Put samples on SSD or HDD (internal vs external)?

Sampler and Sampling discussion (techniques, tips and tricks, etc.)
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Ok, so I'm getting ready do possibly purchase a 256GB SSD. I currently have a 750GB 5200rpm internal hard (disk) drive. On that drive I have used about 250GB so far, which contains some of my big sample libraries like Omnishpere, Trillian, Maschine and some others. I'm going to buying more samples and just upgraded my computer, so I thought now is a good time to get my sample storage situation finally addressed. I've always had them on my internal drive and think it's time for a change.

What do you recommend: Start storing my samples on an (smaller GB) SSD or put them on a (more GB) HHD? I'm also wondering how much it matters if I use an external or an internal drive. FYI, my Macbook Pro is model 8,3 so do I have a Thunderbolt port on it for faster sample transfer speeds.

I've thought about getting the 256 GB SSD and put that in my main internal hard drive bay in my Macbook. And then I could take out the optical DVD drive and put the 750GB HHD there. But I'm wondering if I really even need to do that since I have Thunderbolt. Could I just use thunderbolt with an external hard drive to stream samples from? If so, would it be better to have an SSD or HHD as the external?

Also, do most people keep their applications/programs on the main drive and then save their samples and projects to a 2nd drive? If I had an SSD as the main drive, would it be ok to put some of my frequently used sample libraries (Omnisphere, Trillian, Maschine) on the internal SSD with my applications?

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SSD is better for sample streaming.

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I recently bought a Thunderbolt drive for my new Macbook Pro for Live Gigs, the streaming speed is absolutely amazing (but it's only 240 GB), the price is absolutely obscene. I would never put all samples on my system drive, so a smaller SSD as a system drive and a larger HDD as an external (or a thunderbolt drive) is the way to go imo.

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Never ever ever never ever never ever buy a 5400 rpm drive for ANYTHING related to audio/visual!!!

7200 rpm is a MUST for accurate read/write times. 5400 is just too slow.

Solid State will be much faster and therefore much better for streaming samples.

Mike

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Karmacomposer wrote:Never ever ever never ever never ever buy a 5400 rpm drive for ANYTHING related to audio/visual!!!
I think "5200" was a typo. Though whether it was the '5' (7) or the '2' (4), I dunno... :lol:
I'm not a musician, but I've designed sounds that others use to make music. http://soundcloud.com/obsidiananvil

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Solid State!!!

or if you use an external, make sure it's not some 'eco' drive that switches itself off when it feels like it.

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Well, I know SSD would be the fastest option, but given my constraints I was wondering what's the best thing to do in my case

Ok, so I should put my samples on a seperate drive from my main system drive? Which in that case, it would mean I should put samples on an HHD drive since I can only afford a 256GB SSD and 256GB probably won't be big enough for my samples in the long run.

If I'm going this route of putting my samples on a HHD, would it be best to get an external Thundrbolt HHD or to put the drive in the optical bay using OWC's optical bay hard drive kit?

Shoot, I was hoping I could re-use my 750GB 5400rpm drive for samples, but it sounds like a 7200rpm HHD would be the way to go.

One last question: In the future when SSD prices get cheaper, would it be fine to have OS, applications, projects and samples all on one SSD? Or is it always a good idea to seperate the OS/applications from the samples?

Crap, another question, is it a good idea to put music Projects on the same drive as the sample drive or to put them on the main system OS/applications drive?

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sqigls wrote:Solid State!!!

or if you use an external, make sure it's not some 'eco' drive that switches itself off when it feels like it.
WD's eco drives are actually very good. I've got a 2TB external USB3 drive (yes, an eco one) that's very swift at everything it does. It's actually ALOT quicker than the "proper 7200rpm" Seagate i have as a system drive. I mean, roughly 60-70mb/s read spead for the Seagate, 100-120 for the WD eco drive.. And latencys are much lower too.


Ofcourse SSD's are alot quicker. 100 euros gets you 2TB of 100-120mb/s or a 100gb of 200-250mb/s.. You decide.


Thunderbolt is a joke. Costs mountains compared to usb3 drives. And there's no real benefits over usb3. Usb3 is even backwards compatible.. a term Apple knows nothing of.
www.mkdr.net

MophoEd - the BEST DSI Mopho Editor VSTi

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NEVER, EVER get any "eco" drives for sample streaming. Only proper 7200 RPM drives, such as Samsung SpinPoint F3 or WD Black.

Seagates suck overall from my experience. Wouldn't ever consider purchasing them again. Only Samsung and WD.

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stikygum wrote:One last question: In the future when SSD prices get cheaper, would it be fine to have OS, applications, projects and samples all on one SSD? Or is it always a good idea to seperate the OS/applications from the samples?
It's always a good idea to separate OS/apps from samples and from project files, no matter HDD or SSD.
stikygum wrote:Crap, another question, is it a good idea to put music Projects on the same drive as the sample drive or to put them on the main system OS/applications drive?
I have project audio data on yet another separate hard drive. So, separate HD for OS/programs, samples and audio data for projects. This provides best performance and bandwidth.

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How about using a SATA 10,000 or 15,000 RPM drives?
Last edited by Kalamata Kid on Tue Sep 18, 2012 4:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

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I'm almost thinking if I should make the 256GB SSD a sample drive (sample libraries that I use often). Would it be better to have the applications on an SSD or see the benefit in fast sample streaming?

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Kalamata Kid wrote:How about using a SATA 10,000 or 15,000 RPM drives?
When they start spinning, ooooh boy the sound. You don't want these in your DAW unless you have excellent means of getting rid of their noise.
stikygum wrote:I'm almost thinking if I should make the 256GB SSD a sample drive (sample libraries that I use often). Would it be better to have the applications on an SSD or see the benefit in fast sample streaming?
It's better to see the benefit in sample streaming.

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EvilDragon wrote:
It's better to see the benefit in sample streaming.
That's what I was thinking and afraid of because now I'm debating if I should put my OS/applications on the 256GB SSD or the 750GB hybrid drive. The hybrid drive would give me more storage, but the SSD would be so fast...

Maybe I'll but my samples and projects on the SSD for now and then hopefully by the time I start to run out of space, SSD will be cheaper to buy. I'm not sure if this will work as I might run out of space sooner than latter.

I'm going to replace my optical bay and put both of these drives in my MBP. I'm trying to avoid having a external, but I know at some point it's possible I might have to have one.

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My personal preference would to put the OS on the SSD, and use a faster HDD for the sample libraries. The OS will benefit greatly from being on the SSD. Opening time for apps and plugins will be significantly improved.

If you notice any sample libraries performing poorly, move them to the SSD and leave the HDD for less frequently used libs.

My 2 cents.

Peace,
Andy.
... space is the place ...

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