What external hard drive to choose to store KOMPLETE Ultimate library ?

Check OWC macsales.com for some exceptional solutions for external ssd, multi drive cases, tb3 docks, etc. i use internal ssd for os etc, separate drive for audio, sep drive for samples.

 

I will revisit OWC for Black Friday. I'm just looking for the technical answer to "if the internal drive has read/write of 2-3Gig, and my external is 425MB/sec, am I still going to see FASTER performance using the 425 drive for either samples OR recording/project storage?" Or is this new beast more than capable of doing everything within the same fast drive without hiccup?

 

Well, depends on too many factors for usable answer. I have faster performance with sep audio and sample drives. I used blackmagic tools to benchmark my actual drive performance vs rated or theoretical. If your internal system has a true read/write speed of 2gbs then fine. Most systems have read speed on high end but actual write speed on low end. Not sure that helped. The external bus also matters and what else is on the bus. Number of tracks matters... 70 tracks, and 20 to 30 sample tracks not frozen is very diff from 5 sampler tracks and 20 audio tracks. But most 2018 systems with ssd can do everything internally.

 

Thanks for the thoughts Chris. I don't typically record many audio channels for a project, never more than 4 stereo pairs or a combo of mono/stereo channels (but never more than 8 at a time). My typical projects consist of many, many midi channels with lots of NI/NKS plugs and Ableton Suite content and a single pair of audio inputs. I can easily get up to 50-100 tracks in a project by the time it's finished, but that's normally well after my audio recording sessions. I specifically bought the larger SSD to have the option of installing something like K12CE internally, as my ultimate project idea (for this winter) is to use the new Mini, a simple bus-powered interface (2 or 4 channel only), an A-series keyboard & a Maschine controller - with a full day or two in the wood shop - to create my own version of an "open labs" style instrument that I can just plug in and play anywhere.

So, if all can go internally, and I have zero external drives to compete with, that makes the setup that much easier. It's not hard to still plug in that other SSD (which claims speeds of 425 R/W) as my storage location for all project files, and also my "temp recording, cache, etc" drive. Maybe the answer it to just experiment. My external has two cases, one TB2 and one USB 3. If that external will somehow bottleneck, it's easier to recoup the cash and do without it. I just want to maximize this machine, and I didn't have $1,000 more to upgrade to 64G RAM right now. Priorities.

The new SSDs in the Mini (and all 2018 Mac lineup I guess) do claim 2-3gig speeds R/W. I guess I'll find out soon enough if that's true. What tool do you use to actually test that?

 

Hi, we use various tools, but the main one for good benchmarking is this one -- highly recommended by all the Mac magazines; so ignore some of the troll reviews on app store ;-)
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/blackmagic-disk-speed-test/id425264550

https://9to5mac.com/2015/05/14/how-to-benchmark-your-mac-free-downloads/

Main issue often with internal SSDs is running out of space; hence useful to stick audio and/or samples on external drive. Also depends on version you have -- Komplete Ultimate 12 takes boatloads of space ( 670 GB for complete installation ).

 

Right on the last point. I upgraded to the 2TB partially for that reason (and to maximize value for the longest term). My Traktor files, all samples (currently owned) and everything would still leave enough to finish the CE install with 500 gigs or more to spare.

I need to make a really epic ableton session that destroys my laptop CPU with loads of NI plugs, then move it to my new Mini with the samples on the external SSD (bc they are housed there currently anyways, so just swap from laptop to desktop) and then test again, take notes, repeat with samples externally.

 

With an internal SSD of 2 TB size, I see no reason to place K12 sample libraries external, because the internal SSD is much faster, than an external thunderbolt SSD ... that already is the case for my mid2014 Macbook Pro

But it might be worth a thought to use an external mechanical USB HDD for audio recording.

 

I have 1.5TB free at this time, and for now the easiest solution was just to leave the Komplete library on the external drive & direct my new computer there. It's working really, really well. SUPER fast. The main reason(s) to move Komplete internally, at this point, would be to use the drive I just paid for a bit AND primarily to keep the machine compact, simple, ready to use live with no extra bits plugged into it. I'll revisit this when I click the button for Collector's Edition. I have cables now for USB-C connection from my little G-tech SSD 1TB drive to connect to the mini, which does get around the TB2 speeds. Hmm.