[Pundamilia]

I have been using an external USB hard drive on my BDP-2 and am considering going "internal". I'd like to hear any experiences or recommendations from other users or Bryston personnel as to the advantages/disadvantages of:

- HD vs SSD
- 5400 rpm vs. 7200 rpm
- specific manufacturer's products - good or bad

Thanks.

[CanadianMaestro]

SSD - no moving parts, faster speeds, more $$$
HD - moving parts, mechanical noise, cheaper
7200 rpm vs 5400 - not really that important for me
Drives I use with no issues yet: G-Tech, Seagate pocket drives

[James Tanner]

Hi

One of the advantages of an internal drive is there is one less conversion through USB

james

[zoom25]

I use multiple WD 2.5" drives for external purposes. They are all 5400 RPM. Plenty fast and run silent. The 7200 are noisier and are more prone to failure. Very light weight on power as well. I'd use those for internal if I decided to go with hard drive. For SSD, there's Samsung 850 PRO.

I don't know how much the hard drive will vibrate inside the chassis and that may have add its own problem potentially. SSD on the other hand doesn't is vibration free. Although, SSD is noisy as well. I think Chris and Krutsch have both pointed that out.

If this is for convenience purposes, then go for whatever suits you. If this is for performance and getting the best sound, I'd highly recommend not powering any drives from the BDP. I've posted more about this on the Roon forum.

[Krutsch]

I have been using an external USB hard drive on my BDP-2 and am considering going "internal". I'd like to hear any experiences or recommendations from other users or Bryston personnel as to the advantages/disadvantages of:

- HD vs SSD
- 5400 rpm vs. 7200 rpm
- specific manufacturer's products - good or bad

Thanks.

Depending on your storage requirements, consider USB flash drives from Corsair (no, I don't work for them).

http://www.corsair.com/en-us/flash-voyager-gtx-usb-3-0-256gb-flash-drive-b

I have 3 of these (2 GS @128GB, @512GB and 1 GTX @256 GB) that hold my entire FLAC collection. They are very fast, they use next to zero power from the USB port, have SSD-like latency performance and will introduce no electrical or physical noise to your system.

Honesty, one of the reasons I am such a big Bryston fan is because their digital players handle this use case so well: plugging in a bunch of USB flash drives and aggregating them as a single collection of music files.

And, when's it time to update your library from your Mac or PC, you plug them into your computer and sync your files in seconds, as opposed to doing this over your network, using the SMB share on the BDP.

Just my $0.02...

[Grit]

I have both an internal SSD and I'm connected via CAT6 to a switch, then to a router, then to the server (different room and electrical circuit). My switch and other things are isolated from the power going into the BDP.

I can't hear a difference between what's on the server and the internal drive.

[Pundamilia]

One of the advantages of an internal drive is there is one less conversion through USB

@James: Is this advantage offset to any extent by the additional noise introduced (mechanical vibration or electronic) by putting the source inside the chassis - as opposed to isolating it with an external source? The system is pretty quiet right now and I don't want to introduce any noise.

Thanks to all who responded. it just goes to show you that when it comes to "audiophile audio" everyone has their own opinion. 

[zoom25]

@James: Is this advantage offset to any extent by the additional noise introduced (mechanical vibration or electronic) by putting the source inside the chassis - as opposed to isolating it with an external source? The system is pretty quiet right now and I don't want to introduce any noise.

Thanks to all who responded. it just goes to show you that when it comes to "audiophile audio" everyone has their own opinion. 

Both Roon and PS Audio (DAC + Bridge) also recommend ethernet. I'm getting a LPS for my ethernet switch. It makes a difference. I've powered my switch with its stock supply and BDP-1's own USB. Lower noise floor with BDP-1 powering it.

http://www.psaudio.com/pauls-posts/usb-vs-ethernet/

Flash drives do sound very nice and are convenient, but they can get expensive and then you have to figure out how to arrange your material across multiple hard drives. I personally like having the material on one drive. I keep it alphabetically stored. With ethernet, if you choose to, you can have it in one room or another. If it's in another room, you can use the cheaper 3.5 drives and not have to worry about the physical noise.

I wish manufacturers would start offering fiber as inputs. That's complete isolation. No more discussions about cables and inputs and media storage.