VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

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.

Bish · Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 9:01 am Post subject:

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.

Yonie · CM Joined: 31 Aug 2011 Posts: 906

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.

Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

Yonie · CM Joined: 31 Aug 2011 Posts: 906

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.

Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

I/m actually on a Mac

Yonie · CM Joined: 31 Aug 2011 Posts: 906

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.

Bish · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 9:46 pm Post subject:

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.

JWard · Joined: 28 Dec 2016 Posts: 14

Rob Ellis · M&M Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 2385 Location: Detroit

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.

JWard · Joined: 28 Dec 2016 Posts: 14

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.

JWard · Joined: 28 Dec 2016 Posts: 14

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?

Bish · Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 8:30 am Post subject:

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.

todd ellis · Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 9:25 am Post subject:

i have my a Hobo Tounge

s 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?

Mike Harrison · Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2017 9:26 am Post subject:

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.