SSD - do i put virtual instruments or audio there?

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zoffmeister
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2013/01/25 19:17:02 (permalink)

SSD - do i put virtual instruments or audio there?


Hi. I think I'm about to buy a 128Gb SSD. It will become my new C Drive (OS and programs). My current configuration is 2 300gb hard drives. The first is partitioned 60gb C: OS and programs, and 240gb D: Samples (i.e. virtual instruments, etc.). The other 300gb drive is E: Audio (i.e. all of Sonar's audio track files). I'll probably replace one of these with a 1TB drive. But that's by the by. 

I read on here somewhere that someone suggested having an SSD for audio as well - it wouldn't matter that you couldn't afford a high capacity one because you can just drag files between it and a big spinning drive as and when they were needed. 

Here is my question. If at some point soon I did get lets say a 240gb SSD for the audio drive, how would Sonar's performance benefit best? - if the second SSD had the virtual instruments, and the audio tracks stayed on a spinning drive; or vice versa - the audio tracks were on SSD and the VI's on spinning drive. Do both audio and VI streaming put the same load on the system? Or is one more significant than the other?

Thanks
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    rtucker55
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    Re:SSD - do i put virtual instruments or audio there? 2013/01/25 20:54:05 (permalink)
    I use alot of VI's so I have the sample libraries on 3 separate Samsung 830 ssd's. It really makes a big improvement for me.

    I don't think you would gain much from using the ssd for the audio drive as long as you are using a quality 7200 rpm drive.

    Kind regards,
    Rick

    Purrrfect Audio DAW here.  Wow!...
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    zoffmeister
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    Re:SSD - do i put virtual instruments or audio there? 2013/01/25 22:22:21 (permalink)
    Would you say it depends then on how many VI's you're using, or is that just the right answer, full stop. VI's benefit from being on SSD more than audio would?

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    rtucker55
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    Re:SSD - do i put virtual instruments or audio there? 2013/01/25 22:43:50 (permalink)
    My personal opinion, VI's benefit from being on SSD more than audio would.

    Purrrfect Audio DAW here.  Wow!...
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    bent4life
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    Re:SSD - do i put virtual instruments or audio there? 2013/01/26 03:24:53 (permalink)
    If you check out the Computers section of the forum, you'll find comments by DAW specialists Scott from ADK Audio and Jim Roseberry to the effect that there is no benefit in using an SSD drive over spinning drives for audio. The story they seem to agree on is that SSDs for OS/programs make for a snappier Windows experience, and that they really shine with samples. But don't bother with audio. I seem to recall Scott saying something similar on the Gearslutz forum, perhaps. 

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    Bristol_Jonesey
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    Re:SSD - do i put virtual instruments or audio there? 2013/01/26 05:18:00 (permalink)
    The only real benefit would be no need for cooling fans - hence a much lower noise floor emanating from the machine

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    garrigus
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    Re:SSD - do i put virtual instruments or audio there? 2013/01/26 10:36:07 (permalink)
    rtucker55


    I use alot of VI's so I have the sample libraries on 3 separate Samsung 830 ssd's. It really makes a big improvement for me.

    Nice! Yeah, SSD drives really improve performance with streaming sample libraries.


    Scott

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