Steve, I don't understand why SSD could be better. Music data on HD does not contain timing information. As for transfer rate required (1.4Mb/s for 16/44.1) it is a tiny fraction of the slowest HD interface. Also, compressed files would transfer approx 2x faster. The only possibility, IMHO, is lower power of SSD and therefore lower electrical noise in general.
Wireless devices like AE not only separate noisy computer from the Audio System but also have own separate Codec and clock. I store music in ALAC since that's exactly the format used to transfer data to AE (no conversion necessary). Jitter on AE digital (Toslink) output is respectable 258ps according to Stereophile measurements, that also confirmed it being bit perfect. On the top of it my Benchmark DAC1 adds big jitter suppression.
Wireless devices like AE not only separate noisy computer from the Audio System but also have own separate Codec and clock. I store music in ALAC since that's exactly the format used to transfer data to AE (no conversion necessary). Jitter on AE digital (Toslink) output is respectable 258ps according to Stereophile measurements, that also confirmed it being bit perfect. On the top of it my Benchmark DAC1 adds big jitter suppression.