VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD! Forum Index VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!
Where A.I. is a four-letter word.
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

DAW reconfigure---two computers or partition hard drive?
Goto page 1, 2  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD! Forum Index -> Gear !
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Rob Ellis
M&M


Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Posts: 2385
Location: Detroit

PostPosted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 8:35 am    Post subject: DAW reconfigure---two computers or partition hard drive? Reply with quote

Whaddya think folks. I have pretty much decided to record my audio on a dedicated computer. Anyone doing this using either two computers, or by partitioning their hard drive? Thanks for any input.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Bish
3.5 kHz


Joined: 22 Nov 2009
Posts: 3738
Location: Lost in the cultural wasteland of Long Island

PostPosted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 9:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My personal opinion is that partitioning drives is a hangover from the 80s & 90s where the limitations of disk size and access speed were far more impactful. I see no advantage to partitioning nowadays as second (internal or external) drives are as cheap as chips... and more importantly, the interface speed is more than capable of dealing with the data transfer rates that we require. Even if you decide to use a dedicated computer with a single drive for production/recording, I don't see any advantages in partitioning. IMO it's an archaic routine from when we were all forced to use disk housekeeping methods that was dictated by DOS limitations.
_________________
Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Yonie
CM


Joined: 31 Aug 2011
Posts: 906

PostPosted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 10:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I still partition for the sole purpose of dedicating disk space for different purposes. But it functions as an internal system for me and is, as Peter pointed out, a holdover from previous computers.

As mentioned in another thread I have no mechanical drives anymore. It's all SSD-based.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Rob Ellis
M&M


Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Posts: 2385
Location: Detroit

PostPosted: Tue Jan 10, 2017 1:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
As mentioned in another thread I have no mechanical drives anymore. It's all SSD-based.


Did you install the solid state drive yourself? I have considered doing that with my Mac Mini.

Quote:
I see no advantage to partitioning nowadays as second (internal or external) drives are as cheap as chips..


Bish, do you mean using an internal or external hard drive for back-ups, or for actually running programs as well?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Yonie
CM


Joined: 31 Aug 2011
Posts: 906

PostPosted: Tue Jan 10, 2017 1:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

On my PC, yes. It's not hard if you have IKEA-like instructions, but can be fiddly. Newer PC cases make it relatively easy to access the hard drive slots. And you have to make absolutely sure that there's no static electricity going through the body.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Rob Ellis
M&M


Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Posts: 2385
Location: Detroit

PostPosted: Tue Jan 10, 2017 1:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I/m actually on a Mac
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Yonie
CM


Joined: 31 Aug 2011
Posts: 906

PostPosted: Tue Jan 10, 2017 3:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, duder, you're boned.

Jokes aside, I feel like Macs are getting harder to modify in any meaningful way. Apple, like manufacturers of luxury automobiles, have created a lovely little echo system where they are the only supplier of spare parts.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Bish
3.5 kHz


Joined: 22 Nov 2009
Posts: 3738
Location: Lost in the cultural wasteland of Long Island

PostPosted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 9:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This may start depending on what Mac you are using if we are talking about replacing internal drives (as was said above). I have SSDs in my main production machine (iMac 5K), my laptop (old black MacBook), and my utility machine (old MacPro). No worries as they are all standard disk mounts.

In my opinion, running an SSD on a USB2 (or Firewire) port will give you ample bandwidth for recording directly. It should also work with an old 5400rpm spinning drive! The USB2 link is the "choke point" (not the drive) and at theoretical 480Mbps it is not a problem. Obviously USB3 or Lightning is even less than not a problem. If you think about it, a 24-bit mono signal at 48kHZ only needs a theoretical 1.2Mbps... and a 32-bit, 96kHz, stereo signal needs just over 6Mbps. Even if we cut the USB2 down to its more practical 280Mbps throughput, there still tons of headroom there. In theory, you could still do it on USB1.1!

What I was actually thinking of was using the internal drive for all programs and the second (internal or external) for the work disk. If you're using something like Adobe Audition, you can always set the program drive as the scratch disk to buffer the throughput if you have concerns.
_________________
Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
JWard



Joined: 28 Dec 2016
Posts: 14

PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 5:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bish wrote:
What I was actually thinking of was using the internal drive for all programs and the second (internal or external) for the work disk.


Yes, a good method. One SSD for operating system/applications and a separate SSD for audio. Makes for easy categorization too when dealing with lots of files.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Rob Ellis
M&M


Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Posts: 2385
Location: Detroit

PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 7:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Okay, so you mean just using an external hard drive to save the audio?

I was thinking that you would want to run your audio recording software on a separate disc or drive. Can you do that with an external hard drive? I thought external hard drives were only for storage and back-ups.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
JWard



Joined: 28 Dec 2016
Posts: 14

PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 8:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes Rob, an external drive would be your audio source only. To my knowledge, you can't run an audio software application separate from where your operating system is located. The big improvement comes from SSD drives. Everything speeds up using those.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
JWard



Joined: 28 Dec 2016
Posts: 14

PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 8:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

BTW, a few months back I swapped out the mechanical drive in my Dell laptop with an SSD. I found a YouTube video specific to my model and it was easy. I don't use it as an recording device. However, it's fast! Boots Windows 10 in 5 seconds!

Maybe you could try that with your Mac?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bish
3.5 kHz


Joined: 22 Nov 2009
Posts: 3738
Location: Lost in the cultural wasteland of Long Island

PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 8:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

We may have a small PC/Mac conflict here. I think on the Mac there is far more latitude with program location... on install routines I'm always asked where I want to install. There will always be system files put where they need to be in the system library, but Mac program packages usually keep themselves together (mostly). As far as I remember, a PC will sometimes require program installation on the C: drive, and even if you select elsewhere, the dll files will go where they want without options. I may be well out of date with this as I gave up with Windows after XP Smile

Personally, I would always opt for putting program files on the system disk. This may simply be an archaic habit. However, I see no problems with recording direct to a second drive (either internal or external). Quite often I'm directly editing (and recording) audio files on my external Drobo (especially audiobooks and long-form), but my own workflow usually means (for auditions and one-off jobs) I'm doing my first run recording onto my desktop and moving it after primary recording.
_________________
Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
todd ellis
A Zillion


Joined: 02 Jan 2007
Posts: 10479
Location: little egypt

PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 9:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

i have my apps on a SSD - i record to an usb 3.0 external HDD.

something to think about writing to a SSD - SOME say a SSD has a finite number of read/write cycles. i don't know if that's true or not --- or how many "finite" is. but it MIGHT be something to think about if using a SSD as a scratch disk with constant reading/writing.
_________________
"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Mike Harrison
M&M


Joined: 03 Nov 2007
Posts: 2029
Location: Equidistant from New York City and Philadelphia, along the NJ Shore

PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 9:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bish and I seem to think alike, with regard to using the system disk for applications and using external disks for recording and storage or audio. I've been doing that since about 2005, after I had to re-record a 20-minute narration due to drop outs caused by the system interrupting the writing of audio to the internal drive as it performed regular system-related tasks.

I'm using Adobe AuditionCC on a Mac mini, under MacOS 10.12.2 (Sierra), and recording to an external Glyph Studio Mini drive (from which client audio files are backed up to a twin Glyph Studio Mini).
_________________
Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD! Forum Index -> Gear ! All times are GMT - 7 Hours
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group