I got a new external crucial X8 usb 3.0 ssd and it reports a very large blocksize.
Unfortunately, it seems to make playing videos over the network with samba have problems. It may also be suboptimal using it on a usb 2.0 port.
blockdev --report
shows most drives have 256 sector readahead
RO RA SSZ BSZ StartSec Size Device
ro 256 512 1024 0 205111296 /dev/loop0
ro 256 512 1024 0 204873728 /dev/loop1
ro 256 512 1024 0 4096 /dev/loop2
ro 256 512 1024 0 157855744 /dev/loop3
however, my crucial ssd gets a giant 131072 readahead value. I believe this is what's causing the problems with the network drive sharing.
sudo blockdev --setra 16384 /dev/sdb
sets it to a much better value and I don't see the audio dropouts.
You can also check the value by getting the readahead for a specific drive.
blockdev --getra /dev/sdb
LOT OF ( 25 ) 16GB DDR4 Desktop Ram sticks - Mixed brands and speeds
$499.99
SK Hynix MTA16ATF2G64AZ-2G3H1 16GB PC4-2400T DDR4 Desktop Memory RAM - R398
$21.00
A-Tech 8GB DDR3 1600 PC3-12800 Laptop SODIMM 204-Pin Memory RAM PC3L DDR3L 1x 8G
$13.99
SK Hynix 8GB DDR4 1Rx16 -PC4-3200AA/ HMAA1GS6CJR6N-XN SODIMM
$10.00
Crucial DDR3L 16GB 1600 2x 8GB PC3-12800 Laptop SODIMM Memory RAM PC3 16G DDR3
$22.45
8GB PC3L-12800S 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 RAM | Grade A
$12.00
Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 32GB (2 x 16GB) PC RAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Memory
$54.99
Lot Of 5 RAM Computer Memory Sticks Kingston Samsung
$39.99
16GB DDR4 Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000 Mhz 1.35V Desktop Computer PC Memory RAM
$30.89
(4 Piece) SK Hynix HMA84GR7AFR4N-VK DDR4-2666v 128GB (4x32GB) Workstation RAM
$199.95