Keeping all sounds on internal vs. external drive?

T

theupgrade

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I have a macbook air today and I keep all my drum sounds on a external drive (approx. 40gb). I have all my sounds (VSTs such as Arturia, Native instruments etc) on my internal drive. As the purchases of new sounds has increased, the harddrive on my macbook air is almost out of space.

I have two choices now. Either move everything to the external drive or buy a macbook pro and store everything internal.

I prefer the second option, however, how will the performance of my computer be affected by keeping everything on the internal drive? Does it even matter?
 
Ideally you want just programs/plugins on your internal drive so the OS runs smooth and quick, then all samples and content on a large external or the computer will slow down, as time goes by and your sample library expands you will run out of room on your internal and it will be cheaper and more ideal in the long term to have it all on an external. I'd put my NI content on the internal so when u travel with the laptop you got a good library of content to use, and put all your samples and projects on an external.
Backup the external as well!
 
Everything internal, external is for DJing and storing finished tracks. Just incase the HD gets damaged from removal.
 
Ideally you want to have separate hard drives just for audio/sample streaming, so if you were using NI Kontakt for example, you would put your sample content on a second hard drive and use DFD (Direct From Disk) to conserve RAM, basically what this does is instead of loading the entire sample into RAM it loads just the very start of the sample into RAM and the remainder of the sample streams from the hard drive.

Tower systems are more ideal for serious production work but you can improve the performance of your laptop at the expense of it's portability by connecting a range of external devices.
 
I have the same issue at the moment. I'm pretty much out of room on my internal drive, so I'm going to move to use an External.

In case the thing blows up, you'll need 2 external HDs, one that you're using and then a backup of what you're using. Sounds like a lot of effort to me :(
 
Thanks for the tips. It seems to be no standard on how to structure it.

Anyone else that have suggestions?
 
yeah i got 2 externals learning from my past experience i had a 120gb hard drvie with all my stuff an i didnt want that happened again ''it had everything so i had to start from scratch was a pain but thats y i got 1 external for my sounds and thee other external to save everything hope this helps
 
i usually keep music videos etc on separate hd to the os, then i have both drives backed up on 2 externals
 
This is another reason why desktop PCs are better for music. You can just easily add an internal hard drive.


If you're going to grab a new computer... get a desktop MAC... or whatever brand you're getting. Use the AIR as your mobile setup, and use the desktop as your main setup. Most people do NOT need a mobile setup... unless you're only on-site recording, or on-site production. Most people don't do that.... they just plug up their laptop in their workspace and record/produce only in one setting. Laptops are pointless in this respect.


Also... yes, 1 drive for OS (SSD if you can afford), 1 drive for sample library (SSD if you can afford), 1 drive for recording (7200rpm HD is fine). that's the best setup. The sample library drive will probably fill up the quickest if you're always adding content to your arsenal, so you may need 2 eventually. Remember that hard drives start to slow down as they hold more n more data. The less data you have on your drive... the quicker it runs. I think it's 50% capacity people recommend staying under? (look that number up... i don't remember the exact % capacity before the hard drive starts noticeably slowing down)
 
I've actually never heard of the 50% rule personally but you do want to keep free space. The OS needs to write memory swap files, logs, and a number of other things. Windows also needs about 10% for defragmenting on top as well so you want to keep about 20% for windows and 10% for osx completely free to not have an impact on performance.

Not only is it good practice to have the data streams split for performance (audio hd, vi hd, os hs), it's also good practice to take all this outside the casing of your laptop due to the heat. Heat can decrease performance and will lower the longevity of your hardware. Keeping things cool is good a idea.
 
This is what I went with

I keep my DAW folder (Studio one), Sounds (drums & samples) and VST folders (Massive, FM8 etc) in my Google Drive folder. After transferring it, I had to tell all my DAW and VSTs that I hade changed the location. The cost for 100gb is 5USD/month.

I have a 1TB External hardrive with Time machine installed, I try to perform a backup every sunday.

This solution works for me as I am at 60-70gb space at the moment. I am trying to avoid the large orchestra plugins or other unnecessary plugins that I dont use often. If i need more space I could upgrade to 200GB for a extra 5 bucks/month. I have 370GB in free space as well at the moment, so there is room for expansion.

Why is this the best solution (for me):
- No worries what so ever. My building could burn up with the laptop and external hard drive, I will have everything at google drive.
- No more external drive. I keep it on the computer, hence, synced too google drive.

Just to be on the safe side, I will upgrade to more RAM(16GB), it costs around 100USD, not that expensive in other words.
I am using the latest macbook pro (13 inch, the cheapest one) and I cant tell any difference from internal to external. Works fine for me.

As mentioned earlier, I had a hard drive that crashed 5 years ago, lost everything, thus the paranoid set-up.:)
 
my suggestion is to put your sounds on your external. it'll save a ton of space on your hd. I actually have another external harddrive jut to back up my external with all my sounds on it

:cheers:


edit: also from my experience stay away from western digital externals. i've had 2 that went dead on me. I have yet to have a problem with my 2 LaCie's
 
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I Download Samples and music to sample like its a job so I bought 2 external usb 3.0 drives 3TB each, and they are almost full so im bout to buy a 3rd, they are around $80 i think from best buy online
 
hiiiiiiiii
I am syndrella.I am new member here.I have also the same issue at the moment. I'm pretty much out of room on my internal drive, so I'm going to move to use an External.
 
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