BTW, I do think it is a good idea to use an external hard drive for music files for various practical reasons.
For one thing it offloads the file access from the internal drive which is where OS and other files needed for basic computer operation resides. THis generally should result in better throughput (data can be read faster). IT also is safer to have a drive dedicated to music files in case the computers drive has to be rebuilt for some other reason.
It is also possible that some playback software could take liberties with sound quality as a means of dealing with delays in reading disk data which is more likely in general if the files are stored internally. I do not know specifically of a music playback program that does this, but it is certainly possible, and not a solution that audiophiles would take to. There are other ways to handle this but sometimes a computer can get so bogged down with various processing that goes on in the background, that all the bits are not availble in time when needed for playback.
So in general, using an external drive for music files can be considered a best practice I believe (I do it) even though the same data files with the exact same amount of musical information is available regardless of storage location. Its just the safest and most practical approach to take.
BTW, using a networked music player, like the Rokus in my system or Logitech Squeezebox, absolutely makes the origin of the music files a moot point in regards to sound quality. These are essentially dedicated, optimized, computer devices designed specifically to play back music. They cache the data locally in memory for fast, optimal access when needed and then forward bits on to the DAC (internal or external) in real time without issue. The only issue that can occur with these is a weak network data connection from server to network music player, and/or a slow running server, which together may result in the bits not being cached and ready to go when needed. The result in this case is a silent delay in playing until all the needed bits are cached. Sound quality is for sure not compromised when playing though.
For one thing it offloads the file access from the internal drive which is where OS and other files needed for basic computer operation resides. THis generally should result in better throughput (data can be read faster). IT also is safer to have a drive dedicated to music files in case the computers drive has to be rebuilt for some other reason.
It is also possible that some playback software could take liberties with sound quality as a means of dealing with delays in reading disk data which is more likely in general if the files are stored internally. I do not know specifically of a music playback program that does this, but it is certainly possible, and not a solution that audiophiles would take to. There are other ways to handle this but sometimes a computer can get so bogged down with various processing that goes on in the background, that all the bits are not availble in time when needed for playback.
So in general, using an external drive for music files can be considered a best practice I believe (I do it) even though the same data files with the exact same amount of musical information is available regardless of storage location. Its just the safest and most practical approach to take.
BTW, using a networked music player, like the Rokus in my system or Logitech Squeezebox, absolutely makes the origin of the music files a moot point in regards to sound quality. These are essentially dedicated, optimized, computer devices designed specifically to play back music. They cache the data locally in memory for fast, optimal access when needed and then forward bits on to the DAC (internal or external) in real time without issue. The only issue that can occur with these is a weak network data connection from server to network music player, and/or a slow running server, which together may result in the bits not being cached and ready to go when needed. The result in this case is a silent delay in playing until all the needed bits are cached. Sound quality is for sure not compromised when playing though.
