KVR Audio

xphen0m · Post by **xphen0m** » Thu Mar 17, 2016 3:13 am

I definitely need another HDD for my DAW work, since my current WD 500gb drive (SATA II) is about full. I'm getting at least a 1TB. Last time I used a USB drive for sample streaming and such was a number of years ago and it was awful. But this was almost 8-9 or so years ago. But there have been many advances in computers since then. Now there's USB3.0.

I haven't seen a definitive answer to the question: So what's the general consensus in running a USB3.0 drive for music work? I'd be keeping my drum and Kontakt libraries and such on there, so I'm wondering if I should just get a larger capacity SATA drive and avoid the possible performance issues, if there are any to be anticipated with the USB3 drives.

xphen0m · Post by **xphen0m** » Thu Mar 17, 2016 3:14 am

I just realized that I should've posted this in the computer section. Could a mod please move this there? Thanks.

Ciberithm · Post by **Ciberithm** » Thu Mar 17, 2016 3:39 am

An SSD drive in a USB3 enclosure is a wonderful thing. I've got a newer Macbook with the soldered in drive, so can't increase my capacity beyond 500GB. I run a 1TB Samsung SSD in a $30 USB3 enclosure from Amazon and it works great. Make sure to get one with UASP support for the best performance.

medienhexer · Post by **medienhexer** » Thu Mar 17, 2016 1:29 pm

Even a regular 2.5" USB 3 HDD should be fine.

Most Superior Drummer kits take between 3 and maybe 10 seconds to load. Make that 20 for fully maxed-out kits with loads of bleed mics. So what? unless you DAW and project files load from an SSD, the sample library won't be the limiting factor.

Most huge Kontakt libraries stream part of the files in real time. With between 80 and 100 MB/s continuous transfer speed in modern drives, that should give you way more tracks of streaming than you would usually use. And you can't beat the convenience of a cloned drive by the same name as a backup in case of breakdown.

gfunko · Post by **gfunko** » Thu Mar 17, 2016 1:47 pm

I assume you are running a PC? Like medienhexer said, a HDD would suffice. SSD would be ideal but they get fairly expensive when you get into the TB range. I run a 2TB secondary SATA 7200 rpm drive in my PC and have no issues and is my preferred choice. Keeps everything internal

So what's the current verdict of USB3.0 drives for DAW/library drives?