Thank you @ChrisSU @Eoink for the time.
S***. I ( really) need to upgrade my UQ2 to a Nova. 
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It’s Christmas 
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Both old and new gen. streamers can play music from the USB input, but you only get a basic folder view. The metadata is usually visible in the now playing screen, but not when browsing.
The current streamers can also see music files in the USB port via the Server input (on the old streamers this was called the UPnP input). Here you can browse the same files by metadata and artwork.
In addition, if you enable Server mode, this music can be played on other UPnP streamers on your network. This includes any Naim streamer, as well as any non-Naim device that is a UPnP client.
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I just did this and finished completely about 10 mins ago. 913 albums ripped, all sitting on a SSD drive attached to a Raspberry pi 4B - no fans, no fuss. Running minimserver. SSD is a Samsung T7 and the Pi is in an Argon case for passive cooling.
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My NAS is a “Synology 8TB DS716+II 2-Bay with two WD 4TB Red Plus 5400 rpm SATA III 3.5” Internal NAS HDD drives" It has been up and running since July 2017 without interruption except when to occasionally take off-line for storms or cleaning up the area where it is stored.
This is the easiest and most cost effective solution, well done @ChrisSU. Rip to a USB stick, plug into NDX2…done. If you want a stand-alone NAS, figure that out at a later date after you become more familiar with it all.
Q1: I’ve used a Synology NAS (412+) for 7 years. Thoroughly recommend it.
Q2: I started out 7 years ago with iTunes purely for the ripping of CDs and the curation of music files, and have not found a good reason to change. Occasionally I use XLD in the rare event of any ripping problems.
Q3: I use MinimServer running on the NAS to serve music. I can understand your concern about having a noisy NAS in the vicinity of your listening area. Do you have a room where the noise would not matter? I put mine in an unused bedroom and use a wireless ‘bridge’ to stream music from the library - the bridge has an Apple Airport Extreme on each end. For music I’ve found the data transmission performance is completely adequate for music streaming. This setup not only removes the acoustic noise by physical isolation but also removes electronic noise from the NAS cpu and disc drives because there is no wired connection to the hifi system. When I set this up I arranged for the cable modem and router to be installed remote from the listening room as well. I’d add if you did follow this approach the wireless access point (the end of the wireless bridge in the listening room) should not be located close to the DAC.
Q4: All the above was off-the-shelf. The most taxing was setting up the wireless bridge, however I see there are now ‘mesh’ wireless systems that are much easy to set up.
Happy listening!
If I burn all my CD’s onto an external SSD drive such as the Samsung T5, when plugged into the NDX2 will the Naim app and NDX 2 show the album art? And will the T5 have to be formatted before plugging it into the NDX 2?
Yes, it will see album art.
The drive should be formatted in NTFS, HFS or FAT32
Isn’t there a limit on the number of tracks that can be read by USB?
Many thanks @ChrisSU. It seems to me that this may be the most cost effective method of streaming my CD collection (as opposed to the NAS or Uniti Core routes).
There are pros and cons to all these methods. In order to add music or edit metadata you will need to connect the USB drive to a computer, then back into the streamer to play music. This is easy to do, but if you’re making regular changes, a NAS that’s always on is more versatile. You can always add a NAS later if you decide it’s worthwhile.
It should be said that a NAS with a UPnP software programs such as Asset or Minimserver enables a real browsing facility, search by artist, by album, track title, composer, genre etc.
Ease yourself in gradually. Rip a few CDs to .aiff format into the music/itunes app already on the mac. If mac and NDX are on the same wifi network the NDX should find the music folder on the mac.
You could then copy the music files to a 256GB USB to make it even simpler. Playing around with a few ripped CDs lets to learn what the options are before investing time ripping your whole collection.
If you decide to go beyond this I always found a free app called Max by Sbooth nice and simple, once you’ve found your way around it.
As one old codger to another, as you only have 400 CDs I’d stay well away from the NAS route. I tried using a QNAP NAS for several years but spend way too much time doing software updates, trying to work out why the NAS had disappeared from the network and replacing the disc drives. NAS’s are designed for commercial environments and to run a whole range of complex software. The fans on them are noisy.
I ended up with a NUC running Roon’s ROCK operating system - faultless, fit and forget but only relevant if you plan on using Roon. Roon is overkill if you don’t plan on streaming. Also the silent NUCs are expensive for listening room use.
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I bought an AssetNas many years ago, it’s specifically designed for music and comes preinstalled with Asset. It can be added.to for more storage space and it’s never missed a beat, I highly recommend it
Bugger it. I’m going to drag 100 or so albums/folders to a USB stick and give it a go. Just to see what it looks like. Yes, there will be no Asset or Minimserver smoothing things along.
But, if I were starting without a NAS would this be usable is the question.
That’s my thinking too @Thegreatroberto. I’m wondering how disorganized or difficult to browse in the Naim app my 400 CD’s will be simply by burning them onto a USB drive. I guess the only way to find out is by taking the plunge. Although in my case, taking a plunge would mean spending appr $300 on a USB drive that could’ve went towards a NAS and internal drive setup.
Showing another 40mins to transfer 50Gbs worth…
Interested to see the results.