Internal storage

The G Technology G-Drive is an external hard drive that comes in a variety of different sizes up to 2 TeraBytes. It's perfect for using for Pro Tools sessions as well as for other high demanding media and general storage. A few clients have brought these drives in and they do nothing but rave about their stability and how they've had them for a while without any issues at all. I don't currently own a G-Drive, but one of these will most likely be the next drive I pick up for my next large project. The drives have a variety of connections, including two FireWire 800 ports, a mini USB 2.0 port, and an eSata jack as well. It comes with it's own power supply and needs to be plugged in. It also comes with a FireWire 800 to 400 cable if you want to plug into a FW 400 port on your computer. The drive is highly customizable, but can support up to 32 MB of cache and has a 7200 RPM speed. The casing is as sturdy as they come, as even if you were to drop it I think the insides would be safe. Of course this is a pretty high end drive so it's going to cost you more than the cheapest drives will, but consider that it's going to last a really long time. You can get drive sizes ranging from 500 GB to 2 TB, but it's probably worth it to get the max size if you can afford it as getting a few smaller drives is going to be a good amount more than just getting a larger sized drive. If you're a professional looking for a top tier hard drive for music or film purposes, the G Technology G-Drive is one of the best you can get.

The OWC Mercury Elite is a high quality hard drive, designed for use with media applications. I used to have one of these hard drives - a 250 GB sized one, but it has since departed, which I will get into later. I was recommended these hard drives by a former colleague when I first decided a number of years ago that I needed an external drive for transporting my Pro Tools files from place to place. While it wasn't the cheapest hard drive on the market, it definitely wasn't over priced and seemed to be pretty high quality and up in the range with LaCie and other name brand drives. The Mercury Elite has connections for both Firewire and USB 2.0. It comes in a very sturdy casing and with all of the accessories that you would expect from an external hard drive. Until the point that the hard drive died after a few years of use, I really didn't have any issues with it. It always mounted perfectly and didn't present me with any problems at all. It seemed to run at a high speed and was always capable of doing the work that I asked it to do. The only reason that it died was really my fault. I don't remember exactly how it happened, but I somehow burned out the external casing and had to take out the hard drive from the inside. To my surprise, when I put the drive into another external casing, everything was still in tact! This was a pleasant surprise, as in general I really don't trust any hard drive, no matter how well built it is. However, the OWC Mercury Elite is definitely as well built of a hard drive as you can get for pro audio and video. They aren't as expensive as a Glyph, and although they are a step below them in terms of quality, if you're looking for a very well made drive but don't want to spend too much money, the OWC Mercury Elite is definitely one that I would recommend checking out.

The LaCie D2 Quadra 750 GB is an external hard drive that is quite popular in professional recording studios. LaCie drives in general seem to be very popular with engineers and studio owners due to their great build and reliability. I have used the D2 Quadra drive for any and all sorts of use in the studio, including recording directly to it and using it for storage and file transfer. I can't say that I've ever had an issue at all with this hard drive, as it always does what it is told, and thus far I haven't had any problems with it. Of course no matter what type of drive I'm using I make sure to have a back up, as regardless of what type of hard drive you're using, all hard drives can break at any time. I'm happy to say that I've never had this sort of problem with the D2 Quadra. While the one that I've used had 750 GB of storage, the D2 Quadra comes in a variety of sizes to choose from, which is nice as different studio owners and hard drive users have different space requirements. It does seem as if the 1 TB version of the D2 Quadra is the best deal however, in terms of bang for your buck. Another thing that I like about this hard drive is the overall shape and build to it. It stands up nicely and in place on its own, assuring that your information is safe in the casing. The price is right around what you would expect from a hard drive like this, but definitely isn't the cheapest hard drive available if that is what you're looking for. However, if you're doing real work in a studio it is absolutely imperative that you have a reliable hard drive, and in my opinion is worth the extra dough to assure that you've got a good hard drive and not something that will break sooner rather than later. Don't skimp when it comes to your hard drive, as it holds your precious information - definitely checking out the LaCie D2 Quadra and the other hard drives offered by LaCie.

The Seagate Free Agent 1 TB is an external hard drive, which I use to store my Pro Tools projects and to work off of. The hard drive is overall built pretty well, and I like the external casing and everything stands up in place as it should. It has a slew of connections, including fire wire 800 and a mini USB jack. I've had this hard drive for over a year now, but I did have to get it replaced one time, which was a major pain. In general I don't trust hard drives, so I always keep as many back ups as possible, which is something that I absolutely recommend you do as well, regardless of what type of hard drive you have as you never know when one is going to do on you. The process of getting Seagate to replace my broken hard drive wasn't too hard as they were pretty understanding. Since getting it replaced though, I haven't had any problems with it at all. I have worked off of and stored all sorts of projects on the Free Agent 1 TB, and still have tons of space to spare. When I bought this hard drive I was looking for a 1 TB drive that wasn't incredibly expensive, but also wouldn't crap out on me right away and have some good specifications. I found that the Free Agent offered up a great deal for what I was looking for, and it has been my main hard drive since. While this certainly doesn't offer up the same type of strength and back up as a Glyph drive would, barring something like this, the Seagate Free Agent was the best deal that I could find out there. If you're looking for a hard drive with a ton of space that won't cost you a few hundred USD (more like around $100), then the Seagate Free Agent 1 TB hard drive is absolutely worth looking into - just always keep a back up!

(Originally written by sin/translated from Audiofanzine FR) I've been using it for years since the first versions came out. The latest model (v2) has still no fan (good!) and it has a heat-sink like design. It gives it a more professional look than previous models and ensures a longer operating life... The published transfer rates are REAL! It's even possible to reach 105 Mb/s with FW800... It's even faster in Serial ATA mode. It's also possible to mount them in a rack with an optional mounting kit. Very fast and quiet, it's the perfect hard disk for Pro Tools LE. For an HD, the Glyph models might be better. You can buy it with closed eyes!