Sony HAP 1 ES and adding external Hard Drives

Al,

Maybe you can give me some thoughts on how you would proceed on this. I've been using Linux as my main OS for the last couple of years and like it very much. After reading some comments about people using Windows 8 find that it sounds better than Win 7, I became curious and went out and bought a copy of 8.1. To my ears, it really does sound better. (One thing I would like to be very clear on to anyone reading this is that I'm fairly new to computer audio. I don't consider myself qualified in any way to give advice. Why does 8 sound better than 7? I have no clue. I could very well not have 7 set up right.)

Anyway, back to my question. Right now, most of my music is on ext4 partitions, both internal sata and external usb. Would it make sense to go through the trouble of getting Windows working with ext4? The reason I ask is that ext4 is a journaling file system and from what I understand, data is safer from corruption than with file systems that don't journal. I do back everything up, so I would probably be OK with ntfs.

Hi ZD,

Not sure if you are aware that NTFS is also a journaling file system. And one that has proven to be very robust IME ever since XP (which could run on either NTFS or FAT32) was introduced in 2001. FAT32, of course, is a disaster waiting to happen in terms of robustness.

I have no idea either why some people report that Win 8 sounds better than Win 7. And I doubt that anyone else can say for sure, either. I am not, btw, into computer audio at all at this point, and I don't envision pursuing it in the near term. Despite being a technically oriented person, somehow I always seem to be among the last to get into new technologies :-)

Also, based on all I have read about Win 8 and 8.1 I have no plans to ever "upgrade" to it, due mainly to the many reports about its user interface and other features being unfamiliar and cumbersome, and given that Microsoft has indicated that security patches for the excellent Win 7 will continue to be provided until 2020.

Re backing up, as you no doubt realize, despite the robustness of journaling file systems there is always a chance that drives can fail at any time, and that operating systems or data files can become corrupted. My practice is therefore to back up data files almost daily to a second hard drive (internal or external), and to back up weekly or so to another hard drive, and to create a complete image of the "system drive" (usually the "c" drive in Windows) once a month or so. The imaging program I use is Terabyte Unlimited's Image For Windows. In doing so, I can recover from a drive failure, or a software installation or software update that goes awry or that I don't like, or a corrupted operating system, in an hour or so, plus the time to obtain a replacement drive if necessary.

BTW, although I've been mainly a Windows person over the years, for a couple of years several years ago I dual booted Ubuntu Linux and Windows XP, mainly just to see what Linux was all about. It worked well for me, but ultimately there were too many programs I or my wife wanted to use that were designed for Windows only.

Best,
-- Al

Thanks Al. I didn't know that ntfs was a journaling file system. I'm pretty sure that I read somewhere that it wasn't, but I'm glad I was wrong. As far as Win 8 goes, I hate the interface. I just don't know what MS was thinking. There's a free program called Classic Shell. Using its default settings, it pretty much turns the Win 8 interface into Win 7. It also has a lot of tweaking options so you can mix features of both interfaces. So for me, Win 8 looks just like 7 and after using it for a couple of months now feel Win 8 isn't perfect, but like 7, you can make it work.

As far as Linux goes, I understand. Some users must have certain software. That said, I think if more people become exposed to Linux, it could very well be the future. It's just amazing what's is offered at no cost whatsoever. If you ever give Linux another try, maybe look at a KDE distro like Mint KDE or Kubuntu. Its the most Windows like desktop environment, and I feel, the most powerful.

Thanks again Al for the great info.

Thanks again Al for the great info.

Likewise! Thanks for the excellent info you've provided.

Best,
-- Al

I've been connecting the balanced output of the Sony HAP-Z1ES to an Ayre K-5xeMP preamp.  Is the output of the Sony dual differential?  Or would it be as well or better to use the unbalanced output?  The Ayre has only two balanced inputs, and an Ayre C-5xeMP, Oppo 205, and the Sony compete for them.  A 2:1 balanced switch is an option until I find a KX-5 Twenty with more inputs.

db