eSATA Port Multplier Technology

[dawman]

http://www.sata-io.org/portmultiplier.asp

I have been reading up on this to prepare for an external storage solution via a single eSATA connection from a notebook.
Does anyone here use external HDD's w/ a laptop that uses Romplers or sampled content.
Just streaming audio tracks is similar, but Romplers and sample content are using many more buffers in RAM, and stream hundreds of files simultaneously.
This idea is great as the PSU in the external array has no power draw on the notebooks PSU, and is also portable and can be used in other DAW's that have an eSATA port like the Intel DP35DP.

The O.S. + Apps. drive could be an SSD instead of a mechanical HDD.
That has proven to work well so far, but tests with streaming audio from SSD's are very few and unreliable IMHO. I have seen an example of Nuendo streaming tracks that worked well, but using Romplers and sample libraries is a different test altogether.

[garyb]

i'm pretty sure that there's no way around losing some throughput going from desktop to laptop. this seems to be a notebook or laptop's greatest weakness, although to be fair, notebooks/laptops weren't really intended for such use....

[dawman]

Yes there are flaws in the smaller design as well.
Even MacBook Pro 17" laptops are crippled by a 4GB RAM Maximum due to the designs of the smaller motherboards. Same w/ PC laptops also.
I am hoping that being able to access a total of 3GB's of RAM will be feasible.
The switch served it's purpose as an excellent go between from XP32 to XP64.
Damn, I was so close to having a 32bit DAW that was capable of handling all of my new libraries and instrument purchases. Chris Hein Horns 2 is so stellar as is the VSL Strings, it is a must.

Deleting a large Giga Piano and using a lite version of another did the trick.
Thnakfully I wholly support and trust Soniccore, if their drivers are as good as they have always been, I should have no problems with the transition to 64bit next year.

I just hope I don't get another Hernia before then.

[ScofieldKid]

Lots of ESATA device reviews over on the AMUG site, by the way. Example:

http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/ ... rmtek/5pm/

[Neutron]

If you dont have enough ports, but why not just use a bigger drive, you cant seriously need more than 1.5 TB? and that drive is almost as fast as a Raptor.

If you do need one of those port multipliers there will probably be some minor overhead, but SATA2 is faster than any drive, and its not likely you would saturate the SATA2 line with 3 drives sending date at exactly the same time.

just do NOT put your swap file or anything which could be cached in the drive or it could easily happen

[ScofieldKid]

Here's a pretty cool short-depth chassis (16.5" deep). Haven't seen others this short. And this one is quad type, which might be handy in certain cases. Not cheap, but not beyond belief...:

http://www.macnn.com/articles/07/01/08/ ... enclosure/

[Neutron]

except its sonnet. now if we can just find where they get them from before they double the price for mac users.

[ScofieldKid]

Here's another one. I've had good luck buying from Directron in the past...

http://www.directron.com/r4cr1000.html

Oh, I forgot about these other ones here also... more along the lines of that single-disk idea you were talking about... Like the builtin AC, and you can get a 1U rack holder for cheap that holds two of these...

http://www.glyphtech.com/products/gt050q.html

Here are some prices at AudioMidi:

http://www.audiomidi.com/Dual-Rack-Ears ... 10846.aspx
http://www.audiomidi.com/GT050Q---1000G ... 11353.aspx

[dawman]

Well if I didn't have to stream sample libraries, it wouldn't be necessary. When playing back basic audio tracks it would be a snap w/ 1.5 TB HDD, but sample libraries from Giga and Kontackt will beat the hell out of any HDD.
The problem comes from having so many different types of Horns, Strings, & Pianos.
Gigastudio allows stacking on the same MIDI channels. This can cause your seeker heads to go crazy and sometimes cause dropouts w/ high polyphony.
Keyswitching also enters the equation, so spanning your content across several smaller drives is in a sense like having 1 giant volume, but the advantage of several seeker mechanism's.
I use the MIDI Solutions FP8 for my Keyswitches instead of using and wasting an entire hand triggering different variations of Horn Sections. I simply attach a pedal footswitch to a MIDI Note number like " C3 " instead of using a whole hand and 1 finger, to go from Saxes, Trombones, & Trumpets " sustained ", to where all 3 libraries swell perfectly together for 3 seconds simultaneously. 6 FSwitch pedals, and 2 expressions cover those chores live.
Having different brass libraries on Drive C / D / E and F , which are all small and very fast HDD's like Raptor 150's guarantees no dropouts. And if a drive fails you have redendandt libraries to finish the song, where a hot spare can be inserted.
After 4 years and never needing a spare caused from a failure, I can attest to the excellent design and 5 year warranty of the WD series of Raptors.
SSD drives not being mechanical are perfectly suited for streaming sample libraries but I haven't tried the Intels yet, and will wait for my friend to try first. They should eliminate that mechanical downside as they can seek electronically w/ each burst of SIMD SSE4 instructions, at least in theory.

I am starting to go the MacBook Pro way of mobility also. Guys w/ PC Laptops are having limitations of RAM and incompatability issues w/ mobile chipsets on Vista and XP that causes me concern. The MacBook crowd that uses DP and Logic have greater success w/ their plug counts and hassle free OSX / Leopard O.S.'s seem to be better optimized for music than M$.
For example on a Muse Receptor which has a Linux based O.S. it can load 40% more of the same plugs, than a PC w/ M$ using the same VSTi's? So obviously a well optimized O.S. can make alot of difference. OSX is not as musically orientated as the Linux version of the Receptors, but definately better than the never ending new O.S.'s that M$ keeps churning out lately.

All of these apps are developed by guys who are producers that record in a studio somehwere and rarely gig live. Live performers who try and pull off the kind of crap I do live think it's a hassle programming sample linraries the way I do. Add being an FOH/Monitor man to a Rock God and 2 more Primmadonna's and you will see why I take a Lions share of the cash, and will spend whatever necessary no matter how extreme to ease the pain of playing live w/ gear meant to be used in a studio w/ one handed performers.

XITE-1 will be such a blessing when it comes out. I will fully automate this band, and move on like I always do, and they can make their contributions and commissions in cash, ankyuvarymush.

I want to play my Synthesizers and start performing Progressive House stuff live w/ Solaris and an XITE-1 and concentrate on live 96K in 5.1.
I might fail at this endeavor, and then again I might win. The owner of a Club called Faces is an old friend who will give me the oppurtunity I need. I just must shed my skin and start over by thinking like a DJ w/ Live & XITE-1.

The thought of no snivelling musicians and cackling hens, not to mention I love this dance style of music, is very inspiring. I loved performing Disco / Funk tunes because of the great bass licks of yore, and these synths and styles of dance that are out now remind me of the fun I had back then.

I Have A Dream........................Dr. Martin Luther King, Washington D.C. 1964.

[dawman]

And they better buy an XITE-1 to catch back up w/ me.