How do I use dedicated storage and iTunes?

For the record, a minor correction to something that was said above. The Oyen Digital 1TB external drive does not utilize an SSD (solid state drive). It utilizes a conventional 5400 rpm mechanical laptop hard drive, in an external enclosure.

At this time, 1 TB SSD's continue to be VASTLY more expensive than the price of that Oyen unit. There are some hybrid drives, though, which contain both a small SSD and a large HDD, that are available at reasonable prices. I'm doubtful, however, that they would provide any advantage in an audio application relative to purely mechanical HDD's.

Regards,
-- Al

Adding to my previous post, some of the smaller Oyen drives utilize SSD's, but not the 1 TB drive. As indicated at OyenDigital.com, the largest SSD they offer is 480 GB. And, per their website, that lists at $410 in its cheapest version!

At Newegg.com, the least expensive raw SSD (without an enclosure) that approaches 1 TB is a 960 GB drive selling for $1,000. Some others sell for much more than that.

Regards,
-- Al

Re the original question, see this procedure at the Apple support site.

That document pre-dates iTunes 11, btw, although I suspect that it remains applicable.

Regards,
-- Al

I am using a 1TB Oyen drive and it is not a SSD. It is dead quiet thou and has been working perfectly for several months now.

It's pretty easy to do this.

Copy your entire folder "iTunes" to the external USB or Firewire drive. Depending on size, it might take a while.

In iTunes preferences, click the Advanced tab, and in the area that says 'iTunes Media folder location', just to the right, click Change, then point to the new location.

You can also split your collection into multiple libraries, i.e., one for Classical, one for Jazz, etc. When starting iTunes, press the option key while you start iTunes, and it will ask you which library to select.

You DO know that your Airport Express is limiting your sample rate to 16/44.1, correct? Is that why your upsampling at the DAC?