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Playing MP3 Files On A USB Flash Drive

Judge

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
I have a question I so far haven't found an answer to in searching the Internet.

There are numerous devices that have a USB port to play MP3 files. But what I'm trying to understand, is if the quality of the sound produced is inherently different (better or worse or the same) depending on the individual device played, and how many devices it goes through to output sound ?

(Please, no discussion of compressed versus non-compressed sound formats. That's not what I'm interested in. I run 192k to 256k bitrate MP3s at 44 to 48khz. Roughly equivalent to CD sound.)

I can play MP3 files through a USB flash drive on my ethernet-based Roku Ultra device, that is connected via HDMI to my television. And the audio of my television goes to one of my two receivers, via an Optical Cable. Would I get inherently better sound if I played the same files directly from another type of a device, such as a receiver or dvd player with its own USB port?

(Keeping in mind that in my subjective opinion, playing the same files directly from my Samsung TV's USB port to my receiver doesn't seem to sound as good as from my Roku Ultra device.)

I'm just looking for best way to play my sound file collection to one or both of my receivers if there's a better way. Though I'd prefer an optical drive with a USB port to a receiver as the optical drive would cost much less.
 
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I have a question I so far haven't found an answer to in searching the Internet.

There are numerous devices that have a USB port to play MP3 files. But what I'm trying to understand, is if the quality of the sound produced is inherently different (better or worse or the same) depending on the individual device played, and how many devices it goes through to output sound ?

(Please, no discussion of compressed versus non-compressed sound formats. That's not what I'm interested in. I run 192k to 256k bitrate MP3s at 44 to 48khz. Roughly equivalent to CD sound.)

I can play MP3 files through a USB flash drive on my ethernet-based Roku Ultra device, that is connected via HDMI to my television. And the audio of my television goes to one of my two receivers, via an Optical Cable. Would I get inherently better sound if I played the same files directly from another type of a device, such as a receiver or dvd player with its own USB port?

(Keeping in mind that in my subjective opinion, playing the same files directly from my Samsung TV's USB port to my receiver doesn't seem to sound as good as from my Roku Ultra device.)

I'm just looking for best way to play my sound file collection to one or both of my receivers if there's a better way. Though I'd prefer an optical drive with a USB port to a receiver as the optical drive would cost much less.
Television has always focused on video, with sound being secondary. People have been complianing about sound quality of televisions for as long as I can remember (I'm 71) and the situation has not really improved (except for certain high end models). Your sound files do not play as well through the television as they dos through dedicated sound systems for the simple reason that TV sound circuits are not as well designed. Yhis is because in the early days people were more interested in the picture, and less interested in the sound. Manufacturers gave short shrift to the sound in order to make the sets a little cheaper, and the trend continues to this day. Sound files are always going to sound better on a dedicated sound system than on a video system.

Ys, they can change it if they wanted to, but so far there has not been sufficient consumer demand to do so. As long as the sound is "adequate," most people are satisfied.
 
There are also severe limitations on the abilities of the HDMI system, it simply doesn't carry enough information.

Does your TV have a 3.5 mm stereo sound plug? If you plug a device in to that you usually get good quality sound.
 
I play my MP3 files and ripped WAV files through WD TV Live into an FM transmitter. I am not sure how it compares to other devices.
 
There should be no reason why the media would make a difference to the quality of an MP3 files playback. It should be exactly the same information being decoded by your media playback device.

The bandwidth required for a decent MP3 shouldn't tax even the most long bearded of drives or media players. One problem you could run into with a slow usb drive could be problems seeking. It all depends on the throughput of the controller chip that acts as a go-between between the flash RAM and the USB host. So you may find with some drives scrubbing through a track may be a bit slow or skipping tracks could be a bit slow. But most decent quality drives should be more than adequate.

Also the MP3 file gets buffered in the media players RAM so once it's loaded a chunk in, the playback quality is essentially a product of the codec and the digital to analogue converters.

So I would advise a reasonable quality flash drive for quality if life but the end result should be the same regardless. You probably could use an optical drive, but if you are playing MP3s there wouldn't be any change in quality.
 
I have a question I so far haven't found an answer to in searching the Internet.

There are numerous devices that have a USB port to play MP3 files. But what I'm trying to understand, is if the quality of the sound produced is inherently different (better or worse or the same) depending on the individual device played, and how many devices it goes through to output sound ?

(Please, no discussion of compressed versus non-compressed sound formats. That's not what I'm interested in. I run 192k to 256k bitrate MP3s at 44 to 48khz. Roughly equivalent to CD sound.)

I can play MP3 files through a USB flash drive on my ethernet-based Roku Ultra device, that is connected via HDMI to my television. And the audio of my television goes to one of my two receivers, via an Optical Cable. Would I get inherently better sound if I played the same files directly from another type of a device, such as a receiver or dvd player with its own USB port?

(Keeping in mind that in my subjective opinion, playing the same files directly from my Samsung TV's USB port to my receiver doesn't seem to sound as good as from my Roku Ultra device.)

I'm just looking for best way to play my sound file collection to one or both of my receivers if there's a better way. Though I'd prefer an optical drive with a USB port to a receiver as the optical drive would cost much less.
Ought not to be a difference. Any loss of quality comes when you compress with the MP3 protocol. From then on, it is the same file as it would be on a hard drive or a CD. The same ones and zeros streaming by at the same rate. The quality variation is all in the sound card and the speakers..
 
There should be no reason why the media would make a difference to the quality of an MP3 files playback. It should be exactly the same information being decoded by your media playback device.

The bandwidth required for a decent MP3 shouldn't tax even the most long bearded of drives or media players. One problem you could run into with a slow usb drive could be problems seeking. It all depends on the throughput of the controller chip that acts as a go-between between the flash RAM and the USB host. So you may find with some drives scrubbing through a track may be a bit slow or skipping tracks could be a bit slow. But most decent quality drives should be more than adequate.

Also the MP3 file gets buffered in the media players RAM so once it's loaded a chunk in, the playback quality is essentially a product of the codec and the digital to analogue converters.

So I would advise a reasonable quality flash drive for quality if life but the end result should be the same regardless. You probably could use an optical drive, but if you are playing MP3s there wouldn't be any change in quality.
Sounds about right based on what I discovered this afternoon. For years I've wondered why MP3s play very well through the High Definition Audio of my computer, and rerecorded without loss to formats like CDA and WAV played on my much older (35+ years) 100 watt Sony receiver with Boston Acoustics T-830 speakers.

The quality of sound was not an issue as far as I can see regarding the USB port of my Roku Ultra, or my Samsung tv. I had completely forgotten about one critical issue on my Sony Home Theater receiver called "DAC". What Sony refers to as Digital Audio Compression. A feature provided I suppose, for renters like me who need somehow to cleverly attenuate their sound, especially considering the system puts out 167 watts per channel. DAC offers three settings: 1) None 2)Normal 3)Maximum. All separate from basic tonal settings like bass and treble. (Which I normally have set in neutral positions.)

As well, this receiver has something called "Night Mode". Which basically just shuts down the subwoofer. I never use it. Sound without any bass at all? No way. Forget that.

LOL. SMH. To "keep the peace" with my neighbors, long ago I put the DAC on its maximum setting so it proportionately muted the bass, midrange and treble. Using it primarily to play sound to DVD films, I just plain forgot about how this impacts music more then anything. Once I figured it out, I reset the DAC to "normal" and suddenly I was getting the dynamic range I was missing. It doesn't help that Sony has buried this feature requiring the use of a menu that involves five buttons that control a multitude of sound features. Getting to the DAC takes a bit of doing unless you can memorize how to access it. My bad!

The funny part is that only for a moment did I simply turn the DAC off. Whoa....too much sound! Kids, can you say, "EVICTION" ? Right now both my neighbors are gone, but will be back soon. But I didn't want to attract people in the building across the street either, so I quickly realized that turning off the DAC would have been a bad idea.

Anyways I figure now there's no reason to get another piece of hardware that has a built-in USB port. That even though my Roku Ultra connects to my tv using HDMI, the sound output of the tv is a digital optical cable that goes into my Home Theater Receiver. Otherwise if I want to play music with gusto, to remember to check the DAC settings before letting it rip. :rolleyes:
 
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Sounds about right based on what I discovered this afternoon. For years I've wondered why MP3s play very well through the High Definition Audio of my computer, and rerecorded without loss to formats like CDA and WAV played on my much older (35+ years) 100 watt Sony receiver with Boston Acoustics T-830 speakers.

The quality of sound was not an issue as far as I can see regarding the USB port of my Roku Ultra, or my Samsung tv. I had completely forgotten about one critical issue on my Sony Home Theater receiver called "DAC". What Sony refers to as Digital Audio Compression. A feature provided I suppose, for renters like me who need somehow to cleverly attenuate their sound, especially considering the system puts out 167 watts per channel. DAC offers three settings: 1) None 2)Normal 3)Maximum. All separate from basic tonal settings like bass and treble. (Which I normally have set in neutral positions.)

As well, this receiver has something called "Night Mode". Which basically just shuts down the subwoofer. I never use it. Sound without any bass at all? No way. Forget that.

LOL. SMH. To "keep the peace" with my neighbors, long ago I put the DAC on its maximum setting so it proportionately muted the bass, midrange and treble. Using it primarily to play sound to DVD films, I just plain forgot about how this impacts music more then anything. Once I figured it out, I reset the DAC to "normal" and suddenly I was getting the dynamic range I was missing. It doesn't help that Sony has buried this feature requiring the use of a menu that involves five buttons that control a multitude of sound features. Getting to the DAC takes a bit of doing unless you can memorize how to access it. My bad!

The funny part is that only for a moment did I simply turn the DAC off. Whoa....too much sound! Kids, can you say, "EVICTION" ? Right now both my neighbors are gone, but will be back soon. But I didn't want to attract people in the building across the street either, so I quickly realized that turning off the DAC would have been a bad idea.

Anyways I figure now there's no reason to get another piece of hardware that has a built-in USB port. That even though my Roku Ultra connects to my tv using HDMI, the sound output of the tv is a digital optical cable that goes into my Home Theater Receiver. Otherwise if I want to play music with gusto, to remember to check the DAC settings before letting it rip. :rolleyes:
If you like to enjoy the dynamic range then definitely use lossless audio codecs if your Roku supports them!

I don't really mind MP3s. I can mostly tune out the compression artefacts. But you really notice the difference on a good system with a very high quality audio file! Top end usually suffers on your average MP3, you get slushy high hats and muddy bass. The midrange tends to be ok as this is where the MP3 codecs pull less tricks with the psychoacoustics.

I do recall the Sony night mode on my old Sony hifi. It's essentially what we used to call loudness but probably with some dynamic range compression thrown in. Good old fashioned loudness is great! It makes everything sound much more punchy. It was something Japanese amplifier makers started putting in and it seems it really clicked with western ears. The idea was that you would set you amp volume to the maximum you enjoyed and then use the loudness control to change the volume. But needless to say, we didn't really follow that rule so the loudness ended up as a switch to boost the I guess, perceived volume. :)
 
If you like to enjoy the dynamic range then definitely use lossless audio codecs if your Roku supports them!

I don't really mind MP3s. I can mostly tune out the compression artefacts. But you really notice the difference on a good system with a very high quality audio file! Top end usually suffers on your average MP3, you get slushy high hats and muddy bass. The midrange tends to be ok as this is where the MP3 codecs pull less tricks with the psychoacoustics.

I do recall the Sony night mode on my old Sony hifi. It's essentially what we used to call loudness but probably with some dynamic range compression thrown in. Good old fashioned loudness is great! It makes everything sound much more punchy. It was something Japanese amplifier makers started putting in and it seems it really clicked with western ears. The idea was that you would set you amp volume to the maximum you enjoyed and then use the loudness control to change the volume. But needless to say, we didn't really follow that rule so the loudness ended up as a switch to boost the I guess, perceived volume. :)

The only time I start to hear unwanted sounds with MP3s is a bitrate below 192k. I never save a file any lower than that, though these days quite honestly my old ears can't seem to discern a 256K MP3 from one recorded at 192k. Though it still grates on me when people record poor quality analog vinyl records to digital formats like MP3.

Yeah, I recall the "loudness" button on the Technics receiver I had before I bought my Sony 100 watt receiver. It even had high and low pass filters, but still had a very analog FM/AM tuner. It was nice for the time...up to around 1984 but the Sony STR-AV1000 receiver that replaced it had a built-in graphics equalizer, which I adored. No need for a loudness button or filters. When I wanted to boost or lower a certain frequency, it was just a matter of hitting buttons to raise or lower octaves. LOL..so many buttons on that receiver. Sure glad that receiver still works like a champ. Sitting right next to my home theater receiver.
 
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I'm still laughing at how I forgot about Sony's Dynamic Audio Compression. Guess I got too used to it in listening to DVD movies rather than music. But then I've always preferred to listen to music through my older Sony receiver and Boston Acoustics speakers.

Unfortunately there's no way for me to listen to any music played directly from a USB drive to this receiver. All the digital outputs between my tv set, cable STB and DVD player go through my Sony Home Theater receiver. I only have analog RCA connections that connect both the DVD player and my Cable STB directly to RCA jacks on my Sony 100 watt receiver. Allowing me to listen to CD/DVD audio, as well as cable television, but not Roku broadcasts. At least I can listen to a variety of quality-broadcast music from cable tv's "Music Choice".

Of course if I were to replace my DVD player or receiver with something with a USB port, I could then listen to MP3s through my Boston Acoustics speakers. After all, I prefer listening to music through my two much more expensive 8-ohm Boston Acoustics speakers with 100 watts than through the six proprietary Sony 3-ohm speakers at 167 watts.

But in an apartment at such low volumes....it all seems a moot point. I'm glad others can enjoy their opulent audio systems in the comfort of a private home. Very cool. Easy to recall when I lived in my own condo, although even condos aren't as sound resistant as a single home. Oh well, I have to make so with what I have. It's ok. Especially with an extravagant car audio system I listen to nearly every day. :cool:

Audio System.jpg


Integrating two very different audio systems, side-by-side. My 35+ year-old receiver on the left, my home theater receiver and DVD player on the right. Of course I've tried my best to hide all the masses of cables that make it all work. Using steel shelving like this allows for great dissipation of heat, particularly for my cable STB to the lower right.
 
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Of course I've tried my best to hide all the masses of cables that make it all work.
And done an excellent job of it too. Many years ago I used to use rubber art cement for that because it never sets hard and can always be peeled off again, but that's banned here now.
 
And done an excellent job of it too. Many years ago I used to use rubber art cement for that because it never sets hard and can always be peeled off again, but that's banned here now.
I just use combinations of transparent tape and heavy-duty packaging tape. In the last ten years most of the adhesive has somehow kept it all together....lol. Though if I had to do it all over again I'd probably add the use of plastic tubing to run so many cables together with only the tubing so visible.
 
Made some other realizations of my audio setup yesterday. That my Roku Ultra's audio was set for equalizing the highs and lows of volume, plus enhancing human dialog. Wondering how they might impact music being outputted is anyone's guess. I turned them off.

Further that my Roku Ultra plays the USB MP3 files to my Samsung TV, which in turn has its own internal graphic equalizer for sound, that I've always enhanced. I reset the equalizer to flat frequency response. Guess I'll have to wait until my neighbors are gone to test it out again.

Between the HDMI cable from the Roku Ultra and a digital optical cable from my Samsung TV to my receiver, it's all digital. No point in altering the frequency response, especially given that my living room doesn't have any real acoustical issues. So there's no need for a graphic equalizer. Yet once the sound hits my Sony Home Theater receiver, I still have several "sound field" choices that can impact how the music sounds. With some 13 choices of sound fields, some are more compressed than others. For DVD movies I tend to leave it on Sony's proprietary "DCS" setting. For music, sometimes yes and sometimes no. Probably better to use Dolby Pro Logic II or the more austere "A.F.D. Standard".

Too many choices. But then there must be around 40 buttons on my much older receiver...lol. Go figure. Though so far it seems less is more when it comes to playing MP3 files.
 
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Made some other realizations of my audio setup yesterday. That my Roku Ultra's audio was set for equalizing the highs and lows of volume, plus enhancing human dialog. Wondering how they might impact music being outputted is anyone's guess. I turned them off.

Further that my Roku Ultra plays the USB MP3 files to my Samsung TV, which in turn has its own internal graphic equalizer for sound, that I've always enhanced. I reset the equalizer to flat frequency response. Guess I'll have to wait until my neighbors are gone to test it out again.

Between the HDMI cable from the Roku Ultra and a digital optical cable from my Samsung TV to my receiver, it's all digital. No point in altering the frequency response, especially given that my living room doesn't have any real acoustical issues. So there's no need for a graphic equalizer. Yet once the sound hits my Sony Home Theater receiver, I still have several "sound field" choices that can impact how the music sounds. With some 13 choices of sound fields, some are more compressed than others. For DVD movies I tend to leave it on Sony's proprietary "DCS" setting. For music, sometimes yes and sometimes no. Probably better to use Dolby Pro Logic II or the more austere "A.F.D. Standard".

Too many choices. But then there must be around 40 buttons on my much older receiver...lol. Go figure. Though so far it seems less is more when it comes to playing MP3 files.
Definitely get rid of all the pesky EQs in the chain. It may be even worth getting some test tones and a suitable signal analysis app for your phone. Just to see if there's any attenuation going on. Disabling the EQs doesn't always mean that the manufacturer in their wisdom hasn't coloured the tone in some way. Of course you can't get the most accurate readings on your phone so if you go down that route think of it more like a geiger counter than a precision instrument. :)

If you want any EQ at all, then best to use your amp/receiver to do the job with as pure a signal as possible.

If you are anything like me though, getting it all sounding spot on is part of the fun so I'm sure it will be a fun process dialing it all in just right!

I've been known to spend days just tweaking the alignment on my turn table once I've fitted a new cartridge.

I have Kate Bush's The Kick Inside on hand to do that as Wuthering Heights is cut pretty hot on the inside groove so if I can minimize the distortion and sibilance on that record, I know pretty much all my LPs with play just right! :)
 
If you are anything like me though, getting it all sounding spot on is part of the fun so I'm sure it will be a fun process dialing it all in just right!

:)

I have OCD. Getting just about anything "right" more often than not tends to be related to obsession more than technological passion. Not so fun. For me it's more of a curse than an asset.

But for now playing the MP3s through my home theater system without any EQ curve or other sound gimmicks seems to have worked. In the end not much of this matters, given how careful I have to be not to arouse the ire of my neighbors.

But I always have my headphones....where I can listen to HDA directly from my computer. :cool:
 

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