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external hard drives

Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:04 pm
by d-fly
when it comes to storing files which contain audio files for music programs like reason, logic, ableton, etc. does it matter which brand/model you use and why?
also, does it matter how big the hd is?

Re: external hard drives

Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:08 pm
by forensix (mcr)
D-Fly wrote:when it comes to storing files which contain audio files for music programs like reason, logic, ableton, etc. does it matter which brand/model you use and why?
also, does it matter how big the hd is?
no just the speed of it

I need a new one need to back up (again)

Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:10 pm
by twatty vagitis
Get an internal if you can, seriously. If it's for a lappy or you just have no extra room in your case then obviously your stuck with getting an external.

But no, it doesn't matter which you get so long as what your plugging it into supports USB 2.0. But transfering large files (1gig+) is PAINFULLY slow :!:

Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:25 pm
by cryptic
yes make sure its usb 2.0

I would also recommend getting one with a cache inside (just like having ram on a hard drive)

Bigger it is - faster the transfer speed.

Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 8:40 pm
by whineo
if you can go firewire

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 12:32 am
by djake
i need another hard drive

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 7:30 am
by Basstronomer
Whineo wrote:if you can go firewire
USB2 = 480Mb/sec
FayaWaya = 400Mb/sec

FireWire is what you need if you chain 2 hard drives.
Don't go firewire if it's not 800, too expensive :D

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 12:53 pm
by barryhercules
some new external drives (seagate freeagentPRO for instance) have eSATA ports... as far as i know they are far faster than USB 2.0. if i were making tunes i wouldnt bother with firewire or USB drives... they are fairly slow compared to internal IDE or SATA. not sure how eSATA compares.

this may help:

http://www.sata-io.org/esata.asp

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:04 pm
by John Locke
did a fair bit of research on this a while back, unfortunately can only remember WHAT was recommended, but not necessarily WHY

Glyph brand drives r supposed 2b far superior (in terms of dependability) 4 recording audio. plenty of ppl wont use anything else. i got 1 and had no problems. cant tell u anymore than that.

plenty ppl also said that LaCie drives r all style and no security, that they'll let u down on audio. but some techy guy i met since who was just using the inner of a HD without any casing (like he bought it as a spare part from wholesalers or something) told me as all drives are made in pretty much the same factories in china there's fuck all difference in them and they'll all give out on u in the end anyway. tho this guy wasnt doing music, so...

anyway, just to throw a spanner in the works: firewire apparently IS much faster than USB2, despite USB2 appearing faster on paper. i forget why this is now, but the advice i read left me in no doubt as to which i was gonna go for

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:37 pm
by manray
Sorry but Firewire kicks USB2.0 arse when it comes to hard-drives.

Don't give me none of that, USB is faster, in the real world Firewire 400 is quicker than USB2.0.

If you HAVE a firewire port then it's a good idea getting a firewire drive. If you want full compatability get a USB drive because all computers have one. Even better get a dual USB/Firewire drive.

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:40 pm
by manray
Battle Gong wrote:did a fair bit of research on this a while back, unfortunately can only remember WHAT was recommended, but not necessarily WHY

Glyph brand drives r supposed 2b far superior (in terms of dependability) 4 recording audio. plenty of ppl wont use anything else. i got 1 and had no problems. cant tell u anymore than that.
Something like this ? http://www.glyphtech.com/site/products/portagig.html

I can tell you that is pure bullshit. That is _exactly_ like any other portal drive on the market. It's a bog standard IDE drive inside there with a basic little connector that makes it USB accessible.

I cant speak for their other proffesional products, like their rackmount drives, but this one in particular is like anything else.

End of the day most portal drives are almost identical.

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 4:13 pm
by breaksbaron
Firewire 400, gives the user a constant 400mbps speed/transfer

Usb 2.0 gives the user a fluctuating 480mbps speed/transfer

Firewire the better option

Word of advice with all external hard-drives, the case enclosures sometimes fail, meaning that the case power/Usb has gone. Although if you opened it up and took out the hardrive, reconected it via SATA/IDE, your data will still be there, this might void your warranty, for a replacement.

For this very reason I have two external harddrives, holding exactly the same data, just incase one fails. sort of expensive, but an in-valuable required back-up, in terms of making music.

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:08 pm
by whineo
djekos wrote:
Whineo wrote:if you can go firewire
USB2 = 480Mb/sec
FayaWaya = 400Mb/sec

FireWire is what you need if you chain 2 hard drives.
Don't go firewire if it's not 800, too expensive :D
:?: as far Im concerned firewire is faster than Usb

Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 8:31 pm
by d-fly
my man uses a firewire cardbus adapter to connect his rhino external hd to his laptop and he recommended i use the same brand hd saying it was more dependable for storing music files.
i am one who questions everything so i figured i would inquire here about the validity of his recommendation.

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 1:20 am
by spydogen
i use a Formac 500gb thingy that has go Firewire 400 and 800, and USB2.

Never let me down.

I hear lacies are good, haven't met anyone with one thats dissapointed anyway.

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 6:57 am
by John Locke
I got a couple LaCie's. One sucks and falls asleep all the time (even though ive told my mac not to let it sleep), bu the other one is fine...





manray wrote:
Battle Gong wrote:did a fair bit of research on this a while back, unfortunately can only remember WHAT was recommended, but not necessarily WHY

Glyph brand drives r supposed 2b far superior (in terms of dependability) 4 recording audio. plenty of ppl wont use anything else. i got 1 and had no problems. cant tell u anymore than that.
Something like this ? http://www.glyphtech.com/site/products/portagig.html

I can tell you that is pure bullshit.

thanks, manray, for selectively quoting me just so you can agressively disagree, when in actual fact i'd already offered the same counter-argument in the rest of my post.

that make u feel like a badman? cos i can c no other point 2 it beyond internet-ego-tripping, unless u just didnt bother 2 read

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 1:28 pm
by future producer
I don't think you can go wrong with a Western Digital MyBook. I've had their Essential edition (250GB) for nearly a year now and never had any probs.

Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 4:25 pm
by drwurst
any hard drive can fuck you up...after some time...
no matter if its big name or cheap...
my opinion...
so do some triple backups....
and no dvds either...
my opinion...

(my 500 gb packard bell /maxtor backup hardrive crashed a few days ago,... so im fucking vexd,..sorry :D )

Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:57 am
by d-fly
drwurst wrote: and no dvds either...
i bought special gold archiving dvds i am told they are pretty reliable plus i did some research before i made the purchase

i guess only time will tell but as an added safey precaution i would like to back up everything to an external hd as well.