Oh it only takes seconds to set up. Easy as can be for me (decades of Windows experience).

I only have 1 nvme and 1 ssd in the computer. 6TB total. Then 20TB or so in NAS storage. More about speed than capacity. Quality over quantity. Samples/sampled instruments don’t take more than 1TB.

I swapped the Casino stock pickups to Lollar P90's

Night and day difference...

But I ripped out everything electrical from that guitar...

On a solid Jazz bass...EQ pedal and strings get more gains in my experience..

The Squire 12 string pickups are OK...but they are too hot...and don't jangle and don't hit the spot...But I'm flipping it anyway and getting a danelectro

There is no valid reason to Partition a boot drive.

Enlighten me

Smaller system drive images = faster backup and restore, more space for more images. That’s the only reason. I use Macrium and it’s all automated.

The Fractal Design Torrent E-ATX Black Solid High-Airflow Mid Tower Computer Case

Looks like it could handle things. Can't find any info on its 'quietness' rating.

Not worried about the Plextor burner ... yes they are noisy in use, but it's only there when needed ... and that's not often.

The included Fans ... should they be replaced with quieter ones ? or are these high quality.

The other cases you mentioned earlier all look nice ... but from what I was able to see, had limited HD space [some only 2]. At minimum I could work down to maybe 4 internals and some external enclosure for the 'extra' HD's. Not as convenient ... but might be somewhat ok.

Still lookin' ... so many cases that I've read reviews on, are showing up as UNavailable

brutal ....

Nope still don't get it...

Your boot drive should be big enough for OS and applications....thats it....It should be separate from anything else.

You should be in a position if your OS NVME drive dies and you literally don't care.

You have data on a partition which is another step to restore.

You need to think differently.

I have a Dell T20 server with 20TB in...you don't need TB's of storage in a workstation.

On any level.

Since you have no idea how much storage I use ...

For Christmas, I added 2 new drives with 24T of storage.
2-Seagate 12T's


Thanks ... nonetheless.

Any reason to have them attached locally?

It sounds like you are storing past mastering projects locally on your workstation?

This makes no sense

I work with several Producer/Writers that send me Songs for Mastering, maybe one to a couple at a time, until a set number of Tracks for the entire Project. Some can take over a year to complete ... whatever.

Spinner Harddrive storage is relatively cheap/Gig ... and I've always maintain Archives of all I work on.

I've had Clients ask for past work from years back. I have it ... not a big deal.

anyway ... this is not important stuff to waste time with.

I need to solidify my Build List and get the new system up and running ... with minimal interruption.

What I may 'need' to do to improve the working experience can be dealt with afterward.



-------- EDIT --------

An example of a single SAVE of a session:

The main file is: 2.05 GIGs ... its' BAK is also 2.05 Gigs

That's over 4 gig of data written per each time I hit SAVE.

just got an email from LTL that the Silver Bullet plug just got an update

Well, more than a few of Arturia’s instruments weigh up to half a gig and they do contain samples. Their new CP-70 is a good example.

is that another new update on top of the update from a couple of weeks ago??

I don't think so, no.

with image and file backs ups, yes, the drive could die and it’d be a couple clicks to restore whatever I wanted to a new one. It’s all in the tools used.

Also, in my experience, it’s almost always a windows issue not a drive issue, so restoring a verified image in 15min of the system drive from a NAS is also more efficient and reliable.

I know what I’m doing at this point.

not sure... as i said i got it last night 6/12 and the zip says
louder_than_liftoff_silver_bullet_mk2_win_1_1_0-2

the last i got was on 5/27 and the zip says
louder_than_liftoff_silver_bullet_mk2_win_1_1_0

so it may be a quick fix type thing

anyways my naming convention designates (#) when duplicate files

but for the life of me i can't find the 'about' on the plug itself listing actual version numbers

p.s. understand i bought directly from LTL and not PA and we all know how PA updates lol (like hardly ever)

I did the Silver Bullet anyway ...

didn't notice anything different other than the file Timestamp in the VST install folder.

Sounds just as good as the 'previous' version !!

And their sales response topped it by closing the door. They responded that they upped the sale price to 564 to get it to 423 at 25% off, while it has been 470 for months now.

Given that there are only a few plugins I ever use, it should not be that hard of a job to replace these. The two I use the most and are a but harder:

S1
Aphex Exciter

I have a Mac Studio and have my physical boot drive "partitioned" as two volumes. Once is for the OS and apps, etc. and the other is for DAW project files. I only did it this way to just keep it clear in my mind conceptually. It's just easier for me to see two drives on the desktop. The drive icons are of a Mac Studio case to remind me they are both on the internal physical SSD.

One reason I didn't mind doing it that way is because of the Mac's APFS (file system) it's not really "partitioned" in the sense that you need to decide on the maximum capacity of each partition when you format. They're really "volumes" and they adjust their size dynamically. I was more at ease doing it this way.

There's no reason I couldn't have had all my projects in a folder inside my Documents folder, but again... just to keep things a little easier and tidier for my brain I decided to emulate the old way of doing things when projects were always on a separate drive from the OS.

I do have a 4TB external NVMe drive for my Sample Libraries and a 2TB external for Final Cut Pro projects... I don't do that much video editing. . I also have two external 8TB spinners for Time Machine backups and one of those docks for raw hard drives that I use for backing up plugin and app installers.

No sellable story? Then make one up!
The music business is show business. Do you actually think all of the notorious stories associated with successful people in the music business are true?
It’s marketing………….

There is no quietness rating, because that is a bunch of nonsense. The thing is that many that have "quietness" ratings on their site, basically cheat them - by underclocking CPUs, or not using it in full capacity.


Not sure if I mentioned this in another comment, if you go with the Torrent (I am not sure if it can take the burner+6 drives or just the 6 drives), I would swap the 3, 140mm fans and add a single fan as exhaust. I would keep the included 2x180mm fans, those are excellent.

If you don't want to worry, go with the Fractal Define 7 or Define 7 XL. Those have loads of space.

Years ago…I had a Dell laptop…I bought it cause it had two HDD slots one for OS the other for DATA.

The OS SSD died and I learnt that Ilok machine authorisation is a PITA but having a windows install only on the drive was a good thing.

Now I store my Ilok licences on USB as I never want to go through the pain of that again.

Anyway everyone has their own way…I only like to deal with two drive letters…that’s why Drivepool is essential for my systems.

My brain would melt if I had a Mac Mini…512GB isn’t enough space for my OS and applications…it’s a shame Apple don’t give you an extra NVME slot for a second drive….it would be a superb little machine if it had that second slot.

Sony PS5 has a quick remove slot for adding a storage Nvme for games and I appreciate that design touch.

I have a MacStudio M4 MAX with 512GB storage, have almost 800 plugins installed and all I need for audio and video production and have over 300BGB free.

The rest is on TB5 80 GBps external NVMe disks of 4TB

Though I do agree Apple is abusing their position to squeeze people with the prices for RAM and storage upgrades. The base models are fairly competitive, but anything up is just absurd.

Apple is ridiculous.

I got a refurb M2 mini directly from Apple with 2TB for like $1200ish. Got a used M1 MBA with 1T for around $900. The M4’s look great, except they come with Apple Intelligence and you can’t roll back the OS so that’s a no go for me. Just buy used or look on their website for a refurbished/return. There are deals out there if you look for them.

Dang Eagle, 800 plugins? I’ve got around 150 and it’s still feels like too much!

Can't you turn Apple Intelligence off?

Anyone on windows who is doing a New install watch this please...I beg you...

My trust level is pretty low on that.
I’d rather not have it on my machine in the first place.

1200 for that mini is a scam... you can replace the base M4 model ssd with a 2tb one for 250. with around 400 saved money you can get another 4tb external ssd if you need that kind of space, and still have some 100 in cash into your pocket to buy few nice plugins.
i dont know what's you experience but apple AI is not "mandatory" to use and is not intrusive at all if you dont call it up or need it.

I ended up going the autounattend file + Rufus route when I did mine. Not sure of the benefits of one over the other but I decided on that one.
I got an iLok USB based on your recommendation, but do you use a normal USB stick for those that allow it or just do machine activation gor everything else? It seems most you can deactivate from the websites if your drive fails so not done that for the moment due to not needing to move between machines.