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SSD Configuration Preferences


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As I stated in another post I plan to upgrade my Mac setup this Fall (hoping SSDs finally come as standard option & save me a few $$$).

 

In my current setup (2011 Mac Mini Server w/2x500GB 7200RPM internal HDDs) I use my drives as follows:

 

Main System Drive = OS and Applications, Logic's included Loops/Samples/VI's/etc.....

2nd Internal Drive = All my Recording data (recorded audio files)

External 7200RPM FW800 1TB Drive = All other Samples (currently only Steven Slate Drums)

 

For my future system (probably an iMac 27") I'm definitely going with an SSD. I've heard it said that with SSDs, because of their faster speeds it's ok to run Apps/OS as well as Samples from one internal SSD - is this accurate or will I still be better off running samples off of an external drive (probably an SSD since the data will mostly be static)? I'll still be recording to a separate 7200RPM HDD.

 

Thanks in advance for your help...

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Internal or external doesn't really matter, if the external connection is fast (like Thunderbolt).

 

Usually the internal drives are very expensive, when bought at Apple.

 

I have 1 TB internal Fusion drive and 4 external SSDs:

 

- Internal: Only apps, and only a few sample libraries (if I could I'd put them also externally)

- 2 SSDs: for sessions

- 2 SSDs: for samples, libraries, loops, etc.

 

The internal drive is very fast. My iMac boots in 10-15 seconds and Logic needs less than a couple seconds. So at the moment I wouldn't bother to spend that kind of money to Apple to have an internal SSD. I rather spend those couple hundreds extra for a better processor, or more RAM.

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I understand that internal/external isn't really an issue. But what I'm asking is with an internal SSD can both OS/App files AND samples (such as Steven Slate Drums) live on one main system SSD or will I see marked improvement with those sample files on their own, dedicated external?
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As I stated in another post I plan to upgrade my Mac setup this Fall (hoping SSDs finally come as standard option & save me a few $$$).

 

...For my future system (probably an iMac 27") I'm definitely going with an SSD. I've heard it said that with SSDs, because of their faster speeds it's ok to run Apps/OS as well as Samples from one internal SSD is this accurate or will I still be better off running samples off of an external drive (probably an SSD since the data will mostly be static)? I'll still be recording to a separate 7200RPM HDD...

 

Jumping in a little late here...i have a 2010 Mac Pro with a PCIe SSD as the system drive and 3 out of the 4 internal drives are 240GB Mercury Extreme 6G SSDs from Other World Computing. I'm still maintaining the "standard" hard drive configuration of keeping my system/apps, sample libraries and Logic Projects on separate drives respectively. It just seems to make sense to continue doing so.

 

Contrary to your original post, I've been recording to the Logic Projects SSD (rather than, say, a WD Black 7200 internal HD) without any issue. As a matter of fact, my system runs quite fast and is just more efficient overall since I don't really have much space for extra "crap".

 

Other World Computing's SSDs are great and a huge savings over the Apple site or Mac Store. Just a FYI for your consideration. All the best.

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  • 3 months later...
I don't understand why you'd need to put sample libraries on a separate drive to the os, logic etc., unless it's a space/organisation consideration. Surely everything that would be running off the system drive from a session would have already been loaded into memory.
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  • 1 month later...
I understand that internal/external isn't really an issue. But what I'm asking is with an internal SSD can both OS/App files AND samples (such as Steven Slate Drums) live on one main system SSD or will I see marked improvement with those sample files on their own, dedicated external?

I'm resurrecting this thread in hopes that this specific part of the OP's question can be answered conclusively, bc I have the same question. Given an internal SSD of sufficient size, should we continue following the traditional HD guideline of OS+apps on one drive, projects on another, samples on another? Or do SSDs surmount any seek-competition issues?

Thanks!

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Here's a comment from a computer-science friend of mine – who also happens to be a songwriter, but he doesn't do his own production so his comments are purely from his day-job CS perspective:

 

 

It's probably still better to use SSD for OS and apps and HDD for projects. Here is why: SSDs have a more limited lifetime based on number of writes. A drive that you WRITE TO often is still better as HDD. I would assume sample libraries are read-only so they can go on SSD for fast access. It comes down to: Places you mainly read: SSD, places you often write: HDD.

Another friend who does do extensive production work says he has "everything" on a 2TB SSD and it works flawlessly for him. I got him to elucidate: "About 1TB of pro tools sessions, and more than .5tB of Kontakt sample libraries, and all my OS etc. I actually have other sample libraries on a USB SSD as well because I ran out of room."

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