Hegel

[manicm]

I emailed Hegel asking if the new H150 amp's USB drive port will play gapless, and here's the somewhat strange response I got:

'Thank you for your email. Please note that your question is not relevant, a digital input will play the signal it receives. It is the source that has to handle gapless.'

 

[Al ears]

I emailed Hegel asking if the new H150 amp's USB drive port will play gapless, and here's the somewhat strange response I got:

'Thank you for your email. Please note that your question is not relevant, a digital input will play the signal it receives. It is the source that has to handle gapless.'

Odd! A very ambiguous response.
Particularly if your source is a USB stick.
I guess it depends on the file types and how they were recorded onto the drive itself.

 

[Vincent Kars]

The answer is correct if you use it as a USB DAC. This means the USB-B port.
The answer is nonsense as your question is about the USB-A so a external USB drive. There it is the media player inside the Hegel that is able to play gapless or not.

 

[Al ears]

The answer is correct if you use it as a USB DAC. This means the USB-B port.
The answer is nonsense as your question is about the USB-A so a external USB drive. There is is the media player inside the Hegel that is able to play gapless or not.

Can you amply on that ?
Surely a drive connected via the USB-A is still a storage device?

 

[manicm]

The answer is correct if you use it as a USB DAC. This means the USB-B port.
The answer is nonsense as your question is about the USB-A so a external USB drive. There is is the media player inside the Hegel that is able to play gapless or not.

No, the Hegel has a USB-A port specifically for drives, and a USB-B port for PC/DAC.

 

[Al ears]

No, the Hegel has a USB-A port specifically for drives, and a USB-B port for PC/DAC.

Are you sure?
Thought the USB-B was for memory sticks.

 

[Al ears]

No, the Hegel has a USB-A port specifically for drives, and a USB-B port for PC/DAC.

Apologies, got my A and B muddled it seems.

 

[Jasonovich]

Are you sure?
Thought the USB-B was for memory sticks.

He's correct my JF MX Pro digital transport has the same setup, one USB is dedicated to Audio output to PC/DAP/DAC and the other USB input for storage.

 

[Gray]

Surely a drive connected via the USB-A is still a storage device?

It is - feeding the files to the Hegel.

The internal of the Hegel is effectively the source - that Hegel has said the device plugged into the USB-A port needs to be 🤪
In other words, it's the Hegel that determines whether or not playback from the external drive is gapless.

 

[Al ears]

It is - feeding the files to the Hegel.

The internal of the Hegel is effectively the source - that Hegel has said the device plugged into the USB-A port needs to be 🤪
In other words, it's the Hegel that determines whether or not playback from the external drive is gapless.

That's precisely what I was alluding to....
So Hegel haven't really answered the question, irrespective of USB input utilised.

 

[Vincent Kars]

Can you amply on that ?
Surely a drive connected via the USB-A is still a storage device?

USB is about a host and peripherals.
A to B is (or was) very common to connect a host (PC) to a peripheral (DAC). Today of course it might be USB-C as well. Obvious the host is in charge. Either the host (the media player on the host) is able to play gapless or not.

A to A/B/C where A/B/C means an external USB drive implies that A is the host. The media player on the host (Hegel) is able to play gapless or not. Not much different from using a PC with a external USB drive.

The host is the one able to play gapless (or not). The drive contains data only.

Maybe phrase it a bit different.
You have data on a drive (USB, NAS, SSD, SD, HD), the host pulls the data from this drive. As you have multiple tracks, the ability to play them gapless is a property of the host, not the drive.