[WillyP]

Good evening,

For many years I’ve been using my BDA‑3.14 to play music from a 1 TB SSD — the Samsung T7. It holds about 1,500 albums, totalling roughly 900 GB. I really enjoy working this way. From now on, may I refer to the device simply as “the Pi”?

Since 1 TB is starting to feel a bit tight because of the growing number of hi‑res files, I’ve been looking for a way to expand the external storage. Here’s what I’ve tried:

1. A 2 TB SSD containing the same files as the 1 TB SSD. So far, this works without any issues.

2. A 2 TB SSD with about 1.5 TB of music — more than 2,000 albums. This went completely wrong. The Pi became totally overwhelmed. The only solution was a factory reset. With the SSD from step 1, everything seems fine again.

3. I tried connecting the Pi to my Synology NAS. No matter what I did, it simply wouldn’t work. I followed the instructions in the manual exactly, but without success.

4. I set the Pi up as a DLNA renderer and used mconnectHD as the app. That took just a few minutes! The files on the NAS — 1.5 TB in total — were accessible. The user interface is basic, of course, but it worked every single time. Still, this isn’t the solution. The music sounded noticeably worse than when played from the SSD. So I’m going back to the SSD setup.

At this point, I can do two things:

a) accept that 1 TB is the maximum the Pi can handle, or

b) start saving for a streamer that can supply enough power for a 2 TB SSD and can manage a library of 1.5 TB or more. I’m happy with the sound quality when playing from an SSD, so the new streamer would need to sound at least as good.

I’m curious to hear your thoughts.

[abk456]

I have a BDA 3.14 connected to a synology NAS (with SSD drives) Both are hard connected to the my network through wired connections to power line extenders and things work quite well. wih 4TB of music. Not without glitches but otherwise ok. I have had remote support from Adam Tanner from time to time. He is extremely helpful

There is one setting on the NAS that you have to set to an older protocol, I think it is TLS (to 1.2) but I am a bit out on my depth. That could be the problem

[WillyP]

Thanks for your answer. Manic Moose only works with the SMB 1 protocol. You have to change that for the NAS.

[WillyP]

I’ve now managed to connect the NAS to my Pi via SMB, but the joy was short-lived. Out of more than 2,000 albums, Manic Moose still recognized fewer than 500 in the wrong order.

From my experience, a 1 TB SSD with about 900 GB of music works very well for me. The sound quality is excellent, and Manic Moose can handle a library of that size without trouble. I understand that James Tanner has been testing a beta version of OS3 for some time now, so hopefully it will be available soon.

[ttsto]

Scanning your library takes time. Until finished, the artists and albums are not in order.

[WillyP]

I know, but after a few hours time I lost patience. With a SSD it only takes minutes.