Using an external dedicated HD to store sound librarys?

[hookedonhydro]

When using Logic 9.1.x with a newer macbook pro (w/firewire 400/800 and the thunderbolt port) would going with an external 7200 be worth the extra cash if being used in an application like this?

 

I currently am using a Presonus Inspire in my project studio for a sound card. It is firewire 400, and is utilizing my firewire port atm. I currently have a My Boook WD 1TB as a backup/storage but am looking to purchase another, to backup the backup. The fact that I am using the port right now is a factor I have to take into account when deciding to go with 2.0 or FW, or wait.. save, and go Thunderbolt.

 

I haven't read enough to justify the expense in comparison to the cost for replacing the 320gb 2.5 HD the macbook pro came equipped with, not to mention the size of drive you get with SSD for the $$... I'm just not sure it's worth the increase in performance, UNLESS..

 

It would have been nice if Mac made the current MBP's with usb 3.0.. sure thunderbolt seems like its going to blow away everything, but 75% of life is USB right now. I made my purchase in the present, and even though technically it was 2 months ago, theres nothing to my googling knowledge supported.

 

Unless it is possible to use an external efficiently, along with a SSD, to host your Sample libraries, Kontakt, EXS24, and the others..

 

Thoughts? It would be nice to hear from someone currently using an external drive (please let me know the connection and speed of drive).

 

I haven't looked at specs in comparison to USB 2.0 vs fw 400 vs. 800, but I have seen the specs on thunderbolt, but without any drives available at this time, and im sure they are going to be insanely expensive, I believe Lacie has one due out soon.. I may hold off on making a purchase till I get some more feedback from the collective.

 

Appreciated =)

[lookatthisguy]

triplets (who I always want to nickname "tripps," for some inexplicable reason) will probably be along soon to explain this, as he's the one that most often answers these questions. But since I'm here…

 

If you're recording live audio, you'll probably want to invest in an external drive to record to—unless your projects are low on the audio count, it's generally not the best idea to record straight to the system drive. You're best off using a FireWire drive (and most FW drives have two FW ports as the technology is daisy-chain-able), and the standard recommendation around these parts is a 7200 rpm drive. Insofar as Thunderbolt goes, I only know of that LaCie drive, which is RAID, which is also a bad idea for recording audio.

 

As far as USB 3.0 goes, it's only an observation, but seems to me Apple won't pick up a standard until it's absolutely sure it's the way to go (USB 1, Thunderbolt, recently picking p-si LCD instead of OLED for iPhone 6). Granted, Apple had significant contributions in the development of Thunderbolt, but the point still stands.

 

Now, let's see if triplets sneaked in here while I was typing this/"working"…

[hookedonhydro]

Thanks for the reply guy,

 

I have spoken to a couple different people today who say the difference between the speed is not that relevant if you are just using the drive to pull data from. Opinions varied when it came to writing to an external, and I was told by a rep at WD their firewire 800 Studio LX drives (sleek looking too) http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=190 are the way to go if you want to write to it.. however having a firewire audio interface.. it just seems like you would using 2 devices at the same time occasionally and that would negate the benefits of fw800.

 

I was also told by a techie that the SSD drivees are a huge waste of money as all they do is allow your computer and applications to boot faster. Thats not far from what I have read on reviews. not worth the money at this time.

 

Im currently dealing with LaCie in regards to a crashed drive that a lot of people on the web have been vocal about. Allegedly their cheap Taiwan supplied power supply's are to blame for most. Jentek.. went to their web site.. http://www.allproducts.com/manufacture97/jentec/ so im not super thrilled about buying from them anymore.. and im also worried about WD now because of all the negatives their last model had.. luckily I haven't had a single issue with thet:MY Book I bought 6 mos ago, or so.. i just wanted a matching one and then they went and added a silver WD tag and according to their rep, had serious 20% hd crash withing 90 days.. just found this, it basically backs up everything the rep said: http://raoulpop.com/2007/12/17/big-problems-with-the-wd-my-book-pro-edition-ii/ so maybe the studio line isn't a bad idea.. why is raid not good for audio application? I don't plan to ever record more than 4 channels at the same time at home.. and i wasn't really planning on recording TO an external, just using one as a massive sound/sample lib. BUT, if it's just as efficient recording externally, I suppose it would be nice as an option, but it's unlikely ill ever have that few local gigs available that I will need too, unless it increases performance somehow. Im all about that!! =D

 

but I have the model prior to that, the one without the flashy silver WD tag on

[triplets]

Nice one, lookatthisguy. Can I call you LATG?

 

Raid setups may actually perform slower on audio. It's great for video, where the bandwidth is different.

 

USB drives are slower in terms of recording. Good for backup. That's it.

Get a FW800 drive and daisy chain your interface to the back of the drive.

So you go Laptop-FW800 drive-FW400 interface.

 

You can spend a lot of money on external drives like Glyph and G-Tech.

 

Or spend less and backup regularly to another drive.

[lookatthisguy]

Good thing I refreshed—I was beat out this time. And you can call me lookatthisguy, LATG, guy, or even just Andrew. Either way.

 

I can't give you specific numbers, but even with the devices daisy-chained, it's my understanding that it's not likely you'd run into any concerns about FW transmission—the bigger concern would be if the HD itself can keep up.

 

If you're looking for HD recommendations, many on here suggest OWC's drives as well as G-Tech, some will say Glyph, and others will say do it yourself if you're savvy enough. But again, on a MacBook Pro with only one internal drive, it's not "just as efficient" to record to an external as it is the system drive, it's more efficient, and more stable.

 

Ultimately, since while I'm typing I can't see your signature, I'm assuming you don't have an ExpressCard slot on your laptop, so I'd suggest saving up for a FW800 drive, whatever the usage intent. (Then again, I'm impatient when I'm backing up onto my WD My Book USB 2.0 drive, which come to think of it, I have no idea what speed that drive even is…)