KVR Audio

Sleepgolfer · Post by **Sleepgolfer** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 10:54 pm

I need your advice, guys...Which is the most silent and reliable one? It will be used just for audio (recording and streaming) and the system is on the other drive

1.HDD MAXTOR 120 GB, UDMA 133, 7.200 rpm., 2 MB cache

2.HDD MAXTOR 120 GB, UDMA 133, 7.200 rpm., 8 MB cache

3.HDD SEAGATE Barracuda 7200.7 120 GB, UDMA 100, 7.200 rpm., 8 MB cache

4.HDD WD Caviar 120 GB, UDMA 100, 7.200 rpm., 8 MB cache

5.HDD SAMSUNG 120 GB, serial ATA, 7200 rpm., 8 MB cache

6.HDD Maxtor 120 GB 7.200 rpm 8MB cache ATA/133

7.HDD Maxtor 120 GB 7.200 rpm 8MB cache SATA

8.HDD Seagate 120.0 GB Baracuda 7.200 rpm 8MB cache SATA/150

Thanks in advance

VitaminD · Post by **VitaminD** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 5:11 am

just to tell you right off, you're going to get the gamut of responses to this question...

personally.. I have the seagate 160 gb with 8 mb buffer..

oddly enough seagate told me that the drive only has a 1 year warranty vs the 3 (or is it 5 now?) for the other drives with the 8 mb buffer... which I found a bit annoying and odd..

anyways.. the drive has been stable and is still as quiet as can be (cant hear it at all unless its accessing realllyy hard) I've had the drive at least 8 months now.. and I keep my computer on 24/7 (well unless there is a thunderstorm or the power randomly goes off which it occasionally does)

I think these days.. any of those drives you listed are going to be fine.. I'd personally stay away from WD because I've had nothing but trouble with them over the past decade..

though in a moment I'm sure you'll see someone quoting me and saying they havent had any problem with WD but have had loads of problems with seagates in the past 20..

Lunch Money · Post by **Lunch Money** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 5:47 am

Crap, I just bought a WD.

Can't tell you if it's reliable or not yet. <chuckle>

If I had the extra bones, I would have gone for the Seagate w/ 8MB cache as well, but not SATA since it's too much money for the allegedly improved performance. Very diminishing returns, if you ask me.

Greg

Durk · Post by **Durk** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 7:50 am

There's also:

- Samsung SpinPoint P80, 120GB (7200rpm, ATA133, 8MB)
- Hitachi Deskstar 7K250, 120GB (7200RPM, ATA100, 2MB)
- Hitachi Deskstar 7K250, 120GB (7200RPM, ATA100, 8MB)
- Hitachi Deskstar 7K250, 120GB (7200rpm, SATA, 8MB)

Just wondering why you're shopping for a 120 GB model... a 160 GB model is pretty much more bang for buck.

I've went for a Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 160 GB 8 MB ATA-133, because it gave me the most bang for buck and I didn't had a SATA interface at that time.

.jon · Post by **.jon** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 8:18 am

Mad though in a moment I'm sure you'll see someone quoting me and saying they havent had any problem with WD but have had loads of problems with seagates in the past 20..

Got that one right! Almost... as I've had probs with Seagates and Quantums, never with WDs

But I also doubt that any of the big names could afford bad quality these days.

Ixox · Post by **Ixox** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 8:18 am

Using a Maxtor DiamondMax plus 9 in audio production really requires to enable AAM (automatic acoustic management) which slow down a bit the access time but make it really quiet.
Feature Tool (v1.94) :
http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

I have one and before enabling AAM the noise it made while writing was loud.

Today i would go for Seagate 8mb because they propose 5 years warranty.

nuffink · Post by **nuffink** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 8:55 am

www.storagereview.com is your friend.

Or just take my word for it and get the biggest Seagate you can afford.

moldofunker · Post by **moldofunker** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 8:59 am

No. 4 (western digital - JB series)

I did that choice after many hours of reading reviews and tests and now i'm very happy with it.

IBM & Maxtor crashed on me 2times each. Maxtor crashed on my gf's pc also

Lunch Money · Post by **Lunch Money** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 9:06 am

I've had a Maxtor f--- off on me, too, after not too many years of service. My current system drive is a Maxtor, too, though, and it's been doing great. <knock on wood>

Greg

VitaminD · Post by **VitaminD** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 3:10 am

pakana wrote:
Mad though in a moment I'm sure you'll see someone quoting me and saying they havent had any problem with WD but have had loads of problems with seagates in the past 20..
Got that one right! Almost... as I've had probs with Seagates and Quantums, never with WDs

But I also doubt that any of the big names could afford bad quality these days.

we have a winner! *ding ding*

dbavirt · Post by **dbavirt** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 3:25 am

I have always had good luck with Western Digital and Maxtor. No idea which one is the most silent, unfortunately whole computer is pretty loud.

flugel45 · Post by **flugel45** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 3:35 am

Last week I ordered my second Samsung Spinpoint 120GB, 8mb cache drive, and got it today. I've only had it installed for a couple of hours, and I'll tell ya, like the first one (which I have in another machine), it is dead quiet. Do a search on the Spinpoint -- you'll find that the benchmark performance is up there with the best, and it is absolutely the quietest drive out there.

Of course, the Samsungs haven't been around long enough to have stood the test of time, but I've been recording with my other one now for four months and just love it, so when I needed another drive, I didn't even have to think about what model to get.

I predict these babies will becomes the favorite choice for audio use.

JD

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 9:14 am

Ive been using 8Mb cache Maxtor's for a while; no issues... I think most modern drives are much of a muchness though...

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 9:16 am

Ixox, does that Hitachi tool work okay with Maxtor drives then? The docs dont seem to list them as being supported...

Ixox · Post by **Ixox** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 11:53 am

whyterabbyt wrote:Ixox, does that Hitachi tool work okay with Maxtor drives then? The docs dont seem to list them as being supported...

It does... on Diamond Max Plus 9 (DM+9) series.
I found this information on a french site :
http://www.choixpc.com/silence.htm (great site)
It worked perfectly for me...

which hard drive to buy?