Attention all Hard Drive experts....

[YoRugMan]

Good morning all,

This is my first post in this fine forum, and I'm sorry if this question has come up before but I need to hopefully get an answer before I make a decision on the subject this afternoon.

I use Pro Tools M-Powered on a Windows XP desktop with the maximum amount of usable RAM (3.6Gb).
I'm ready to upgrade my Hard Drives but am in need of advice.
I am also soon to receive my first sample library from East West Quantum Leap that uses their PLAY engine.

Having this in mind, can anyone confidently tell me what the most important aspect of a Hard Drive is when producing music in this way?

I've researched a couple of drives - for example, the Western Digital RE4 (2,000Gb) has excellent read transfer rates (better in most cases than the Black series), however, the Western Digital VelociRaptor (which I already have two of) has much better access times and interface performance (according to tomshardware.com).

When considering how sample-based virtual instruments or "ROMplers" work, which aspect of a hard drive should I look at?

Thanks in advance.

[barismanco123]

I'm no expert but I think with PT it's a no brainer, you need the Glyph hard disks, SATA 7200rpm with the Oxford 911 chipset to ensure best performance and trackcount.

There may be others out there but I can guarantee you that this is one of them that will do you very well.

It's a little expensive but you get a warranty and they are famous for quality.

My experiences with Western Digital Hard drives is don't give those people a cent of your money. Very shoddy, low quality etc etc.

[audiogeekzine]

he was asking for internal drives

[YoRugMan]

Originally Posted by audiogeekzine

he was asking for internal drives

Indeed.

Anyone's opinion would be greatly appreciated but I'm starting to lean towards access times as a priority.
Unless I'm mistaken, I'm sure a lower access time means the hard drive can get to files quicker, which is no doubt important when you have several different audio files laid out in different tracks.

The WD VelociRaptor has a remarkable score in access time of less than 7ms, whilst still providing an average of 100+ Mb per second transfer rate.
The closest condenders have higher transfer rates, but can be over 10ms access time.

100Mb/sec is surely enough to handle quite a large number of tracks at high bitrates and sample rates - and I can have the low access times as a bonus.

What are everyone's thoughts?

[Craig F]

If the files are small I would go with access time
If the files are big I would go with throughput rate

I don't do much with VIs so I really cant say
at the end of the day any good SATA2 drive should be fine

[YoRugMan]

Thanks Craig F....

Perhapse I should add - not only will this drive house sample-based RTAS instruments, it will also serve as the dedicated audio drive (as per the recommendations from DigiDesign).
It will solely serve to drive all forms of digital audio - ACIDized samples, sample libraries driven by Virtual Instruments like East West or Native Instruments etc - you name it.

The question is, just how small does a file need to be in order for access time to claim paramount importance, given that high quality samples are pretty much always fairly big.... even percussive samples.

[Shifted Music]

I use a raptor (4 years old) only 80 gigs... for my audio drive.

Love it... Never a problem. Playsback FAST. start and stop are VERY fast.

For my sample library I use a Glyph external FW 800. Plenty fast enough for me it seems.

If I had internal room. I would have raptors for operating system, sample library and audio drive.

But in order of importance I would go Audio drive First... then tied for second operating system and samples.

If you already have a couple raptor then I assume you are using one for audio drive and one for operating syatem already... so its only the expense of one drive.

I say go for it.

BUT if saving money is important than a 7200 rpm drive will be GREAT for a sample library...

Especially if all 3 drive are used for different purposes like I use them.

[Shifted Music]

re reading your post I noticed you want to use the drive for sample library and audio drive.

I would not recommend that.

Most likely the demanding job will be playing back audio files in your session... that would be the main job of a raptor drive.

Sample library stuff should be on a different drive.

this will give you way better performance for large sessions and large sample libraries being used in them.

[YoRugMan]

Thanks Shifted Music....

So, just so I'm clear - you're saying I should have one drive for audio (do you mean to record to, or to store audio files like loops etc to be laid out in their own tracks?), and a second dedicated drive to house all sample-based virtual instruments (eg: Spectrasonics, Kontakt, East West Quantum Leap etc)?

If I understood you correctly, the ideal Hard Drive allocation should perhapse be 4 drives, allocated to the following:

Drive 1 = OS
Drive 2 = Pro Tools (and any other music-related software)
Drive 3 = Sample Libraries (sample-based VI's)
Drive 4 = Audio

....and maybe even:

Drive 5 = Windows PageFile


What do you think?

[audiogeekzine]

NO

Drive 1 OS and all programs
Drive 2 Audio
Drive 3 sample library
Drive 4 backup


You can't install PT to anywhere other than the C:// drive