External Hard Drive for MacBook Pro/Logic Pro X with charging capabilities?

Anorton

Member
Hoping everyone is safe and sound these days.

I have a 2016 MacBook Pro with two Thunderbolt 3 inputs, 250 gigs of storage.

I recently bought Logic Pro X and have been mainly recording rock songs with guitars, bass, vocals, and drum loops. I couldn't pass up an IK Multimedia campaign and now have tons of sample libraries and have been reading that I should be using an external hard drive.

I've read I should put all my projects and 3rd party sound libraries on the external drive and keep software and all Logic's stuff on the Mac. I think my problem is the two inputs. If I have my interface and an external drive, I need that external drive to charge while it's receiving the recordings and loading samples to and from the Mac.

Anyway, I've only found one that says it charges while in use:

https://shop.westerndigital.com/pro...echnology-g-drive-usb-c-usb-3-1-hdd#0G05666-1

Having gotten this far, Western Audio says the drive will charge compatible laptops. I don't know if mine is. I also don't know if it can charge and do music at the same time. Will this drive work for me? My head hurts.

I've been at this for a couple of days and haven't found much information about this specific situation. I found a thread from 2014 that was sort of related, but that was 2014.

Anyway, sorry for the longwinded post. Anyone have a similar setup with something that works? When I go into my "studio", I just want to plug the Mac in, hook up the interface and external drive and get to work. Is that possible?

Thanks.
 
Hi!

I've read I should put all my projects and 3rd party sound libraries on the external drive and keep software and all Logic's stuff on the Mac. I think my problem is the two inputs. If I have my interface and an external drive, I need that external drive to charge while it's receiving the recordings and loading samples to and from the Mac.

Are you low on space? The main reason for this advice, in the past, was that hard drive seek times and max read/write speeds were very limited but that's no longer true.
If you have enough space to get the job done I'd carry on just using the internal disk and backup to some external drive later, at your leisure.

Reading this
"this drive can charge your compatible MacBook or MacBook Pro without having to take a separate MacBook charger out of your bag."
I'd take it that compatible simply means a MacBook(or Pro) which charges via Thunderbolt 3.

It looks like they've put a 5400RPM spinning disk in there, though, so I'd be tempted to shop around a bit more.
Regardless of the interface that's going to max out at Sata I speeds. :(

If you were to keep your sample libraries on the MBP and use this to backup sessions etc when you get home then it doesn't matter so much
but I definitely wouldn't want to be reading large sample libraries from a 5400RPM spinner.
 
Hi!



Are you low on space? The main reason for this advice, in the past, was that hard drive seek times and max read/write speeds were very limited but that's no longer true.
If you have enough space to get the job done I'd carry on just using the internal disk and backup to some external drive later, at your leisure.

Reading this
"this drive can charge your compatible MacBook or MacBook Pro without having to take a separate MacBook charger out of your bag."
I'd take it that compatible simply means a MacBook(or Pro) which charges via Thunderbolt 3.

It looks like they've put a 5400RPM spinning disk in there, though, so I'd be tempted to shop around a bit more.
Regardless of the interface that's going to max out at Sata I speeds. :(

If you were to keep your sample libraries on the MBP and use this to backup sessions etc when you get home then it doesn't matter so much
but I definitely wouldn't want to be reading large sample libraries from a 5400RPM spinner.

Thank you. I suppose I need to think things through a bit more. You're saying that you don't think I need to have an external drive hooked up at all times? I'm new to Logic and new to IK Multimedia's Sample Tank stuff. Can I load things on and off the Mac as I need them? Is that a more streamlined way of doing things? I'm a rock guy. I play a little piano and organ from time to time, so those samples and my drum loops are what I'd be using most of the time. I just want to have what I need when I need it. I'm sure you understand. Thanks again.
 
[MENTION=43272]Steenamaroo[/MENTION]'s question about how much storage capacity (or not) you have on your MBP is the first one. Looking at the spec's, it seems that model could have come with the (default) 256GB, or optional 512 or 1TB SSD configurations. If you don't have 1TB I can imagine space will get tight sooner or later.

If this drive is going to be stationary, I wouldn't be too concerned about the spinning disks, though I don't use samples so can't comment on the RPM concern. That's what I have in my RAID enclosures (IIRC - the big disk ones def 5400 - have to open the little one to check), both connected via USB 3.0, and they work fine. A large controller cache might help here. (It's possible this kind of charging feature is only on spinning media enclosures, because SSDs probably don't need the kind of AC adapter capacity, and may even expect to pull power from the port, like my Samsung T5.)

You will also need to consider how you are going to back up this external drive.

Anyway, it looks like this would let you do what you want (aside from my inexperience with samples and disk RPM) - have the interface (presumably TBolt3 or USB-C compatible or with a USB to TBolt3 adapter) and the external drive both connected using the available ports. As noted, this drive promises to charge via USB-C so I'd test that pronto, or read reviews to confirm.

p.s. here's one old thread on the rpm/usb topic, I'm sure there are more. It seems a couple folks think USB 3 has an advantage, and it's certainly not operating at USB 1 speeds (that much I can be certain of).
usb 3.1 and 5400 RPM hard drive ? | Tom's Hardware Forum
 
Thank you. I suppose I need to think things through a bit more. You're saying that you don't think I need to have an external drive hooked up at all times? I'm new to Logic and new to IK Multimedia's Sample Tank stuff. Can I load things on and off the Mac as I need them? Is that a more streamlined way of doing things? I'm a rock guy. I play a little piano and organ from time to time, so those samples and my drum loops are what I'd be using most of the time. I just want to have what I need when I need it. I'm sure you understand. Thanks again.

Nah, I don't think I'd want to add/remove libraries as needed. All in one place makes sense.

Check how much free space you have on the mac at present and how much space the desired libraries will take up.
If you're talking about a few instruments that are going to use up 15-20GB or something like that, I'd definitely just install them on the mac and leave it at that.
The built in harddrive is going to read at something like 2000MB/s compared with the best-case-scenario 150MB/s and slow seek of a 5400 spinner.

The latter is fine for big cheap lazy storage but not what you want for reading sample libraries.

If hard drive space on the MBP is an issue then external is the solution but I'd be going for external SSD of SataIII spec, at least.

What interface do you have? Thunderbolt can be daisy-chained and a lot of interfaces have two ports for that reason.
 
Nah, I don't think I'd want to add/remove libraries as needed. All in one place makes sense.

Check how much free space you have on the mac at present and how much space the desired libraries will take up.
If you're talking about a few instruments that are going to use up 15-20GB or something like that, I'd definitely just install them on the mac and leave it at that.
The built in harddrive is going to read at something like 2000MB/s compared with the best-case-scenario 150MB/s and slow seek of a 5400 spinner.

The latter is fine for big cheap lazy storage but not what you want for reading sample libraries.

If hard drive space on the MBP is an issue then external is the solution but I'd be going for external SSD of SataIII spec, at least.

What interface do you have? Thunderbolt can be daisy-chained and a lot of interfaces have two ports for that reason.

I have a 1st generation Focusrite 2i2, so no help there. I can also move off some of my other non music stuff, which also give me some space. I think I'm just going to get a storage device and put what I think I'll use most on the Mac. I don't see myself doing much more than some piano, organ, and drum loops anyway. I can move other stuff in and out if I want to mess around with the other stuff. I appreciate you helping me out. I want to upgrade my interface this year, so I'll hold off on spending a big chunk on the drive for now.
 
I have a 1st generation Focusrite 2i2, so no help there. ...
I did a quick look around today and the interfaces with 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports is in the stratospheric price ranges. I think Presonus and a couple Apollo models are under $1-2k but with only a single port.

There are USB 3.x devices with USB-C connectivity that can use the port, but I'm pretty sure if you plug one of those in, that's the end of the chain. (I just got a Steinberg like that.) Your Focusrite with an adapter will consume one of your ports, so if you want/need charging capability, your options are limited, as you've noted.

Many folks do put their projects and other media on external drives. I do my Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro projects that way, but as I said, I don't use any libraries except the stock ones (and there are a *lot* of those with the very latest update), and my latest Mac has a 1TB drive, so I'm Ok.

You don't say what your system disk size is, but my 500GB SSD on the old Mini is pretty full at about 400GB, but I have all my photos and iTunes libraries on there, which are about 160GB of that. So, that means I've got the full Logic, with very few projects, and a good amount of room to spare in 500GB if I would move the photos and iTunes libraries.

Hope that is a little useful.
 
I did a quick look around today and the interfaces with 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports is in the stratospheric price ranges. I think Presonus and a couple Apollo models are under $1-2k but with only a single port.

There are USB 3.x devices with USB-C connectivity that can use the port, but I'm pretty sure if you plug one of those in, that's the end of the chain. (I just got a Steinberg like that.) Your Focusrite with an adapter will consume one of your ports, so if you want/need charging capability, your options are limited, as you've noted.

Many folks do put their projects and other media on external drives. I do my Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro projects that way, but as I said, I don't use any libraries except the stock ones (and there are a *lot* of those with the very latest update), and my latest Mac has a 1TB drive, so I'm Ok.

You don't say what your system disk size is, but my 500GB SSD on the old Mini is pretty full at about 400GB, but I have all my photos and iTunes libraries on there, which are about 160GB of that. So, that means I've got the full Logic, with very few projects, and a good amount of room to spare in 500GB if I would move the photos and iTunes libraries.

Hope that is a little useful.

Yes, thank you. I got the Mac as a Christmas present. It’s got 250GB. I think, for the immediate future, I’ll have to load the IK Multimedia sounds on an external hard drive and move in stuff I want for particular songs. I’ll load in what I think I’ll use regularly (pianos and organs) and get finished projects/songs off when they’re done.

I’m more interested in being able to get stuff down easily. I’m already turned off by this whole library thing. I’m just a singer/songwriter/guitar player. I was interested in using IK Multimedia stuff because it was essentially free with a crossgrade/upgrade on their mixing/mastering stuff and their AmpliTube guitar rig modeling software. It’s not the end of the world. As you say, Logic is pretty awesome on its own. Thanks so much for your time.
 
Yes, thank you. I got the Mac as a Christmas present. It’s got 250GB. I think, for the immediate future, I’ll have to load the IK Multimedia sounds on an external hard drive and move in stuff I want for particular songs. I’ll load in what I think I’ll use regularly (pianos and organs) and get finished projects/songs off when they’re done.

I’m more interested in being able to get stuff down easily. I’m already turned off by this whole library thing. I’m just a singer/songwriter/guitar player. I was interested in using IK Multimedia stuff because it was essentially free with a crossgrade/upgrade on their mixing/mastering stuff and their AmpliTube guitar rig modeling software. It’s not the end of the world. As you say, Logic is pretty awesome on its own. Thanks so much for your time.
Make sure you have the latest version of Logic and downloaded everything that you can with that. I only used a phone version of Amplitube a good while back, and don't do electric anymore, but the built-in amp designer in Logic is pretty darn good - certainly a dizzying array of options. I never saw a need for anything else if you're working "it-the-box" and can spend a little time. Keyboard sims I can't judge, though I used the B3 a few times and thought it was quite passable. (Not a keyboard player, but was in a soul band in the 60s and stood next to one of those for many gigs!)
 
Have you considered a dock and a drive? These days there are multiple choices for desktop docks that will charge, pass thru TB and give you multiple ports for USB, network, monitors... etc. There are also small sidecar TB+USB3 hubs that will accept the mac charger while providing several USB3 ports and usually one HDMI.
 
Have you considered a dock and a drive? These days there are multiple choices for desktop docks that will charge, pass thru TB and give you multiple ports for USB, network, monitors... etc. There are also small sidecar TB+USB3 hubs that will accept the mac charger while providing several USB3 ports and usually one HDMI.

Funny you mention that! I've been looking around at the dock options. I'm just wondering how they run with an interface and the external drive on the same port on the Mac; some must be better than others. I haven't seen anyone talking about how well a dock handles an external drive and an interface. I am excited about the possibilities. I wish I knew more about this stuff and felt confident enough to just go for it. Thanks for giving me another push into finding out more about the docks.
 
Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I wanted to post my solution. So sorry I forgot to post sooner. I picked up this OWC thunderbolt hub not too after starting this thread, and it has been rock solid. I've got two interfaces and external storage device connected at all times. My keyboard, expression pedal, and sample libraries are all readily available. All I have to do is connect it to my MacBook Pro and I'm making music AND charging. It just works! Thanks to all in this thread who helped get me here!

 
No apology needed. It could be useful to someone reading back.
Interestingly I switched computers from a tower to a Macbook Air in November, after your questions, and now run a setup with a small thunderbolt dock,
and storage and audio interface hanging off that. :ROFLMAO:
 
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