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Music servers and other computer based digital audio technologies.

Wow, I thought I was losing my mind...

I'm glad TAS published that article. I had a similar (but not quite the same) experience. Let me explain.....

I ripped a CD with error correction enabled using plain ole iTunes to AIFF on my Mac Mini down in the basement listening room. I wanted to play the files on my Mac laptop computer. I figured I would just transfer the ripped tunes using a USB thumb drive which I did.

The music sounded dull and lifeless when played on the Mac laptop. I tried transferring the files again but this time I used a CD-R. It sounded much better. How could that be? So that got me thinking.

I tried a variety of different brand USB thumb drives including Kingston, SanDisk, HP, LaCie, Patriot, Lexar, Transcend, etc.

I couldn't believe my ears! Some transfers were warm and smooth, others were detailed and very transparent, some were actually distorted and unlistenable. The LaCie thumb drive transfer sounded best to me but this was to be expected as LaCie caters to the Mac crowd with lots of Mac compatible products.

Have I discovered a new niche within this audiophile hobby we all enjoy? We need a "Thumb Drive Rolling" forum for folks who enjoy trying out different thumb drives much like the tube rolling crowd.

I'm going to dig up my NOS collection of early thumb drives. I bet they sound better than anything currently in production.


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  Kimber Kable  


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