Ableton Forum

Life has pushed me far from music and technology and into ordinary pain for sometime now. I look behind and two years have evaporated. Now trying to get back on track (sorry for the pun) I have an old question I have never been able to answer: Are SSD now a good idea to record audio? I have a Mid 2012 13" MBP.It runs Yosemite nicely without display effects. In the last two years SSD prices went down to a point that an OCZ 480GB costs 220 Euros. However many sites recommend to be careful in choosing the right SSD drive. Apple has closed the kernel to a point where Trim enabling tricks are not allowed anymore and I am lost. I had a spare WD Black 7200 RPM and I have put it inside. All is snappier than the stock 5400 RPM. Should I stop here or SSD is rightfully the best next step?

Best Regards
Pasha

SSD is the only step at this point. You'll kick yourself for not getting one sooner after you install it. With 1tb options coming down in price every day, you've got to do it!

Yes,go for a SSD 500 or 1000 GB. But backup every day.
Data restore on SSD is very difficult or impossible.
Data restore on HDDs is possible. I recommend an external HDD to backup system and data every day!!!

I had an Samsung SSD in my former laptop that crashed after 4 months.
There was no chance to restore the data, all data got last.

Another vote for SSD, it'll be one of the easiest upgrades to immediately see a performance improvement that you'll ever do.

Tarekith wrote:Another vote for SSD, it'll be one of the easiest upgrades to immediately see a performance improvement that you'll ever do.

Tarekith! Nice to hear from you again and thank you for suggestion.

MrMoneypenny wrote:Yes,go for a SSD 500 or 1000 GB. But backup every day.
Data restore on SSD is very difficult or impossible.
Data restore on HDDs is possible. I recommend an external HDD to backup system and data every day!!!

I had an Samsung SSD in my former laptop that crashed after 4 months.
There was no chance to restore the data, all data got last.

That was one of my 'stay away for now' reasons. I hoped that reliability was improved.
However with today's Time Machine having a real time (or very close) backup it's possible so good point.

Pasha wrote:

MrMoneypenny wrote:Yes,go for a SSD 500 or 1000 GB. But backup every day.
Data restore on SSD is very difficult or impossible.
Data restore on HDDs is possible. I recommend an external HDD to backup system and data every day!!!

I had an Samsung SSD in my former laptop that crashed after 4 months.
There was no chance to restore the data, all data got last.

That was one of my 'stay away for now' reasons. I hoped that reliability was improved.
However with today's Time Machine having a real time (or very close) backup it's possible so good point.

Hate to be Data Dad, but you really should have a solid backup routine in place regardless if you're using SSD or mechanical.

timothyallan wrote:Hate to be Data Dad, but you really should have a solid backup routine in place regardless if you're using SSD or mechanical.

Well Tim, I'm glad I'm not the ONLY Data Dad in town
The only people who don't value backups are the ones who never lost work due to hard drive problems!
Ask me how I know...
I make daily backups at work (IT) because I prefer to make stuff once ...don't ask...
And I make them at home because I prefer to build a track only once as well ...you never if that last one is THE golden ticket

On topic, Time Machine has work great for me after years of 3rd party utils, some good, others not much.

On the subject of suggesting brands and models, I can't say. I have my old MBP non-retina (used as a family netbook:) ) begging for an SSD but don't know what brands or models to go for...

Installed a Crucial CT960 (960 gb), more than a year ago in my macbook early 2011.
8 gig RAM.
SATA3 connection.

My macbook just flies since that SSD upgrade.
Totally no regrets whatever.
Never ever any problems with that ssd.

right now i think the Samsung 850 Pros are a good choice. they are fast and the new NAND technology is supposed to be more reliable. they come standard with a 10 year warranty, which is much higher than almost all other available SSDs.

I C, thanks for the tip !!

I haven't been using Ableton or making music lately. Simultaneously, I've been thinking of getting an SSD because the laptop sometimes lags noticeably when lots of applications are open. Then today, being a relaxing Saturday, I sat at the cafe and thought of starting up Ableton, but couldn't be bothered because of the slowness. Bingo! Perhaps an SSD will actually result in increased Ableton use and musical productivity!

Another suggestion is the Samsung 850 Evo (but see update below). Sometimes it's much cheaper than the Pro and about as good, but with only 5 years guarantee. From reading various websites, it seems that the speed difference the consumer notices most is in the 4k random write performance (see, but notice the doubts expressed in comments: http://www.thessdreview.com/ssd-guides/ ... s-bluff/2/). Of course, music production might have different factors - anyone?

Here's a good website to check out all SSD competition, but it takes some fiddling to figure out how it works:

http://ssd.userbenchmark.com/ (click on SSD up top)

Given the 4k random write importance, it might be best to delete most columns and just keep "Effective Speed" and "Price". Of course, there are other factors too, e.g. guarantee and reliability. Also, prices fluctuate significantly.

And here's a comparison of Samsung 850 Pro vs Evo:

http://ssd.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Sa ... 2385vs2977

UPDATE: There seems to be a problem with TLC Nand (i.e. Evo). See: http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Storage/Sa ... -Effective