SSD and recording. Good or Bad?

[fishmonkey]

Plus I'd seem to have to get drive bays that fit a 2.5 It's too complicated for an old fart like me........

yep it's expensive. there are 2.5" -> 3.5" converter sleds though. something like this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Icybox-IB-2535S ... B003952FFQ

[eyeknow]

Yeah, thanks for that. Unfortunately, that is not the biggest concern cash wise

I really wish I knew for sure performance wise. I understand people are raving about them, but for the coin, it would REALLY have to smoke what I've got!

[fishmonkey]

performance-wise SSDs smoke hard drives, no question. whether the performance is worth the coin to you, well only you can decide that...

[Pasha]

I made up my mind with compulsory buying last Saturday.
I got the new 21.5 Haswell Mac with dedicated graphics, 8GB RAM, 2.9 GHz Quad and 5400 RPM Hard Drive.
Apple has replaced the relatively slow drive in Late 2012 iMac (Samsung) with a faster Hitachi capable of 100 MB/sec Read/Write. Now I have twice the RAM, twice the power, and 2.5 times the HDD speed of my previous 2008 iMac with 2.66 Ghz Duo, 4GB RAM, and a slow 40 MB/sec 7200 RPM Drive which I was using for Projects and Ableton Library. I avoided the base iMac because of the Iris Pro integrated graphics, capable of getting as much as 1GB VRAM from system RAM which would have limited available RAM. Until the last moment I was temped to follow excellent Dragonbreath and 3osc suggestion to get a 27" for 7200 RPM drive and expandable RAM. The display is really big...and fonts are thinner compared to 21.5 and my Budget was not covering the price so I have gone for the 21.5 (which is bigger than my old 20" anyway). So far I have tested my Projects and I am very happy about CPU Power, where with previous model I was going around 25% to 30% now I run with 9%, 12% CPU. Amazing. The evil "D" in Live does not blink.. for now.
I have spare drives around so I can distribute Library and Projects on different media, albeit FW800 but with time I will look at a better USB 3 solution. TB Driver are going down on price.. However, Dragonbreath is absolutely right about the overall price of the solution compared to one single shot buying of a 27" iMac. So if you can stand a 27" so close to your eyes and your eyesight is good... go for it! The difference with my to be configuration will be around 100 Euros. I have time to reverse my decision leveraging Apple Return Policy until 19 october.. time to test, think and judge more in depth. If there's a regret within me is that with the same amount of cash I could have gone for a base iMac with 16GB RAM ordering on Apple Web Store. However I did with 4GB in the last five years so I thought that 8GB could be ok. Time will tell.

Thanks for all your time in helping me.
Best
Pasha

[H20nly]

congratulations Pasha.

don't forget there is a FW to TB adapter*...

*hint: they're pretty cheap if you don't buy them from Apple

[Pasha]

congratulations Pasha.

don't forget there is a FW to TB adapter*...

*hint: they're pretty cheap if you don't buy them from Apple

Thx!
I am using one from last year I bought from Apple for my FW Audio card.
For the next one I'll follow your suggestion!

Best
Pasha

[Jekblad]

Just thought I'd put my experience in here... I replaced my optical with a 250 SSD. I'm in love. I currently run the OS/Ableton/Suite Library from it.

I am recording new projects onto the SSD. When I'm done I store them on the old skool round disc thing. It seems... fine? I feel like I get better CPU usage etc but it could be placebo.

Overall I would recommend it, it's the biggest difference making upgrade to a computer I've ever experienced. Also, now I get tons of chicks. So there's that.

[H20nly]

time to buy!

[Pasha]

Just thought I'd put my experience in here... I replaced my optical with a 250 SSD. I'm in love. I currently run the OS/Ableton/Suite Library from it.

I am recording new projects onto the SSD. When I'm done I store them on the old skool round disc thing. It seems... fine? I feel like I get better CPU usage etc but it could be placebo.

Overall I would recommend it, it's the biggest difference making upgrade to a computer I've ever experienced. Also, now I get tons of chicks. So there's that.

I like the chicks part...!
Are you on Mac OS X or Windows?

[Forge.]

Just thought I'd put my experience in here... I replaced my optical with a 250 SSD. I'm in love. I currently run the OS/Ableton/Suite Library from it.

I am recording new projects onto the SSD. When I'm done I store them on the old skool round disc thing. It seems... fine? I feel like I get better CPU usage etc but it could be placebo.

Overall I would recommend it, it's the biggest difference making upgrade to a computer I've ever experienced. Also, now I get tons of chicks. So there's that.

I like the chicks part...!
Are you on Mac OS X or Windows?

chicks are only interested in mac users

[Pasha]

Just thought I'd put my experience in here... I replaced my optical with a 250 SSD. I'm in love. I currently run the OS/Ableton/Suite Library from it.

I am recording new projects onto the SSD. When I'm done I store them on the old skool round disc thing. It seems... fine? I feel like I get better CPU usage etc but it could be placebo.

Overall I would recommend it, it's the biggest difference making upgrade to a computer I've ever experienced. Also, now I get tons of chicks. So there's that.

I like the chicks part...!
Are you on Mac OS X or Windows?

chicks are only interested in mac users

[jamief]

I am in the process of installing crucial m500 SSD 960GB main drive and taking out the superdrive and putting in a 512GB SSD Samsung as the second internal drive.
i7 quad 2.3 macbook pro 16gb ram

[tintala]

My OS is on a 250 GB ssd. My audio library is on an external hd. If I have to reboot which I always do! Then I love having the OS on the ssd, rebooting is essential as a part of daily studio life! so therefore it makes more sense to have a faster boot time... I love mine and wont go back. I used my old hard drive for extra storage and backups.

[Pasha]

I am in the process of installing crucial m500 SSD 960GB main drive and taking out the superdrive and putting in a 512GB SSD Samsung as the second internal drive.
i7 quad 2.3 macbook pro 16gb ram

Wow! Super setup!
Just curios... How will you distribute OS, Library and Projects on newer drives?

[jamief]

I am in the process of installing crucial m500 SSD 960GB main drive and taking out the superdrive and putting in a 512GB SSD Samsung as the second internal drive.
i7 quad 2.3 macbook pro 16gb ram

Wow! Super setup!
Just curios... How will you distribute OS, Library and Projects on newer drives?

Well good question. I think OS will be on the 960 GB along with the projects, sample libraries etc etc. The 512 GB drive is really there to allow me to use as a secondary drive in the event that the primary drive becomes too full with programs etc etc as you know many plugins have huge Gb of additional libraries etc etc these days.
This would allow me to transfer all my projects libary etc etc to the 512 GB to allow more dedicated 960 GB space.
My previous drive a 750GB 7200rpm became full and i couldnt add anymore programs hence my desire to put in two drives and also increase the drive capacity.

I have a huge sample Libary as well 250 GB - 300 GB that i want to keep on an internal drive in the mac.

Incidentally the 912 GB M500 Crucial cost me £350 on ebay. Big price drops on these SSD.