NAS vs SSD/HDD usb drive

[Super]

I wonder if anyone could tell me if there is any audio quality difference between a NAS vs SSD/HDD usb stick ? Would a NDX2 for instance be able to differentiate between them ?

[davidhendon]

I would say no SQ difference at all.

Best

David

[Super]

I’m a little new to this game so please forgive me, would the advantage of having a NAS, would it be able to stream to the NDX2 a Cambridge CNX V2 and a Muso (1st Gen) at the same time ?

[litemotiv]

A NAS would be more convenient for that yes. Another advantage of a NAS is that you would be able to reach it through the network to manage music files, with a USB drive you would have to remove it from the NDX2 and plug it into a computer to add/remove files.

A NAS can also offer a secondary backup drive, in case anything goes wrong with the primary drive.

In terms of sound quality both options would generally produce good results, so i would personally focus on what’s more convenient for you in terms of daily use and management.

[GadgetMan]

It’s been discussed a few times. See these three recent ones. I use a USB stick for simplicity, and I found no difference in SQ

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[JR007]

Hi
I have the NDX (mk1) & I have a NAS to get my music from. I do have a usb stick on the NDX too; I prefer the NAS - I find the usb (same files copied over from the NAS) can sound slightly ‘sharp’ (but only very slightly).
Using the naim app I can play either the NAS or the usb stick on all my naim gear at the same time (multiroom) - I don’t believe (might be different with NDX2) you can play this way to non-Naim gear.
But the CXN will be able to play from the NAS separately.
The only exception, for me, is if I’m playing from my Mac via iTunes: it’ll ‘see’ anything on my network that’s capable of playing the files.
Hope that helps

[ChrisSU]

@Super

I’m a little new to this game so please forgive me, would the advantage of having a NAS, would it be able to stream to the NDX2 a Cambridge CNX V2 and a Muso (1st Gen) at the same time ?

You will be running a UPnP server on your NAS for this. The server should be able to stream to several devices simultaneously. However, that is not the same as multiroom playback, where two or more systems play the same music in sync. Multiroom is proprietary, so it would work between your two Naim streamers, but not with the Cambridge.