Hello @Roger_Schofield,
To answer your question about SSD storage: Roon OS does not actually have a strict maximum storage capacity limit for the drives themselves (for example, you can safely connect 4TB, 8TB, or even larger drives). The real limitation is the number of tracks and how that impacts the internal memory (RAM) of the Nucleus One.
The Nucleus One is optimized to handle libraries of up to roughly 100,000 tracks (about 10,000 albums). As long as your total track count stays within that range, the physical size in terabytes of the SSDs won’t be an issue.
Regarding the read speeds you asked about earlier, this depends entirely on how those SSDs are connected to the Nucleus One:
- Internal SATA: If you have an SSD installed inside the Nucleus One’s drive bay, it uses a SATA III connection, which provides real-world speeds of up to ~600 MB/s.
- USB 3.0 (Blue ports): If you have external SSDs plugged into the USB 3.0 ports, they can reach speeds up to ~625 MB/s (5 Gbps).
- USB 2.0 (if connected via an older hub or cable): Speeds will be capped at about ~60 MB/s (480 Mbps). While this is technically fast enough to stream audio, it will make scanning new music or transferring files feel very slow.
Also, regarding your original issue with the low output volume: Since you are using a dedicated preamp (the Denafrips Athena) to control your volume, you want Roon to output a 100% unattenuated signal to the Matrix Element S. In Roon, go to Settings > Audio, click the gear icon next to your Matrix Element S, and select Device Setup. Make sure the Volume Control Mode is set to Fixed Volume.