Glyph PortaGig 7200 rpm BUS-POWERED? or other mobile 2.5" HDD?

[marcnyc]

Hello I need to buy a portabile small 2.5" HDD to record something remotely with Pro Tools.
I have a Mac BookPro with FW400 (but not FW800).
I am considering buying either the 7200rpm version of this:
Glyph PortaGig // FireWire 400. USB 2.0. Bus-powered.
or the 7200rpm version of this:
Glyph PortaGig 800 // FireWire 800. USB 2.0. Bus-powered.
and use it with a 800-to-400 adapter/cable while I still have this computer (planning to upgrade to the new Mac BookPro's with FW800).

I have simply three questions:

1. will these HDD's really work bus-powered or for audio you need to use a power adapter? does the track-count diminish if you use them bus-powered as opposed to with an AC adapter?

2. is this a good choice for purchase or do you guys know of other similarly small (ideally bus-powered) 7200rpm 400 or 800 drives?

3. does any of you guys own this? can you tell me a realistic track count at 24/88.2?


Thanks a lot for your answers.
By the way, I am in NYC and need to buy this tomorrow as I need to fly somewhere with it on Tuesday.

[johnecon2001]

1) Those drives are truly buss powered. You will not lose tracks powering it like that.
2) The Glyph drives are really nice. But really expensive. A good Firewire/USB2.0 option would be the MacAlly 2.5" IDE enclosure here. Buy that and put any 7200RPM IDE drive in.
3) I'd have to use a calculator.. and I'm tired right now.

[marcnyc]

Thanks for the reply.
I like the MacAlly enclosure but I need to buy something ready to go in a store on Monday for this last minute thing.
Also the MacAlly is only FW400...
Any other suggestions for other manufacturers out there?

[d_fu]

Mind that current Macbooks have a significantly reduced Firewire Bus Power supply (compared to e.g. older G4 mac laptops), which affects some FW audio interfaces and also FW disk drives. The supply may simply not be sufficient for the Glyph drives. Better ask them before you buy...

[marcnyc]

Interesting point.
I will call Glyph...
Do you know where I can find the bus-power specs for the new and the old Macs?
Thanks

[Jimbo]

If I understand correctly the new macbooks supply the "correct" power given the IEEE firewire spec. The powerbook/ibook series supplied more power than the IEEE spec at the time. Some devices took advantage of this extra power (e.g., Metric Halo MIO).

Soooooooo, when speaking with Glyph, the real question is whether the drive will operate on buss power as specified by the IEEE spec.

Please post your findings.

Thanks.

[d_fu]

Originally Posted by marcnyc

Do you know where I can find the bus-power specs for the new and the old Macs?

On Apple's website, I assume...

[Jonathan Starr]

Has anyone tried the Western Digital Passport 250 or 320GB?

I'm looking to run it with a macbook and Logic to record 6 tracks in the field with an Ensemble Mobile.

They use USB rather than FW.

[marcnyc]

I would NEVER rely on a USB hdd for audio! too slow

[geetarplayer27]

You def don't want to mess with USB when recording audio. Avastor makes a pretty comparable drive called a PDX. It's a little cheaper than the glyph, but just as fast and reliable. Check 'em out here:

Avastor PDX-400100GB- Free Shipping at ProDataPlus.com

[marcnyc]

Just to clarify, when I said bus-powered I meant powered by the FireWire bus, not the USB bus!

[mixerguy]

bump

anyone using the Glyph PortaGig 800 7200rpm?

[NorseHorse]

Nope, but I am using the USB-bus-powered Western Digital MyPassports referenced above.

Extremely stable. And I use them for audio 24/7. I travel a lot, so portability was essential for me. I can't be bothered to mess with another power supply.

[marcnyc]

Originally Posted by mixerguy

bump

anyone using the Glyph PortaGig 800 7200rpm?

Yes I am using that drive and LOVE it... If I can help you with specific info let me know, but I can tell you that they rock! Wouldn't use anything else

[digitalolive]

Other World Computing Mercury on the go series. I have 3 of them (2.5", 7200 rpm, 500 gb). They come in a variety of connections from esata down to USB. Very quiet and very dependable so far.

Steven

[Igotsoul4u]

I have had good luck with the OWC drives and most recently a G-drive mini. Both work on bus power.

[Marlan]

Just bought the 7200 rpm Portagig for my new Macbook Pro AFTER consulting with the guy's at Glyph.

After using drives from multiple manufacturers, I've stuck with Glyph because my direct experience with them proved that they were extremely reliable (over other several manufacturers).

$200 for the 320 Gig drive. (not bad)

Using it in the field with Protools as backup at the moment. Even though they are great drives for all data and of course several different DAW's, the fact that they were specifically tested to be used in a Mac/Protools environment (amongst others) proved to be a major factor in my purchase.

I am currently recording to my internal drive ( I know, I know) and then backing up with the Glyph.

Will be putting it through it's paces for tracking first week of December. Will report back.

[marcnyc]

I agree. Tested with Digi made a big difference.
However I would tell this last poster that the Glyphs are SO reliable that you can record TO it and then backup to the internal! This will probably improve you track count and system stability! Don't be afraid... I've done 88.2k 24track editing while bus powered, they hold up great!

[Marlan]

Great to know Marc. Thanks!

[littlejim84]

I'm looking at the Glyph Portagig 800 500gb for my new MacBook Pro laptop. Thing is, I need to run this over USB2 as my firewire port is taken up with the Apogee Duet.

This will be ok for (no more than) two tracks of recording at 24bit 44.1hz and playing back audio for 16-24 track compositions (where probably around 12 tracks would be pure audio and also a few Kontakt sample libraries)?

All ok to do this with one of these?
Thanks for any info!

[mixerguy]

Originally Posted by littlejim84

I'm looking at the Glyph Portagig 800 500gb for my new MacBook Pro laptop. Thing is, I need to run this over USB2 as my firewire port is taken up with the Apogee Duet.

This will be ok for (no more than) two tracks of recording at 24bit 44.1hz and playing back audio for 16-24 track compositions (where probably around 12 tracks would be pure audio and also a few Kontakt sample libraries)?

All ok to do this with one of these?
Thanks for any info!

I'd suggest you get a powered firewire hub, and run stuff off that.....

and always be sure to backup all your data to a separate drive too.

[littlejim84]

Originally Posted by mixerguy

I'd suggest you get a powered firewire hub, and run stuff off that.....

and always be sure to backup all your data to a separate drive too.

This is what I'm doing at the moment. But with alot of my sound design and music projects at the moment, having the laptop and a powered hard drive takes the portability out of the laptop quite a bit really.

I was looking at a bus powered hard drive solution which I can run most of my audio off and then when I get back to the studio I can backup to my powered hard drive.

It definitely wouldn't work well enough?

[DannyL]

USB 2.0 has a raw data rate at 480Mbps

Firewire 400 has a raw data rate of 400Mbps (the actual transfer rate is 393.216 Mbps)

So..... how is USB 2 too slow for data transfer?

Originally Posted by marcnyc

I would NEVER rely on a USB hdd for audio! too slow

I use USB 2 all the time for external drive connections.
I typically record at 48K or 88.1 up to 24 tracks at a time, using a Macbook Pro dual 2.53 with 4 Gb of ram. I run Nuendo 4.3.

I have a USB 2 SATA drive dock which I connect to my G5 (as an eSATA) for transfer.

Here are some tips:
Use a drive that has a 7200RPM rating.
Keep your wiring clean and secured.
If you are using a FW port for your audio interface, do not connect any other devices to it.

Danny

[Marlan]

I called Glyph to get their opinion of using the mini USB 2.0 on the back of the Portagig for tracking. They said it should work just fine and that one of the problems that usb had in the past is that nobody was writing good drivers for the format so it could be used as an audio drive. Just ask the Guy's at Joeco. They only use USB 2.0

Digidesign does NOT officially support usb 2.0 but that doesn't mean it won't work great.

I have two systems for my Macbook Pro.

1. Lynx Aurora with firewire card to Logic, Reaper, or Boom Recorder ( Boom Recorder to be used with older OS)

2. Mbox 2 Pro with PT 8 le pre-release for Snow Leopard

I am using the PT 8 le configuration on location for 2 nights of recital recording starting tomorrow night and again on Saturday for a small Christmas cd. I am tracking 6 microphones through DAV preamps (main pair to Mytek stereo dac via spdif for the extra 2 channels) and the one FW800 port of the Macbook will be going to the Mbox via a 800 to 400 cable.

The usb to mini usb 2.0 will go to the Glyph Portagig for tracking. Tested it yesterday and it worked fine. I'll see with a 1 hour 15 min concert.

Brought along a Sound Devices just in case this falls apart (ALWAYS HAVE A BACKUP PLAN!!!!!!!)

I will report after tomorrow night.

[Howie J]

Originally Posted by DannyL

USB 2.0 has a raw data rate at 480Mbps

Firewire 400 has a raw data rate of 400Mbps (the actual transfer rate is 393.216 Mbps)

So..... how is USB 2 too slow for data transfer?


Danny

I did some reading a couple years ago when I was working for a major US retailer in computers and got this question/arguement ALL THE TIME. What I remember from my reading is this. (and someone correct me if I'm wrong or mis-informed here)

USB is a host controlled interface, which means the computer is doing all the work for data transfer and buffering/traffic control. FW is a peer to peer host which means the computer and the device's chipset both share in the job of streaming information.

I would believe the USB works for shorter recording takes, or 2 track stuff. But if most guys on here are like me and need to record 8, 12, 16 or more tracks for 2 hours straight (or more)...the FW interface has less chance of "backing up".

Oh...and +1 on Glyph. I know it's a different setup, but I bought the one bay GT key chassis this year and LOVE it. Ridiculously stable. It Just Works! period. I just can't wait until Digi makes a FW 800 interface to complement my Glyph and MBP.

Howie J

[Marlan]

This evenings concert was cancelled because people in the south are afraid of a few snowflakes. They are going to do 2 performances tomorrow instead of just one tonight and one tomorrow night.

I will report.

After I set up the rig this afternoon, I tracked for about 30 minutes with the Glyph using the mini usb connector and external power adaptor with no issues.

2 Schoeps MK2H to DAV to Mytek clocking Mbox Pro 2 spdif input
4 Neumann KM 140's to DAV to inputs 1 through 4 on Mbox
New Macbook pro Dual 2.8Ghz with 4 gigs ram to Mbox 2 Pro via FW800-400 cable
Macbook to Glyph Portagig 320 Gig 7200 rpm via usb 2.0 to mini usb 2.0

The Mac, Mbox 2 Pro, and Glyph are all plugged in with their respective power supplies.

[Marlan]

Long 12 hour day and the concerts are over.

The Glyph Portagig worked flawlessly without a hitch using USB 2.0, freeing up the one firewire bus for the interface alone. Not a single hiccup. Afterwards, it took roughly 4 minutes to backup both concerts with 6 tracks each to the internal drive.

Note: Do not use USB without the drive's power plug. USB does not carry enough juice to run the drive.