Hard Drive help needed

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blindguitar
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2012/12/17 18:59:46 (permalink)

Hard Drive help needed

Hello All, Please forgive such a shameful lack of knowledge....... I am trying to figure out which hard drive to purchase and, how to operate. I have this computer Sweetwater Custom Computing Creation Station 400 | Sweetwater.com It has 2 drives. I am wanting to add a 3rd drive. One drive for programs, another for audio, and a 3rd for sound libraries. It looks like this is what most suggest. From what I have read it looks like using an external usb drive is not ideal for accessing audio or soft synth sounds while recording. However, does this apply to eSATA drives? Which would be better, getting a 3rd internal drive or getn an external ESATA drive and use the eSATA port? If both the same I guess cheaper is better? If internal is the better option (cost and function), is it simple to hook up? Is it simply a matter of properly setting up the drive as say a slave with the jumper....plugging it in and seeing the new drive letter on the PC? Is that it, ready to load samples etc. on the drive? Do I need to format it or do any extra stuff? Anything I should be aware of and look for while installing? Is there anything else on the topic I did not ask but should have? lol Thank you kindly for any help in putting me on the correct path.
post edited by blindguitar - 2012/12/17 19:02:21
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    digi2ns
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    Re:Hard Drive help needed 2012/12/17 19:28:10 (permalink)
    I just bought 2 Seagate Barracudas-Yes they are plug-n-play atleast on my windows 7 system.

    They come with install software to make install simple if not plug-n-play

    http://www.bestbuy.com/si...p=1#tab=specifications

    I think you want 7200 rpm, 64 Cache and this one is upto 6gb on the transfer.  

    For $110 ya cant beat it


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    #2
    digi2ns
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    Re:Hard Drive help needed 2012/12/17 19:31:47 (permalink)
    One thing I learned with the big stores is at this time of year the model number means nothing.

    The 2 TB Barracuda with these specs are apparently ALL THE SAME regardless of the model number.  

    Places like BestBuy have there OWN model numbers put on them to stop the price matching.


    MIKE

    --Dell Studio XPS I7/870 2.93 Ghz, 8GB Mem, 2-2TB Barracuda HDs, 500 GB Ext.HDD, Win7/64
    --X1 64 Pro Expanded, Dual 21" Monitors 
    --PCR500  
    --MAUDIO FastTrack Ultra
    --Mackie 1604 VLZ PRO
    --Line6 X3 Live
    --Gibson, Fender, Takamine, Schecter, Washburn
    http://pogopoppa.wix.com/5thgear#
     http://soundcloud.com/digi2ns  
     
     
     
     

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    Jim Roseberry
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    Re:Hard Drive help needed 2012/12/17 21:03:46 (permalink)
    eSATA will yield the full speed of the HD
    USB3 with a good controller will yield the full speed of the HD

    USB3 with the controller integrated into the chipset (Intel Z series motherboards) will top out ~500MB/Sec.
    Many eSATA controllers top out at ~250MB/Sec
    If you use an eSATA port via the SATA-III controller integrated into the chipset, you can reach speeds up to 600MB/Sec.

    No single conventional HD is close to saturating SATA-II (300MB/Sec)... so for single HDs it's pretty much a moot point.  
    If you're connecting a fast SATA-III SSD, it makes a *HUGE* difference.
    If you're running two/four external drives in RAID-0, the controller (USB3 or eSATA) makes a huge difference. 

    post edited by Jim Roseberry - 2012/12/17 21:05:06

    Best Regards,

    Jim Roseberry
    jim@studiocat.com
    www.studiocat.com
    #4
    Guitarhacker
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    Re:Hard Drive help needed 2012/12/18 08:38:39 (permalink)
    Just so you know....from my experience....

    The USB external drives will work just fine. I ran a lappy with a 350G HDD in it. I had all my programs on the C drive.... Sonar, and the various synths. 

    I installed the sample libraries to a 500G USB external. And one of the programs I use came pre-installed on a solid state 160G external USB HDD.  I ran them all

    Since most of the synths DO NOT run the samples from the drive in real time, but they actually load the samples to memory for a given instrument, running from the USB drives never caused me any issues while recording and working on the lap top in this manner. 

    I now have a custom built DAW with all the programs and synths on the C drive, the sample libraries are on a second internal HDD and I still use the USB drive but it is a backup/storage drive. 

    My website & music: www.herbhartley.com

    MC4/5/6/X1e.c, on a Custom DAW   
    Focusrite Firewire Saffire Interface


    BMI/NSAI

    "Just as the blade chooses the warrior, so too, the song chooses the writer " 
    #5
    blindguitar
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    Re:Hard Drive help needed 2012/12/18 10:40:41 (permalink)
    thanks for all the help everyone.
    Greatly appreciated.
    #6
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