Primer on SSD and internal hard drives


I recently acquired a streamer /DAC that supports an SSD or internal hard drive.  This is new turf for me and wonder if I could get some basic guidance.  Please pardon my complete ignorance on this topic.

So what is the difference between an internal hard drive and an SSD?  Is one preferable?

The manual suggests using either a 3,5" or 2,5" drive. Does size matter ? ( no pun intended)

Are there sonic differences in the different available brands?  

Again, pardon my lack of knowledge on this topic and thanks for your help.

Mike

 

mdrone

Showing 1 response by larryi

SSD would be a type of hard drive.  As the initials suggest, SSD is a solid state drive so there are no moving parts.  Other drivers have a mechanically spinning disc (e.g., SATA drives).  SSD drives were once MUCH more expensive than the SATA drive and its predecessors.  But, cost have come down so they are reasonably priced too.  The SSD drive can be expected to be more reliable (less prone to failure).  Even so, it makes sense to have back up drives to save your music so that if the drive goes down you have not lost your music.

My local audio dealer who was also a computer guy, said that SATA discs might be less electrically noisy, and therefore better for music storage, but, that was quite a while ago and I would bet the SSDs are better now.