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 😎
