The best external drive/specs for Komplete libraries - in your experience?

BassAddict

Hey all, sorry for the long post but I want to get this right.

I use a MBP - a 2019 i9 with 32GB RAM, a 1TB SSD and 4 x Thunderbolt 3 ports (USB-C). It's still great at running Logic Pro with my small but beloved collection of NI goodies (Battery 4, Monark, Sanner XT and a few others).

As a new Komplete 15 CE owner, I now have more sounds than I can (or care to) store internally, so I'm going to be running the content from an external drive.

I was wondering if I could gather some recommendations on the best specs for a drive for this task? I'm an experienced IT professional, but I've not really come across this specific use case before. I'm not afraid to spend a reasonable amount (maybe up to £300/€360) as I want to avoid performance issues, but I also don't want to spend more than I really need to.

As a temporary measure, I have a large chunk of the content stored on a spare 1TB WD Blue SSD connected via SATA to USB-A then to a USB-A to USB-C to one of the MBP ports. Obviously not utilising Thunderbolt here and as you can see, the speeds are pretty pathetic:

However, I am quite surprised as to how well this temporary setup is performing. Loading a large Kontact instrument such as Choir Omnia takes 10 - 15 seconds, then around 5 seconds to load a preset from there on.

Regardless of this, I'm still going to need a new drive of at least 2TB so I might as well put the effort into speed vs cost to get the best experience. The problem is choosing the best one for my usage.

The main question is, do I go for standard USB-C drive where top speeds would likely be limited by my MBP's USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports, something like the Samsung T9 or even the Kingston XS2000 2TB? Or go the extra mile on a limited choice of Thunderbolt 3 drives like the LaCie Rugged Mini or even a Thunderbolt 3 NVMe enclosure like the SABRENT M.2 Thunderbolt NVMe Enclosure with my choice or NVMe drive installed. Sorry, as forum n00b I can't post links just yet.

Given that my temporary WD Blue does an arguably reasonable job speed-wise, it's difficult to decide on the best approach here.

Also, ideally I would like to be able to fit this to the MBP lid when in use on occasion. There are plenty of little 'pockets' you can fit to the outer lid to hold SSDs etc - all things considered here such as heat generated etc. The Kingston XS2000 could excel here.

I'm interested to hear from anyone who has had to walk this path and how you've gotten on?

Cheers 😎

BassAddict

Also - NVMe will out-perform traditional SSD, but is all this overkill for reading Kontact libraries? I mean, there must be a point where higher speeds become unnoticeable, surely? This is why I'm wondering if Thunderbolt is even worth it over a reasonable USB 3.1 Gen 2 device.

Vocalpoint

Agree with @BassAddict

NVMe all the way here. Fastest solution possible but not always easy with a Mac.

VP

BassAddict

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/196016#Comment_196016

What issues with Mac do you forsee?

Vocalpoint

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/196017#Comment_196017

Well for starters - is it even possible to open up a Mac and then find a bunch of spare NVMe connectors inside there to add a internal NVMe drive?

If the OP is thinking NVMe but using via any cable/external enclosure method - that is a wasted effort speed wise - compared to a hard connector that is talking directly to the CPU.

Happy to be wrong but I thought your typical modern M class Mac is a hard "no" for any user to open the enclosure and then attempt any sort of adding/changing/upgrading anything hardware wise.

VP

BassAddict

I am the OP 😁

I see what you mean though, in an ideal world I would be able to upgrage my storage like with any other computer manufacturer, but this is Apple, so of course that's no longer possible. I was a Logic user on PC before Apple bought Logic from EMagic in the early 2000s.

This why I'm so caught up on standard USB-C vs Thunderbolt 3 as I have no choice but to go external.

Are you talking about NVMe for internal use?

Vocalpoint

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/196022#Comment_196022

Yes - I am on PC and build custom exclusively. This of course allows me to put whatever I want in it - which for all my instrument libraries from Ni to Spectrasonics to Toontrack - is always NVMe (internal).

I am not familiar with any external solutions since I have never needed/used one. However I believe that USB-C is the new universal standard and the future however. Choose wisely.

VP

BassAddict

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/196034#Comment_196034

Sounds good. Just hope that Apple don't aquire your favourite DAW, forcing you into their prison walled garden forevermore! 😂

PS. I've tried all the other DAWs but Logic and always will be my safe space and MacOS is just so reliable ☺️

Vocalpoint

"PS. I've tried all the other DAWs but Logic and always will be my safe space and MacOS is just so reliable"

Just as I cannot part with Studio One, the ultra stable reliability/expandability and of course - the price - of my Windows based custom DAWs.

VP

victorp.sg

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/196011#Comment_196011

I will suggest a Samsung T7 SSD 2TB (or 4TB if your budget allows). It's a USB 3.1/3.2 Gen 2 storage device with up to 10Gbps bandwidth, so connecting to one of your MBP Thunderbolt / USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports is no issue. Just remember to reformat the SSD as GUID-APFS format.

PoorFellow

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/39618/the-best-external-drive-specs-for-komplete-libraries-in-your-experience

There have been more discussions here in the forum with respect to external drives for Mac and discussing all of this to some extend is a bit like discussing religion.

Short version 1 : make this Google search and read the pages that it returns as search result.

Short version 2 : Quote reffahcs November 2023 :
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.

Selected discussion : New Computer Migration + SSD?

Other random examples of discussions :

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

External SSD recommendation

External hard drive on Mac

Mac Studio SSD

My own thoughts on this (and this is just a general observation, I am sharing thoughts, I don't want to start a separate discussion on that) : Also then these discussions are very often taken without consideration to the exact computer and setup in question. Questions of what speed can be expected with respect to certain ports also rely on the exact design of the computer in question with respect to which resources the port are sharing with which other internal parts but also it depends on what else is attached externally to the particular port. I know very little about all of this , but I know enough to point to that it is also something that ought to be taken into consideration. I recently assembled a PC that has more NVME drives and I had to get re-acquainted with PCI-E lanes and resource sharing on a whole new level where the drive PCI-E version , which means a lot since speed has doubled for each new generation, then suddenly were off set by that the actual 'could be expected drive speed' come to depend on which internal port it were attached to. But it ought to suffice to say that the number of PCI-E lanes depend on CPU and computer motherboard chips set and the rest on the particular design of the motherboard. Next after that is the design of the chip set of the peripherals where applicable. and for externally attached then any external resource sharing should be taken into consideration

Kymeia

I was thinking of going for the NVMe/Thunderbolt enclosure option when I next expand my external drive capacity but there is such a confusing range to choose from. I have a M1 Max Mac

BassAddict

@PoorFellow - thanks for the feedback. I did read some of the other posts but they seemed more focused on the actual drives rather than the interface between drive and computer. The post's title is probably misleading. I guess the real question I'm asking is, for my specific use case and exact computer and setup in question as defined above (and I suspect a lot of other Mac users lumbered with fixed hardware or budgetary constraints for storage at time of purchase), will there be a noticeable difference in running Komplete libraries from an external drive via USB 3.x vs Thunderbolt 3?

It seems that the loading of the instruments and samples relies quite a lot on CPU - at least at the point where contents is loaded from storage, then uncompressed and saved to memory for use.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

@victorp.sg - thanks for the recommendation; I've actually just ordered one of these today. For half the price of the cheapest Thunderbolt 3 solution and its very small size, I thought it was definitely worth a try.

I'm hoping to get somewhere near the T7's 1050mb/s advertised top speed since my MBP USB 3.1 Gen 2 supports up to 1,250mb/s, but as we know, the real world can be quite different. This maximum will be less than half of what my internal storage offers, but instruments and patches load so instantaneously locally, I'm hoping that half of instantaneous is still pretty rapid. 😁

. . . . . . . . . . . .

@Kymeia - the NVMe/Thunderbolt enclosure option is no doubt the fastest solution, but there appear to be a very limited number of suitable and well reviewed enclosures from well known brands available. I agree that it's pretty confusing. Plus, I've read a lot of reviews about the metal only thermal cooling designs running very hot and enclosures with built in fans are reported to be large and noisy. There are ready made NVMe TB3 devices, such as the LaCie Rugged Pro (it contains a Seagate FireCuda NVMe) at around £300 which is about the same cost of a £100 enclosure and a decent £200 NVMe drive. However, the LaCie is a well regarded device, is IP67 rated and very tough, so this could be a more reliable option.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

I should get the T7 on Tuesday. I'll get the entire K15ce content loaded onto it and spend an hour or so loading up various instruments and patches to see how well it performs, on my setup at least.

I'm hoping this works well so I can get on with the original task of making music 😄

If not, I'll probably return the T7 and bite the bullet on the LaCie Rugged Pro.

Thanks for all the input.

Cheers 😎

Kymeia

Thanks the rugged pro does look good but very expensive. It looks like the 4Tb drive is nearly €500 more than the 4Tb Crucial x10 for a speed difference of around 700MPS so I might just go with the Crucial tbh

victorp.sg

@BassAddict, just remember to reformat the T7 as GUID-APFS format—plain APFS will do; no need to be encrypted.

Jojo123

I'm on an 2019 i9 iMac 40GB ram 500GB Internal. I have 2 T7s one of which is for NI K14 UCE. For what I do, I haven't had, and still dont have any problems at all with the T7.