Guitar Gear Forum

I know shit about computers, but the guy that helped me does recording and this is what he set me up with for under 400 dollars.
Intel Core i7-4790 cpu@ 3.6 ghz
16 gigs of ram
236 gig ss hd
He suggested I get a regular hd to backup on.

would thumb drives suffice for backup? Or should I get an actual drive?

Thumb drives are OK, but sometimes unreliable over long periods of time.

Spinny disks are so cheap at this point I'd just grab a couple for external use.

You'll need to check the requirements of your recording software. Most DAW software require an external hard drive.

I'm using ProTools 10 and it requires an external hard drive to work properly..... 7500 rpm minimum (or comparable ss drive).
When I open a new session, I save the session data to the external hard drive - this helps the computer to function without glitches.
Without an external drive, the computer would have to lay down new tracks while simultaneously playing back previously recorded tracks, all on it's own internal hard drive.
Using the computer to operate the recording software, while storing session data on the external drive, keeps things running smoothly.

When "backing up" files, you copy your session data to a thumb drive, in case your external hard driver shitz the bed.

I hope this helps!

ajaxlepinski wrote:You'll need to check the requirements of your recording software. Most DAW software require an external hard drive.

I'm using ProTools 10 and it requires an external hard drive to work properly..... 7500 rpm minimum (or comparable ss drive).
When I open a new session, I save the session data to the external hard drive - this helps the computer to function without glitches.
Without an external drive, the computer would have to lay down new tracks while simultaneously playing back previously recorded tracks, all on it's own internal hard drive.
Using the computer to operate the recording software, while storing session data on the external drive, keeps things running smoothly.

When "backing up" files, you copy your session data to a thumb drive, in case your external hard driver shitz the bed.

I hope this helps!

I wouldn't necessarily say with SSDs that you are REQUIRED to have a separate disk for sessions. You tend to not run into the overrun issue as much on SSD. But it is a good idea to have a separate disk so if the OS needs to do something in the middle of a session you don't end up with the fabulous pop-stop-pop-back in the middle of a take. YMMV.

I'd stick with SSDs for sessions at this point. I have a couple older seagate 10,000 RPM drives I use for external storage of sessions, but at this point SSDs offer better performance.

I agree - if the DAW software requires an external drive, SSD is the best.

PT10 strongly recommends the use of an external hard drive... not sure if a computer with an internal SSD would negate that need?
I'm using a 2013 iMac with "fusion drive"... an internal spinning disk and an internal SSD.

I'm no computer genius so, I don't know if a key chain thumb drive will function as an external hard drive for PT10 or other DAW software?
I'm going to have to try saving session data to a thumb drive!
I guess it should work?

EDIT: my iMac connects to my external drive via lightning cable... the USB connections are 2.0
I'ma gunna to try a thumb drive later today and I'll let you know how it works out.

Most thumb drives will have too slow performance to do well at session data. While it's theoretically possible, I wouldn't recommend it.

I know this much...


Linux

grab an extra drive that you can install internally
236 is bare minimum to house your startup and programs
this next drive is going to hold all of the sessions- do not try putting this all on that 1 drive

I'm not sure if you would want a ssd for this next drive.SSD is good for housing programs, but the material that is going to constantly be rewritten over may be better (and definitely cheaper and hold more GB) to go with a nonSSD. It should be less than 100 and you could install yourself- it's 2 cables

crankyrayhanky wrote:grab an extra drive that you can install internally
236 is bare minimum to house your startup and programs
this next drive is going to hold all of the sessions- do not try putting this all on that 1 drive

I'm not sure if you would want a ssd for this next drive.SSD is good for housing programs, but the material that is going to constantly be rewritten over may be better (and definitely cheaper and hold more GB) to go with a nonSSD. It should be less than 100 and you could install yourself- it's 2 cables

Exactly.

First off, we ARE talking about a full size PC, not a laptop?
A 256 SSD is fast and slick for the OS, and your programs; but as far as your recorded audio & all other data, Id be putting THAT on a nice big reliable HDD and Id set up your Daw to record directly to that. SSD's are fast, can take bumps, and will last pretty well if they arent being constantly rewritten.
A 2TB hdd is only in the $50ish range. Steer clear of seagates, their record isnt great right now. Look up reliability records if youre interested. And then get yourself a nice big external to back up anything important, like any music files, photos, documents, etc. And treat it gently, or dont move it at all!

I think the "non-reliability" of SSDs now is overblown because of how shit the first few generations of them were. There is still an expense to them compared to a spinny disk, but once we hit the point where datacenters are relying on SSDs for fileservers, the basic definition of continuous re-writes, and seeing drives last as long or longer than traditional spinners?

I'm moving towards keeping my traditional drives as backups. With reliable backup drives there's zero reason to not use SSDs for all primary uses aside from expense, and even that's becoming questionable as time goes on.

I say this a someone that's been involved in moving our entire work server backbone over to SSD over the last five years or so. HDDs are still on our backup appliances because we don't care about performance there. If performance does matter? SSD all the way unless a prime motivator is cost. Don't buy the cheapest/oldest SSDs and you'll be fine for a long time to come. Cheap? Traditional, by all means.

Yeah, SSD's are better now than they were, and it depends on how you mainly use your computer, so thats up to each person figuring it out if they wanna delve into the research, which is a very wise thing.

Ordered internal hard drive, cane with no cables! What do I need? I can post pics of my hd and motherboard if needed