Seeking advice in selecting Solid state drives to store music (external drives)

[Analogous]

Hi,
I am looking to buy a External SSD to store my music and connect to my streamer.
Online searches show a number of companies selling SSDs with a range of capacities (128gb -2 Tb) Lots of variation in prices too.
Can anyone with some first hand knowledge advise on:
- what’s the “sweet spot” currently in terms of memory capacity and good value for money.
- build quality and reliability.

 

[qwertypa]

Hi,
I am looking to buy a External SSD to store my music and connect to my streamer.
Online searches show a number of companies selling SSDs with a range of capacities (128gb -2 Tb) Lots of variation in prices too.
Can anyone with some first hand knowledge advise on:
- what’s the “sweet spot” currently in terms of memory capacity and good value for money.
- build quality and reliability.

IMO most value for money can be had with 1tb crucial ssd. You can get it at good prices during current sale on Amazon

 

[Analogous]

Thank you. I had not heard of this company before.

 

[qwertypa]

Thank you. I had not heard of this company before.

Sorry I think I missed the ‘External’. The one I mentioned is a bare SSD. For external perhaps you can look into Sandisk or Samsung (which is the best)

 

[Analogous]

I also see hybrid drives. Not sure if these are best fit for my purpose.
Seems like I need to research and learn more on the subject.
....grateful for suggestions and advise from those who have used SSDs as external libraries for their music playback.

The one I mentioned is a bare SSD.

Would it be possible to insert it into a aftermarket case with usb sockets for use as a external drive?

 

[qwertypa]

Would it be possible to insert it into a aftermarket case with usb sockets for use as a external drive?

Yes you can do it

I also see hybrid drives. Not sure if these are best fit for my purpose.
Seems like I need to research and learn more on the subject.
....grateful for suggestions and advise from those who have used SSDs as external libraries for their music playback.

Those are SSHDs and are better suited for Operating systems. Would advise to avoid those

 

[fLUX]

@Goldenears I have the below drive , is pretty good for all purposes and it's form factor makes it perfect for portable use

SAMSUNG T5 500 GB External Solid State Drive (SSD) - SAMSUNG : Flipkart.com

Buy SAMSUNG T5 500 GB External Solid State Drive (SSD) only for Rs. 11349 from Flipkart.com. Only Genuine Products. 30 Day Replacement Guarantee. Free Shipping. Cash On Delivery!

dl.flipkart.com

Looks like they have released a newer version with some caching abilities. Apparently gives higher transfer speed for the initial 20gb

SAMSUNG T7 500 GB External Solid State Drive (SSD) - SAMSUNG : Flipkart.com

Buy SAMSUNG T7 500 GB External Solid State Drive (SSD) only for Rs. 12999 from Flipkart.com. Only Genuine Products. 30 Day Replacement Guarantee. Free Shipping. Cash On Delivery!

dl.flipkart.com

 

[Analogous]

@Goldenears I have the below drive , is pretty good for all purposes and it's form factor makes it perfect for portable use

SAMSUNG T5 500 GB External Solid State Drive (SSD) - SAMSUNG : Flipkart.com

Buy SAMSUNG T5 500 GB External Solid State Drive (SSD) only for Rs. 11349 from Flipkart.com. Only Genuine Products. 30 Day Replacement Guarantee. Free Shipping. Cash On Delivery!

dl.flipkart.com

Looks like they have released a newer version with some caching abilities. Apparently gives higher transfer speed for the initial 20gb

SAMSUNG T7 500 GB External Solid State Drive (SSD) - SAMSUNG : Flipkart.com

Buy SAMSUNG T7 500 GB External Solid State Drive (SSD) only for Rs. 12999 from Flipkart.com. Only Genuine Products. 30 Day Replacement Guarantee. Free Shipping. Cash On Delivery!

dl.flipkart.com

Thank you @fLUX and @qwertypa appreciate your help.

I also came upon this: “My Passport Wireless SSD creates its own fast 802.11ac WiFi connection so you can wirelessly connect to your drive” Are these as good as wired ones?

 

[rsjaurr]

2 TB Samsung 870 QVO is a good option and is at good price point. you have to make it external though with a suitable adapter/case.

 

[OM_2K19]

Hi,
I am looking to buy a External SSD to store my music and connect to my streamer.
Online searches show a number of companies selling SSDs with a range of capacities (128gb -2 Tb) Lots of variation in prices too.
Can anyone with some first hand knowledge advise on:
- what’s the “sweet spot” currently in terms of memory capacity and good value for money.
- build quality and reliability.

You can opt for regular good quality HDD (WD Black), there is no need for SSD for AV applications.

 

[Analogous]

You can opt for regular good quality HDD, there is no need for SSD for AV applications.

Thank you. I have a 4TB HDD that I have been using for 4 years. Recently concerned about whether it would give up and I’d lose all my music. Since it has moving parts and also since I am unable to get rid of this fear (mild OCD?) I have started a search for a solution. SSDs seemed more robust.

 

[OM_2K19]

Thank you. I have a 4TB HDD that I have been using for 4 years. Recently concerned about whether it would give up and I’d lose all my music. Since it has moving parts and also since I am unable to get rid of this fear (mild OCD?) I have started a search for a solution. SSDs seemed more robust.

MTBF for a good quality HDD is around 4/5 years, so it's probably a good time that you move your precious collection to another driver. If you are going for SSD (I personally feel it's overkill), you better opt for Samsung Evo class SSD (min, preferably, T7) for similar MTBF ratings. On the downside, they are pretty expensive.

 

[Cooladitya007]

For music SSD is an over kill, better buy normal high quality external Hdd with highest possible warranty and once warranty period over buy a new one and shift your data.

After shifting your data you can sell old Hdd and recover some amount.

So you will save huge amount while purchasing Normal Hdd or you can buy much bigger Hdd compare to Ssd if required.

Edit: i dont understand why quality and life of electronics are degrading so badly, specially Hdd.
My 15 years old laptop's 60gb hard disk still working, of course it has developed some issues but still using it as external hard disk with casing since 5 years.

 

[IndianEars]

I Seriously Doubt that an SSD wrapped into the constraints of a USB interface will sound any better than a conventional HDD.

An Easy way to find out .... Put some files on a USB 'pen' drive and see if it sounds better.

Do share your experiences....

MTBF for a good quality HDD is around 4/5 years, so it's probably a good time that you move your precious collection to another driver. If you are going for SSD (I personally feel it's overkill), you better opt for Samsung Evo class SSD (min, preferably, T7) for similar MTBF ratings. On the downside, they are pretty expensive.

SSD MTBF takes into account normal use ... which includes a fairly large amount of "writes"

SSDs have a limited number of write cycles (compared to HDDs) though multiple 'Reads' do not bother SSDs.

Built in SSD software distributes writes to unused sectors of the drive, to improve MTBF.

If used to store Music files for playback, the SSD will have VERY few write cycles and multiple read cycles, so the MTBF figures for such an application would be Significantly higher than if for 'normal' computer or NAS duty

 

[shyamv]

Hi,
I am looking to buy a External SSD to store my music and connect to my streamer.
Online searches show a number of companies selling SSDs with a range of capacities (128gb -2 Tb) Lots of variation in prices too.
Can anyone with some first hand knowledge advise on:
- what’s the “sweet spot” currently in terms of memory capacity and good value for money.
- build quality and reliability.

Based on an article I read, apparently a self-powered HDD is better for USB music playback than a SSD that draws power from your music device. Something to do with SSDs having switching DC-DC voltage regulators which induce noise into your streamer or DAC or player if not isolated properly. So if it is a NAS, then HDD or SSD does not make a difference but over USB a self-powered external HDD is better. Of course, I don't know if the difference would be audible nor have I tried experimenting with SSD

 

[fLUX]

Thank you @fLUX and @qwertypa appreciate your help.

I also came upon this: “My Passport Wireless SSD creates its own fast 802.11ac WiFi connection so you can wirelessly connect to your drive” Are these as good as wired ones?

Not sure, will need to check. The credit card size of the drive is what i liked the most.

 

[Analogous]

Based on an article I read, apparently a self-powered HDD is better for USB music playback than a SSD that draws power from your music device. Something to do with SSDs having switching DC-DC voltage regulators which induce noise into your streamer or DAC or player if not isolated properly. So if it is a NAS, then HDD or SSD does not make a difference but over USB a self-powered external HDD is better. Of course, I don't know if the difference would be audible nor have I tried experimenting with SSD

Thanks Shyam, this is definitely something to keep in mind.

I looked it up and found this (among others)
“...a mechanical 2.5" drive will typically consume less than ~ 4-5 watts. A SSD will consume much less on average while reading data from the SSD, let's say 1-2 watts, but for those few milliseconds at a time it writes data to flash memory, it can use up to 5-10 watts...” https://linustechtips.com/topic/1062501-35-vs-25-hdd-power-consumption/

The article does note writing data does take more power than reading. So playback should be ok I am thinking

 

[dub123]

Hi, if we can agree on data being the most critical part of problem changing to SSD is not the solution. Neither will be performance for this particular use case. I personally rather put funds to RAID backup setup then switching to SSD. Hope that makes sense.

If you want to us to say you should go for SSD by all means do switch, its quieter, may be tiny bit more reliable, more energy efficient and so on but that still wont get you peace of mind.

I bought my first SSD in 09, if recall correctly paid over $400 for 80GB Intel SSD and they are first choice when performance is primary requirement.

 

[shyamv]

Thanks Shyam, this is definitely something to keep in mind.

I looked it up and found this (among others)
“...a mechanical 2.5" drive will typically consume less than ~ 4-5 watts. A SSD will consume much less on average while reading data from the SSD, let's say 1-2 watts, but for those few milliseconds at a time it writes data to flash memory, it can use up to 5-10 watts...” https://linustechtips.com/topic/1062501-35-vs-25-hdd-power-consumption/

The article does note writing data does take more power than reading. So playback should be ok I am thinking

Dev, Yes as far as current consumption is considered. But my point was not about current consumption but about electrical noise, generated by an USB device via DC-DC regulators, which can get injected via USB while playing back from an external SSD or HDD. Apparently, this noise is higher on SSD that draws current from the host device (irrespective on how much current it actually is) in comparison to an HDD with self-power. That's the reason why some devices that strive for low noise intentionally disallow USB devices.

 

[Analogous]

Hi, if we can agree on data being the most critical part of problem changing to SSD is not the solution. Neither will be performance for this particular use case. I personally rather put funds to RAID backup setup then switching to SSD. Hope that makes sense.

If you want to us to say you should go for SSD by all means do switch, its quieter, may be tiny bit more reliable, more energy efficient and so on but that still wont get you peace of mind.

I bought my first SSD in 09, if recall correctly paid over $400 for 80GB Intel SSD and they are first choice when performance is primary requirement.

Food for thought indeed. Thanks.
I thought SSDs were more reliable and lasted significantly longer as they had no moving parts. Wrong assumption?