3 Aug
2007
3 Aug
'07
9:37 a.m.
hi list,
i am here on a ibm laptop with a multiface plugged into the card bus slot.
since my system harddisc slowly runs out of space, i am trying to figure
out, what another harddisc i could use, but the only available port i
have is an usb port.
my question is, if someone of you have already made any experiences with
an usb harddisc?
will that be fast enough?
in the moment using a system hard disc, i am able to record 16 tracks at
once without any problems, but since the space there is limited...
is someone of you using an usb harddisc for recording?
does anybody has an recomandation for an usb harddisc?
cheers,
doc
3 Aug
3 Aug
10:49 a.m.
USB 2.0 is plenty fast for recording audio tracks. you should not have
a problem with that at all, assuming it's a good disk and the system's
USB implementation is done correctly.
Just mount the drive and run hdparm -tT to get an idea of the drive's
speed. I'm sure it will be fine.
Cheers,
Mark
On 8/3/07, Dragan Noveski <perodog(a)gmx.net> wrote:
hi list,
i am here on a ibm laptop with a multiface plugged into the card bus slot.
since my system harddisc slowly runs out of space, i am trying to figure
out, what another harddisc i could use, but the only available port i
have is an usb port.
my question is, if someone of you have already made any experiences with
an usb harddisc?
will that be fast enough?
in the moment using a system hard disc, i am able to record 16 tracks at
once without any problems, but since the space there is limited...
is someone of you using an usb harddisc for recording?
does anybody has an recomandation for an usb harddisc?
cheers,
doc
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Linux-audio-user(a)lists.linuxaudio.org
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11:16 a.m.
Mark Knecht wrote:
USB 2.0 is plenty fast for recording audio tracks. you
should not have
a problem with that at all, assuming it's a good disk and the system's
USB implementation is done correctly.
Just mount the drive and run hdparm -tT to get an idea of the drive's
speed. I'm sure it will be fine.
Cheers,
Mark
mark, very much thanks for the response!
i think i ll go for a combination of an ata-laptop-drive, with this
usb-case-adapter for it.
that seems cheap, and i do not need an extra power chord for the
external drive than - which is important for me, since everything runs
on solarpower, 12Vdc here.
cheers,
doc
11:26 a.m.
On 8/3/07, Dragan Noveski <perodog(a)gmx.net> wrote:
Mark Knecht wrote:
Sounds nice not to have the power cords. I've got 3 Firewire drives
and often get tired of all the power connections. Each drive has a
different power supply and I've got to get them matched up correctly.
A small drive that gets power from the bus would be far nicer for fast
setup and tear down.
Good luck.
- Mark
USB 2.0 is plenty fast for recording audio
tracks. you should not have
a problem with that at all, assuming it's a good disk and the system's
USB implementation is done correctly.
Just mount the drive and run hdparm -tT to get an idea of the drive's
speed. I'm sure it will be fine.
Cheers,
Mark
mark, very much thanks for the response!
i think i ll go for a combination of an ata-laptop-drive, with this
usb-case-adapter for it.
that seems cheap, and i do not need an extra power chord for the
external drive than - which is important for me, since everything runs
on solarpower, 12Vdc here.
cheers,
doc 
1:54 p.m.
I have Vantec NexStar SX enclosures for my old laptop 2.5" IDE
hardrives. I haven't used those drives for recording (yet, but i
don't really use my computer for recording) but I have been happy with
the performance. And they can be USB powered, too. The only drawback
is that the aluminum is high-polish and fingerprints appear as soon as
you take it out of the wrapper. They come with USB cable that has a 1
port hub attached, 4 screws for your hd + a mini screwdriver and a
leather-like case. I think they are a good deal for ~$20.
http://www.vantecusa.com/ (sorry, but these pages are flash+gfx
loaded, not much text...)
./MiS
On 8/3/07, Mark Knecht <markknecht(a)gmail.com> wrote:
On 8/3/07, Dragan Noveski <perodog(a)gmx.net>
wrote:
Mark Knecht wrote:
Sounds nice not to have the power cords. I've got 3 Firewire drives
and often get tired of all the power connections. Each drive has a
different power supply and I've got to get them matched up correctly.
A small drive that gets power from the bus would be far nicer for fast
setup and tear down.
Good luck.
- Mark
_______________________________________________
Linux-audio-user mailing list
Linux-audio-user(a)lists.linuxaudio.org
http://lists.linuxaudio.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/linux-audio-user
USB 2.0 is plenty fast for recording audio
tracks. you should not have
a problem with that at all, assuming it's a good disk and the system's
USB implementation is done correctly.
Just mount the drive and run hdparm -tT to get an idea of the drive's
speed. I'm sure it will be fine.
Cheers,
Mark
mark, very much thanks for the response!
i think i ll go for a combination of an ata-laptop-drive, with this
usb-case-adapter for it.
that seems cheap, and i do not need an extra power chord for the
external drive than - which is important for me, since everything runs
on solarpower, 12Vdc here.
cheers,
doc 
4 Aug
4 Aug
2:17 a.m.
I've run into PCs whose USB ports don't really supply the full nominal
USB power voltage (500mA). A USB2 drive housing I have here comes up as
USB1.1 unless I use a powered hub or external power supply for the drive
housing.
Also, older notebook hard drives can quite easily use 500mA just for the
drive - leaving nothing for the interface circuitry. And housings for
bigger drives (3.5" drives, for instance) almost always require an
external power supply. You can usually find out how much power a hard
drive requires by checking the manufacturer's label.
Michal Seta wrote:
I have Vantec NexStar SX enclosures for my old laptop
2.5" IDE
hardrives. I haven't used those drives for recording (yet, but i
don't really use my computer for recording) but I have been happy with
the performance. And they can be USB powered, too. The only drawback
is that the aluminum is high-polish and fingerprints appear as soon as
you take it out of the wrapper. They come with USB cable that has a 1
port hub attached, 4 screws for your hd + a mini screwdriver and a
leather-like case. I think they are a good deal for ~$20.
http://www.vantecusa.com/ (sorry, but these pages are flash+gfx
loaded, not much text...)
./MiS
On 8/3/07, Mark Knecht <markknecht(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> On 8/3/07, Dragan Noveski <perodog(a)gmx.net> wrote:
>> Mark Knecht wrote:
>>> USB 2.0 is plenty fast for recording audio tracks. you should not have
>>> a problem with that at all, assuming it's a good disk and the
system's
>>> USB implementation is done correctly.
>>>
>>> Just mount the drive and run hdparm -tT to get an idea of the drive's
>>> speed. I'm sure it will be fine.
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>> Mark
>>>
>>>
>> mark, very much thanks for the response!
>> i think i ll go for a combination of an ata-laptop-drive, with this
>> usb-case-adapter for it.
>> that seems cheap, and i do not need an extra power chord for the
>> external drive than - which is important for me, since everything runs
>> on solarpower, 12Vdc here.
>>
>> cheers,
>> doc
> Sounds nice not to have the power cords. I've got 3 Firewire drives
> and often get tired of all the power connections. Each drive has a
> different power supply and I've got to get them matched up correctly.
> A small drive that gets power from the bus would be far nicer for fast
> setup and tear down.
>
> Good luck.
--
David
gnome(a)hawaii.rr.com
authenticity, honesty, community
10:34 p.m.
G'day Doc,
Adding another disk to a system on which you are slowly running out of
space just makes the problem worse. You end up with double the amount
of stuff to clean up.
A USB hard disk *may* be sufficient for you, but it will depend on a few
factors;
1. what data rate you can sustain from the CPU to the disk,
You can measure the data rate using the badblocks command, or by copying
various sized files followed by a sync command. On one of my old USB 2.0
disks, I can generally get 30MByte/sec. The modern ones are probably
faster. Using a journalled filesystem *might* slow things down, but you
get a bit more reliability overall. The trick is to test it out.
2. what data rate you need at 16 tracks,
Of course this depends on your sampling rate. 16 tracks of raw audio at
16-bits stereo at, say, 48000Hz sample rate, means 16 x 16 x 2 x 48000
bits per second, which is 3MByte/sec. Well within my old USB 2.0 disk
bandwidth.
3. whether the USB is shared with other active devices transferring
data.
If the same USB controller is *also* being used by your audio device, or
some other device involved in the whole situation, then the total
bandwidth may be reduced by that. When testing, use the other USB
devices to see if they impact the data rate. Not all USB devices work
correctly.
Another idea ... if you have a network card, consider a consumer network
storage device. Data rate to a network card is generally more
efficient, though it does depend on the card. ;-}
Hope that helps.
--
James Cameron mailto:quozl@us.netrek.org http://quozl.netrek.org/
6363
days inactive
6364
days old
linux-audio-user@lists.linuxaudio.org
6 comments
5 participants
participants (5)
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david -
Dragan Noveski -
James Cameron -
Mark Knecht -
Michal Seta