Philip Perkins Posted October 17, 2010 Report Share Posted October 17, 2010 I've used Avastor HDX drives for this for years and years--does anyone have another drive they like for live MT recording? Min 7200 rpm, Oxford chipset, AC power? phil p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundtrane Posted October 17, 2010 Report Share Posted October 17, 2010 Phil, why are you looking out for a new manufacturer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Steigerwald Posted October 17, 2010 Report Share Posted October 17, 2010 Another vote for G-Tech Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted October 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 Phil, why are you looking out for a new manufacturer? G Tech drives are really common around here and avail locally, Avastor has to come from out of town etc. phil p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 I still say "rolling your own" drives is far more cost-effective. Use the quad-interface (FW400/800, USB, eSATA) enclosures made by Other World Computing: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MEFW924AL1K/ Drop in the Hitachi, Seagate, or Western Digital drive of your choice. Problem solved. Bear in mind that companies like G-Tech and Glyph don't make hard drives -- they buy enclosures from Asian companies and then install hard drives into them and sell them as a package. Having said that: I would say if cost is no object, G-Tech is a terrific company with good support. --Marc W. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickreich Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 I trust G-Techs or LaCie D2Quadras - I own several 500GB G-Techs, and the leading Location Audio Truck operator in this part of the world, who I work with a lot, won't use anything but that model of 1TB LaCie. He runs 64 tracks to each one from Protools or Nuendo on a daily basis (via FW800). Both of those use external plugpacks though - which annoy me. cheers, nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadoStefanov Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 Do not buy G-drives. Get a regular Oxford chipset enclosure and make your self G sticker! http://www.cooldrives.com/qucosaiienes.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Wexler Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 Do not buy G-drives. Get a regular Oxford chipset enclosure and make your self G sticker! http://www.cooldrives.com/qucosaiienes.html Now you're sounding like Oleg. A nicer way to put this would be to say there are alternatives to the excellent G-Tech drives people have recommended and you could save some money if you're willing to do a little DYI (rather than "Do not buy G-drives"). The Cooldrive enclosures look good but I did not look at cost of enclosure plus drive vs. a similar offering from G-Tech. Also, Rado, please tell me the quality of construction is better than it appears in the photo: connectors are all jammed in and the access holes do not even seem to match the connectors very well. There are screws that appear to be threaded on an angle to the chassis, etc. Maybe it's just the pictures. Regards, Jeff Wexler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Wexler Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 Rado right in 100% as no need pay more for the sticker What's the difference in cost between a drive in an enclosure from a reputable company and an enclosure and a drive that you put together yourself? Are we talking a huge savings here? - Jeff Wexler Note: translation in Oleg-speak follows: why you pat shit for bigass name drive to give to prod asshol who hires you slave to give evrything free you record shit that wastes mony could be for beer at rap instead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angelo Waldron Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 I've purchased the G-tech, CoolGear and Macsales enclosures. CoolGear by far is the cheapest quality..... How Cool Is That! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 " why you pat shit for bigass name drive to give to prod asshol who hires you slave to give evrything free you record shit that wastes mony could be for beer at rap instead " finaly yu make sum sens and knot fourgit two add echstra four ur BAR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadoStefanov Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 How is the quality cheap? It is well build. I have not tried to smash it in the ground yet. What I care about more then the building quality is the OXFORD CHIPSET What I like about the enclosure vs assembled drive is I can choose the Hard drive I put inside. G-tech and other external drive manufactures usually put drives that are cheap and maximizes their profit. I've purchased the G-tech, CoolGear and Macsales enclosures. CoolGear by far is the cheapest quality..... How Cool Is That! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadoStefanov Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 Sorry Jeff I misspoke. I should have said: In my opinion buying an enclosure with an OXFORD chipset and choosing your hard drive makes more sense then already factory assembled. Exchanging the internal drive is very easy and does not void the warranty. Buying a Bare drive gives you 3 to 5 years warranty. Now you're sounding like Oleg. A nicer way to put this would be to say there are alternatives to the excellent G-Tech drives people have recommended and you could save some money if you're willing to do a little DYI (rather than "Do not buy G-drives"). The Cooldrive enclosures look good but I did not look at cost of enclosure plus drive vs. a similar offering from G-Tech. Also, Rado, please tell me the quality of construction is better than it appears in the photo: connectors are all jammed in and the access holes do not even seem to match the connectors very well. There are screws that appear to be threaded on an angle to the chassis, etc. Maybe it's just the pictures. Regards, Jeff Wexler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted October 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 For the upcoming show I'm going to go with one each Gtech (new) and Avastor (older, have used for years) on each Boom Recorder system, and a Gtech USB for the JoeCo backup recorder. Getting the drives locally from someone I trust is a big deal, I was having big issues finding the Avastors I'd used before (no one had stock....). I don't want to go with roll-your-own drives for portable work partly because I want to be able to SELL that drive to the client after the gig, if I want, and it needs to be something their editor has seen before and that has an established price (in addition to some kind of replacement warranty). phil p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BobD Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 What's the difference in cost between a drive in an enclosure from a reputable company and an enclosure and a drive that you put together yourself? Are we talking a huge savings here? - Jeff Wexler Note: translation in Oleg-speak follows: why you pat shit for bigass name drive to give to prod asshol who hires you slave to give evrything free you record shit that wastes mony could be for beer at rap instead I would at least like some sort of footnote credit for the use of my translator... Finally you are IN the game... You could only sit on the sideline for so long.... I am more than amused... Why is everything always: cheap... cheap... cheap..... Reminds me of a cheap little bird... tweet tweet tweet.... cheap cheap cheap... Buy a darn drive and be done with it... Plenty of reputable ones to choose from... A drive is not something I care about saving a few bucks on... It holds data that depending on who you are, and your talents, just might contain something important... A funky plug, wire or any other number of things on the home built unit might cause birdie to cost you your rear end... Not worth it to me... If you really know what you are doing, OK ... maybe... But I still don't want to explain my homebuilt drive malfunction to a producer that matters... Just not MY particular style... Quote from a person on this forum. Jeff soundmen are cheap people with grate generosity , we can come without get pay with all the gear we have to get good sound but we will always look how to save 2 bucks not to buy the original ta3 connector :-) paradox ,im not different Speak for yourself..... This quote from Phillip is a very valid point: For the upcoming show I'm going to go with one each Gtech (new) and Avastor (older, have used for years) on each Boom Recorder system, and a Gtech USB for the JoeCo backup recorder. Getting the drives locally from someone I trust is a big deal, I was having big issues finding the Avastors I'd used before (no one had stock....). I don't want to go with roll-your-own drives for portable work partly because I want to be able to SELL that drive to the client after the gig, if I want, and it needs to be something their editor has seen before and that has an established price (in addition to some kind of replacement warranty). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BobD Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 Someone say something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon_tatooles Posted October 20, 2010 Report Share Posted October 20, 2010 G-Tech, who is owned by Hitachi, uses Hitachi drives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angelo Waldron Posted October 20, 2010 Report Share Posted October 20, 2010 How is the quality cheap? It is well build. I have not tried to smash it in the ground yet. What I care about more then the building quality is the OXFORD CHIPSET What I like about the enclosure vs assembled drive is I can choose the Hard drive I put inside. G-tech and other external drive manufactures usually put drives that are cheap and maximizes their profit. Cool Gear is cheap, you will find out if you put together different brands of enclosures with different hard drives. They are flimsy.. poor build quality. If you want to puchase enclosure with your pick of drive look at these: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MEFW934FWU2K/ If you want really good drive get this: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/415459-REG/Glyph_Technologies_GT050Q1F_500_500GB_GT_050Q_Quad_Interface.html Better get a couple while your at it. Media on one drive not backed up.....Ha-ha. Avid drives in 1999 were $3800 for 9GB. I used to have a Digidesign 1GB Prostore 3 rack space drive for use with Protools...price was $4995. Storage is so inexpensive now... get several and don't complain about the price. Whatever floats your boat.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadoStefanov Posted October 20, 2010 Report Share Posted October 20, 2010 Didn't Glyph offer free Mechanical Hard drive recovery if the drive fails? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadoStefanov Posted October 20, 2010 Report Share Posted October 20, 2010 G-Tech, who is owned by Hitachi, uses Hitachi drives. I use Hitachi exclusively on laptops. Computers I use WD. Use to use Seagate before their dreadful failing rate increase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wandering Ear Posted November 3, 2011 Report Share Posted November 3, 2011 +1 for OWC enclosures with drive of your choice (Seagate for me) Also, if you're in Seattle, Pacific Pro Audio makes great drives with Oxford chipsets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted November 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 I had a run of bad luck with the small-chassis GTechs, and the JoeCo was recommended to be used with USB-only drives, even relatively slow ones. This is a dedicated interface, not a computer, so I guess they can customize it somewhat. In any case all the JoeCo recording I've done this year has been on cheap WD USB drives (self powered). All good. phil p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Duffy Posted May 10, 2012 Report Share Posted May 10, 2012 Even now, all drives are not equal. When we qualify HDDs for 48 track recording (24 bit, 96kHz), we found the following: drives that slow down in the cold. drives that slow down randomly over a long session. drives that read slower than they write. drives that had numerous firmware updates to address quality and speed issues. (crapshoot which one you get) drives that can't have their "green" features turned off to tune for performance. For a non-realtime transfer of data to a backup, pick whatever's cheap, but if you need a drive for DAW work, can you really risk not getting the audio recorded at all? Even with SSDs, the read/write patterns for high channel count recording busted through the capabilities of the earlier models. Tom. TASCAM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted May 12, 2012 Report Share Posted May 12, 2012 Yes, the Western Digital Caviar Green drives are not good choices for mission-critical applications. I like them for audio editing and storing my libraries, but I'd only go with an Enterprise-class drive for serious video or audio recording. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShubiSnax Posted May 12, 2012 Report Share Posted May 12, 2012 I've used the WD Caviar Black drives for a few years now with zero complaints. No fails, no hiccups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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