about to buy disks...

[flommer]

Originally Posted by getz76

There is, actually; when you are using the disk stand-alone, it will be much faster (at FW800 speeds). I usually mix using a Mbox 2 or a Mbox 2 Micro, which means the drive is running at FW800 speeds. I only use the 003 to record.

But his powerbook has only FW400 ports..

[Londoner]

what about the g-tech quad???

Re G-Tech G-Drive Q negative reviews:
---> http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/176/857077
---> http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/176/857259
---> http://discussions.apple.com/thread....ageID=10152766
---> Also, the site you directed me to says "This product is currently not available for purchase".

Re OWC retailers in the UK, I'm waiting for a response from OWC.

Re FireWire hubs, here's the advice I got from the Kontakt expert:
---> http://www.native-instruments.com/fo...ad.php?t=91419

So, Kontakt wants a FireWire drive, and my Pro Tools session should be on a FireWire drive, and the 002 Rack must be on FireWire, so I will definitely need either a FireWire hub or a lot of daisy-chaining.

I ordered the hub the other day, so the money's already been spent, so I may as well experiment using it with the 002 Rack and let you all know the outcome. Experiments with a hub and disk drives will have to wait until I buy disks.

[jtmar1]

Does anyone know if external 2.5" drives are fine for audio recording and playback with an LE system?

Currently look at this one:

http://www.macfixit.com.au/shop/inde...&productId=554

The Mini G2 FW400/800/USB2.0 2.5" SATA Hard Drive Enclosure with Oxford 924.

[Londoner]

OWC in the USA tells me that their UK distributor is the bookyard. There's no mention of OWC drives on their site. I've been waiting a day now for a reply from them to my e-mail and phoned questions.

Meanwhile, I saw this other thread and hope someone will tell me that it's not a problem on Macs running LE: http://duc.digidesign.com/showthread.php?t=249757. I don't even know how to find out what chipset is in my FireWire port; System Profiler doesn't tell me.

[Jak]

Originally Posted by flommer

But his powerbook has only FW400 ports..

Actually, the new macbook pros are FW800.
Which leads me to the next question, FW800 drives can be daisy chained, right?

[Londoner]

In the end, I bought OWC disks. For details see my other thread.

The disks did not solve my problem.

One of the disks is terribly noisy. The other, strangely, is merely a little bit noisy. Inconsistent manufacture?

I doubt that I'll get much help from the people who sold me the disks, because they really just got them delivered from Illinois to Liverpool to London.

I think there have been far too many posts about disks in the Digidesign forums, indicating that the truth has not been obvious enough to many of us. The truth should be in a sticky post which cannot possibly be missed. And one part of the truth is that you don't need external disks to run Pro Tools effectively, depending on your situation.

[1ace1]

Originally Posted by getz76

There is, actually; when you are using the disk stand-alone, it will be much faster (at FW800 speeds). I usually mix using a Mbox 2 or a Mbox 2 Micro, which means the drive is running at FW800 speeds. I only use the 003 to record.

Not quite sure this is right. Digi support say that pro-tools will only run at 400 speeds regardless of the FW interface you are using, so 800 will work but at 400 data transfer speeds.

If anyone knows any different then please tell.

A:)