Western Digital HD For Music ???

Hi

I recently purchased a VST plugin Galaxy ll and Vintage D the requirements suggested i install the the plugin on to a fast Hard Drive as the pianos will be streamed directly from the HD. I checked my Macbook 5.1 specs and the HD was only 5400 rpm. I then went to the store and bought the WD My Book Essential External Hard Drive 7200 rpm 1TB. Prior to doing no research on this new external Drive i was wondering if anyone could add any comments as to wether it will serve me justice, assuming others may have one ?

Thanks.

Hi there,

When streaming instrument sample libraries directly from the disc, solid state drives are the best way to go. However, with SSD's still being so expensive, 7200 RPM drives are the next best thing.

Is there anyway to get these libraries to load the samples into the RAM instead? I don't own those libraries so I'm not familiar with the workings of them but lading samples into RAM is far and away the best thing to do as RAM is so fast (even a lot better than streaming from an expensive SSD). Just about every sample library from Native Instruments, Eastwest, Vienna, etc all load their instruments into the RAM by default before you can play them (though they do have disc streaming options). Seems strange that these libraries would force you to stream directly from the hard drive.

Is there anyway to get these libraries to load the samples into the RAM instead?

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I really don't know, thats something i will have to look in to, good you brought it up!.

This was a response from another user, can anyone clarify it ?

Actually the plugin is installed on your system drive, it's the library (the piano sounds) that will be installed on your new faster drive.

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Thats got me very confused now, which Drive should i be installing the plugin on ? I assumed the External Drive as this is the fast HD where the samples will be streamed from. For if the plugin is installed on the system Drive, How then can the samples come from the new fast Drive ?

musicmad said:

This was a response from another user, can anyone clarify it ?

Thats got me very confused now, which Drive should i be installing the plugin on ? I assumed the External Drive as this is the fast HD where the samples will be streamed from. For if the plugin is installed on the system Drive, How then can the samples come from the new fast Drive ?

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Hi again,

They are correct. The plugin (apple uses AU plugins -short for audio units-) should be installed on your internal system drive in the library folder otherwise Garageband, Logic, whatever you use won't be able to find the program (Pro Tools uses RTAS plugins so if you use Pro Tools make sure to install the RTAS plugin too). Don't worry though. The installer package should do this automatically. The installer package should ask you where you want to install the program itself (this is the interface) and where you want to install the library (these are the samples and this is also what will take up a lot of space on your hard drive). The program should be installed on the internal drive and the samples should go on the fast external drive ideally though you can install them on the internal drive too if you want (performance decreases by doing this but not by much). The AU plugin will automatically be installed into the correct folder.

Just in case, the AU plugins folder is located under macintosh HD/library/audio/plugins/components if you need to know though. Again, I don't own these libraries so they might indeed ask you where the plugin should go for all I know.

If you want to install the VST plugin too just in case, it should go under macintosh HD/library/audio/plugins/VST. If there is no current VST folder, then just install it at macintosh HD/library/audio/plugins.

Hi Stockholm

It's been recommend using VST over Audio Unit on Mac (when both are supported), particularly for the plug-ins that can output automation or MIDI CC messages.

Not sure how much knowledge you have on this but could you comment ?

All plugin formats function pretty much the same. VST was developed by Steinburg as an open platform but never really documented how to host the plugin so sequencers were left to try and figure out how to handle it. Apple developed the AU plugin as a truly open platform and provided all of the documentation needed to build AU components and host them in Logic. This was done in the hopes that it would give Logic the advantage over other DAW's with more support.

I used to use Sony Acid Pro with VST plugins then moved to Logic Pro with AU plugins and all of my sample libraries function exactally the same. All of them still fully automated with CC changes supported.

The two most widely used DAW's -Logic Pro and Pro Tools- don't even give you a choice anyway. If on Logic, you have to use AU's. Pro Tools forces you to use RTAS' so the issue is moot for a lot of people.

If this drive is a USB2 unit we're talking about, then the extra speed will largely go to waste.

I'd recommend taking it back and getting a bare 7200rpm drive (any brand or size you like) and put it into a FW800 case.

chas_m said:

If this drive is a USB2 unit we're talking about, then the extra speed will largely go to waste.
I'd recommend taking it back and getting a bare 7200rpm drive (any brand or size you like) and put it into a FW800 case.

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The WD External 7200rpm HD i purchased uses New Generation USB 3.0.
However my Macbook 5.1 is only compatible with USB 2.0 and doesn't have a FW port.
Is there any way i can get around this ?

Ok I just looked up Vintage D online and judging by the system requirements on Galaxy's website, these samples get loaded into the RAM by default too.

It says "2GB of Ram (at least)" required. It requires so much RAM because the samples get loaded there and they take up a lot. There's no way the interface alone would require that much.

I would keep the hard drive. It'll be just fine if you're not disc streaming. A faster hard drive would only improve the load times when double clicking on an instrument to play it.

I think DFD (disc streaming) comes into the picture when using the 5.1 surround piano.

Here is the company's website. Scroll to te bottom for the system requirements and FAQ's:
http://www.galaxypianos.com/vintage-d.html

musicmad said:

The WD External 7200rpm HD i purchased uses New Generation USB 3.0.
However my Macbook 5.1 is only compatible with USB 2.0 and doesn't have a FW port.
Is there any way i can get around this ?

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Nope, unless your machine has a Thunderbolt port (but that's an expensive option at the moment).

Thanks for all the feedback it's a big help.

But if i still wanted to use the WD 7200 rpm Drive for streaming the Sample Libraries, how would i get around this only having USB 2.0 ports. The WD 7200 External Drive has a 3.0 next generation port, but no FW port, and the Mac only USB 2.0.

It's complicated but is there any way around this ? or would it be a case of just having to replace the Mac's internal 5400 rpm Drive for a 7200 Drive ? Can this be done on a 2008 Macbook ?

I thought my previous post made this clear, but evidently not.

There's no way around this.

It's just come to mind which i should of mentioned in my original post. That all i intend to do is play the sample libraries themselves, that being the (Galaxy ll and Vintage D) and record them in GarageBand as solo piano tracks for later editing in post production. Will not be working with mass orchestral works or multiple sampled instruments to create high end scores.

I'm assuming with this approach without any heavy demands for multiple instrument streaming, there really shouldn't be a problem dumping the complete Library on to the WD 7200rpm External Drive via USB 2.O. In the hope that there shouldn't be any latency issues ?

Would this be fair to say ?