Mike Davis Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 I’m thinking of picking up one of these. Any thoughts or advice? Maybe the Samsung T7 or … ? I have a 2021 M1 MBP. I’m assuming it’s just a matter of connecting a USB-C cable and dragging the files across. TiA! 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Burgess Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 I got a tiny Samsung 2TB something a couple of years ago. Got all my libraries and stuff on it, and all is fine and dandy. I migrated my Mac mini to two laptops now, so everything works with the same drive out on the road after programming at home etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stokely Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 I have a Samsung T5 500GB (older) and a newer Western Digital 1TB. I tried to update the T5 to a newer Mac Os drive format but never got it to work...I don't remember the details but it was some issue with Samsung and Monterey at the time (I had just updated to Monterey). I had no such issues with the WD. I have a larger non-SSD for various files and archiving, it's getting pretty old at this point and I'm thinking about hedging my bets and getting a replacement (they all die at some point).... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KuruPrionz Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 I have a tiny Samsung T5 that I've owned for a few years. I like it, maybe a little slow on the write but the read times are fast, it's silent and small. Quote It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Burgess Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 I told a total lie. It's a Sandisk!https://www.amazon.ae/gp/product/B078T9SZ3K I put Samsungs inside my 2012 MBPs before the Apple Silicon days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluMunk Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 For those in the US, here's the link to the drive @Adam Burgess shared (I coughed at the price tag on his link before realizing that it's to the UAE I think):Sandisk Extreme (slower transfer speed) Sandisk Extreme Pro (faster transfer speed) Also noting that both verions seem to be on ~50% discount at Amazon right now, depending on drive capacity. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RABid Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 I have a 2TB Samsung T7. Works great, quickly filled up with samples. They don't make anything bigger. Bought a 4TB Sandisk. Went bad the first week and Amazon replaced it. So far so good. Bought a 4TB Crucial as backup to the Sandisk. Got a 12TBd Western Digital as my Time Machine drive. Didn't think it needs to be an SSD. 2 Quote This post edited for speling. My Sweetwater Gear Exchange Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Davis Posted January 20, 2023 Author Share Posted January 20, 2023 Excellent advice! Thank you all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fleer Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 Get the Samsung T7 Shield. It’s more or less the same price as the original T7 but a bit better and faster according to Anandtech. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tusker Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 1 hour ago, Fleer said: Get the Samsung T7 Shield. It’s more or less the same price as the original T7 but a bit better and faster according to Anandtech. My T7 has been trouble free. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Motif Max Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 I have a 2TB Samsung T7, and it's been great. I also have an older G-Technology 1TB (now known as Sandisk Professional) that was perfectly good as well. 1 Quote Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000 Kurzweil: PC3-76, PC4 (88) | Hammond: SK Pro 73 | Korg: Triton LE 76, N1R, X5DR | Emu: Proteus/1 | Casio: CT-370 | Novation: Launchkey 37 MK3 | Technics: WSA1R Former: Emu Proformance Plus & Mo'Phatt, Korg Krome 61, Roland Fantom XR & JV-1010, Yamaha MX61, Behringer CAT Assorted electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses | Roland TD-17 KVX | Alesis SamplePad Pro | Assorted organs, accordions, other instruments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analogika Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 I have two Samsung T5 and two T7. They've been fine. I like that they come in colours — red is the video scratch drive, black is audio, blue is temp storage, grey is The Drawbars' active projects, etc. I hear good things about the SanDisk drives, as well, so just get whatever's cheaper. Quote "The Angels of Libra are in the European vanguard of the [retro soul] movement" (Bill Buckley, Soul and Jazz and Funk) The Drawbars | off jazz organ trio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Muscara Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 I got a 1 TB Thunderbolt 3 SSD for my 2017 iMac 5K from OWC a few years ago and it has been my primary drive since then (I looked into replacing the internal Fusion Drive with an SSD but decided it just wasn't worth the effort) and it's pretty instantaneous. In fact, whenever I reboot from the Fusion Drive, I can't believe how slow that is. According to Disk Utility, it's an OWC Aura 1.0TB Mercury. I'm sure there are cheaper and faster options now. The only bad thing is it takes up one of my two Thunderbolt ports so I have to choose between my audio interface or the external second monitor. 2 Quote "I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck "The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reezekeys Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 My groove would be to buy a bare drive on special, then an enclosure. Some of these enclosures are tool-less now, it's literally seconds to install the drive. I've also upgraded several older Mac laptops using the Sintech adapter and a stock NVMe drive. That's another easy procedure, not doable for any newer Mac of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffincltnc Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 I just went through this evaluation from the USB-C (T7, Sandisk Extreme Pro), to the OWC and other Thunderbolt 3 drives, to building my own with a Thunderbolt enclosure. I went with the OWC Envoy Pro FX 2TB drive. The speeds are worth it to me with large Kontakt libraries. You won't get the full speed of the T7s and Sandisk Extreme Pro through USB-C, FYI. Quote Yamaha U1 Upright, Roland Fantom 8, Nord Stage 4 HA73, Nord Wave 2, Korg Nautilus 73, Viscount Legend Live, Lots of Mainstage/VST Libraries Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarsHarner2 Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B094JVBHJT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1 I got a San Disk (there is a new series) thunderbolt for my M1 as it is thunderbolt. I got 1 TB (computer is 2TB) and might in the future get a 2TB if I add more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reezekeys Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 It bears repeating... for audio work you don't necessarily need those 40Gbps guys. It's your money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stokely Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 I was kind of wondering about that myself. I did get a massive speed boost when loading big libraries when I moved them from the internal mac 5400rpm drive to an external ssd but that is kind of a no-brainer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reezekeys Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 Pretty much any SSD, external or internal, is gonna beat a 5400 rpm spinner! It used to be that chopped-up audio tracks might have a spinner's head working overtime to seek & read small files, same thing with sample-based streaming instruments with thousands of samples, like a deep-sampled piano. SSDs render that issue moot, I think. Just in terms of throughput though, for example MOTU claims 64 in/out channels of audio at 44.1Khz on USB 2.0 for their 1248 interface and 24 in/out at 192Khz - USB2, a 20 year+ old standard that tops out at 480Mbps! Data moving at 40Gbps is ~80x faster (according to my math). Of course these are all "theoretical maximum" rates which don't take into account all the other bottlenecks that might be present, but still... that expensive drive videographers get to work on their 4K and 8K files are way overkill for audio, imo. My advice would be to get one of those little Samsung guys, or do as I suggested in an earlier post: buy almost any name-brand NVMe gumstick drive with the capacity you need, put it in a USB3 or USB-C enclosure, go on with life and stop chasing specs that don't matter! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Emm Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 It took a nervous while to get me into SSDs, but so far, so good. I've had SanDisk flash drives work 100% for years, but thanks to some KC advice, I've got a 2 TB and two 1 TB Crucial drives. I'm going to back THOSE up as well. I'm only a couple of years on with them, but again, 100% Good has been the rule. When I registered the Crucial drives, it led to useful updates and a few sales offers, which is appreciated. Your loyalty is often only as durable as the product, but when a year goes by and nothing goes all lithium-kablooey on you... Quote Lab Mode splits between contemplative work and furious experiments. Both of which require you to stay the hell away from everyone else. This is a feature, not a bug. Kraftwerk’s studio lab, Kling Klang, didn’t even have a working phone in it. ~ Warren Ellis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Davis Posted January 23, 2023 Author Share Posted January 23, 2023 Thanks again everyone! Great input. I think I’ll get a couple of T7s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B4i Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 For an external sample and libraries drive for my M1 Mac mini I bought an M2 NVME drive and external enclosure. Read/Write speeds are quicker than external SSD drive. I did see some performance improvement loading a Mainstage set compared to my old SSD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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