Which external SSD for music streaming?


My new music streamer has a USB socket to connect an external Solid State Drive. I am thinking of getting one with 2 or 4 TB storage capacity to store my whole CD collection on it. What I don't know is how fast such an SSD needs to be. I was thinking of a Crucial X6 (up to 800 MB/s), or X9 (up to 1050MB/s). Or is any SSD fast enough to stream music smoothly? Thanks

 

stievus

@russbutton If only using TV, yes. But who does that in 2024?

What I already learned from this conversation is that 1) I should go for a reliable brand ssd, 2) Mb/s will always be sufficient for only streaming music 3) I can choose between an external disc or internal 2.5 one within a dedicated case 4) I best try out whether the ssd usb will be compatible with the streamer usb. Thanks

@benanders Just to be sure, a Sata drive in a USB 3.1 case will work with the USB 2.0 input socket of the streamer?

@stievus correct - any 2.5” SATA III SSD drive in an external USB 3.0/3.1 2.5” drive case should be compatible with a USB 2.0-in audio device. Any issue would likely be on part of either the external case’s SATA-USB chipset or the streamer’s USB-in. Sufficient bus-power for the drive itself should be no issue for pretty much every relevant 2.5” SATA III SSD on the market, even on drive power-up (tends to require more juice). 

@benanders Perfect! Got a great deal on a Crucial MX500 SSD, so I will go for that one. Thanks again.

Except for noise and reliability is there any further advantage of using an external ssd instead of hdd for streaming music?