[Saturn94]

There is a discussion on the Roon forum about performance using an HDD vs SSD.

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/is-there-really-that-much-of-an-improvement-having-the-core-database-on-an-ssd/184561

Roon states the use of an SSD for the core/database as a minimum requirement.  Some users report Roon performance is fine with an HDD.  Roon performance is usually good on my Salkstream III from 2016.

Out of curiosity, can an internal SSD be added to the Salkstream III (2016 version) to use for the Roon core and just use the internal HDD for music files?

[jsalk]

The StreamPlayer Gen III contains a single drive.  The StreamPlayer Gen III SE contains two drives - a smaller SSD for the OS and Roon and a larger HHD for music storage.  The Gen III doesn't support multiple drives internal drives.  But you can replace the HHD with a large SSD.

- Jim

[newzooreview]

The StreamPlayer Gen III contains a single drive.  The StreamPlayer Gen III SE contains two drives - a smaller SSD for the OS and Roon and a larger HHD for music storage.  The Gen III does support multiple drives internal drives.  But you can replace the HHD with a large SSD.

Just to clarify,

1. The Gen III supports only one internal drive: it ships with a spinning disk hard drive but can be upgraded to an SSD by the owner.

2. The Gen III SE ships with an SSD for the OS and Roon and a spinning disk hard drive for music file storage. On the Gen III SE the spinning disk hard drive can be replaced with an SSD if desired. (And the SSD for the OS and Roon could technically be replaced with a spinning disk hard drive but there's no reason anyone should or would do that).

3. These are all using SATA connections (vs. NVME or another type).

[Saturn94]

…The Gen III does support multiple drives internal drives.  But you can replace the HHD with a large SSD.

- Jim

Is this correct?  Or did you mean to say “..doesn’t support multiple drives…”?  Newzooreview indicated the Gen III only supports a single internal drive?

 

[newzooreview]

Yes, I was nominating a definite conclusion in order to be sure I understood. My three points could be incorrect, but with luck they will lead to clarification.

[jsalk]

Is this correct?  Or did you mean to say “..doesn’t support multiple drives…”?  Newzooreview indicated the Gen III only supports a single internal drive?

 

Yes, I meant doesn't.  I edited the post to correct for this.

- Jim

[jsalk]

Just to clarify,

1. The Gen III supports only one internal drive: it ships with a spinning disk hard drive but can be upgraded to an SSD by the owner.

2. The Gen III SE ships with an SSD for the OS and Roon and a spinning disk hard drive for music file storage. On the Gen III SE the spinning disk hard drive can be replaced with an SSD if desired. (And the SSD for the OS and Roon could technically be replaced with a spinning disk hard drive but there's no reason anyone should or would do that).

3. These are all using SATA connections (vs. NVME or another type).

Point of clarification:

While the standard HHD drive could be replaced with an SSD, the SSD would have to have the OS and Roon installed on it and that is probably not something the owner could do.  We can prepare a drive and ship it and the owner can install it, but not before the drive is configured with the OS and Roon.  This could be done by the owner using the Linux dd command for an experienced Linux user...but probably not by the average consumer.

The second comment would be that to replace the HHD in a Gen III SE would require formatting the drive and generating an updated fstab file.  This is easy to do, but there's really no point in it.  An HHD is plenty fast for serving up the music files. 

I hope this helps.

- Jim

[Saturn94]

Yes, I meant doesn't.  I edited the post to correct for this.

- Jim

Thanks for the clarification.  That’s what I thought.

Point of clarification:

While the standard HHD drive could be replaced with an SSD, the SSD would have to have the OS and Roon installed on it and that is probably not something the owner could do.  We can prepare a drive and ship it and the owner can install it, but not before the drive is configured with the OS and Roon.  This could be done by the owner using the Linux dd command for an experienced Linux user...but probably not by the average consumer.

The second comment would be that to replace the HHD in a Gen III SE would require formatting the drive and generating an updated fstab file.  This is easy to do, but there's really no point in it.  An HHD is plenty fast for serving up the music files. 

I hope this helps.

- Jim

Understood.  You may remember when my HDD died last year, you sent me a new one with the OS and Roon loaded and set it up remotely.  There were some challenges getting it set up remotely, so if I ever need the drive replaced again, it would likely be easier for everyone just to ship the Salkstream III back to you (I GREATLY appreciated your time and patience getting it going remotely!).  For anyone reading this, swapping the drive definitely isn’t for a computer novice like me.

For now, the small performance penalty I may be experiencing currently using the single internal HDD drive for OS/Roon core isn’t worth the trouble “upgrading” to an internal SSD drive.

[DEP14]

Fortunately with my work travels I am able to swing by Jim's if the need arises.  A couple years back I had him install a SSD in my Gen III. 

It's a bit faster with Roon was the biggest thing I noticed.  Or, maybe I just wanted to feel it was!

[Saturn94]

Fortunately with my work travels I am able to swing by Jim's if the need arises.  A couple years back I had him install a SSD in my Gen III. 

It's a bit faster with Roon was the biggest thing I noticed.  Or, maybe I just wanted to feel it was!

Sweet! 

It would be nice to be close enough to Salk headquarters not to have to deal with shipping, with all the time and risks associated with shipping.

[DEP14]

Sweet! 

It would be nice to be close enough to Salk headquarters not to have to deal with shipping, with all the time and risks associated with shipping.

While Michigan has it's lakes, and some solid weeks of weather here and there... based on your picture, if that is near where you live.  You are winning the location battle.  It's gray here for like the next 3 months still, after the last 2.5 months of gray...

[Saturn94]

While Michigan has it's lakes, and some solid weeks of weather here and there... based on your picture, if that is near where you live.  You are winning the location battle.  It's gray here for like the next 3 months still, after the last 2.5 months of gray...

My pic is of Devil’s Tower in Wyoming (cool place!) taken on a vacation years ago.  Nowhere near home, though (coastal mid Atlantic).