external hdd to use with naim system

sharik posted:

i use external hard drives powered by the comp itself.

I have the exact same WD My Passport Ultra external HDD and cable as Sharik (it's even the same colour!).

Q1: Can I plug that into the back (or front) of my 272 and play FLAC files off it? Or do I have to plug the HDD into my PC or the iPad?

Q2: How should I control the play? - via a music server program like Illustrate Asset on an iPad?

Q3: Should I rip my CDs using something like Illustrate dBpoweramp?

JimDog posted:

sharik posted:

i use external hard drives powered by the comp itself.

I have the exact same WD My Passport Ultra external HDD and cable as Sharik (it's even the same colour!).

Q1: Can I plug that into the back (or front) of my 272 and play FLAC files off it? Or do I have to plug the HDD into my PC or the iPad?

Q2: How should I control the play? - via a music server program like Illustrate Asset on an iPad?

Q3: Should I rip my CDs using something like Illustrate dBpoweramp?

The old streamer USB input was really designed to connect iPhones, and will also work with USB sticks, but USB hard drives may not work. Even if they do, the metadata will probably not be read, so it’s not going to be a great solution. 

If you connect the USB drive to a computer and run a UPnP server such as Asset or Minimserver on that, you should get a better result, and this can be controlled in the Naim app UPnP input. Most people use a NAS for this, but computer + USB drive works. 

alan33 posted:

Peter1480 posted:

my SSDs in my Qnap sound better than the WD Reds in my Synology

Hi Peter -

Have you, by any remote chance, tried the SSDs in the Synology or the WD Reds in the Qnap??? I ask mainly because I remain skeptical about physical media differences contributing to audible differences, but remain open to the idea that different overall solutions, from different vendors, with different interfaces, firmware, network stacks and so on, might also have other (less obvious?) differences (noise floor, timing, etc.) that might lead to audible differences. I know it’s a long shot, but you might have given that experiment a go, so I thought I’d ask... For transparency, I admit I’ve never tried this, but maybe I’m easy to please as I’ve not been unhappy with (or really able to hear differences between) any of the several different UPNP solutions I’ve tried.

Regards alan

Hi Alan,

Yes I tried them both ways round and a stanalone Samsung T3 SSD and Samsung standalone HD, before deciding on the way I have it now. The T3 is connected to the Qnap and I back up to that as I'm in Raid 0 but I also have a backup set on the Synology as well so I can quite easily swap and listen. By the way I run Asset.

best,

Pete