how fast should external drive be to work with Live?

[mclive]

So there is one hack to get your EIC off your local hard disk and onto an external drive along with all those other huge sample libraries (http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52383)

but how FAST does the external hard drive actually need to be? Assumining you have a usb2 or firewire interface, and that many instruments get loaded into ram or stream, do you need something better than 5400?

I ask as it's a lot easier (and cheaper) to get a 160 gig 2.5 inch 5400 rpm nice and portable drive than it is to get a similar drive that's 7200rpm - so far i've only seen 100gigs at 7200.

So, if there's a reason that faster than 5400 is really important, it would be cool to know. Would also be interested in hearing what drives folks have used for their external PORTABLE audio

(and Ableton, will be delighted when you allow us to assign a path for EIC samples that may be different from the core library - i love having a base set of sounds on the laptop - but being able to put EIC on a different drive - and only EIC on that drive -easily - would be super)

mc

[DJ VAKIS]

The faster the beter,espesialy for recording

[mclive]

The faster the beter,espesialy for recording

Thank you, but i'm not asking about recording: i'm asking about using sample-based instruments - and would like to understand WHY RPM is necessary or not in this case.

Who knows? some software can't take advantage of faster seek times on a drive, so one is wasting denaros and loosing disk space for speed that can't be used.

thanks again for your reply tho.

mc

[DJ VAKIS]

I think 5.400rpm for reading is ok.

[DJ VAKIS]

I mean for playback

[mclive]

I think 5.400rpm for reading is ok.

Yes, i think so too. but what i'm hoping is that someone with actual knowledge of whether or not such a set up is optimal will chime in.

I'd like to hear some clear rationale as to why 5400 or 7200 is most appropriate.

thanks again
mc

[msticman]

imo opinion, it doesnt matter how fast the hd is. its all in the transfer rate of your interface. i use usb, and it is slow. not impedingly slow. firewire is faster than usb.

my next build is going to have sata interface for an external drive. either that or two of the raptor drives which have a 10000 rpm speed. not sure what the buffer size on those are.

one thing i learned the hard way. boosting one component isnt always the answer. all of the pieces have to work well with each other or your not going to get optimal performance.

i started out replacing my motherboard and cpu. then had to upgrade my memory to a faster speed. one tip i got from my computer tech, is if you get a major piece of hardware, such as motherboard or cpu, leave a little room for upgrading.

had i known, i would have gotten a board that supported dual core. as i saw one for 88 bucks in december.

anyway hindsight is always better i guess.

[Cheeky Rapide]

I think 5.400rpm for reading is ok.

Yes, i think so too. but what i'm hoping is that someone with actual knowledge of whether or not such a set up is optimal will chime in.

I'd like to hear some clear rationale as to why 5400 or 7200 is most appropriate.

thanks again
mc

Hey there; I have to say, I've been quite disappointed with the performance of my 5400rpm drives when I've had my sample libraries on them. I've used both my MacBook Pro main HD and a Western Digital 120GB USB 2.0 drive to store the library; and I got glitches in the multi samples libraries no end (Whilst playing the Grand Piano, i'd end up hitting all the keys for a while to buffer up the majority of the sample layers I wanted to play!). However, my home built miniStack v2 with USB 2.0 and Firewire 400 interfaces, containing a Maxtor DiamondMax 7200 drive worked a charm. No drop outs, just a nice, clean sound.

I think this has given me the confidence to go get a small Glyph drive to store my sample library on; I'll probably go fo the GT 050Q (becuase of the Firewire 800), so that the other drive can get back to being our backup server. The Glyph comes in it's own padded suitcase that contains the necessarry power cables and stuff... so that's portable, right?