Question about hard drive space and how you all manage it

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
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patrick.olson86
Posts: 160
Joined: Sat May 02, 2009 7:26 pm

Question about hard drive space and how you all manage it

Post by patrick.olson86 » Fri Dec 12, 2014 5:10 pm

Hey all,

This has never really been an issue for me in the past, but as I've started making more money and being able to purchase more plugins, it's becoming one..

So, I have Live 9 Suite, Breaktweaker, and Komplete 8. That takes up a HUGE amount of storage on my Macbook's internal drive (500GB capacity). I just downloaded the Maschine 2.0 software update and a bunch of maschine packs. I only have like 30GB left of storage on my internal drive. My mentality has been to always run plugins/DAWs off the internal drive, but now that I'm running out of space, what do I do? I ran disk inventory x and noticed most of the space being taken up is from the sample libraries these production apps utilize. Like session drums, for example, takes up a huge amount of space.

My point is that if I clean up all my ableton projects, pics, and other personal documents, I would still have space issues. How do you guys get around this? What can I run off my external drive and what shouldn't I?

ohigetbywithalittlehelpfrommyfriends
Posts: 405
Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2014 2:54 am

Re: Question about hard drive space and how you all manage it

Post by ohigetbywithalittlehelpfrommyfriends » Fri Dec 12, 2014 5:33 pm

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Last edited by ohigetbywithalittlehelpfrommyfriends on Mon Jan 12, 2015 2:58 am, edited 1 time in total.

doghouse
Posts: 1450
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2008 5:30 pm

Re: Question about hard drive space and how you all manage it

Post by doghouse » Fri Dec 12, 2014 6:07 pm

What takes up most of the space is your sample libraries. Komplete 10 has 130GB of content, Komplete Ultimate has 440GB.

I moved off my MacBook (also 500GB drive) to an iMac two years ago because my HD was almost full...of mp3s!!! Yes, my iTunes library is over 200GB, then there's the iPhoto library...well you get the picture.

My iMac is for music production only (Live 9 Suite plus less than 20 external plugins) with about 120GB of the 1TB HD in use...but I have no huge sample libraries.

What's most important is to get all your sample libraries onto a fast external HD. Also archive completed projects to external drives, only store your current projects on the local drive. The good news is a 1TB HD is only about $100 these days.

login
Posts: 1870
Joined: Sat Jul 16, 2011 12:41 am

Re: Question about hard drive space and how you all manage it

Post by login » Fri Dec 12, 2014 6:34 pm

Uninstall stuff you don't use.

patrick.olson86
Posts: 160
Joined: Sat May 02, 2009 7:26 pm

Re: Question about hard drive space and how you all manage it

Post by patrick.olson86 » Fri Dec 12, 2014 6:39 pm

I have a 2TB external drive, but I've never thought about the sample libraries taking up that much space until I ran the disk inventory app. So, it's cool to have the actual plugin (maschine/komplete family/breaktweaker) and DAW (in my case Live, duh) on your internal drive and store their libraries on an external drive? Even with Live libraries such as the drum racks's session drums?

And yes, my external drive is USB 3.0 compatible, however, any USB 3.0 hub I use causes interference with my monitors, giving it a dull hum in the right channel. So I've reverted back to my trusty 2.0 hub. My external drive works with 2.0 as well, but it just won't be as fast. Is your experience with 2.0 satisfactory enough when storing sample libraries on an external drive?

patrick.olson86
Posts: 160
Joined: Sat May 02, 2009 7:26 pm

Re: Question about hard drive space and how you all manage it

Post by patrick.olson86 » Fri Dec 12, 2014 6:57 pm

login wrote:Uninstall stuff you don't use.
Yes, good advice. Unfortunately I like to use all of the stuff that is installed. Now back to the sample library issues -

infernal.machine
Posts: 1051
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2012 1:34 am

Re: Question about hard drive space and how you all manage it

Post by infernal.machine » Fri Dec 12, 2014 7:05 pm

I would recommend deleting all your plugins, samples, etc and just write MIDI tracks and then try to imagine what it would sound like if you had instruments on those tracks.

patrick.olson86
Posts: 160
Joined: Sat May 02, 2009 7:26 pm

Re: Question about hard drive space and how you all manage it

Post by patrick.olson86 » Fri Dec 12, 2014 7:36 pm

^ I'll do that but I'm confused as to how. Can you record a video of you doing it first to show me how it's done? Someone once told me that if you're in Live and you hit control + alt + F4 that it reduces your CPU usage. I tried it and it's true, you're welcome!

patrick.olson86
Posts: 160
Joined: Sat May 02, 2009 7:26 pm

Re: Question about hard drive space and how you all manage it

Post by patrick.olson86 » Fri Dec 12, 2014 8:55 pm

infernal.machine wrote:I would recommend deleting all your plugins, samples, etc and just write MIDI tracks and then try to imagine what it would sound like if you had instruments on those tracks.
If that quote were a Rocky and Bullwinkle episode it would be titled "How Mozart would compose music today OR What Queens of the Stone Age meant to do when recording Songs for the Deaf"

Airyck
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Joined: Thu Jul 02, 2009 11:54 pm
Location: Phoenix, AZ

Re: Question about hard drive space and how you all manage it

Post by Airyck » Fri Dec 12, 2014 9:05 pm

You should be fine with USB 2.0 and all your samples on an external drive. They just have to load into the project when you first open them and USB 2.0 is super fast.

As far as your hum goes with your USB 3.0 device, you should buy a power conditioner (Furman is a good brand). Yes they help your audio sound better, no it isn't bullshit.

http://www.furmansound.com/page.php?div=01&id=WHY_PWR

Most of them come with two separate circuits with filters between them. You plug your speakers into one half and everything else into the other half and this separates any electric noise or interference from the speakers (like your USB 3.0 hub).

Most people don't want to invest in good power because it's not fancy and shiny like a new synth or some sweet piece of gear but it's a purchase you only have to make once and it will improve and protect everything you already have.

Watch their videos too, they are extremely informative.

http://www.furmansound.com/video.php
Ableton Live 10 Suite / Push 2 / Max 8 /

piZMo
Posts: 394
Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:46 am
Location: London, England.

Re: Question about hard drive space and how you all manage it

Post by piZMo » Fri Dec 12, 2014 10:25 pm

I have the same issue and so i'm currently organising myself to try this out

https://www.ableton.com/de/articles/opt ... ive-setup/

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