Hi all!
I’m gonna buy the new M4 pro Mac mini, and indeed updating my whole system, with a new external ssd for samples.
I currently also have an external ssd for my Cubase projects, I always thought it was better to keep these on an external drive… but is this theory outdated?
Does speed matter when it comes to where cubase projects are stored? Would I see benefits to keeping the projects on the internal SSD?
My current cubase projects external SSD is a G Tech which is about 470 mbps…I think the m4 pro mini would certainly be faster!
Also re the external SSD for samples…I’m looking at a 4tb crucial X9 pro but is it worth the extra to pay for a NVME enclosure and ssd? And how do I know which ssd to put in it?! (bit new to that malarky!)
Thanks in advance everyone! BSB
If you have an external drive anyway for sample libraries, you can also use that for projects without any problem. The M4Pro Macmini is an incredible value, especially if you don’t upgrade the storage, so using an external drive for projects and libraries is a good idea.
what really important is to get a TB4 or higher NVME dongle enclosere with a good, short USB-C to USB-C cable.
This way, you can always upgrade for a good price, and the TB4-5 dongles are lighting fast…like over 1000mbps fast
Your mac mini is so new and fast, that any slow part in the flow of data will slow down your entire system, in your case the ext hd.
If you want to keep using an ext drive depends on the size of your internal storage i guess…i have a 4TB internal drive on my laptop and its super full all the time…Native Instruments Komplete alone is 250GB. Add ReFX Nexus (150 GB), Omnisphere (60GB), Avenger (80GB) and its without my own samples and DJ music collection, GFX designs, some audiobooks, some backups etc etc
So im thinking of external storage too, so i can load off some of the Kontakt and samples i dont use every day. Its just anoying to always carry an external stick if you move a lot (not in your case I assume).
Its always good to have your data on another partition, internal drive or external drive, specially on mac. Apple changes OS stuff all the time, and sometimes its really handy to be able to go back one OS if something breaks. (never update when a new macOS comes out!).
about a year ago, i accidentally (who does this?) formatted my entire data disk on mac…
My backup disk had the exact same name, and i did not pay attention.
Luckely i use Backblaze, they send me a harddrive in a matter of days (i lived in Cyprus at the time, they are in the US).
I did not loose anything basically because its real time upload, almost.
Not bad for 7 euro per month, inc one year retention…
but i also have some backups i keep internaly for fast access, more for archives…like the releases i did last year, not more than 100 or so
Just a bog standard SSD will be fine for libraries.
I have m1pro MacBook Pro with 4tb of internal storage and the multiple gigabytes per second transfer speed isnt that noticeable from a 500meg per second external ssd.
This is due to it having to load lots and lots of tiny files
Hi Nico5! Well, it’s probably harking back to the days when computers were less reliable and the theory was if your computer crashes, at least you’ve still got yer project data!
I do backups as well naturally, crazy not to really…
Hey WK1, thanks for the replies- Backblaze sounds really good, I’ve never heard of this before…7 euro a month is very reasonable…whats the catch?!
Will def check it out!
The main good reason to prefer external storage over internal - especially on modern Apple machines is the price difference. A secondary reason may arise from individuals working the same project on different computers going back and forth a lot.
As this thread shows, some individuals have additional considerations, like making it more convenient to change operating systems back and forth for some of their workflows and/or interests. And so they get choosey about partition management and maybe even which filesystem(s) they use. But that’s beyond the needs and ambitions of most music makers.
But internal storage has long been the generally winning strategy for reduced latency and increased throughput. If you can afford it, go big on internal storage and be religious about good external backups.
(Golden rule of backups: Test getting something from the backups on a reasonably regular basis. Few things are as disheartening and/or expensive than thinking one has backups, but they’re not working as expected).
p.s. Using regular internal storage using the default formats tends to also be better tested by software makers.
The Mac Mini M4 Pro features Thunderbolt 5 ports, enabling extremely high external SSD speeds once TB5 SSDs become available. However, your workflow is key. Personally, I use a different Mac for recording, so I prefer at least 1TB of internal SSD storage. This allows me to keep my audio files on iCloud Drive, making it easy to record downstairs and mix upstairs without needing to carry an external SSD. Plus, it provides an additional layer of backup.
I think its one of the biggest backup services in the world right now…
They have so many clients that they can be so cheap…
A few catches:
-no functionality like google drive or dropbox where you have a full drive online, its really simple backup, you can download single files but its a very simple interface.
-initial upload takes forever for 4-8tb
-ext drives need to stay connected at least a few times per month or something, or the backup will get deleted.
But its really unmatched storage, and its really unlimited…you could backup 800TB if you wanted to
I’ve read a couple of individual reports, that imply that some initial Thunderbolt 5 experiences were less than great. No idea if this was user error or faulty equipment.
The newer high end USB and Thunderbolt connections require very specific cables, which have microprocessors built into the cable. So that creates a hardware/firmware layer in cabling. And that introduces additional complexity and failure points.
It’s simply still very new and it wouldn’t surprise me, if there were teething problems.
The unintended side effect of having a common universal small USB / Thunderbolt plug and socket is that you can’t easily tell interface capability anymore, but have to rely on - and pay attention to - proper labeling of ports and cables.
That’s also an big issue with adapters between different interfaces, like display port to HDMI adapters.
Increasingly much performance improvement in computing is becoming becoming saddled with additional complexity (again). It seems like we’re entering a post plug’n play age.