Better to record to internal SSD or external HDD?

[Kcatthedog]

Originally Posted by Frederick Craine

I have a MacBook Pro with an internal SSD. I'm using a Firestudio Project to record 6 mics. Would it be better to record to a external hard drive plugged directly into the FireStudio's FireWire port, or go to the SSD in the Mac? I know they say to record straight to a hard drive plugged into the firewire port on the FireStudio, but the SSD has better performance. Which one wins?

Don't confuse performance with purpose the ssd will always outperform the hdd but you want to use the ssd as your system or boot drive and put your DAW software there and maybe vi and samples but save your sessions on a seperate drive and you should have a third for backup.

Kcat

[yoshimodular]

My MacBook Air SSD drive is not good enough to run the OS, the soft and samples.

[Flagfoot]

not sure if the ever changing ssd specs are the same from when we got ours, but a fast, dedicated platter drive can have faster (or more reliable?) consecutive read/write speeds. Yeah SSDs scream at seek times, but when tracking audio, it helps to keep a non-distracted platter drive writing consecutively. Super-seek sample libraries or program files all day. Consecutive write while tracking audio.

[FLYINGJAY]

I have a separate go-flex firewire 800 turbo external drive.its as fast as any internal drive.

The turbo mean it spins at 7200 rpms.it exceeds my laptop internal 5400 rpm drive.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

[Syncamorea]

I've been eyeing that same drive, Flyingjay. Nice.

I am completely ready for the TB drives to drop in price, by the way.

[FLYINGJAY]

Originally Posted by Syncamorea

I've been eyeing that same drive, Flyingjay. Nice.

I am completely ready for the TB drives to drop in price, by the way.

The tb go-flex adapter is $99,I can use it with the same drive.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

[Frederick Craine]

Now I have the choice of using a SSD or HDD as the external hard drive for tracking. I would have thought SSD, but I read some forums that said HDD is better for tracking. But they were posted 1-2011 so maybe the info's outdated...

[BassDuck]

Ssd's wear under write the more you write the more the ssd degrades. Its best to use ssd's as os drive where you install once and the majority of your drive operations are reads.

Sent from my SGH-I757M using Tapatalk

[Frederick Craine]

But if I'm only considering performance and not wear on the drive, which is better?

[Syncamorea]

Unless you have a bunch of other loads on the drive, I'm not convinced it will matter. The writing to drive limit (for any decent SSD or fast external) should be way more than 6 tracks, even if 96/24.

[cinealta]

Don't write (record) to your SSD. It is best for read only (eg boot disk, System files, running applications etc). It will seriously slow down over time if you use it as a scratch disk (audio recording).

[Frederick Craine]

great, thanks for advice

[Frederick Craine]

Originally Posted by Syncamorea

Unless you have a bunch of other loads on the drive, I'm not convinced it will matter. The writing to drive limit (for any decent SSD or fast external) should be way more than 6 tracks, even if 96/24.

What do you consider a fast external? I was just going to use the 500gb 5400rpm drive that's in my macbook pro now that I'm replacing with the ssd.

[CPhoenix]

SSD's excell at read times.... not at write times.

A good 7200rpm HD drive is a better choice for writing audio to. Let your SSD be the system drive and sample older if it's large enough.

[jcschild]

WOW... all i can say

1) using the OS drive is no issue at all no need for ext drives. it should be good for at least 100 tracks audio. its only when you get into heavy sampling where it can become an issue.

laptops i sell with stand drives can do an easy 50 tracks ssd at least double that..
based on what i think your workflow is dont waste your money.

"""SSD's excell at read times.... not at write times.""""

really? minimum write on a newer ssd will be at least 200+ Meg/s standard HDD 120ish..

"""Don't write (record) to your SSD. It is best for read only """

whilst a slight amount of truth.. the OS itself is CONSTANTLY writing to the OS drive.. far far more that you could ever think of than recording ever would.

trim/garbage collection should deal with most that and yes over a very long time you will wear out an SSD laptop wil be dead before then most likely..


the biggest concern with an SSD OS drive and recording to it is size..
Scott
ADK

[mirrorboy]

Originally Posted by jcschild

WOW... all i can say.

[ POST CUT SHORT TO SAVE SPACE ]

"WOW!!!" is what I was thinking as well, Scott!!

Hey!! We agree on something!! Beers on me!!

Well, that doesn't necessarily mean you'll agree with this post so let's table those lagers for now! Haha

--

Anyways, yeah, until Scott posted I think just about every post contained at least some false information.

SSDs, quality ones (w 5 to 7 yr warranties ala OWC) are better than HDDs in each and every aspect.

The only thing being price / price per gig of course...but that's the economy., supply & demand, etc. Not the SSD.

--

So, assuming you get a 'quality' SSD (ie OWC), and believe me there is a SIGNIFICANT amount of really crappy SSDs out there (hence all the SSD horror stories) but there is also this whole other mob of people; tge silent ones we dont hear about because, for them, the SSD they bought is working great!!

So of course these people are much, much, MUCH less inclined to post a bunch of times on a bunch of forums about their "great" SSD experience.


Plus, they're too busy working and enjoying their new SSD!! Haha

--

So, a 'quality' SSD is:

-Faster. Way faster. And they're only getting faster & faster wheras the nature of HDDs sorta causes a maximum speed threshold (approx. 15,000 RPM-ish?) which we have long since reached.

-Faster at both read & write times.

-Significantly more durable and reliable. No moving parts.

-Lasts LONGER!! Yup!! A quality SSD will last LONGER, than an HDD.

--

I'm sure there's plenty more I just can't think of anything else at the moment.

No HDD beats a quality SSD, in any way.

And this is coming from a guy who owns and uses both SSDs, HDDs and 4 x 2 X WD RE4 HDD RAID 0 Dual Enclosures.

--


All of the above my mere opinion, of course, and one that's a result of many, many years of hands-on experience.



Cheers!!

Scott

[CPhoenix]

I'm no computer whiz... but from the research I've done on them (maybe 4-5months ago)... the general issue is that the actual write time typically underperforms that of a good HDD. Despite it having a higher theoretical write time. Who cares about theory when you're talkin real-world practice.

Non-scientific example: [Solved] SSD write speed is slower than HDD - ssd - Storage

Also... i'm aware the OS writes to the SSD. I think that's further reason to use an HDD for your recording purposes.


I feel this argument is similar to the USB vs. Firewire debate. USB theorically has more bandwidth, however in actual use it doesn't ever reach it... and is in general inferior to firewire for audio purposes. (emphasis on "in general").

Maybe there's some new SSD's w/ improved actual write time i'm aware of... but i would research that heavily before assuming that SSDs across the board write better than good HDDs.

[Tashez]

Cool thread . I was just reading all about SSD today and thinking of upgrading but now I wont bother . On point though 7200 rpm should be a minimum for music production .

[CPhoenix]

^Let me rephrase Tashez...

SSD is every bit worth it. I don't think that message came across in my above posts lol. I have one and there's no way in hell I would get rid of it.

I use it as the system drive. I have a desktop however, w/ multiple drives... so I use HD's to record on.

But.... If I were forced to choose between an SSD and an HD and could only have one drive... it would be an SSD. The benefits are too great. You really get spoiled w/ the read times.

The best setup is to have both.. which is totally doable since HD's are so inexpensive. I bought 3 500GB HD's second hand for about $75 bucks lol. If I had the money.... i'd have 3-4 SSDs for system, all of my sample libraries, and saving installation files and such... and 1 7200rpm HD for recording only.

SSD's are great and are in fact very much worth it.

[Manfrensengensen]

regardless of drive Type, (Internal, external, SSD or standard platter)
The issue is that you want a second 7200 rpm drive that is Esata, or Firewire
That is not being interupted by your system drive that is trying to read, and not being interupted to write at the same time.

12 Home Studio Necessities #7 – External/Dedicated Hard Drive | Home Studio Corner

[Syncamorea]

Originally Posted by Frederick Craine

What do you consider a fast external? I was just going to use the 500gb 5400rpm drive that's in my macbook pro now that I'm replacing with the ssd.

So you're going to put that into an aftermarket external case? Or remove your optical and keep the 500GB drive as an internal? If ther latter, I'm sure you can get some decent use as long as you aren't recording a ton of channels at once.

But for my MBP, I plan to buy this:

My Book VelociRaptor Duo

And maybe something smaller once we know more about the performance of 2.5" TB externals.

[CPhoenix]

Side note:

I had terrible issues with eSata when it came to audio.

I have no clue why... since it's just supposed to be an external SATA. However... I got terrible pops and clicks that were only alleviated when switching back to USB2.0. Didn't make any sense... but it was a truth for me.

I have a new setup which much better system specs... but still... more poor system exposed a problem w/ eSata and audio apps. You might want to look into that more if you want to use it. If not... just use Firewire or USB. The best would be an internal drive via SATA III (or even SATA II).. if you have that option.

[DAW PLUS]

SSD all the way. Simply do some tests with your SSD to check the performance.
You do want to back up as fast after recording as you can, but that should be standard anyway, whatever drive you use.

Now USB3 SSD drives are coming out, with up to 480MB/s read/write speed...not for OSX unfortunately.

[jc7]

Originally Posted by jcschild

WOW... all i can say

1) using the OS drive is no issue at all no need for ext drives. it should be good for at least 100 tracks audio. its only when you get into heavy sampling where it can become an issue.

laptops i sell with stand drives can do an easy 50 tracks ssd at least double that..

Scott
ADK

Is this true with Pro Tools? On a MacBook as well?