Do I need an audio only drive?

[jc7]

If I was to get a retina MacBook pro do I need another audio only drive? I'm hoping I could just do all my projects on the internal flash drive and then backup to whatever when necessary. My sessions won't be real big, & not a lot of Vi's (mainly some sort of virtual drums & a little Expand2). Anybody have experience with this? Thanks

[YYR123]

Never used a flash drive - and I'm pretty sure it's not a qualified procedure which means u might not have success

External hard drives are cheap and yes u need two - Dr's orders

[jc7]

Guess I should have stated earlier. I'm aware of the shoulds, not qualified, gives better performance, etc. what I'm hoping for is some real world experience of anyone running sessions off a laptop using only the system drive. I have heard that it can be done. Also heard better performance from an SSD/retina Flash. Getting say 50 track off a traditional 7200 rpm drive & as many as 100 tracks from an SSD. However most who claim running only one drive usually use Cubase or other not Pro Tools. Just wondering if anyone has a setup such as this? Thanks again!

[RegenerationMix]

I have a Macbook pro with a SSD system drive. I do not use it for audio. I have a second INTERNAL drive for audio, and a 3rd external drive for backups.

I would not recommend running your audio off the system drive.



Chris

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by jc7

I have heard that it can be done.

Yes it can but mileage can vary. Nobody can promise how many tracks you can have and how long it can operate without hiccups. Try it with blank dummy tracks and if you feel it's acceptable then just keep using the setup.

[Sparky1]

Hey there.

I have used my single internal laptop drive when traveling - but only for doing simple editing with not a lot of plug-ins or tracks. My experience is that it's OK for that type of work... YMMV

Sparky

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by RegenerationMix

I would not recommend running your audio off the system drive.

Neither does Avid, for the reasons stated. Nevertheless, it *can* be done but reliable performance can only be guaranteed with dedicated audio drive(s).

[albee1952]

In addition to what others have said, consider the limited write capabilities of SSD. Do you really want to risk burning out a very expensive drive, vs. a cheap spinner in a nice external case?

[ef2000]

I used my MacBook Air (i7, 256 SSD) a couple of times for recording without an additional drive and without any problems. Up to 4 tracks simultaneous input tracks and sessions with up to 24 tracks.
But: I used Pro Tools 10 HD with Disk Cache feature which may also cache recordings (still not sure if it does)...
Generally: Editing and playback should not be a problem with a system drive, just deactivate Spotlight. Only recording is critical.

[Stiff]

Originally Posted by jc7

If I was to get a retina MacBook pro do I need another audio only drive? I'm hoping I could just do all my projects on the internal flash drive and then backup to whatever when necessary. My sessions won't be real big, & not a lot of Vi's (mainly some sort of virtual drums & a little Expand2). Anybody have experience with this? Thanks

I depends on what you mean by "real big, & not a lot of VI's". Using two (or three) drives is recommended for a reason but it's definitely possible to record to the internal MacBook Pro drive. I know because I've done it many times when traveling. It's also very possible to run VI's. Xpand!2 is very CPU friendly too, if memory serves me correctly, so I don't see any real problems with it (I'll run Kontakt, Maschine and other VI's).

Now, as I said, it depends on what you mean by "real big, & not a lot of VI's". If your take on that is c:a 50 tracks , 20 instances of VI's and recording 8 tracks at once, then I have no idea how it will perform. If, however, we have a similar definition, meaning 10-20 tracks, 2-4 VI's and overdubbing a vocal or one instrument at a time, then I can tell you that it has worked for me many times.

Don't know how a flash drive will perform. I imagine it would be better but I haven't tried so I can't tell you if it is or not.

Good luck.