firewire hard drives

[psychicoctopus]

I'm not sure if this belongs under "this #$@#$ computer", but since these disks are a general way to store DAW sessions, here goes... Are there any preferred makes/models of firewire hard disk, or are they all pretty much the same? I don't expect them to sound different (!!) but has anybody had bad experiences with certain disks? Or is it really a plug-n-play thing across the board?

[MechaGodzilla]

Just make sure you get one without a fan in it. Man, are those things annoying! I ordered one online, and it came in this godawful enclosure that was larger than a dictionary, which would have been tolerable, but the thing had a full-size computer fan in it, too, which practically shook itself off my desk. Drove me nuts even when I wasn't mixing.

The basic requirements you want to watch for are at least an Oxford 911 chipset, an 8-meg cache, and a fast drive unit - like 7200 rpm.

I just got one from Pacific Pro Audio a couple weeks ago; they've dropped the price on their 120 GB drives to $190 plus tax - pretty good deal! They're all of the above requirements, plus they have them in-stock formatted for either platform.

Peace,
A

[XXGABEXX]

First off, MechaGodzilla gets the award for best avatar.

Secondly, if you're only using the drive for storage you can't really go wrong with any of the past suggestions in older FireWire threads. Everyone has their own suggestions and everyone has had good luck with them. Do a search for the older threads where someone asked which one to buy. I believe most suggestions included links to the drives for sale online.

But yea, avoid the fans.

-GABE

[Kevin Kitchel]

One more recommendation for Pacific Pro Audio here.

[Marc Alan Goodman]

I'm a big fan of the Other World Computing (OWC) drives, but I hear good things about Pacific Pro Audio as well.
I've had alot of trouble with my LaCie drives. I don't think they're even oxford 911 (I didn't care back when I bought them... they were for general storage. Then I lost it all for no reason).

[trodden]

I've got some of the newer lacie drives which are oxford 911... however i've had two of the older ones die on me... fuckin' frustrating as all hell... The cool thing about the newer ones, they're rack mountable. I've heard a good deal about the Pacific Pro Audio as well... i've just stuck with the lacies cause i can find them cheap online and make the fucksticks at the mac store price match.

[E-Rock]

Pacifilc Pro Audio drives. We have a few of them at the studio I work at.
They work great.
Also, they guys at PacPro are really helpful.

[twitchmonitor]

Dude, I am having the most difficult time with a Western Digital drive I bought from NewEgg. I don't know who's to blame, but the damn thing won't mount on my desktop.

ARG!

(yes, I become a pirate when frustrated.)

[discs of tron]

just got one from owc yesterday. haven't been able to put it through its paces yet, except for transferring a bunch of stuff onto it, which was fast and nice. paid $220 for 160 gig w/ the 8 mb cache. (didn't get the one with f.w.800.) in general, owc have a strong reputation.

[joel hamilton]

I always suggest the Lacie D2 case drives. They are quiet, and fast, and stable.
I have recorded 16 tracks of 192k (even though digi says to use two or more drives for this).

I have recorded for like 10 days solid at 88.2, with the drive reading and writing almost non stop for 5 ten hour sessions more than once.

These things have been thrown in backpacks, put in racks, taken to different studios, and not treated with the utmost respect to say the least. They are quieter than the digidrve (FW) I got with the HD rig.

The LaCie seems to have the highest performance/price ratio. I had a pacific type case die on me due to heat issues after a long session. Lame.

I also use a 160 gig seagate with no fans, and that thing is great, but much more expensive than the lacies.

IMO, two lacie drives are safer than one [insert snazzy "audio" brand here].

You can get lacie 80 gig drives for like 139 these days, so get a pair and back up everything all the time.

[JES]

I'm an OWC fan. I buy their Mercury cases and buy hard drives separately for less, then pop them in. Really easy to assemble (I'm a doofus with electronics) and they work great. PPA could be fine too. But price it out. If the Lacie's less and doesn't have a fan, go for that.

Best,
--JES

[psychicoctopus]

this may have an obvious answer, but how can you tell if a firewire drive is the Oxford 911 type? I've never heard that term before.