[uchihaitachi]

   
What are you using to copy, just straight up copy command? Any time I'm doing backups or full-disc transfers I use rsync, which will verify everything as it goes.

Could you provide a link to rsync? I typed in rsync and all kinds of esoteric programs pop up Thank you in advance!
 
These errors have been driving me nuts............
 
Oh and yes I just drag and drop 

 
 
Also wanted to ask, if what I am experiencing is normal?

 

[RRod]

  Could you provide a link to rsync? I typed in rsync and all kinds of esoteric programs pop up Thank you in advance!
 
These errors have been driving me nuts............
 
Oh and yes I just drag and drop 

 
 
Also wanted to ask, if what I am experiencing is normal?

 
Oh it's a Linux/Mac thing. On Windows you can get it by installing something like Cygwin. I know on Linux the regular cp command makes no guarantees (at least I've never found a checksum option for it).
 
Note it's worth looking into options for the Windows copy command (or xcopy if that still exists) to see if they have something checksum related.

 

[SunTanScanMan]

Can I ask how these errors would manifest themselves when listening to music? I have my music files (ripped from CD to ALAC) backed up on an external hard drive, coped and pasted from my PC (Win 7).

 

[uchihaitachi]

  Can I ask how these errors would manifest themselves when listening to music? I have my music files (ripped from CD to ALAC) backed up on an external hard drive, coped and pasted from my PC (Win 7).

I doubt it would manifest in any audible artefacts... Especially if they are spread out among various files. But if loads of errors do occur in a single file, it normally sounds to me like the noise when you hear while you plug in a headphone. Do you use cuetools when ripping CDs? Cos, it does a database comparison and informs you whether your rips coincide with the other ripped discs they have on file.
 
I found a great program called syncovery, that moves, checks all the files, and I ran a md5 check just now with no errors finally!

 

[krismusic]

I came to enjoy reading this blog, and it's puzzling how many topics that are often about ourselves as humans, seem to fit our daily audio struggles to a fault.    https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2015/12/biases-and-blunders/

the more time passes, the more I feel like audio websites are in dire need of a psychology section. I use myself to judge audio gear, but I don't know myself. a strange exercise.

+1!

 

[uchihaitachi]

  I came to enjoy reading this blog, and it's puzzling how many topics that are often about ourselves as humans, seem to fit our daily audio struggles to a fault.    https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2015/12/biases-and-blunders/
 
the more time passes, the more I feel like audio websites are in dire need of a psychology section. I use myself to judge audio gear, but I don't know myself. a strange exercise.

The basis of behavioural economics is in the kahneman tversky paper 'maps of bounded rationality' it's a great read
 
https://www.princeton.edu/~kahneman/docs/Publications/Maps_bounded_rationality_DK_2003.pdf

 

[MacacoDoSom]

  I recently built a new computer, and moving my music library which is around 600gb from windows 7 to a windows 10 computer via an external hard drive, just to be sure I ran a md5sum check, and there are quite a few errors appearing...
 
Do you guys have any good solutions, to this issue?

Teracopy - Copies and checks or Moves and Checks, can be used as a replacement of windows copy/move and drag 'n drop.

 

[PDVJAM]

Not sure if its correct topic, but I have some interesting story to tell.

Some time ago, I bought LINE5 A985 Headphone Output Switcher. This device allows connect up to four sources to headphones and almost instantly switch between them. Therefore, I grabbed two SD cards with identical music files (all flac 16/44), my iBasso DX90, my CIEM’s and went to local audiophile shop, to my friends. First, I grabbed iBasso DX50 and connected it with DX90 through A985 to my IEM’s. I do not have any SPL meter, so I matched volumes with my ears. I did my best! With DX50 and DX90 it was easy – they both have almost same FW, so volume levels were set to same values. After 15-20 minutes of listening to DX50 and DX90 with instant switching between them I did not noticed ANY differences. Then my friend, owner of this shop, grabbed OPPO PM - do not remember exactly, I think it was PM-3 or PM-2 – and listened to DX50 and DX90 for 10 minutes. His first words after this were “Hmmm, looks like iBasso hiding something from us…”. He did not noticed any differences as well. After DX50, I compared DX90 with QLS 360, Hifiman 603, Hifiman 901 (maybe it was 901S, not sure), Fiio X5, Soundaware M1. I did my best to much their volumes, all EQ were set to off. All this comparison took me about 2 hours. And no differences were noticed, except to Hifiman 603 and Soundaware M1 – they have noticeable recessed mid-high/high frequencies. At least with my multi drivers CIEM’s. That were the only differences I heard.

Last year I attempted to compare some DAP’s one by one, just switching my SD card between them. That time I did not noticed any differences as well.

After this ‘listening session’ owner of this shop asked me to leave A985 for them, so they could try more comparisons. Several month have passed but they never tried any ‘blind’ comparisonsJ And without them they still hear sound differences between amps, dacs and dapsJ

Now I want to replace my DX90 with new L5 Pro. It looks nice. But its price $800. When they arrive to shop, I will try another listening comparison between DX90 and L5 Pro. Not sure I want to pay $800 just for its appearance. Small audiophile inside me still believes that there could be some differences in sound…

 

[Ruben123]

[COLOR=000000]Not sure if its correct topic, but I have some interesting story to tell.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=000000]Some time ago, I bought LINE5 A985 Headphone Output Switcher. This device allows connect up to four sources to headphones and almost instantly switch between them. Therefore, I grabbed two SD cards with identical music files (all flac 16/44), my iBasso DX90, my CIEM’s and went to local audiophile shop, to my friends. First, I grabbed iBasso DX50 and connected it with DX90 through A985 to my IEM’s. I do not have any SPL meter, so I matched volumes with my ears. I did my best! With DX50 and DX90 it was easy – they both have almost same FW, so volume levels were set to same values. After 15-20 minutes of listening to DX50 and DX90 with instant switching between them I did not noticed ANY differences. Then my friend, owner of this shop, grabbed OPPO PM - do not remember exactly, I think it was PM-3 or PM-2 – and listened to DX50 and DX90 for 10 minutes. His first words after this were “Hmmm, looks like iBasso hiding something from us…”. He did not noticed any differences as well. After DX50, I compared DX90 with QLS 360, Hifiman 603, Hifiman 901 (maybe it was 901S, not sure), Fiio X5, Soundaware M1. I did my best to much their volumes, all EQ were set to off. All this comparison took me about 2 hours. And no differences were noticed, except to Hifiman 603 and Soundaware M1 – they have noticeable recessed mid-high/high frequencies. At least with my multi drivers CIEM’s. That were the only differences I heard.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=000000]Last year I attempted to compare some DAP’s one by one, just switching my SD card between them. That time I did not noticed any differences as well.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=000000]After this ‘listening session’ owner of this shop asked me to leave A985 for them, so they could try more comparisons. Several month have passed but they never tried any ‘blind’ comparisonsJ And without them they still hear sound differences between amps, dacs and dapsJ[/COLOR]

[COLOR=000000]Now I want to replace my DX90 with new L5 Pro. It looks nice. But its price $800. When they arrive to shop, I will try another listening comparison between DX90 and L5 Pro. Not sure I want to pay $800 just for its appearance. Small audiophile inside me still believes that there could be some differences in sound…[/COLOR]

Get the Sandisk Sansa at $40 and don't look back. Oh, and post this in the "portable source section" too.

 

[castleofargh]

my own experience is that DAP manufacturers almost all try to get a more or less neutral response on unloaded measurements. so in practice audible differences are often small unless it's for one of those reasons:
 
- noise floor: maybe not easy to test that at a store or a meet, but most of the time I can tell DAPs apart thanks to the noise floor using a super sensitive IEM. the reason tends to be the amps section of the DAP.
 
- maximum output: another thing related to the amp section, some simply don't have what it takes to drive certain kinds of headphones. so the difference will be obvious only when using those ^_^.
 
- impedance: depending on the IEM it might not really be audible, with others you just can't miss the signature changes. AK100 first version anyone? 20ohm output, someone should be in jail for something like that to be sold as a DAP for IEMs.
 
- low pass filter: could roll off the trebles in a significant way, but again some IEMs take a dive starting 10khz so it would be hard to notice on such IEM. Pono playing 16/44 seems to be an obvious example. to some it's called ruining the sound, to others it's called "sounding analog". ^_^
 
- coupling caps: if I got that right, with low impedance IEMs, the bass roll off will be stronger as it's the association that ends up becoming a high pass filter, so both the caps and the IEM should have an impact(if I'm wrong please guys tell me). I felt a clear low freq roll off on DX50 and CK4, but at the time I didn't know if it was impedance or caps as my IEM would also lower the bass on higher impedances and I spent very little time with both(really hated both UIs and the sub roll off).
 
-everything else: which is pretty much all the marketing propaganda that makes us want to buy a DAP, super dac chip, deluxe components, op amp this or that, soldered with unicorn gold poop... : in my experience it actually makes only small audible differences(but the measurements can be very different). as time passes I care less and less about this, but more and more about hiss, impedance, and subs roll off.
 
 
 
 
 
so if you're careful to get low impedance DAPs, and use a flat impedance IEM that's not too sensitive, chances are that most DAPs will have close to no audible differences. but if you really look for audible differences, then with a few extreme IEMs and headphones, you usually can figure something out. they're usually not identical under all circumstances.
so it's up to us to get an IEM/headphone that isn't stupidly weird to the point that it's a miracle when you end up with the expected sound. or if you own such IEM/headphone, then you need to find out what requirements are really needed for the source(usually ends up making you buy a portable amp anyway).
 
personally, I have a hard time justifying a 800$ DAP that usually ends up being android with a 1990 skin over it. in fact those days, I have a hard time justifying a 800$ anything for portable use.
 
 
 
ps: I would still suggest to try and get a way to volume match that is better than the ear. with DAPs it's hard to get withing 0.1db or less, but it's usually still better than doing it by ear(if you have no choice, try a 1 or 2khz test tone, I usually get less than 0.5db differences that way. but only if you have no choice!!!! ^_^).

 

[Koolpep]

  Not sure if its correct topic, but I have some interesting story to tell.

Some time ago, I bought LINE5 A985 Headphone Output Switcher. This device allows connect up to four sources to headphones and almost instantly switch between them. Therefore, I grabbed two SD cards with identical music files (all flac 16/44), my iBasso DX90, my CIEM’s and went to local audiophile shop, to my friends. First, I grabbed iBasso DX50 and connected it with DX90 through A985 to my IEM’s. I do not have any SPL meter, so I matched volumes with my ears. I did my best! With DX50 and DX90 it was easy – they both have almost same FW, so volume levels were set to same values. After 15-20 minutes of listening to DX50 and DX90 with instant switching between them I did not noticed ANY differences. Then my friend, owner of this shop, grabbed OPPO PM - do not remember exactly, I think it was PM-3 or PM-2 – and listened to DX50 and DX90 for 10 minutes. His first words after this were “Hmmm, looks like iBasso hiding something from us…”. He did not noticed any differences as well. After DX50, I compared DX90 with QLS 360, Hifiman 603, Hifiman 901 (maybe it was 901S, not sure), Fiio X5, Soundaware M1. I did my best to much their volumes, all EQ were set to off. All this comparison took me about 2 hours. And no differences were noticed, except to Hifiman 603 and Soundaware M1 – they have noticeable recessed mid-high/high frequencies. At least with my multi drivers CIEM’s. That were the only differences I heard.

Last year I attempted to compare some DAP’s one by one, just switching my SD card between them. That time I did not noticed any differences as well.

After this ‘listening session’ owner of this shop asked me to leave A985 for them, so they could try more comparisons. Several month have passed but they never tried any ‘blind’ comparisonsJ And without them they still hear sound differences between amps, dacs and dapsJ

Now I want to replace my DX90 with new L5 Pro. It looks nice. But its price $800. When they arrive to shop, I will try another listening comparison between DX90 and L5 Pro. Not sure I want to pay $800 just for its appearance. Small audiophile inside me still believes that there could be some differences in sound…

I have done the same a few times:
 

 

 

 


Did a blind test with a friend. While we could hear some tiny weeny differences (volume matched as well by ear as much as we could, later with digital recorder). The differences are so minimal when switching back and forth, it's scary. 
 
Between the DX90 and DX50 - we couldn't spot a difference. The AK100 and AK120 - nope. The only one we could reliably differentiate from the pack was the Hifiman901 and Gloveaudio A1 which we concluded sounded the "best" as in the most engaging and natural. But seeing the differences in price....
 
Anyhow, I recently got a 901 and at first listen - it sounded like poop - my surprise was pretty huge. After a few hours of playing music though it settled and sounded what I heard many months before with a properly run-in one and is now my favorite. I am usually not the burn-in believer, but this DAP (or at least the amp card that was unused before) really changed. I was on vacation and compared it to my AK100 & RSA Predator stack at first listen and after a few hours and the massive difference between them disappeared.
 
Cheers,
K

 

[headwhacker]

Volume match by ear doesn't work for me nor the iPhone built-in mic with an SPL Meter app. I have to match by the voltage output. I did a comparison today. No matter what I do can't discern any difference as long as the volume level is tightly matched.
 
 

 

[Ruben123]

  Volume match by ear doesn't work for me nor the iPhone built-in mic with an SPL Meter app. I have to match by the voltage output. I did a comparison today. No matter what I do can't discern any difference as long as the volume level is tightly matched.
 
 

What are you waiting for? The for sale section is waiting for you! Lol

 

[cel4145]

Did a blind test with a friend. While we could hear some tiny weeny differences (volume matched as well by ear as much as we could, later with digital recorder). The differences are so minimal when switching back and forth, it's scary. 

+10 to this.

We spend a lot of time explaining that there may be no differences between amps/dacs in ABX. What we don't examine is how/where/if differences exist, the differences do not have a significant impact on the listening experience.

I'd like to see some tests where

(a) the user picks X number of songs for testing.
(b) the user is invited to use some fraction of those songs to do sighted evaluations of devices which have some minor measurable differences and rate each based on the aesthetic pleasure of the listening experience.
(c) the user goes without using hifi audio equipment for 72 hours.
(d) in a DBT, the user is asked to rate one of the original devices using some of the songs from his test set not used in the original sighted test.
(e) wait 48 hours or 72 hours again, and do another device.

 

[sonitus mirus]

 
I have done the same a few times:

 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

 

 

 

 

Did a blind test with a friend. While we could hear some tiny weeny differences (volume matched as well by ear as much as we could, later with digital recorder). The differences are so minimal when switching back and forth, it's scary. 
 
Between the DX90 and DX50 - we couldn't spot a difference. The AK100 and AK120 - nope. The only one we could reliably differentiate from the pack was the Hifiman901 and Gloveaudio A1 which we concluded sounded the "best" as in the most engaging and natural. But seeing the differences in price....
 
Anyhow, I recently got a 901 and at first listen - it sounded like poop - my surprise was pretty huge. After a few hours of playing music though it settled and sounded what I heard many months before with a properly run-in one and is now my favorite. I am usually not the burn-in believer, but this DAP (or at least the amp card that was unused before) really changed. I was on vacation and compared it to my AK100 & RSA Predator stack at first listen and after a few hours and the massive difference between them disappeared.
 
Cheers,
K

 
Those "tiny weeny differences" you heard were most likely the difference in volume levels since these were not precisely matched.