audiophile product, with suitable attention to pcb, power supplies, clocks, DAC interfaces etc I specify SD card as I've read past posts suggesting the SQ is much better than say a USB thumb drive (I used to own a Bryston BDP). Grateful for any comments on the truth of this too, or even on what might be involved in building such a device. Link to comment
monteverdi Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 I do have a Sdtrans 384 and it is my best sounding source (second best is my CD transport). Yes it is DIY but not very challenging but it requires a very good powersupply. Navigation is extremely rudimentary but maybe such minimalist design is partly responsible for its sound quality. I found some ebay suppliers of SD transports but no idea how they sound. Almost all DAPs use SD cards to store music and I do have an Astell&Kern AK 120 which has digital out via toslink but its sound quality is quite inferior to the SDtrans and I think it is not only a SPDIF vs toslink issue. Sent from my iPad using Computer Audiophile Link to comment
davide256 Posted August 29, 2016 Share Posted August 29, 2016 I've abandoned SSD drives in Synology NAS for locally attached SD card library to PC, currently using a 512GB Sandisk Pro Extreme in a Lexmark USB3 card reader. The high speed SD card basically does a more convincing job of providing the micro details that create the illusion of a live performance than a local or network attached SSD drive. However I do use a network attached renderer (microRendu) as I have never had good results with same file server feeding asynch USB to DAC directly. This works well for streaming with Foobar2000 or if I run Minimserver locally on the PC and control remotely with Kinsky. Regards, Dave Audio system Link to comment
skyline Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 I'm not a particular fan of networked solutions, the idea of a local SD card transport that works just like a cd transport but with the advantage of multi album capacity, hires capability and above all SQ vs. a spinning disc really appeals. I looked into getting the sdtrans, as another audiophile told me it was the best digital source he's ever heard. However, I balked at the rudimentary navigation. And the fact that my CD rips don't sound anywhere near CD playback (even on a modest Cambridge player used as a transport). Waversa hub > Lumin S1 > Bakoon HPA-21 Link to comment
jriver Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 We're doing something similar. We ship the JRiver Id software on a microSD card. It's JRiver Media Center plus Linux on a bootable card, ready to insert in a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B. Id Pi mSD -- Release September 15th The 16GB card would only have about 10GB for storage, but it can also be ordered with a 128GB card. Jim Hillegass / JRiver Media Center / jriver.com Link to comment
Norton Posted August 30, 2016 Author Share Posted August 30, 2016 Thanks for the feedback and comments so far. Just how DIY is the sdtrans (if it involves soldering I'm out...)? I already run JRiver on a little fanless PC, which has a SD card slot, I guess not that different from an ID? Link to comment
monteverdi Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 No soldering required! More or less building a box for a circuit board Sent from my iPad using Computer Audiophile Link to comment
jriver Posted August 31, 2016 Share Posted August 31, 2016 I already run JRiver on a little fanless PC, which has a SD card slot, I guess not that different from an ID? Someone asked a similar question yesterday and I replied here: Id Pi mSD -- Release September 15th You could build something that was similar (for audio). It's just a question of whether you want to do the work or you want us to do it. Jim Hillegass / JRiver Media Center / jriver.com Link to comment
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