SSD to Hold Music Collection

Support
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This is my first post in a long while so please excuse my lack of knowledge! I run Roon on my Mac Studio and this is Connected via a CAT 6 network through a Netgear hub to my endpoints which are Meridian M6 and Meridian DSP5000SE in separate rooms. I use the Roon App on my iPhone to select music in each zone.

My music collection is on a Hard Drive plugged into the Mac Studio (and backed up on another hard drive in my drawer)!

I’d like to switch the Hard Drive that is plugged into my Mac Studio for an SSD and wonder what specification will satisfy Roon in this setup? The fastest connection into my Mac Studio in Thunderbolt 4.

Thank you for any advice that can be offered!

Best wishes, Matthew

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Hi @Matthew_Roe,

Welcome back to the forums and thank you for your post.

Upgrading from a spinning hard drive to an SSD is a sensible step. Roon should feel more responsive, especially when browsing a larger library.

An NVMe SSD in a Thunderbolt 3 or 4 enclosure is the best option if you want to use the fastest ports on the Mac, but even a solid USB-C SSD will comfortably meet Roon’s needs. In practical terms, anything that can manage around 700–1,000 MB/s or better is plenty. Format the drive as APFS, move your music onto it, add it in Roon’s Storage settings, and keep your existing hard drive as a backup.

Here are some guides from our KB that might be helpful:

Also take note that MacOS has some file-sharing settings you might need to enable for Roon depending on the final implementation:

Please let us know if we can clarify further. We’re happy to answer any further questions. Thanks!

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Fellow user, A standard USB hard drive is already faster than is needed for music playback, curious as too the reason?

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Hi Daniel, the USB HDD holding my music large collection has degraded to the point it is not always detectable by my Mac Studio, and has made some odd noises, so I am concerned it may fail. That being the case I thought it best to use this opportunity to switch to an SSD as the best future option. Thanks, Matthew

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Thank you Connor for your very prompt reply, and the guidance you have provided. This is very useful and I will certainly read the guides you have provided. Best wishes, Matthew

1 Like
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If the hard drive has some weird noises…get your music transfer ASAP. It’s failing, had that experience myself; and waited at the last minute and paid the price. So don’t be like me!

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Thank you and fortunately I do have a backed up copy on another hard drive in my desk drawer.

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