complete re install

[Ricardo]

Hi all, I'm about to drop the dual boot system and make my PC for audio only. I'll be reformatting both HDDs thus giving me the opportunity to put everything where it should be. So Scope and Samplitude on one disk and audio files on the other. But I was wondering if there was anything else I could optimize whilst I have the chance. Eg., where is it best to place sampler related sample files if the sampler is on the Windows/Scope drive? or any other tips for optimization. Should project files be on the same disk as scope and Sam or, as I do now, on the second drive?
Everything runs fine currently so I'm not envisaging much change, but thought I'd put it out there in case I've missed something.
Cheers

[Ditykman]

Hello
For me, the best way is a SSD for everything
But at least for sampler and programs for speed loading

[garyb]

you wouldn't want to record to an SSD....
an additional SSD for samples would be ideal, otherwise, samples on the c drive are ok.
the project files can be anywhere, but the project data should be in it's own folder on the second drive. personally, i put project files in the folder with the project data, just to keep everything together.

[Ditykman]

Hello
Why not record to an ssd?
The question interest me
Thanks Gary

[garyb]

because an SSD has a very limited number of write/rewrites.
an SSD is fine for an occasional use as a recording drive, but it will wear out very fast if it's used as an every day recording drive.

[w_ellis]

I don't think that's such a big deal these days... http://techreport.com/review/26058/the- ... fter-600tb

All drives reaching the equivalent of 300GB a day for 5 years and only one has been deteriorating significantly. With a decent backup strategy and ever decreasing cost of drives, it doesn't seem like such a bad idea.

[Bud Weiser]

I don't think that's such a big deal these days... http://techreport.com/review/26058/the- ... fter-600tb

All drives reaching the equivalent of 300GB a day for 5 years and only one has been deteriorating significantly. With a decent backup strategy and ever decreasing cost of drives, it doesn't seem like such a bad idea.

That looks good as far as it is synthetic benchmarks and sequential write only.
I cannot tell how big the difference compared to DAW work is but I guess w/ DAW work it´s much more random I/O.

The tester had about 3.1 TB of writes on his system drive alone in only 18 month of usage and he´s not a DAW user.
Now when I think about recording to the SSD incl. all kind of punch ins and outs, copying audiotracks or segments of audiotracks resulting in clips, moving clips, truncate stuff, re-save several times, editing MIDI items all the time and so on, I think that´s a completely different scenario these testers will never have in mind.
Also think about the auto-save and undo functionality of every DAW application and sample editing comes in addition.

B.t.w., this is only a test of SATA-3 (6GB/sec.) based SSDs which is a bootleneck anyway.
It might become more interesting when testing the M.2 connection based SSDs too because these are MUCH faster, but there´s also rumour they aren´t much reliable too.
But when talking SSD and speed improvements, having something in a PCIe slot (M.2 is PCIe x4) is much more interesting than flash memory connected by SATA cable,- isn´t it ?

Bud

[Ricardo]

Thanks for the above Gary.
Just to be sure, does SSD = HDD? And did you mean potentially a 3rd drive for samples?

[garyb]

yes, to both.

an SSD is a solid-state harddrive(no moving parts and non-magnetic). a normal harddrive has one or more spinning disks that are coated with magnetic material and work like a tape recorder.

magnetic media is tens of thousands of times more reliable than electronic storage. i have tapes from the 50's that still play. for song data(recording), a regular harddrive is more secure and possibly even recoverable after a disaster. the downdie of this is that the media spins at high speed and has many mechanical parts. still, a harddrive should spin for many years longer than the expected lifespan of an SSD.

an SSD has superior read speeds, so it's best for programs and operating system files, also for playback of samples. also, an SSD in a portable rig might be superior because it's much less likely to be damaged by shock compared to a magnetic harddrive.

so, a regular drive has more reliable media and the SSD is more shock resistant and quicker.

i have certainly used an SSD for recording, it worked great! i just wouldn't use it that way daily. it will wear out too fast that way.

[Ricardo]

That's great. Thanks Gary. I might get a third HDD as those samples take up a lot of disk space as well. I'm assuming a separate drive rather than a separate partition is best?

[garyb]

yessir!