Which location would be better for the native instruments library, internal or external?

Alek

Please advise which location would be better for the native instruments library (taking up 1.6 TB of disk space)

a) to the internal drive of Mac Studio (4 TB)

b) to an external SSD drive

I care about maximum efficiency.

My new computer is: Mac Studio / M2 MAX: 12 CPU, 36GPU / 96GB RAM / 4 TB SSD.

mykejb

As JTR said, if you're using a decent SSD via USB 3.1 or Thunderbolt that should work fine. Personally I'd go for internal if you have spare space as it's one less thing connected to the Mac, but with a decent interface speed it's not that much of real-world a difference.

--Mike

red_nick

With 4TB internal SSD, I'd probably put it on that! Unless you need the space for something else.

JTR

I had the same issue about a year ago. Ended up with an external SSD drive attached via USB C to my Mac Studio. I picked up the WD D50 Game Dock because it was on special and works like a charm! The drive is kept connected at all times and I moved all the libary components from NI and Logic Pro into the drive. So far I can't tell the difference in access speeds, it feels like an internal drive. I would not recommend a mechanical drive due to the access speed and potential spooling time that some drives have. In this case SSD is worth the price and make sure you are connected via USB C or something even faster if at all possible.

mykejb

As JTR said, if you're using a decent SSD via USB 3.1 or Thunderbolt that should work fine. Personally I'd go for internal if you have spare space as it's one less thing connected to the Mac, but with a decent interface speed it's not that much of real-world a difference.

--Mike

reffahcs

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/18430/which-location-would-be-better-for-the-native-instruments-library-internal-or-external

When you say SSD can you clarify what type of drive you're referring to? To tech people SSD implies the SATA interface with a max speed of 6Gbps.

I would strongly advise against using SSDs ie SATA, and encourage you to look at NVMe storage utilizing a Thunderbolt 4 enclosure to ensure you get the full 40Gbps transfer rate.

Short answer, if you have 4TB internal storage then use it. External TB4 enclosure w/ NVMe is next best. External SATA SSD/USB would be my last choice.

I have all of my NI/Arturia stuff on an external NVMe drive in a TB4 enclosure.

Take a look at this thread for more details:

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/106309

red_nick

With 4TB internal SSD, I'd probably put it on that! Unless you need the space for something else.