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USB 3.1 or Thunderbolt External Drive To Stream VST Samples


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Hi Everyone,

 

As a follow up to one of my last post regarding the possible purchase of a new Mac Mini or Windows based laptop, I had a follow-up question.

 

When it comes to storing samples on an external drive, do most of you use a Thunderbolt drive rather than a USB 3.1 drive to take advantage of the increased transfer speed? Most Thunderbolt drives I've seen are 2x's the cost, although I saw a nice Thunderbolt Lacey drive that's highly recommended online. Or, is USB 3.1 fast enough for streaming.

 

Would also be using the same PC / MAC for playback of audio backing tracks should this be necessary. But would keep these files on the internal drive, unless this should not be done. Please feel free to let me know. As mentioned, I want to now get my feet wet on the DAW side of things which would involve using either Cuebase , FL Studio or Logic and also possibly Ableton Live. But really need to figure out what platform to utilize etc.

 

What draws me to the Mac Mini is the storage capacity which is 64 GB. Even with Windows gaming systems (which charge for extra GPU capability) the memory limit is 16 - 32 GB. That is the only real reason though.

 

I've seen ASUS ROG ZEPHYRUS S laptops for $1599 which have a 32 GB RAM Capacity and an NVME SSD, so while still choosing the platform would need to know what type of external drive to use.

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Hi Everyone,

 

As a follow up to one of my last post regarding the possible purchase of a new Mac Mini or Windows based laptop, I had a follow-up question.

 

When it comes to storing samples on an external drive, do most of you use a Thunderbolt drive rather than a USB 3.1 drive to take advantage of the increased transfer speed? Most Thunderbolt drives I've seen are 2x's the cost, although I saw a nice Thunderbolt Lacey drive that's highly recommended online. Or, is USB 3.1 fast enough for streaming.

 

Would also be using the same PC / MAC for playback of audio backing tracks should this be necessary. But would keep these files on the internal drive, unless this should not be done. Please feel free to let me know. As mentioned, I want to now get my feet wet on the DAW side of things which would involve using either Cuebase , FL Studio or Logic and also possibly Ableton Live. But really need to figure out what platform to utilize etc.

 

What draws me to the Mac Mini is the storage capacity which is 64 GB. Even with Windows gaming systems (which charge for extra GPU capability) the memory limit is 16 - 32 GB. That is the only real reason though.

 

I've seen ASUS ROG ZEPHYRUS S laptops for $1599 which have a 32 GB RAM Capacity and an NVME SSD, so while still choosing the platform would need to know what type of external drive to use.

 

 

Laptops in general will be subject to fan noise, something you mentioned in another recent post regarding a Mac Mini. Smaller computers have more heat buildup than larger ones, that's a good general rule to keep in mind.

There is little or no space for heat sinks and with smaller fans, they must run faster (and louder).

 

If fan noise is something you want to reduce or eliminate, a desktop computer can be much quieter.

 

Also, if you are not yet committed to a DAW, take a look at Waveform (www.tracktion.com) and Studio One.

Try to choose something that you will stick with, all DAWs on the market currently will get the job done but there is a learning curve with each one so sticking with one is a good strategy if you want to spend time recording instead of learning old thinigs a new way.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Thanks - I think Studio One is what I mean rather than FL Studio. I did do a little more research on the laptop side of things and found that I could configure an ASUS ROG ZEPHYRUS S GX502GV-PB74 with 64GB of RAM and a 2 TB Samsung M.2 NVME internal drive. So, weighing the options. It's 15" and within a couple of hundred dollars of a Max Mini with a 1 TB drive - after purchasing 64 GB of RAM from 3rd party vendors.

 

So the only question on that front is do I absolutely need to use Logic and / or Mainstage rather than another DAW w/ Gig Performer?

 

But still need to know if Thunderbolt External is necessary for loading external samples due to the increased transfer speed over USB 3.1

 

If anyone has a preference or is currently using either type of drive in their setup, I'd like to know your experiences.

 

Thanks Again,

Anthony

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I use one of these bad boys (1TB):

 

https://www.glyphtech.com/product/atom-external-solid-state-drive

 

Works great for my needs.

 

I don't understand your question "do I absolutely need to use Logic and/or Mainstage?"

 

I mean, no, you don't. Gig Performer is a pretty rad live host. As for DAWs, there are plenty of options and just about every single one has a demo! My advice: consider a typical recording scenario for yourself. See how easy it is to execute that scenario in the demo version. I've spent way too much money on DAWs only to find there was one I really connected with (Ableton) because of how I like to work.

 

Hope this helps!

-John

 

PS: If you demo Cubase and like it, see the Keyboard classifieds here for a certain someone who is selling a license ;)

I make software noises.
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Yeah audio read/streaming like with a VST host (MainStage) isn"t going to be as intense as read/write audio or read/write video, like in Logic or Final Cut.

 

Every external drive is going to have a bottleneck caused by something -

The SSD itself has a speed limit

The controller in the enclosure you pick has a speed limit

Which cable/connection you decide to use from the enclosure

Which port you decide to use on the Mac / PC

 

Theoretically, if you go with a fast SSD with a fast Thunderbolt 3 controller and cable to a Mac with thunderbolt 3 this is the best speed you are going to get. The question is do you need it, at its price, to do what your asking of it. If you"re on a budget you may be surprised that fast enough is good enough.

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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But still need to know if Thunderbolt External is necessary for loading external samples due to the increased transfer speed over USB 3.1

 

USB3 is fine, don't worry about it. More than fast enough - save your money. I was using a $15 external USB3 enclosure with a cheap 2.5" SSD on my gigs for years, never a problem. Make sure it does UASP.

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Thank You! Why Mainstage or Logic ~ to be honest they are just popular choices. But more importantly, they have tons of 3rd party support from sound developers. For example - Keyboardist who specialize in music for Worship services and are using Mainstage can find a lot of options. Patches that were developed with specific songs in mind (Hillsongs etc).

 

Also in mainstream popular music, there are people who sell sound patches for classic hit songs of the 80's and 90's and for the current day. Of course you can also get these for various hardware keyboards as well. But, you may have to utilize more than one keyboard to absolutely nail all the sounds perfectly.

 

Thanks also for mentioning USAP as I was unaware of this! Also thank you to the members regarding USB3 and hitting the speed limit threshold with that protocol.

 

~ Anthony

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I don"t work for them, just a happy customer...

 

Here"s the theoretical stuff on connection speeds,

https://blog.macsales.com/37294-tech-101-what-thunderbolt-3-speeds-and-capabilities-mean-for-you/

 

If you go with a Mac they have great options for SSDs and enclosures for Thunderbolt 3 or USB3. For just an SSD either is fine.

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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I would be astonished if a single SSD could overwhelm USB3.1, let alone Thunderbolt. A big RAID array is a different matter.

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

Actually yes, a nvme pcie ssd can easily saturate a usb3.1 or even a usb 3.2 connection; the high end ones at least; the point is more if that kind of performance is needed or really used by the software

Maurizio

Nord Wave 2, Nord Electro 6D 61,, Rameau upright,  Hammond Pro44H Melodica.

Too many Arturia, NI and AAS plugins

http://www.barbogio.org/

 

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