[mcandmar]

This would make a great April 1st thread.  Apart from the obvious stupidity of the entire notion there is one possibility that could effect the sound output.   Any electric motor will produce noise back into its power supply as it is running, it can be a motor driving the hard drive spindle, or a fan in the computer, they all create a ripple in the power supply to some degree.
 
The more current a motor requires, the more prevalent this will be.  So a great big fan, or a big heavy multi platter drive will have a larger motor which can be noisier. Now lets say your are using an internal sound card, or a USB powered DAC that is powered from the same machine, in which case a measurable noise floor difference is a vary real possibility.
 
Higher end hard drives, especially those with higher spindle speeds in the 10-15k category will indeed be nosier than a cheap low power 5400rpm drive, or a small 2.5" laptop drive so the entire notion of a hard drive having an effect on sound quality doesn't seem so stupid after all.
 
Real world example, i built a USB isolator and low noise power supply to run my USB DAC's as there was a measurable, and audible difference.  Now that i think about it my PC has five big 120mm fans, and six high end 7200rpms hard drives whizzing away in there, and the 5v USB supply was noisy as hell.

 

[blades]

I feel it coming.  Audiophile hard drives.  Gold plated SATA cables,  machined aluminum drive enclosures, color choices, calibration graphs, limited editions.  It doesn't get any better than that.  Next will be computer power supplies with audiophile power cords and built in power conditioning.  Can't wait.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  I feel it coming.  Audiophile hard drives.

 
256gb SSD with 24k gold contacts/terminals, vibration dampening on the case to prevent subwoofer bass vibration, copper chassis for extreme noise rejection - all for $500.

Optional:  SATA cable with gold contact pins on the heavy-duty connectors and custom geometry silver conductors, only $250
 
Tweaks: wrap all of it in ERS paper - the HDD all the way through the cable.

 

[bigshot]

Special audiophile rubber feet for your external hard drive. Gold plated drive enclosures that give warmer sound.

 

[blades]

Exotic wood isolation bases for your computer.  Available with a choice of species each of which imparts its own special flavor to the data stored within the hard drive.  Orientation arrows would be necessary of course to align the grain of the wood with the flow of electrons in the silver wired SATA cable.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

LAN cables with gold connectors and silver conductors for the best detail retrieval, paired with rhodium core/palladium-plated satellite dish router antennae for more faithful, error-free transmission of digital data.
 
 
Guys, something tells me someone might actually read these and run with it (and be the last one laughing after he makes a ton of money off of our ideas).

 

[Mambosenior]

You can count on it.

"No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public."
H.L. Menken

 

[bigshot]

I had an idea. Feel free any of you to steal this idea and make a million dollars. Make socks that slip over mono price cables to make them look fancy and toppers with glowing tubes to sit on top of solid state receivers to make them appear audiophile. Call them "Audiophakes" and sell them cheap. The bottom will drop out of the high end market!

 

[Music Alchemist]

I can't imagine a functional hard drive sounding different than another...but I am curious about what makes dedicated music servers sound different. I guess having different built-in DACs would be one reason.

 

[bigshot]

Most DACs should be designed to be neutral. They should all sound the same too.
 
Speakers and rooms are what sound different.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  Most DACs should be designed to be neutral. They should all sound the same too.
 
Speakers and rooms are what sound different.

 
*sigh* I am interested in reality, not theory. (This is one of my catchphrases.)
 
Sure, ideally, they "should" all have perfect sound and thus present no reason to purchase a more expensive one...but it's ridiculous to say that all DACs sound the same. I know that you're experienced and all, but literally thousands of people have experimented with different DACs with widely varying results between them. Some of the time, it was a night and day difference in which one DAC sounded so bad they didn't like it at all, then with the other DAC, they enjoyed it very much. This is on the same system with no other changes. The Internet is filled to the brim with stories like this.

 

[bigshot]

I usually check the equipment I buy right away so I can return it within the return window if it performs out of spec. I don't use DACs, but I've never had to send a CD, DVD or blu ray player back. None of my Apple products have had to go back either. Perhaps DACs are just funky.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  I usually check the equipment I buy right away so I can return it within the return window if it performs out of spec. I don't use DACs, but I've never had to send a CD, DVD or blu ray player back. None of my Apple products have had to go back either. Perhaps DACs are just funky.

 
All I know is I have read hundreds of DAC reviews talking about all the differences heard between them, and also had conversations with people who own high-end equipment. A few even commented that they would rather get a $20K DAC than an amp of the same price. Granted, a good DAC "shouldn't" sound too different from another good one, but the thing is, some of the most interesting comparison reviews were of high-end DACs. I wish I had the luxury to do my own comparisons, but that will have to wait.

 

[bigshot]

I've read reviews that say all kinds of things. I think the reviews are the wild card, not the DACs.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  I've read reviews that say all kinds of things. I think the reviews are the wild card, not the DACs.

 
At least neither of us are too interested in matters of opinion. If all properly-designed DACs sound the same, I am willing to accept that; however, nearly all the evidence is not in favor of that argument. What concerns me is that you seem to be assuming this beforehand based on theory. If you have compared many different DACs despite not using them now, this may not be the case. Even better, if you can direct me to sound wave measurements made between DACs that are claimed to sound different, it would be valuable to me. Otherwise, this is a matter of conjecture in my book. If it's not the DAC, what makes the two DAPs I own sound drastically different?