James,
I have tried a few things.
1-I have put a powered hub between the portable HD an the BDA 3.14. Same result when playing 48K-24 files. Ramdom drop outs by bunch of 2, 3 or 4 at a time. Also confirmed that other bit rate files (44, 96 and 192K) are playing fine.
2-Played the files from my PC shared folders. Same results on 48K-24 files. All good with other bit rates.
3-Swap AC cable, redid test in #1, same results. From this point I am not verifying other bit rates.
4-Connect the BDA 3.14 in AC wall outlet instead of Furutech pwr bar. Same results.
5-Redid test in #1 after removing the network cable. Same results.
6-As it seems that the data stream seems disturbed by some odd thing, I also removed all of the LED lighting from the room. Redid test in #1, same results.
7-Launched and control MPD from an iPad instead of a iPhone. Redid test in #1, same results.
8-Shut down all electronics in the room except the ones needed to perform the test. Same results.
9-I also reconfirmed that all is playing ok when using BDP-1 connected to the SPDIF.
Something odd is happening with these 48K-24 files and the Pi3 data stream of my unit. Files are from different artists and from legit downloads from Bandcamp. I didn’t noticed this issue since recently as 48K-24 seems like a new trend on Bandcamp. When streamed from BDP-1 to the BDA 3.14 SPDIF DAC input all is fine.
Let me know if something else can be tried at this point.
Daniel