Using an NDX2 with an external SSD

Thank you @Thegreatroberto

I’m trying to stay away from a separate server. But if this proves necessary, I’ll certainly look up the Synology. All the best.

some reports here that the Melco externad disk (with power!) attached to USB NDX/ND555? got fantastic results, …of course it’s a matter of price…

Oh ! So these things impact the sound as well ??? This is getting less and less to my taste :rofl:
Now, I’ll defintely try to stick to USB direct to the NDX2.

And if someone says that the various brands of SSDs have their own sound, I’ll just pack it all up and by a supermarket hifi combo :wink:

Thanks @easeback1

Cool. Thank you @StephenPacker.

I’ll try to stay away from servers if at all possible. If not, that does sound like the way to go, as I’ll be in familiar territory. Cheers

The main element here being cover art which is accommodated with the FLAC format. If you had a library full of WAV files you may get annoyed at looking at hundreds of blank album/artist icons!
I think you’ll be fine, one thing that can be challenging is categorising classical recordings especially if you want to search by orchestra, conductor, location and so forth. Also linking multi disc recordings in to one view can be problematic in some server/database implementations, there’s a comment further up about the intricate workings (or lack of) with respect to the Naim metadata engine. Others with more hands on experience of that particular hardware can comment but something to bare in mind and evaluate before you commit to a solution with a user experience you may find lacking.
Another gotcha to keep an eye out for is gapless playback, especially concerning orchestral recordings where multiple movements flow in to each other, some solutions either don’t handle this very well or at all.

Failing that, FAT32 at a push!

Thanks.

I’ll give the USB direct solution a try for a while. If that proves inadequate, maybe Roon can help. That’s another rabbit hole opening up, with a need for a core and a server. But it feels like the most polished solution if a simple cable won’t do.

There’s plenty on Roon elsewhere here and I can give some more information if you can’t find what you need- it’s what I’m running on my 10+ year old Mac.

Most things can be tried as part of the experimentation without cost or commitment including Roon.
Having used most of the obvious methods over the years including Roon for some years now you’ll find those things are enhancements to the listening journey and a means to both curate your existing library and provide appropriate suggestions based upon it to discover things you may not be aware of or taken much notice to in the past.
Certainly as a starting point it’s worth doing some reading and learning around the Rip/Store/Serve/Play process of which there are many options and choices with a starting point of simply playing back your own local library from a suitable USB drive. Once you’ve reached a level of comfort and confidence in that you can start to evaluate the merits of other complimentary offerings like Qobuz, Tidal, Roon and so forth. They all offer the means to try out their capabilities on a trial basis at least.

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Thanks. All very logical.

Very kind Stephen, thank you.

Hi @PascalDS

Just to let you know I put up a Mac OS script that you might want to use/try to copy your music to a USB stick which I detailed on another thread below

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(Already given several times, but as confirmation:)
The Naim devices now support exFAT (since 3.4 version). I’m using this successfully with my Mac. (Beforehand I used NTFS, but had bought a commercial NTFS file system already years ago.)

And because some people insist on servers:
I run the same setup (external SSD; syncing my iTunes folder now and then using ALAC files, including embedded pictures and meta-data; using the same “rsync” command line as already mentioned).
When accessing it via the “inbuilt UPnP server” of my Atom, there’s enough meta-data and comfort for me. (Album, Artist, Genre, … - BTW, “server mode” is NOT needed for this; that one is intended, when you want to access the media from another device on the network.)

As for different sound-quality based on the media you plug into the USB port:
The IT part of my brain is veeeeery skeptical about that. There should be a 1:1 replica of the binary data from disk to the DAC (except for decoding of FLAC/ALAC/…). I’m not sure, any “noise shaping” described on the forum would have effects here, with minor power provided to the external drive by the Naim unit itself.
The hifi part of my brain is not curious enough to make myself run a test serious on this myself. :wink:

Thank you @GadgetMan. Much appreciated.

@PhilippVH the more I read this thread, the more I realise I’m not curious enough myself and will simply get my CD reader out of storage. Audio should be fun :wink: Cheers

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I do hope you reconsider. At least have a demo of one and see how good they can be. Remember this is a community of audio egg heads and technicians, and as a result you will likely get very detailed answers that some may not understand fully. I myself have worked in the IT industry all my life (Level 3 support), but still get lost at a lot of the chat here. Even though I worked in IT, I always valued simplicity and was always frustrated about how computers require users to be experts in computing. That’s why I moved to Mac 12 years ago, as I found that most weekends I was spend updating, defragging, virus scanning etc, and never got to enjoy what computing was designed for - never looked back. Again thats why I have gone for the USB method, as it simplifies everything, and lets you enjoy the music, rather than the tec. So please audition a device, use whatever means you like to get your music on your drive, then all the add-ons can be fine tuned later. Happy to help in anyway I can

That’s most kind of you. And I’ll certainly have a listen at a dealer’s :wink: It had better be significantly better sounding than a good CD/DAC combo to justify the hassle though ;)) Cheers

I must be honest, I have a Naim CDX, and it does beat my ND5 XS2, but only a smidge. You probably wouldn’t notice most of the time. Having all my music to hand is so worthwhile, and having thousands of radio stations gives endless listening capabilities. In my case I would always start a newly purchased CD in the CDX to get the best results (plus get the enjoyment of loading it), then move to Mac (and USB stick) at some point later to give full flexibility. I wish you well whatever you choose.

Looking forward to hear how you get on.

Thank you so much. I’ll be sure to let you know if I get my hand (and ears) on one. All the best.

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