I currently have my music stored on a Naim NS01 on my hifi rack and on a HDD connected to my iMac which is used as the Roon Core. They are all hard wired through a built-in network to my ND555, with switches at the hifi rack and the iMac ends. When streaming 24/192 from the HDD via Roon to the ND555, all works seamlessly, but sometimes my NS01 will not feed a stream music of the same quality without dropping out then jumping to the next track. The NS01 has just been back to Naim for some tlc, but I wonder how Roon controls the music? Do files on the NS01 come from its HDD to Roon on the iMac, then back to the ND555, thereby possibly identifying bandwidth problems on the network? I have tried a different cable direct from the iMacās switch to the ND555/NS01 switch, but the symptoms are the same. If the music goes from the NS01 to the Roon on the iMac then there is no point in replacing the NS01 with a Melco, but instead I could put a new Roon core on or by the rack, allowing the NS01, ND555 and Roon Core all to be connected to the same switch. Some 3rd party Roon Coreās come with options for a HDD or two, so everything could be together and I could sell the NS01. Or I could try a Melco, widely recommended, especially with the 2 different network connections for player and network, but Iād hate to spend Ā£5k there and find that Roon needs to take everything back to the iMac to stream files. At the end of the day I can play all the files I want, Tidal and Qobuz through Roon with no buffering issues, ripped CDs on the NS01 and 24 bit music from the HDD on my iMac, but I find it frustrating that the NS01 will not perform better as a server. Any ideas from experienced streamers?
The Roon Core takes the stream from your NS01, buffers it, and serves it to the ND555. It should work reliably, Iāve had no problems doing the same with my Unitiserve which is essentially the same as an NS01 in this respect.
I suspect thereās a network issue at play here somewhere. It shouldnāt be bandwidth related though, as a music stream is a pretty light load for any network.
If you attach a copy of your NS01 library to your Roon Core, you could sell it if you donāt want it as a ripper/player/server.
Roon Core is your music server.
You should have two locations defined for music in Roon, one for your HDD and the other for the NS01ās hard drive.
Your NS01 is just a storage location in this setup.
Thanks for helping. The ND555, iMac (Roon Core) and NS01 are all in a wired system, which is connected via unmanaged Netgear switches to the BT Home Hub. The 4 Mesh discs are effectively transmitter boosters, each connected to the BTHomeHub through wired connections, satisfying the wider household need and providing me with wireless control of my Naim boxes in my dedicated music room. I read somewhere that the BTHomeHub is rather unhelpful or unstable in the way it assigns IP addresses (but I do not know how). I think I can reassign IP addresses manually but donāt understand DHCP or other settings. Iām happy to spend money on a NAS (thank you for your offer to advise on spec)m a dedicated fanless Roon Core or a Melco, but Iād like to get the network running properly first, so perhaps reconfiguring my BTHomeHub, assigning the IP addresses manually or replacing the router/modem with a 3rd party box could solve the network instability. Speed is good, typically 75 Mbps, a wired rather than fibre connection but the BT box is just down the road in my village, so my speed is quite good. The NS01 has been back to HQ (Ā£400 on top of the Ā£3000+ purchase price) so should be ok, but I understand it is old tech. If I can nurse it over the next year or whilst using my iMac as a Rone Core and connected music HDD, I can spend money on the Melco, a dedicated Rone Core or a NAS idc.
The BT hub along with all other domestic routers assigns IP addresses using the DHCP protocol. Itās not possible to do this in an unstable or unhelpful way.
Leave it all to DHCP. Make sure all your clients are set to use DHCP.
You donāt say what āMeshā system you have but this may well be contributing to any issues you are experiencing.
BT Whole Home Mesh - but the problem predated that.
BT mesh is good 
If your Roon Core is working reliably you donāt need a separate music store on the NS01 or another NAS. Just put a copy of the NS01 music library on a USB drive and attach it to the Roon Core device.
If you do this, you should first convert any WAVs to FLAC on the NS01.
How old is your BT router? It may be worth asking them to supply a more recent version, or a āsmart hubā rather than your home hub. BT make a big deal about how they guarantee reliable WiFi performance if you use their hardware, so it might be worth suggesting to them that wired Ethernet should be more reliable than WiFi, not less.
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