eSATA card with HD2 for sample streaming?

[melodydetective]

Hi folks -

I have an Early 2009 Mac Pro. Wondering if anyone else is using one with an eSATA card in the last slot to stream sample libraries. Errors? Pops and clicks?

Looking to spread Hollywood Strings and/or Brass across a few SSD's externally.

Thanks.

[PMoshay]

i use a esata card (sonnet tempo sata pro express 34 card) on my 17" MBP i7 dual and its roaring fast as a audio drive.
i have not used it for sample streaming though.

on my portable setup i use a UAD Sattelite Quad on the FW800 bus, and the Sonnet esata on the express 34 slot buss for audio........ from my experience, this is about the fastest you can get out of a MBP without adding a chassis
I have been able to pull 100+ tracks from a Avastor HDX external drive using the esata port while having lots of plugins and UAD plugins going.

Ive been very pleased with the results of this setup, but i am really looking forward to the possibilities of using Thunderbolt as my main interface connection with my new Macbook Air i7.
Let's hope we get some Thunderbolt options soon!

[Dism]

I use an eSATA card in my Macbook Pro with both my audio drive and sample drive connected. Runs absolutely perfectly, and it leaves FW in the dust.

Your best bet is to make sure you are using a card with the SIL 3132 chipset, and updating to the latest drivers (1.2.5.0 for non-RAID drives).

[melodydetective]

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Hi, helpful guys. I'm glad to hear your systems are working - even if they bear no resemblance at all to mine. I'm posting in the TDM systems area of the DUC because that's the kind of system I have. Does anyone have the same system I have (Early 2009 Mac Pro, which is a desktop, with an HD2 in it) and first-hand knowledge of it working with an eSATA card for streaming samples (not tracks)?

[Dism]

First off... Functionally, there's no difference between how we're using it and you are. HD or not, sample streaming is sample streaming. Whether you're using a Mac Pro or Macbook Pro, you are still sending SATA through PCIe. Provided you are using an OSX compatible chipset, it really shouldn't matter.

Second, you're not going to get a lot of responses from HD users because most people who run desktops don't stream from external drives. Since a Mac Pro has several internal drive bays, there aren't a lot of reasons to use external other than for backing up (for which FireWire is perfectly fine).

I use eSATA for all of my Play libraries and it streams just fine.

Hopefully an HD user with experience might be able to chime in... But is there a reason you feel you need to spread your libraries across several drives? Considering how efficient Play 3 is, it's hard to imagine needing multiple SSDs to stream samples from.

[melodydetective]

Hi Dan -

I do actually see a difference between a device with a single PCIe slot and one with four, three of which are already occupied by high-bandwidth cards. You know what I mean? I don't mean to diminish your helpful intent - it's just that I'm asking about a particular machine and a particular configuration. Also, my setup makes good sense to me. I have many, many libraries, and it's good to have them split across many drives as they are not all SSDs and don't need to be. But the main reason for considering a SATA card in a Mac Pro is that it's easier to get a massive amount of throughput with the PCIe bus than it is over the internal SATA - and I can easily choke a drive or three with HS, HB, VSL, a piano, a drumkit, video and a few other things going at once.

Unfortunately there are not yet SATA/6 cards that have internal ports - and SATA/6 performance is what I'm seeking here.

Make sense?

[Oliver M]

I am also considering a SATA card and would love to hear opinions and experiences from Mac Pro users. I won't need the SATA drives for streaming but backup purposes and I am wondering if a card like the Sonnet Tempo SATA 6Gb PCIe 2.0 would work fine with a Mac Pro and a HD2 inside the Mac.

And sorry melodydetective, it is not my intention to highjack your thread.


Oliver

[reichman]

I have a Harpertown Mac Pro with a Lycom eSATA card. My system is not HD, but I run PT9/CPTK2 with high track counts. eSATA is great. My understanding of it though, is that the drives run out of throughput before you actually saturate the eSATA throughput. If you SSD's, you might get closer to the limit.

The guys at http://macgurus.com/ configured my system, and they understand this stuff in a deep way. I recommend buying from them.

[Firechild]

There is usually a free SATA connector inside Mac Pro unless you are already using it for a hidden SSD or a second Optical drive.
In other words there are 6 SATA ports in a Mac Pro 2009/2010.
4 for the internal HD´s and 2 for the "optical bays" but as there is only one optical unit you can use the one free sata connector to an "internal" SSD or buy a SATA to eSATA cable. then you should be able to use an external eSATA device with the eSATA cable coming out through a free PCIe slot, just remove the plate.

[melodydetective]

There was a free connector in mine - I have a blu-ray drive connected to it. I've considered pulling it out again and having the space for two SSD's - but the SATA port is SATA/3, and I'm looking for SATA/6 performance.

Sonnet make a Tempo E4i card that would be great if it were SATA/6...4 internal ports.