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RE: Do components have their own sound?

Posted by Fitzcaraldo215 (A) on December 11, 2015 at 08:24:34

In Reply to: RE: Do components have their own sound? posted by EduardG on December 7, 2015 at 17:26:13:

I talked candidly to a music server guy once. He used a small internal SSD, but only for "spooling" of the track to be played from the SSD via copy from the HD from a hard drive where it was actually stored. The reason: noise. But, it was not electrical noise or sonics per se. He did not think it made a sonic difference. It was only about minimizing the acoustic noise in the room during playback, since his compact server was assumed to be placed in the listening room. SSD's are silent during playback, unlike HD's.

Not saying computer hardware makes no sonic difference in the signal path. But, the origins of specialized computers for audio started with "quiet" PCs designed to eliminate fan noise, drive noise, etc. in the listening room. That has morphed into claims that they use specialized internal components that sound better, too. Do they really? Maybe, maybe not.

Incidentally, I solved the acoustic noise problems by putting my PC and NAS in the next room. There is nothing special about my hardware, but I am quite happy with my sound. It is really outstanding. I do not have the motivation to start fiddling with this or that internal hardware for "better sound." I think it impossible to do a meaningful A vs. B comparison for most internal hardware swaps in the same PC. They take too long. I would not trust my own ears, let alone someone else's, to evaluate sonic differences under those conditions.

Those guys may claim their specialized stuff sounds better, but they offer little in the way of evidence, like how they tested, measurements, etc. So, it comes down to faith and belief. Unless you can do a side by side, quick switching A vs. B omparison, preferably blind or double blind, I do not think you can know for sure, even if legions of posters swear it make a meaningful positive difference.

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