Hello! I just wanted to ask you guys a couple things about storage using SSD / HDD.

I don't use large libraries. I managed to stay under 750GB overall on my 10+ year old Vista system, which includes all DAWs, full-length videos, 10k songs and then all my samples & VSTs, projects, etc. (I'm sitting at 532GB total right now with all that stuff)

I mostly sample loops off vinyl or CD, use .WAV drum samples and a few instances of Sylenth and CPU-friendly soft synths like Tal Uno, FM8, Korg Legacy stuff, etc.

Would the best way to store things be like this?:

- Samsung 850 EVO 2.5" SSD= Win 10, DAWs, VSTs, Sound Libraries, (Fabfilter, Valhalla, soft synths)
- WD Black 7200RPM 1TB 3.5" HDD= .wav samples, project audio & files

I thought about using an M2 2280 PCIe 3.0 x4 instead of the Samsung SSD, but seen that they run pretty hot and some work has to be done in the BIOS, updates, etc. to get them to work properly with certain MOBOs.

Anyways, hope to get a little feedback. Take care!

 

You'll prolly want at least a 2TB HD now. Try WD RED or ST Ironwolf.

 

I have a 128g ssd with my only my os on it (plus some programs that refuse to be installed anywhere but there) and another 256 ssd with my working projects on it Audio and video. I use my DAWs and AfterEffects feature to collect and save all project assets onto the working projects drive so when I am working everything is on ssds. This makes the editors faster, cueing, playing and rendering etc. Also I have my caches and swap file on the ssds too. All my sample libs, installed programs, and documents are on 2 different 2 tb (spinny) HDD drives. I use a 4tb (2x2tb) NAS box with a static ip plugged directly into my towers ethernet port for my downloads. As soon as Im done working on a project, video or audio, I zip it up and move it to the nas.

Wholly crap, production on a vista machine? Whoa man, thats like torture. Win7 would have breathed at least a little life back into that dinosaur

 

It helps to install things you often load/reload in your work flow on the system drive. So sytem drive - daw - libraries and vst(i)s. Optimizes the loading times in my expirience. But that depends how many libraries and what you use. My Omnsiphere seems to run a lot smoother since i have it completly on my ssd system drive, for example. But i also got some kontakt libraries I dont use that often and i don`t care if they load fast they are on my hdd.
My BFD and slate drums have to load/reload a lot of samples if i edit my drums. So theese smplers are on the ssd.
So it really depends what you use and how often you use it.And if its something you load 1 time and than its in your ram, intall it on the HDD to save space.
If samples are a main part of your work you might want to have them on the sdd although you load them 1 time. Really depends on your workflow.

 

Last edited by a moderator: May 8, 2017

I like installing my actual programs on my OS drive, since the registry info, locations,etc are all necessesary and the programs don't take up much room anyway. I have 240G SSD for that, along with some extra Icons and other things that integrate with the OS.
Anything like that i like to keep on the OS drive, so when i restore a backup everything is exactly the same with no more work to do.
(and with SSD speeds it is quick. I have tested stuff and restored the OS 10 times in an evening (about 15 minutes to backup or restore- I use EaseUS TODO backup paid verison- it works for me)

I was able to swing a 500G second SSD and partitioned that - I use one part for for my multimedia project project work, Portable apps, and a Personal folder, and use the other partition for instrument libraries that need fast loading.

I have only put a few instrument libraries on the 500G SSD. Most load ok so far from a 7200 HDD I use for as a main Library drive,
but 2 SSDs is a great way to go, if you can do it.

[Most newer stuff allows libraries to be installed to other drives, but for a couple of large ones that didn't, i moved them and used "symbolic links". I learned how they work by Googling but after manually doing a few, i found a shell extension for my context menu which is nice:
http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/linkshellextension.html ]

 

I would not advice having libraries on system drive. Always separate OS, DAW and VST from libraries for maximun performance, no matter HDD or SSD. Indeed, almost every DAW manufacturer out there recommends it.