Mac Mini Differences between internal/NAS and USB Hard Drives.

[fand1]

I have recently been comparing, different storage options for my music ( Ripped CDs in AIFF Format)

 

And found that an external NAS drive conected via router in a 1 gig wired network sounded MUCH!!!!! better than music stored within my 320gig internal mac mini drive.

 

Then using a WD Green 1TB drive via a cheap usb cable directly into the computer, I found further improvments still.

 

The improvement in both cases involve detail retrieval and bass.

 

This is a surprising result as I expected that the internal drive would have been the best option.

 

Does this match anyone else's experience?

 

I am very new to Mac and I have been reading about the improvements in using non journaled drives. (to be honest I dont even know what journaling means)

 

Is the fact that I was storing my music within the same drive volume as my OS, and therefore journaled, a possible explanation?