The Sound Of Hard Drive Enclosures

Introduction
For the time being, my entire music collection of CDs, SACDs, hi-rez downloads, and vinyl records resides on a 2 TB 3.5" Western Digital Black hard drive. CDs were ripped to 44.1 kHz FLAC files. SACDs were ripped to DSD64 dsf files. Vinyl records were rippled to DSD64 dsf files.
Running a hard drive at lower temperatures extends its life. I looked at a couple of fanned hard drive enclosures to replace a fanless and non-ventilated Vantech NexStar3 NST-360SU-BK enclosure. The The BDP-2 digital player does not "spin down" or "sleep" drives after a certain period of inactivity. Therefore any hard drives connected to the BDP-2 will spin 24/7 unless turned off by their power switches. I leave the BDP-2 on 24/7 and I leave its hard drive on 24/7.
Prior to ripping the portion of my vinyl collection that did not have digital versions, my music files resided on a 1 TB Samsung EVO 850 solid state drive installed in my Bryston BDP-2 digital player. Costs of 2 TB solid state drives are in the $500-$700 range at this time and I would prefer to wait until costs come down....way down.
The Unexpected Benefit

Figure 1. Hard drive enclosures left to right: Sabrent EC-UEIS7 (fanned) $26, Rosewill RX304-APU3-35B (fanned) Armer $36, Vantec NexStar3 NST-360SU-BK (fanless) $30 The Sabrent's blue LEDs were so bright that they had to be covered with a piece of black electrical tape, leaving just a little bit of blue showing.
There was no perceivable difference in the sound of the same digital file played from the internal Samsung SSD or the Vantech enclosure connected via either eSATA cable or USB cable.
Surprisingly, the same file played from the Sabrent HDD enclosure's USB or eSATA connection sounded better than the internal Samsung SSD, with the eSATA connection sounding the best. The Rosewill HDD enclosure sounded worst among the Samsung SSD, Vantec enclosure, and Sabrent enclosure.
The Rosewill enclosure features a display for HDD temperature and fan speed, and displays are notorious for their electrical noise. Hard drive controllers and solid state drive controllers can also contribute to audible electrical noise. I was very disappointed that the Rosewill didn't win. It was the quietest, coolest running, best built, and coolest looking enclosure.
Digital files played from the Sabrent enclosure had more image weight, more three-dimensionality, more overall clarity and detail, and more micro details in the bass. Conversely, digital files played from the Rosewill enclosure were slightly veiled with blurred bass transients.
Only with the Sabrent enclosure could I hear a difference in music clarity and detail between a generic computer grade USB cable, a Pangea USB-PC cable ($35), and a Revelation Audio Labs Prophecy Cryo-Silver USB cable (split power and signal legs) ($549). However, the eSATA connection with a generic computer grade eSATA cable sounded better than any of the USB cable options.

Figure 2. Rosewill enclosure's temperature and fan speed display. My eyes loved the display, my ears hated the sound.
The Rosewill enclosure had a whisper quiet 80mm x 80mm fan that could not be heard from 3 feet away. Furthermore, the Rosewill enclosure and cradle damped the hard drive's vibrations. In contrast, the Sabrent's fan could be heard from 6 feet away and the enclosure produced a low hum when placed on the audio cabinet top.
Applying strips of Dynamat Xtreme to the inside of the Sabrent enclosure's top and bottom panels, the perimeter of the fan housing and the side panel opposite the fan side reduced the audible fan noise distance to 2.5 feet. The hum caused by placing the Sabrent enclosure on the cabinet was also significantly reduced by the Dynamat. The hum was eliminated completely by placing the enclosure on a 5" x 5" x 1" sorbothane pad.
Cooling Performance

Figure 3. The Sabrent and Roswill enclosures both use an 80mm x 80mm fan, but the circular opening of the Sabrent enclosure does not extend all the way to the ends of the fan blades. It is 2-3/4" in diameter compared to 3-1/8" in diameter for the the Rosewill.

Figure 4. Enclosure temperature measurements were taken with a Fluke model 561 infrared thermometer.
The following measurements were taken after 1 hour of continuous music play:
Vantec enclosure:
Case top: 91 degrees F.
Case right side: 101 degrees F.
Case opposite side: 99 degrees F.
Sabrent enclosure:
Case top: 86 degrees F.
Case fan side: 91 degrees F.
Case opposite side: 92 degrees F.
Rosewill enclosure:
Case top: 87.1 degrees F.
Case fan side: 87.1 degrees F.
Case opposite side: 87.1 degrees F.
Digital display reading: 87.2 degrees F.
The WD Black hard drive in my home office computer runs at an average 118 degrees F (measured by Speedfan temperature monitoring software).
For the time being, my entire music collection of CDs, SACDs, hi-rez downloads, and vinyl records resides on a 2 TB 3.5" Western Digital Black hard drive. CDs were ripped to 44.1 kHz FLAC files. SACDs were ripped to DSD64 dsf files. Vinyl records were rippled to DSD64 dsf files.
Running a hard drive at lower temperatures extends its life. I looked at a couple of fanned hard drive enclosures to replace a fanless and non-ventilated Vantech NexStar3 NST-360SU-BK enclosure. The The BDP-2 digital player does not "spin down" or "sleep" drives after a certain period of inactivity. Therefore any hard drives connected to the BDP-2 will spin 24/7 unless turned off by their power switches. I leave the BDP-2 on 24/7 and I leave its hard drive on 24/7.
Prior to ripping the portion of my vinyl collection that did not have digital versions, my music files resided on a 1 TB Samsung EVO 850 solid state drive installed in my Bryston BDP-2 digital player. Costs of 2 TB solid state drives are in the $500-$700 range at this time and I would prefer to wait until costs come down....way down.
The Unexpected Benefit

Figure 1. Hard drive enclosures left to right: Sabrent EC-UEIS7 (fanned) $26, Rosewill RX304-APU3-35B (fanned) Armer $36, Vantec NexStar3 NST-360SU-BK (fanless) $30 The Sabrent's blue LEDs were so bright that they had to be covered with a piece of black electrical tape, leaving just a little bit of blue showing.
There was no perceivable difference in the sound of the same digital file played from the internal Samsung SSD or the Vantech enclosure connected via either eSATA cable or USB cable.
Surprisingly, the same file played from the Sabrent HDD enclosure's USB or eSATA connection sounded better than the internal Samsung SSD, with the eSATA connection sounding the best. The Rosewill HDD enclosure sounded worst among the Samsung SSD, Vantec enclosure, and Sabrent enclosure.
The Rosewill enclosure features a display for HDD temperature and fan speed, and displays are notorious for their electrical noise. Hard drive controllers and solid state drive controllers can also contribute to audible electrical noise. I was very disappointed that the Rosewill didn't win. It was the quietest, coolest running, best built, and coolest looking enclosure.
Digital files played from the Sabrent enclosure had more image weight, more three-dimensionality, more overall clarity and detail, and more micro details in the bass. Conversely, digital files played from the Rosewill enclosure were slightly veiled with blurred bass transients.
Only with the Sabrent enclosure could I hear a difference in music clarity and detail between a generic computer grade USB cable, a Pangea USB-PC cable ($35), and a Revelation Audio Labs Prophecy Cryo-Silver USB cable (split power and signal legs) ($549). However, the eSATA connection with a generic computer grade eSATA cable sounded better than any of the USB cable options.

Figure 2. Rosewill enclosure's temperature and fan speed display. My eyes loved the display, my ears hated the sound.
The Rosewill enclosure had a whisper quiet 80mm x 80mm fan that could not be heard from 3 feet away. Furthermore, the Rosewill enclosure and cradle damped the hard drive's vibrations. In contrast, the Sabrent's fan could be heard from 6 feet away and the enclosure produced a low hum when placed on the audio cabinet top.
Applying strips of Dynamat Xtreme to the inside of the Sabrent enclosure's top and bottom panels, the perimeter of the fan housing and the side panel opposite the fan side reduced the audible fan noise distance to 2.5 feet. The hum caused by placing the Sabrent enclosure on the cabinet was also significantly reduced by the Dynamat. The hum was eliminated completely by placing the enclosure on a 5" x 5" x 1" sorbothane pad.
Cooling Performance

Figure 3. The Sabrent and Roswill enclosures both use an 80mm x 80mm fan, but the circular opening of the Sabrent enclosure does not extend all the way to the ends of the fan blades. It is 2-3/4" in diameter compared to 3-1/8" in diameter for the the Rosewill.

Figure 4. Enclosure temperature measurements were taken with a Fluke model 561 infrared thermometer.
The following measurements were taken after 1 hour of continuous music play:
Vantec enclosure:
Case top: 91 degrees F.
Case right side: 101 degrees F.
Case opposite side: 99 degrees F.
Sabrent enclosure:
Case top: 86 degrees F.
Case fan side: 91 degrees F.
Case opposite side: 92 degrees F.
Rosewill enclosure:
Case top: 87.1 degrees F.
Case fan side: 87.1 degrees F.
Case opposite side: 87.1 degrees F.
Digital display reading: 87.2 degrees F.
The WD Black hard drive in my home office computer runs at an average 118 degrees F (measured by Speedfan temperature monitoring software).
"So hot it burns Mice!"~DK
"Polk SDA-SRSs are hopelessly out of date both sonically and technologically... I see no value whatsoever in older SDA speakers."~Audio Asylum Member
"Knowledge, without understanding, is a path to failure."~DK
"Those who irrationally rail against something or someone that is no threat to them, actually desire (or desire to be like) the thing or person they are railing against."~DK
"Polk SDA-SRSs are hopelessly out of date both sonically and technologically... I see no value whatsoever in older SDA speakers."~Audio Asylum Member
"Knowledge, without understanding, is a path to failure."~DK
"Those who irrationally rail against something or someone that is no threat to them, actually desire (or desire to be like) the thing or person they are railing against."~DK
Post edited by KennethSwauger on
2
Comments
Thank you for your advice.
However, this thread is about digital music servers and the hard drives attached to them...and the effects that the electrical noise produced by hard drive enclosures can have on the sound quality of digitally encoded music.
"Polk SDA-SRSs are hopelessly out of date both sonically and technologically... I see no value whatsoever in older SDA speakers."~Audio Asylum Member
"Knowledge, without understanding, is a path to failure."~DK
"Those who irrationally rail against something or someone that is no threat to them, actually desire (or desire to be like) the thing or person they are railing against."~DK
USB helper: w4s Recovery
Living Room Teac AI-3000, LSI25, SDA 3.1TL, Grant Fidelity Tube Dac 11
Have but haven't used in a while: LH Labs VI Dac, Cayin SCD50T
I was wondering the same thing.
Source: Roon via ethernet to DAC interface
DAC: Bricasti M1SE
Pre/Pro: Marantz AV8805
Tube Preamp Buffer: Tortuga TPB.V1
Amp1: W4S MC-5, AMP2: W4S MMC-7
Front: Salk SoundScape 8's, Center: Salk SoundScape C7
Surround: Polk FXIA6, Surround Back: Polk RTIA9, Atmos: Polk 70-RT
Subs: 2 - Rythmik F25's
IC & Speaker Cables: Acoustic Zen, Wireworld, Signal Cable
Power Cables: Acoustic Zen, Wireworld, PS Audio
Room Treatments: GIK Acoustics
"Polk SDA-SRSs are hopelessly out of date both sonically and technologically... I see no value whatsoever in older SDA speakers."~Audio Asylum Member
"Knowledge, without understanding, is a path to failure."~DK
"Those who irrationally rail against something or someone that is no threat to them, actually desire (or desire to be like) the thing or person they are railing against."~DK
USB helper: w4s Recovery
Living Room Teac AI-3000, LSI25, SDA 3.1TL, Grant Fidelity Tube Dac 11
Have but haven't used in a while: LH Labs VI Dac, Cayin SCD50T
USB helper: w4s Recovery
Living Room Teac AI-3000, LSI25, SDA 3.1TL, Grant Fidelity Tube Dac 11
Have but haven't used in a while: LH Labs VI Dac, Cayin SCD50T
"Polk SDA-SRSs are hopelessly out of date both sonically and technologically... I see no value whatsoever in older SDA speakers."~Audio Asylum Member
"Knowledge, without understanding, is a path to failure."~DK
"Those who irrationally rail against something or someone that is no threat to them, actually desire (or desire to be like) the thing or person they are railing against."~DK
Like most components - noise floor. This noise carries through the chain. The signal or read errors isn't an issue.
Jitter also plays a significant role but I'm not sure that was an issue here since the only variable was the HD enclosure.
Speakers: Harbeth: 30.2, SHL5+; Usher: Be-10, T-515; Rosso Fiorentino: Elba, Pienza, Certaldo, Fiesole, Volterra; Polk: T50, Signature S15, RTA 15tl, RTi12; Sonner Audio Allegro Unum, Legato Unum, Legato Semis, Legato Duo; Emerald Physics CS-2.8; Klipsch KLF-20
Preamps: Shuguang S200MK, Dayens Ampino, Parasound P5
Amps: Shuguang S845MK, Dayens Ampino Monoblocks, Parasound A23
Integrateds: Triode Corporation TRV-88SER, MastersounD: BoX, Dueventi, Compact 845, Evolution 845; North Star Design Blue Diamond
Sources: AURALiC Aries, Denon HEOS Link, North Star Design: Magnifico, Supremo, Incanto, Intenso, Venti
Cabling: Wireworld
TV: Sony XBR-75X940C
If your interested in trying one out, shoot me a PM and I can ship it to you. I have a spare I am not using.
My rig is not as nice as @DarqueKnight 's but, on a cheap external drive, I have a jitterbug and I heard a difference. I have an external drive and a NAS both. I have been experimenting between the having it pull directly from the usb drive and then from the NAS upstairs. At first the NAS was walking all over the usb drive until I put in the jitterbug and that brought it much closer. The Nas is still the champ for now on my rig.
USB helper: w4s Recovery
Living Room Teac AI-3000, LSI25, SDA 3.1TL, Grant Fidelity Tube Dac 11
Have but haven't used in a while: LH Labs VI Dac, Cayin SCD50T
Thanks EJ. I would be interested in trying a Jitterbug if I were using a USB connection, but I am using an eSATA connection.
"Polk SDA-SRSs are hopelessly out of date both sonically and technologically... I see no value whatsoever in older SDA speakers."~Audio Asylum Member
"Knowledge, without understanding, is a path to failure."~DK
"Those who irrationally rail against something or someone that is no threat to them, actually desire (or desire to be like) the thing or person they are railing against."~DK
USB helper: w4s Recovery
Living Room Teac AI-3000, LSI25, SDA 3.1TL, Grant Fidelity Tube Dac 11
Have but haven't used in a while: LH Labs VI Dac, Cayin SCD50T
Lumin S1 - X1 power supply
Sony XA-5400ES SACD
Pass XP-22 pre, X600.5 amps
Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers, SPOD spikes
Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables
Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
Three 20 amp circuits.
SRS 2.3TL (Fully Modified)...SDA-1A (Fully Modified with Dimensional Tweeter Delete)
1KVA Dreadnought
Marantz SA 8005
Pioneer PLX-1000 Turntable - Shure SC35C/N35X - V15III/VN35HE
Yamaha TX-540 Tuner...Sony BDP-S570
Separate subpanel with four dedicated 20 amp circuits.
1. Amplification 2. Analog 3. Digital 4. Video
"All THAT IS LOST FROM THE SOURCE IS LOST FOREVER"
The EA3500 is in WAP mode on it's own Channel and SSID and it's been solid.
Using JRiver and during playback I can even put the wireless into airplane mode and the music still plays for up to 20 seconds. Been a very solid and transparent setup.
Though for 4K content it's not cutting it so I have a wired connection pulled.
First, if all your music is on only one drive, I would make sure you have a backup of all that on another 2TB drive. Nothing is worse than losing everything when a drive unexpectedly goes bad - especially after all the work you've done to convert your rare vinyl to digital. Or you could work on setting up a NAS with mirrored RAID to help in that regard.
After reading the review and some of the comments it appears that it would be hard to pinpoint just what makes one enclosure better than another. There are several factors I would think that could contribute:
Energy RC-70 Mains, Energy RC-LRC Center, Energy RC-R (x4) Rear Channels, Energy RC-R (x2) Front Effects
Polk 5jr+
Polk SDA 2B
Polk SDS 3.1TL
Equipment
Panamax 5510 Re-generator Power Conditioner
Yamaha RX-V3800 Receiver
Digital Sources: Sony CDP-X339ES CD Player, HHB CDR830 BurnIt Professional CD Recorder, Sony PS3, Oppo DV-983H DVD Player
Analog Sources: Sony TC-K890ES Cassette, Nakamichi DR-1 Cassette, Technics SL-7 Turntable
Interesting read.
You are correct. Thanks. The first sentence under Figure 1 should have been written:
"Hard drive enclosures left to right: Sabrent EC-UEIS7 (fanned) $26, Rosewill RX304-APU3-35B Armer $36 (fanned), Vantec NexStar3 NST-360SU-BK (fanless) $30".
I have asked a mod to make the correction.
"Polk SDA-SRSs are hopelessly out of date both sonically and technologically... I see no value whatsoever in older SDA speakers."~Audio Asylum Member
"Knowledge, without understanding, is a path to failure."~DK
"Those who irrationally rail against something or someone that is no threat to them, actually desire (or desire to be like) the thing or person they are railing against."~DK
I have multiple backups including offsite storage.
"Polk SDA-SRSs are hopelessly out of date both sonically and technologically... I see no value whatsoever in older SDA speakers."~Audio Asylum Member
"Knowledge, without understanding, is a path to failure."~DK
"Those who irrationally rail against something or someone that is no threat to them, actually desire (or desire to be like) the thing or person they are railing against."~DK
*****************************
Not exactly. Unless you completely negate the human variable. Error/perception/bias and all that stuff.
If one is aware of what they are using/listening to, they become a variable also.
B+W-Sold
Epos-Now gone
Infinity-Sold
Advent-Now gone
Yamaha A-S801
Yamaha RX-V377
Yamaha RX-A860
Yamaha RX-A3060
Harman Kardon Hk-350i
Harman Kardon Hk-........
Harman Kardon PM-665
Harman Kardon HK-775
Pioneer.......Stereo Receiver
Personal bias is only a factor if the subject is not properly trained in objective evaluation. In these trials, I had the following personal biases:
1. I prefer solid state drives because they are smaller, they produce no mechanical noise, they produce little heat, and they can be mounted inside my BDP-2 music server. The only thing I don't like about SSDs is the current very high prices, which are about 6X the prices of comparable capacity hard drives.
2. Prior to the evaluations, of the three hard drive enclosures evaluated, the Rosewill was my personal favorite due to aesthetics, build quality, low level of mechanical vibration, digital display of temperature and fan speed, and fan quietness. However, my personal favorite, the Rosewill enclosure, came in last place when evaluated on the basis of the stereophonic sound quality of digital files played from it.
There are some people who erroneously believe that people cannot be trained to objectively ignore their personal biases. However, the concept of the "debiased consumer" is a long-standing area of research in the field of economics. It concerns methods by which a consumer must train themselves to objectively evaluate economic and functional value rather that aesthetic and other personal preferences. For example, there are some people who would purchase a home simply on the basis of the home's size, appearance, features, and location. A person trained in objective evaluation of homes would also consider things like maintenance costs, structural integrity, appreciation of homes in the area (future resale value), likelihood of natural disasters (fire, flood, weather, etc.), and proximity to environmental hazards.
Another example is the area of mate selection. Some immature people choose a spouse simply on external factors such as physical appearance and income. However, those two factors are not attributes on which a long term relationship should be based. Important things such as character, integrity, personality, common interests, lifestyle, and genuine interest by both parties will determine the long term success of the relationship.
For reference:
"Training can effectively debias decision makers over the long term. Training, to date, has received less attention by academics and policy makers than incentives and nudges because initial debiasing training efforts resulted in mixed success (see Fischhoff, 1982 in Kahneman et al.). Decision makers could be effectively debiased through training in specific domains. For example, experts can be trained to make very accurate decisions when decision making entails recognizing patterns and applying appropriate responses in domains such as firefighting, chess, and weather forecasting. Evidence of more general debiasing, across domains and different kinds of problems, however, was not discovered until recently. The reason for the lack of more domain-general debiasing was attributed to experts failing to recognize the underlying "deep structure" of problems in different formats and domains. Weather forecasters are able to predict rain with high accuracy, for example, but show the same overconfidence in their answers to basic trivia questions as other people. An exception was graduate training in scientific fields heavily reliant on statistics such as psychology."
Experiments by Morewedge and colleagues (2015) have found interactive computer games and instructional videos can result in long-term debiasing at a general level. In a series of experiments, training with interactive computer games that provided players with personalized feedback, mitigating strategies, and practice, reduced six cognitive biases by more than 30% immediately and by more than 20% as long as three months later. The biased reduced were anchoring, bias blind spot, confirmation bias, fundamental attribution error, projection bias, and representativeness."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debiasing
By definition, the evaluation of stereophonic sound requires a listener who is objectively trained in evaluating the spatial and quality aspects of a three dimensional sound field. Since the evaluation of stereo sound is an exercise that requires some training and experience, it is silly and uninformed to pose that such subjects can be swayed by sighted trials and personal bias when the only subjects that should be used are those that have been trained to ignore aesthetics and personal bias and objectively evaluate on the basis of performance.
Saying that people must do audio evaluations blind because that is the only way to avoid bias is as silly and misinformed as saying people must choose mates blind because that is the only way to avoid being swayed by powerful influences such as physical appearance, popularity, and income/wealth.
I presented a historical overview of stereophonic blind testing here:
http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/104973/a-historical-overview-of-stereophonic-blind-testing/p1
(Note: the author's name that is censored by the forum's software is Stanley L i p s h i t z)
A historical overview of subjective stereophonic evaluation, using objective criteria, was presented here:
http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/104701/a-survey-of-early-stereophonic-system-subjective-evaluation
"Polk SDA-SRSs are hopelessly out of date both sonically and technologically... I see no value whatsoever in older SDA speakers."~Audio Asylum Member
"Knowledge, without understanding, is a path to failure."~DK
"Those who irrationally rail against something or someone that is no threat to them, actually desire (or desire to be like) the thing or person they are railing against."~DK
I read your quite lengthy reply, and while interesting, I am still convinced you are a human being.
You are telling me you have no normal human reactions to a music/equipment comparison, yet are a human being doing the comparison, by yourself and controlling all the variables.
I get it was just a fun "comparison", do not mean to belittle the extensive work you did and the time involved, but if you are aware of which unit is "being used", then you are not effectively removed from the test, but are another variable.
Kinda like comparing sodas and seeing the labels.
B+W-Sold
Epos-Now gone
Infinity-Sold
Advent-Now gone
Yamaha A-S801
Yamaha RX-V377
Yamaha RX-A860
Yamaha RX-A3060
Harman Kardon Hk-350i
Harman Kardon Hk-........
Harman Kardon PM-665
Harman Kardon HK-775
Pioneer.......Stereo Receiver
Only wondering why his creator never gave him the ability to feel.
I'm offended by your Dick reference ...
Office Rig- Marantz 2252B, Denon 2910, Kenwood KD2070 TT, Polk RTA 12B's/ RTA8t
I would say that doing bias controlling for a large N would be more efficient than attempting training same said group IMO.
Training a group?