What external HD are you using?

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DefenderOfRock

DefenderOfRock

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Hello all.

I was wondernig what kind of external HD everbody is using. I am going to start recording with my laptop soon and I need to get another HD because the current one is only 30 gigs and kinda full and heavily irreparibly fragmented.

I was thinkin about getting one with both 1394 and USB 2.0 hookups, since my interface will be a M-audio Firewire Solo and my laptop only has one 1394 port.

So... any thoughts or suggestions on some good drives/brands?

Thanks a ton!

Carl
 
I just got a 320GB Western Digital combo drive (1394 + USB connections) and the FireWire connection hosed itself in 3 days. Now whenever I connect a FireWire cable, the drive just shuts down. A replacement is on its way. When it worked, the drive was fast and quiet, and I don't think my experience is indicative of the reliability of the drive (the drive itself is fine)...at least based on the newegg reviews I read.
 
I'm using a WiebeTech TrayDock 800 external drive enclosure (USB2.0 and Firewire 800) to house a Western Digital 80GB 7200rpm SE model (8mb cache) drive. Had some initial problems with the USB-to-PCI host drivers for my notebook hardware, but once I got the updated drivers it just started working. It's fast and flexible. The enclosure is tray-based, so you can swap drives in and out of the enclosure very easily, and you can get both IDE and SATA trays for the unit.
 
i want to get my mits on a lacie 2TB firewire rackmount drive. that should hold me for a while.
 
minofifa said:
i want to get my mits on a lacie 2TB firewire rackmount drive. that should hold me for a while.
Click to expand...

Wow. I didnt even know they had 2TB now.... crazy. I remember when I thought 256MB in my Micron was huge!
 
I have a Micronet 160 Gig FW HD. Nothing special, but the only thing I use it for is archiving and backing up my projects.
 
since i use mine for backup only, i got a WD 200 gig in USB 2.0. It is a great backup device for me, and i spent under $140.
 
Wow. Quite a plethora (would you say I had a "plethora" of presents Jefe?") so far. I think I have heard of all of the brands mentioned. Ive had my eyes on one of those LaCie drives that Sweetwater is carrying. A Glyph would be sweet, but a bit pricey for my needs.

So heres a question. Is it possible to track to faster (7200rpm) firewire drives? Or are you guys using them for backup and archive purposes? It seems like tracking to an internal HD would have better performance than going through the FW bus to an external one. Any thoughts?
 
nah i think you would be fine to track to a firewire HD, if it spins at 7200 rpm or more. I'm not sure if firewire shares its bandwidth with other firewire devices (a caution if you are using a firewire soundcard as well). I dont' think it does though.
 
Another Glyph GT050 80Gb firewire drive here.

SILENT. Fast. Good drive and mounted in my rack with rackears.

Well worth the money ($200)
 
DefenderOfRock said:
So heres a question. Is it possible to track to faster (7200rpm) firewire drives? Or are you guys using them for backup and archive purposes? It seems like tracking to an internal HD would have better performance than going through the FW bus to an external one. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Yes, it's very possible, and I do it all the time. Heck, I recorded five 12 track songs straight onto my freaking iPod over USB2.0 with no problems (and yes, it was 12 simultaneous tracks). Technically, an internal HD has the advantage of direct access to the PCI bus, but I've never had enough tracks to run into that problem. On my full enclosure, I've worked on 24+ track projects with no problems.

minofifa said:
nah i think you would be fine to track to a firewire HD, if it spins at 7200 rpm or more. I'm not sure if firewire shares its bandwidth with other firewire devices (a caution if you are using a firewire soundcard as well). I dont' think it does though.
Click to expand...
Nope...even firewire is a shared-bandwidth system. The bus provides 400Mbps (or 800 on the newer standard) that must be shared between all devices. If you run into bandwidth problems however, you can always just install an additional firewire PCI or PCMCIA (CardBus) interface to have a separate bus with the full 400Mbps.
 
sile2001 said:
Nope...even firewire is a shared-bandwidth system. The bus provides 400Mbps (or 800 on the newer standard) that must be shared between all devices. If you run into bandwidth problems however, you can always just install an additional firewire PCI or PCMCIA (CardBus) interface to have a separate bus with the full 400Mbps.
Click to expand...

Yeah, thats prolly what I'll have to do. I have only one FW port on my laptop, and Ill be running both a FW interface and an HD. Those pcmia cards dont look too expensive.

Hmm, now its time to relieve my G.A.S. and go buy some gear! Its frikkin pleople like me that keep MF and ebay in business. Then all I have to do is, errr, write some songs!
 
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DefenderOfRock said:
Yeah, thats prolly what I'll have to do. I have only one FW port on my laptop, and Ill be running both a FW interface and an HD. Those pcmia cards dont look too expensive.

Hmm, now its time to relieve my G.A.S. and go buy some gear! Its frikkin pleople like me that keep MF and ebay in business. Then all I have to do is, errr, write some songs!
Click to expand...
My solution has been to run my Motu 828mkII over the firewire interface (only choice) and run the external hard drive over USB2.0. It's been great so far!
 
Firepod and external

I'm using an Acomdata external 120 GB with both USB and Firewire connections. I actually run the tracks to the external HD with no problems using my Firepod. I spoke to a tech support person at presonus and he recommended chaining the external HD into the Firepod instead of going into the second firewire port on my MAC. This works well but if someone knows a better way I would like to hear about your similar setup.

Thanks
 
Need Help

Hi, so I haven't set up my studio yet, I am still in the process of purchasing equipment. Just ordered a new Power Mac G5 and will be using Logic 7. I've got a Rhodes tube microphone, an M-audio interface and Roland montiors. The sales guy at Sam Ash suggested I get a microphone pre-amp because the one in the M-audio interface is not that good. He specifically suggested the Grace 101. I also need to purchase an external harddrive. At Sam Ash they sell a 250 Glyph GT drive for $350. However, when I called Apple they said that the Glyph drive is a rack drive. They suggested I get the LaCie D2 harddrive extreme, which is also cheaper. They said it has a firewire 800 as opposed to firewire 400 speed. I've been checking online and price comparing, there are so many choices, I don't know what is best? Any sugesstions? Also, the Apple people said that most people who do music production professionally do non use a second internal ATA drive, I heard differently. Any opinions on that?
 
Western Digital 120GB external 7200 rpm (don't remember exact model number). Been recording multitrack sessions to it with no problems. Well, except for running out of room all the time!
 
Thea said:
I also need to purchase an external harddrive. At Sam Ash they sell a 250 Glyph GT drive for $350. However, when I called Apple they said that the Glyph drive is a rack drive. They suggested I get the LaCie D2 harddrive extreme, which is also cheaper. They said it has a firewire 800 as opposed to firewire 400 speed. I've been checking online and price comparing, there are so many choices, I don't know what is best? Any sugesstions?
Click to expand...

Apple seems to push LaCie. The last time I was in the Apple Store, that's all they had. The Glyph is specifically designed for audio but it's cleary more expensive. I'm not sure what Apple has against rack mounted drives. It seems like an advantage to me. What's best? Well that depends on your usage. If you are just looking for storage or backup, any dependable drive would most likey fit the bill. On the other hand, if you are accessing softsynths, samples, audio files, etc. from a separate drive, you need something that has the speed and the compatability to do the job. You mentioned that you just bought a PowerMac G5. I'm assuming it comes with either 160 GB or 250 GB drive. I'm also assuming you bought a model with 2 processors. This setup alone will give you ample power, speed, and storage so that you don't have to sweat the drive question right now. So I would wait. Drives are getting bigger and cheaper all the time, so there may be some advantage to not buying right away. If you need back up, burn material to DVD using the built-in Superdrive.
 
dwillis45 said:
Apple seems to push LaCie. The last time I was in the Apple Store, that's all they had. The Glyph is specifically designed for audio but it's cleary more expensive. I'm not sure what Apple has against rack mounted drives. It seems like an advantage to me. What's best? Well that depends on your usage. If you are just looking for storage or backup, any dependable drive would most likey fit the bill. On the other hand, if you are accessing softsynths, samples, audio files, etc. from a separate drive, you need something that has the speed and the compatability to do the job. You mentioned that you just bought a PowerMac G5. I'm assuming it comes with either 160 GB or 250 GB drive. I'm also assuming you bought a model with 2 processors. This setup alone will give you ample power, speed, and storage so that you don't have to sweat the drive question right now. So I would wait. Drives are getting bigger and cheaper all the time, so there may be some advantage to not buying right away. If you need back up, burn material to DVD using the built-in Superdrive.
Click to expand...
Hi so, first I want to thank you for the response. You are correct on all counts with the Mac. Comes fully loaded. I was thinking that I wanted to keep any audio files or sample sounds on an entirely separate drive. What do you think about the whole second internal ATA drive? It might be a cheaper option, temporarily at least? I will need to back up eventually and I also want to be organized about it. Would you happen to know where one might get a glyph drive for cheaper, somewhere online? Also, do you know anything about the pre-amp, grace 101? Thanks, again.
 
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