My set up is a WD hard drive, its external switching power supply plugged into a Richard Gray's 400 power conditioner, with a USB cable from the HDD plugged into a Roon Nucleus+ (which is powered by a Tedde Pardo linear power supply); both the Nucleus+ and my Lumin T2 are connected to my Luxul AV Ethernet switch. All signal cabling is Wireworld "Level 8" and all power cabling is Shunyata Venom; the Tedde Pardo and the T2 are plugging into a Shunyata Denali 6000/S. With this configuration, I was trying to accomplish two things: (1) a very low level of signal degradation from the output of the hard drive into the T2 and (2) a seamless sense of operation, regardless of the sourcing of the digital audio bitstream. Whether I have done a good job of the first objective is up to the listener (I am certainly content). As for the second, other than an initial brief delay from the "spinning up" of the hard drive, the speed of sourcing is indistinguishable between Tidal and it. Moreover, with the exception of MQA-encoded albums, I am unable to detect any difference in how the two sound. Let me add that I don't know to what extent the Roon software has contributed to the ideal manner in which these components work together, but -- taken as a whole, I wouldn't think of changing anything (except, of course, upgrading some day to a Lumin X1). Oh, I leave the WD hard drive, the T2, the Nucleus+ and Tedde Pardo, and the Luxul AV Ethernet switch all on always. As others have mentioned, the hard drive and the T2 automatically turn off (more likely, go to standby) when not in use for a short period.
