EXT HD recommendations

I've been thinking and thinking on finally switching over to using my MAC to record music.

I will be buying the latest ProTools software (10) and for now will be using a presonus interface. The Firestudio Mobile (which is a firewire interface) to practice and to feel it all out.

My question is, do you all recommend using an external HD to reduce latency while recording? If so, what are some options?

I hear firewire HD's are the way to go but my 17" MBP only has 1 port. If I use a multiport hub, will i be able to use the presonus unit and an external firewire HD simultaneously?

Thanks again

Firewire allows you to diasy chain devives.

Put the most critical device first, but each firewire device should have 2 ports so you can connect them in a chain to the Macs single firewire port

Oh ok.. so I should have the presonus unit connected directly to the Mac and the FireWire ext HD connected to the presonus unit?

No wonder the presonus unit has 2 ports.

What's a good FireWire ext HD you'd recommend?

The presonus has 2 ports most likely just because Firewire devices can be daisy chained. I'm not sure if I'd record directly to a Firewire drive - but I haven't tried it - so you might have sufficient BW there. I have Presonus Mobile as well (just got it about a month ago) - but just record to the internal drive, that's the plan anyway. If I need to, I'll just move things to an archive drive. I'm sure folks on the presonus forums can give you an idea of how they set things up. I'm just a recording infant - so take my advice from that perspective.

I have 2 FW800 drives from these guys Performance Upgrades; FireWire USB SATA Storage; Memory, more at OWC I don't think you can go wrong.

i hear that recording to the internal drive creates more latency... and i have experienced quite a bit recording on to the internal drive. thats why i wanna record to an ext drive.

BlackJack325 said:

i hear that recording to the internal drive creates more latency... and i have experienced quite a bit recording on to the internal drive. thats why i wanna record to an ext drive.

Click to expand...

That doesn't really make sense to me. The internal drive is faster than the FW drive.

The fact that it's the internal drive isn't what creates the issues. It's the fact that that drive might also be having to read/write for other applications as well while recording or playing back is what causes it. It's usually recommended that you record to a drive that is not the drive that the OS and host program (in this case, Pro Tools) are installed on. Actually a 2nd internal drive is the best way to go... but that's not an option here seeing as how he's on a notebook so a firewire drive is indeed recommended. The idea is to get the recordings onto a drive that will only have to spool for those recorded files during playback.

I use a LAcie D2 quadra. Works great with my Pro Tools rig. You can pick up a 1TB firewire drive for around $149 at MacOutfitters.

I've had no issues with my GDRIVE FW800 external drive daisy chained with my M-Audio ProFire 2626 to my 27" iMac running Logic 9.
There is no problem daisy chaining Firewire, it was designed that way.