USB Drive - Direct attach to Nova or to the networked Core?

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.

Thanks.
Marty

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.

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