[Big Red Machine]

I have a small form factor desktop computer to run Squeezecenter.  Presently I use a 500 gb external hd for my music (I'd say 400 gb used).  Would external SSD hd's make the music flow faster or is it limited by the desktop windows OS and not worth the money to upgrade?  I assume I would need 2 250 gb SSD's as I don't see 500 gb units.

[jtwrace]

Make sure you have an SSD for the OS and then use regular HD's for the music storage. 

Have to cancel this trip.  Just can't swing it this year.

Save your money on external SSD's and go to RMAF.  That would be money better spent IMO.  OR buy more music!

[JohnR]

I assume I would need 2 250 gb SSD's as I don't see 500 gb units.

You can get SSDs up to 1 TB now. I have the Samsung 840 in 500 G size.

The undeniable advantage of SSDs is that they are silent. If that's not pertinent to you then I guess it would be harder to justify the outlay.

[jtwrace]

You can get SSDs up to 1 TB now. I have the Samsung 840 in 500 G size.

The undeniable advantage of SSDs is that they are silent. If that's not pertinent to you then I guess it would be harder to justify the outlay.

Yes, but for the cost of a 1TB SSD, get a NAS and have more space and be able to do a heck of a lot more too.  I know I'm glad that I did.  File server, Cloud....

[JohnR]

A heck of a lot more what exactly? Cloud shmoud  Nothing beats having local SSD storage. Except capacity, fair enough, but that didn't seem to be the case here...

[Big Red Machine]

I was thinking speed.  Would external SSD's talking through a desktop be any faster than the small, quiet HD I have now which is external to the desktop?

Just making future plans when I get a server, like a Sonic Orbiter or SalkStream unit.  Seems like you always need a "computer" of some kind, and since I have one just for this system, wanted to know if augmenting the externals was worth it.

[jtwrace]

I was thinking speed.  Would external SSD's talking through a desktop be any faster than the small, quiet HD I have now which is external to the desktop?

Just making future plans when I get a server, like a Sonic Orbiter or SalkStream unit.  Seems like you always need a "computer" of some kind, and since I have one just for this system, wanted to know if augmenting the externals was worth it.

For music playback when playing from memory (PM, AN, JRiver) SSD speed is not an advantage IMO.  Computer speed speed and RAM is important.

[JohnR]

Hi, they will be faster in benchmarks but for practical purposes for music files it's hard to see how it would make a difference.

And prices are just going to keep coming down, so if you don't need X GB of SSD storage right now, then it's going to be better cost-wise to wait anyway.

[Edit, I'll disagree with Jason on computer speed, it's not relevant. Neither is RAM, as long as you've got enough, it doesn't matter.]

[jtwrace]

as long as you've got enough, it doesn't matter.

Correct.  For now.  The JRiver JRMark tool is pretty neat to check the computer and software. 

[Hipper]

My understanding of the reasoning behind an external hard drive for computer music is the noise factor, both the noise of the HD and possible electronic noise.

I bought a dedicated computer box with a similar set up to CAPS v3 and decided to use an internal HD for music storage, along with the a SOtM noise filter. I've not noticed any pc noise in any form and am glad I chose this method.

I don't think there's a problem with the speed of music transfer using an HDD but an SSD will allow improvements in software speeds. That's my impression anyway. Similarly I don't think USB3 is necessary - USB2 works for me.

I use JRiver 18 on Windows 8 Pro.

[JEaton]

I have a small form factor desktop computer to run Squeezecenter.  Presently I use a 500 gb external hd for my music (I'd say 400 gb used).  Would external SSD hd's make the music flow faster or is it limited by the desktop windows OS and not worth the money to upgrade?  I assume I would need 2 250 gb SSD's as I don't see 500 gb units.

"Flow faster"???

[toddbagwell]

After some NAS issues, and an eSATA external HDD that would not show up after some computer reboots, I went to a pair of 512GB SSDs in RAID 0.

they have performed flawlessly. the only problem with them [SSD] are price and capacity. my collection will likely require a new pair of drives in the next 1-2 years. This is less of a problem now that the 1TB drives are available.

I can't honestly say I notice that music sounds different, but I've never had the drives not show up following a reboot, and they are completely quiet.

Todd