I don’t think a NAS is a poor option in terms of sound quality, it’s just going to need a bit more effort to set it up. It can be a very versatlie tool to have, and if you get a more powerful one, yes, it can run Roon.
Were the WAV/FLAC files in the root directory of the USB drive ? i.e. Not in folders.
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Apologies if already mentioned but cheapest option would be to use the drive hooked to an always on home computer if you have one, running asset UPnP which is free for basic usage.
Alternatively a headless always on raspberry pi on your LAN with the WD connected via USB.
A decent NAS may be preferable but isn’t absolutely essential.
I think the ones that worked probably were in the root file, and the ones that didn’t work were in folders. I’ll try them in the root file tonight. Thanks for the tip.
Thanks - yes, I’m considering that. But if the laptop of cheap network bridge becomes the weakest link in the chain, it will degrade the quality - and at the moment the system sounds really great. I want toget better SQ, not worse…
I’m not sure a computer or rpi running Asset would be any worse than a good quality but non audiophile targetted NAS.
With a lot of these things it’s having the time and inclination to be able to A/B things to determine that one form of LAN based storage trumps another -undoubtedly some will be better in your setup but it may not necessarily correlate with the pedigree of the device acting as a server unless you go for an audiophile product, and even then who knows for sure until you try it 
I’m close to looking at ethernet cables again in my tweaking but sanity might prevail 
I have the inclination to do A/B tests. I’ve done quite a few lately.
My system is very simple - 272, serviced 150x, Arivas and a Rega Planar. Hardly ever use my Rega Planar 3 and am probably going to sell it to help get a better streaming set up. Also just sold my CD5i.
I have no audio storage at all at the moment besides a a couple of jazz LPs I downloaded from Qobuz for testing.
Some mentioned the Zen Mini - am planning to look into that and see what it does…
Good luck, and let us know how you get on.
There was an interesting thread on ethernet ‘fibre bridges’ on the archived site - I was tempted to give that a go at one stage.
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I tried 2 Qobuz files in the root drive of the WD My Passport Ultra HDD and a 6 year old cheap Sony Walkman USB pen drive. The redbook Albert Collins/John Zorn file didn’t work with either of them. But it does play on various bits of software on my PC.
The 24-bit/96kHz Miles Davis LP does play happily from root directory or from a folder. The 272 Narcom remote can find files and play them.
As expected, though, the SQ is not as good as normal Tidal streaming to the 272. So this very technoligcally crude and simple solution will not cut it.
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