I have have a Uniti Nova and recently ordered a Core.
Is there any advantage or disadvantage to attaching a desktop USB drive directly to the Nova or to the networked Core?
Is there a performance difference in building and maintaining the music library index of the files on the USB drive? Is it a common directory, independent of which device it is attached to, or is it maintained on the device it is attached to?
Any noticeable sonic difference?
I assume the better option is to get a larger drive for the Core and copy the files to the ‘download’ directory, but would like to maintain the portability of an external USB hdd drive.
Welcome Marty interesting question, i did own both Nova and Core, but never did a back to back so cannot be sure. I have seen Naim at demo,s for the Uniti range play off usb stick drives which suggests that it cannot be that bad?
Running a Nova with a USB drive will mean that you have to remove the drive and attach it to a computer to add music to it. Once it’s back on the Nova, it will give you pretty much the same functionality as a Core for virtually no cost. I find USB drives attached directly to my NDX or Atom sound fine, so the usefulness of the Core would arguably be limited to CD ripping.