USB 3.0 for external recording drive

[CalebB]

Thinking about the new MBP non retina with SSD internal system hard drive recording to USB 3.0.

When I search for any term for any thread I get no results so I wasn't able to see if there are other threads about this which I'm sure there is...

[snipertango]

I'm missing the question in this topic, but if your question is "is that a good computer" the answer is yes. I have one of the 2012 non retinas and it works like a dream. however i've heard people having problems with lion/mountain lion which i have also but thats on both my iMac and Macbook.

If you're asking about recording to a external drive with USB 3 that's fine too. USB 3 has a 5 GBp/s data transfer rate which is huge. Other options include thunderbolt (generally more expensive) and Firewire 800 drives. Its really easy to find a dual USB 3 and Firewire 800 drive for a low price tho.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by snipertango

I'm missing the question in this topic, but if your question is "is that a good computer" the answer is yes. I have one of the 2012 non retinas and it works like a dream. however i've heard people having problems with lion/mountain lion which i have also but thats on both my iMac and Macbook.

If you're asking about recording to a external drive with USB 3 that's fine too. USB 3 has a 5 GBp/s data transfer rate which is huge. Other options include thunderbolt (generally more expensive) and Firewire 800 drives. Its really easy to find a dual USB 3 and Firewire 800 drive for a low price tho.

There is a lot more to what works well than just a marketing data transfer spec for an interface. We'll have to see how USB 3 drives work in practice (and specifically on OS X). So while USB 3 might well work OK, if you use one now you are being a test pilot. There is nothing wrong with that but just be aware what you are going into. The most conservative options on a Mac today are to use a SATA internal drive or a Firewire external drive that meets all the traditional Firewire drive requirements (e.g. Firewire Oxford chipset based).

Especially be sure to avoid (USB 3 or any other interface) drives that --

1. use software or hardware RAID (unless you can disable the RAID and separately access each drive--like you can for example on the Lacie Thunderbolt drives)
2. are slower than 7,200 rpm
3. or use "green" drives (the WD Caviar Green is especially causing folks problems). -- green drives typcially have on-board power management, spin down, etc. that causes all sorts of problems.

Hopefully we'll see more people here reporting successful use of USB3 and Thunderbolt drives with Macs and PCs. And all this is happening in parallel with Flash based storage and its compelling performance specs. Flash is not always a magic bullet and problem free, but things have improved there a lot with falling prices and improved OS/driver support, improved controller chipsets, etc. Again what I'd hope to see most is folks who are using specific Flash drives with Pro Tools, either as a systems, sample or audio drive, to report their success or failures here.

I do worry that Avid is now running too far behind with all this, and has not qualified/approving even one single example of all this interesting new technology (USB3, Thunderbolt, Flash SSD, PCIe based flash). Avid have lots of other issues as a company and maybe they have just given up and/or don't have the staff to do any of this.

Darryl

[nst7]

Someone's already posted good results with a USB 3.0 drive as a recording drive:

http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=325779

[CalebB]

Yes, that helps. Sorry about not framing my question. I was wondering specifically if I can record to a USB 3.0 external drive as I am considering the non retina MBP 2012 15". I am using the 003R and thought it would be nice to keep it on it's own connection (firewire) separate from a recording hard drive.

nst7, I did see that thread and asked the person if he had tried recording at 128 samples since I am always recording throughout the project (having tons of tracks with tons of plugs and needing to record still).

Darryl, I also wish AVID would officially qualify thunderbolt and USB 3.0.

If anybody else is using Mountain Lion, the new non retina MBP 2012 15", USB 3.0, thunderbolt, or have replaced the optical drive in the MBP with a second 7200 SATA or a SSD drive I would love to hear your experience.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by CalebB

Yes, that helps. Sorry about not framing my question. I was wondering specifically if I can record to a USB 3.0 external drive as I am considering the non retina MBP 2012 15". I am using the 003R and thought it would be nice to keep it on it's own connection (firewire) separate from a recording hard drive.

nst7, I did see that thread and asked the person if he had tried recording at 128 samples since I am always recording throughout the project (having tons of tracks with tons of plugs and needing to record still).

Darryl, I also wish AVID would officially qualify thunderbolt and USB 3.0.

If anybody else is using Mountain Lion, the new non retina MBP 2012 15", USB 3.0, thunderbolt, or have replaced the optical drive in the MBP with a second 7200 SATA or a SSD drive I would love to hear your experience.

The link that nst7 posted has beautiful detail of what that user tried. Based on that if going USB3 I'd try to use the same USB3 case/drive.

The other options you have to avoid both interfaces on the same FW bus is to use Apple's Thunderbolt to FW adapter to get a second Firewire bus. Several folks have reported using those working fine (or using the FW adapter built into an Apple Thunderbolt display). One user had a problem when using the FW adapter--but I suspect it was not the adapter but UAD Apollo related FW problems.

Darryl

[musicman691]

Originally Posted by nst7

Someone's already posted good results with a USB 3.0 drive as a recording drive:

http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=325779

And Mitch Gallagher from Sweetwater has also gone the USB3 route for drives. See this Sweetwater Minute (actually longer than that) on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYybe...em-uploademail

No benchmarks or actual tracks playing though. They actually took internal SATA drives and put them in a USB3 pair of enclosures.

[CalebB]

Originally Posted by musicman691

And Mitch Gallagher from Sweetwater has also gone the USB3 route for drives. See this Sweetwater Minute (actually longer than that) on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYybe...em-uploademail

No benchmarks or actual tracks playing though. They actually took internal SATA drives and put them in a USB3 pair of enclosures.

Very helpful video. The Channel Sales Manger from AVID talks about how incredible USB 3 is but AVID doesn't officially qualify USB 3? I wish they would just say which is the best USB 3 drive to buy.

Also, I am looking at the Non-Retina MBP but having two thunderbolt ports is interesting too with the Retina MBP.

[Jakay]

*totally unrelated to topic*

Hey CalebB, I have to ask, why are you considering the switch to a MBP? I asked you about your mini server way back, and that thread was very helpful, and I've finally saved enough to get a decent machine, and here you are switching it up already, so I'm just curious why before I go pimping a mini server, as I've been planning to do.

Anyhow, not trying to derail this conversation. I've also been curious if holding out for usb 3's is worth it for external storage, since it's not offered on much, and the thunderbolt port on "my" Mini Server will likely go to a second screen.

[Bob Olhsson]

USB3 is going to be on the next generation of computer motherboards and should significantly outperform FW.

Judging from the past, I wouldn't look for Avid to "qualify" it until after there are lots more computers with it built in that they have tested. Not being "qualified" has never meant something won't work. They just aren't willing to absolutely guarantee it will.