Hi All,
I’ve been running a fast external USB HD with Nucleus thru KEF LSX speakers using an iMac Pro. All ethernet connected. I play mostly FLAC files and Qobuz stream.
I’m really tired of how slow it is to start songs/switch songs etc. I figure this is because of the external USB HD? Would it be faster if I purchase and install an internal SSD?
If so, which SSD do you all recommend?
Thanks so much
These are excellent:
I have the 4TB version installed in my Nucleus, and it works perfectly. It’s so much faster than an external HDD, especially from stand-still.
Awesome. Thanks so much. Gonna check them out right now!
I second that, I moved my library to a 2TB QVO in my NUC/ROCK and could not be happier!
Yes and yes, but probably not due to the USB or external part. It’s probably because your external drive is spinning down. Do you hear it spinning when playing and not spinning when you are idle for a while?
Hi Danny. Not sure will have to listen when I get home. If I hear it what do I do? Would rather not spend a bunch of money at this time on a SSD. Thanks so much
Yes I hear it wake up when I try to do something in Roon. Anything I could do about this? Thanks all
What drive is it? Brand/model
It’s a G/Drive usb 3.1 4TB
Quick Google search shows that older gdrive USB firmware never went to sleep, but newer drives don’t listen to the command to not sleep and instead always sleep if not accessed frequently 
Dang. So I should go for the internal SSD huh?
Using an internal SSD is probably the only way to eliminate the ‘wake up’ delay associated with using a USB HDD.
I used to use a Toshiba Canvio desktop 3TB USB HDD before installing the SSD in the Nucleus, and it always took a couple of seconds to ‘wake’ after being in standby.
Interestingly, when awake the track access time was no different to the SSD, but the delay on waking really annoyed me.
PLUS also remember that the SSD is silent. Even the quiet Canvio was audible from across the room.
I would not jump to the conclusion this is a drive speed issue. That is certainly one possibility. Does time between tracks improve if you listen to multiple tracks in a row from the drive? Or is there always a delay?
I think the issue of SSD vs USB HDD relates to the drive going to ‘sleep’ after a while? HDD’s take some time to ‘spin up’ to speed after going to sleep, which will impart a delay on the music starting.
SSD’s are effectively ‘always on’, and initial access is much quicker. I think time between tracks is negligible on both, in my experience.
Yes it improves if I listen in a row. If I try to skim thru a song it takes forever to catch up, or ''roon has lost the audio source" message.
Yes, sure, that could be one cause. However a drive should not sleep 3 minutes after it is accessed, at least not in my experience - spin down is usually a longer time than that - and that is why I am asking if the OP plays multiple songs in a row from the HDD, is there still a delay between tracks.
If the answer is “no” then I would agree, the issue is with the drive sleeping while he’s playing Qobuz tracks then a delay while the USB HDD spins back up when a local track is to be played. But if the delay is between every track, always, even two local tracks, then I suspect it could be another issue.
The OP mentioned budgetary constraints on buying more drives. So just wanting to do actual logical trial and error troubleshooting before spending his money…
How about skimming thru tracks? Or skipping tracks too?
OK, well that sounds like a drive with a struggling USB connection or that it is sleeping. But before you go buy an SSD or something else, consider copying a small subset of your local collection to a faster internal drive (spinning is fine) and then deactivate your USB drive during the test. Configure that small subset as Roon storage. Does that make the problem go away?
The OP has a Nucleus.
You can’t fit a HDD into a Nucleus.
Thank you. But not too bad of a delay with Qobuzz tracks nor local tracks when playing multiple tracks. Just when starting a new track and/or skipping tracks or skimming tracks.