Music Servers/External Drives

ge a nas roon reconizes nas but not external hd

rip flac and you are good

I rip to ALAC using free XLD with "max retry"  set to 200.  Recently I used internal Jriver (Media Center 30) ripper and it seems to be fine.  FLAC is more universal, but does not work with ITunes (that I used before) while ALAC is native Apple format.  Both can be easily batch converted.   XLD can be used for that, but FREAC is even more convenient.  FREAC (freac.org) is wonderful free small program for ripping and converting.  I use it for batch converting only to HE ACC for car.  Advantage of ripper over CDP is that it can go over given sector multiple times (unitl proper checksum is obtained) while CDP can only read once (working in real time).  Some rippers do this better than others and knowing number of retries plus getting detailed report (both in XLD) is important.  Any external drive will do but mechanical drives are a bit noisier.  I used them but now I use 1TB SSD with two backups.  Reason for backup is obvious, but second backup is just extra precaution.  For instance computer failure (hardware or software) during backup can make both HD unusable.  In addition I keep one of them outside of my home in case ot theft, fire etc.   I update one at home every 5 or so rips and from time to time I exchange them.  I have so far 1700 CDs ripped occupying 600GB. 

Any external drive works fine but spinners need a separate power supply.

Nowadays there is no reason not to use SSDs Smaller, faster and USB bus powered.

I wouldn’t know about Roon but if it only likes DLNA via NAS then that’s another reason to avoid it. I sold my NAS, not looking back.

If the network drops its handshake the NAS disconnects. Phooey.

dbPoweramp is my choice for ripping. Flac all the way. I tried alac but it doesn't sort for shit in Windows. Flac is universal.

Roon makes it very easy to share a variety of locally networked storage devices and make them integrate seamlessly with streaming services (Tidal/Qobuz).

I host my local music library on a headless Mac Mini, my "Jukebox", which I access via Screen Sharing from a MacBook Pro.  Roon continuously monitors a folder on the Mac for updates. I store ripped CDs on the Mac, as well as music files purchased from HD Tracks, Qobuz, or other vendors.  Roon Core runs on a separate, dedicated music server (a sonicTransporter i9), although it also can run on the Mini.  Both the sonicTransporter and the Mini can run certain DSP applications such as HQ Player.

Some audiophiles dislike having a full-function computer in a HiFi system, especially one co-located with the main HiFi components.  I find it very useful and versatile. I don't notice any fan noise. Occasionally a DSP application fails to launch until I respond to a system event (such as an automatic software upgrade process).  Those interrupts can be minimized by turning off (or carefully scheduling) processes such as Time Machine backups.

I also have an SSD inside the sonicTransporter.  Lately I only use it to store a backup copy of music files, and have it disabled in Roon's storage settings.  At any rate, whether you're using a full-function computer, a NAS, an individual USB-attached SSD, etc.,, it does not need to be a device specifically made for audio files.  However, the Bluesound Vault is such a device, which you might want to check out if only to research what's possible.