100% newb seeks external hard drive advice

[harryh]

Hi folks,

I'm looking for External Hard Drive advice, but first, here's the back story:

First of all, I am much more a passenger than a driver in the computer world. Not bragging at all, but that's the way it is. I know enough to know that I don't know very much at all.

Now, back to the digital recording world: My best friend, who lives 200 miles away from me, had a digi 003 Rack and did a lot of recording with it. Then he bought a digi 003 Console and gave me the 003 Rack! The idea is, that we will work on recordings with similar equipment and send them back and forth to each other.

Oh, he told me to get an external hard drive, too.

So, I bought an old iMac G5 with the 1.8 GHz processor with a 10.5.8 OS. I put 2 GB of memory in it. I got a new copy of Protools 8 LE, drove to his house and watched him load it in my iMac. It works!

I've recorded a few songs in it. It really helps me show the guys in my band what I want when we play original songs. It's fun, it's cool, it's way easier than when I had the old Tascam 3440 4 channel reel to reel in the '70's with the model 5 mixer (did I mention I was old, too?).

Eventually, I remembered that he said to buy an external HD. The 'expert' at Staples (go ahead, laugh) sold me a SeaGate USB HD.

I tried to format it. That's when everything start going downhill! So, I went on the Internet, found out about this place and read that USB HD weren't supported. Okay, I get that; got to start over.

But this time I'd like to do it right, in the sense that I only want to buy one more external Hard Drive.

To that end, I've run a couple of searches here, under 'external firewire hard drive'. I've read about OWC Mercury Elite AL-Pro Hard Drives. I've read about Oxford Chip sets. I know the G5 has one 400 firewire connector. I believe (didn't say 'know') I'm supposed to connect from the computer to the hard drive to the 003 Rack.

What I don't know is:
How big a Hard Drive to get; 500GB, 750GB, larger?
Is there such a thing a firewire hub? Do I need/want one?
I have read about firewire 400 and 800, plus I have read about 400 to 800 adapters. Is this something I should consider or avoid as i look for the 'best' external HD for my purpose?

In closing, sorry for the long post. I would certainly appreciate any one's advice or observations relating to the choice of the best external HD for my G5/003 Rack set up.

Thanks, Harry

[basslik]

Originally Posted by harryh

Hi folks,

I'm looking for External Hard Drive advice, but first, here's the back story:

First of all, I am much more a passenger than a driver in the computer world. Not bragging at all, but that's the way it is. I know enough to know that I don't know very much at all.

Now, back to the digital recording world: My best friend, who lives 200 miles away from me, had a digi 003 Rack and did a lot of recording with it. Then he bought a digi 003 Console and gave me the 003 Rack! The idea is, that we will work on recordings with similar equipment and send them back and forth to each other.

Oh, he told me to get an external hard drive, too.

So, I bought an old iMac G5 with the 1.8 GHz processor with a 10.5.8 OS. I put 2 GB of memory in it. I got a new copy of Protools 8 LE, drove to his house and watched him load it in my iMac. It works!

I've recorded a few songs in it. It really helps me show the guys in my band what I want when we play original songs. It's fun, it's cool, it's way easier than when I had the old Tascam 3440 4 channel reel to reel in the '70's with the model 5 mixer (did I mention I was old, too?).

Eventually, I remembered that he said to buy an external HD. The 'expert' at Staples (go ahead, laugh) sold me a SeaGate USB HD.

I tried to format it. That's when everything start going downhill! So, I went on the Internet, found out about this place and read that USB HD weren't supported. Okay, I get that; got to start over.

But this time I'd like to do it right, in the sense that I only want to buy one more external Hard Drive.

To that end, I've run a couple of searches here, under 'external firewire hard drive'. I've read about OWC Mercury Elite AL-Pro Hard Drives. I've read about Oxford Chip sets. I know the G5 has one 400 firewire connector. I believe (didn't say 'know') I'm supposed to connect from the computer to the hard drive to the 003 Rack.

What I don't know is:
How big a Hard Drive to get; 500GB, 750GB, larger?
Is there such a thing a firewire hub? Do I need/want one?
I have read about firewire 400 and 800, plus I have read about 400 to 800 adapters. Is this something I should consider or avoid as i look for the 'best' external HD for my purpose?

In closing, sorry for the long post. I would certainly appreciate any one's advice or observations relating to the choice of the best external HD for my G5/003 Rack set up.

Thanks, Harry

Mercury drives is what you want for sure. I have the same exact computer you (I THINK), MINES IS A DUO CORE, anyways mines has two firewire ports, one to the external drive the other port to the digi 003. THIS IS A MUST READ http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=193636

[albee1952]

+1 for otherworldcomputing.com and the Mercury Elite or Classic. Look at the far right column for models with dual FW400 ports(handy for daisy-chaining Avid firewire interfaces). I am partial to 500gb as its big enough, but not so big that you end up with the whole world on there(backup your stuff anyway!!!!!!).

[harryh]

OP here.

Thank you, folks! I sure do appreciate the help.

Maybe I'll get this thing going, after all!

Harry

[basslik]

Originally Posted by harryh

OP here.

Thank you, folks! I sure do appreciate the help.

Maybe I'll get this thing going, after all!

Harry

Also which I find very important that one might overlook is stayed tuned often on this forum, and not just merely for help. I learned so much from these top cool cats like albee, nst7. The info they throw out there is priceless. Stay tuned you'll see what I mean.

[harryh]

albee, thanks, I just looked at the OWC site hard drive page and found the dual 400 ports. I see what you mean about daisy-chaining from the dual ports. Oxford chip set, 7200rpm, I get it! I'll pick one of them up shortly.

basslik, I'd already read that 'Read This first' Thread', but not enough to see that it says to list the type of firewire cable along with everything else. I think it's whatever came with the 003 Rack, but I'll look at it the next time I head over to the rehearsal studio and add whatever it says to my equipment list.

I know from reading about Presonus Studiolive mixers on a Live Sound Reinforcement forum that bad/cheap firewire cables can muck things up.

Is there a brand of fw cable that people typically recommend??

Anyway, basslik, I'll definitely keep an eye on this forum. I'm looking forward to doing this right! I know the learning curve will be steep, at least for me, but I'm looking forward to it. It's a lot more fun than the old days!

Harry

[albee1952]

For me, firewire cables have either worked, or not(nothing in between). I think as long as you keep a spare hanging around, any will be okay. I got a few from cablestogo.com and they feel hefty and have not failed in 4 years

[nst7]

If you're using fw 400 cables, Monster makes some, and they're great. You can find them at Sam Ash stores, or various online dealers. They don't make 800 cables, though. I think also Belkins hold up pretty well.

[Craig F]

Monster is way over priced
and there a frivolous lawsuit machine

[GW]

Originally Posted by harryh

albee, thanks, I just looked at the OWC site hard drive page and found the dual 400 ports. I see what you mean about daisy-chaining from the dual ports. Oxford chip set, 7200rpm, I get it! I'll pick one of them up shortly...

Chipset and 7200 rpm are to me keyfactors and also how you set the disc up. I bought the Iomega Ruby Red myself with FW800, FW400 and USB - and from time to time I use all three of them and have rarely had any problem with the USB not being sufficient. But, I placed my most demanding VI-instruments on the Int. HD and record to the Ext. HD - works fine. I set up my ext. HD as Mac only and journaled and setup others for storage and readable for Mac and PC. All I am saying is, look at the USB HD you already bought and reformat it and try it out again, it may not be such a bad choice as you first thought?