# Will SSD help me to use my template ?



## revlam (Nov 26, 2018)

Hi there,

I' bought some orchestra sample libraries and I just decide to make a template with all these libraries.

I have in fact 2 templates :
- A very large : with multi-output Kontakt 6 instances with about 450 tracks (one track per articulation with about 8 articulations per instruments). I have all Spitfire Symphony libraries (strings, brass, woodwinds), Spitfire Solo Strings, 3 pianos, 5 Zebra tracks, 8 Omnisphere tracks and 3 choirs tracks. Plus some effects and audio files.
- A smaller one : uses multi-articulations patches from Spitfire and no Kontakt multi-output (1 Kontakt AU per track), Zebra, Omnisphere, Diva. This template has 80 tracks.

I'm using Logic Pro X with a MacBook Pro Retina 15 from 2017 (16Go RAM / I7 2.9Ghz). All libraries are stored on an Lacie 4To HDD (Porsche Design) using USB3.

I have many memory issues with first and second templates that make them unusable. I can't upgrade my memory  and I don't want to buy VE6 and a slave PC right now. If I store my libraries on a SSD, will that make my template usable to the point of lowering memory consumption? A kind of sample streaming


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## EvilDragon (Nov 26, 2018)

Yes. SSDs should be used by everyone using a lot of sample libraries. You will be able to reduce your DFD buffer size to the lowest value, saving RAM in process. CPU might need to work a tiny bit more, though.


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## GeneraStudios (Nov 27, 2018)

I have a few SSD's but they're just so much more expensive than regular HD's that I only use them for a few core tasks (video editing rendering, bit Logic Projects and a few Kontakt libraries I use a lot). Most of my libraries are stored on regular HD's, and it works fine for me, but I have a maxed out iMac only a few years old. I also don't make templates (I probably should), and I never have that many software instruments in a project (usually I use a mix of recorded audio and software). 

SSD's will definitely help, probably a LOT. 

On another note, why do you need that many tracks for your templates? Not trying to judge or second guess your needs, but it just seems insanely huge to me to need all of that available. Maybe we're just in drastically different genre's of music.


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## revlam (Nov 27, 2018)

EvilDragon said:


> Yes. SSDs should be used by everyone using a lot of sample libraries. You will be able to reduce your DFD buffer size to the lowest value, saving RAM in process. CPU might need to work a tiny bit more, though.


Ok thanks, it's not really a problem the CPU is 'idle' most of the time.



GeneraStudios said:


> SSD's will definitely help, probably a LOT.


Great, I think it will, but, like you just say, these are expensive , I needs about 1To-2To to store everything. I want to be sure 



GeneraStudios said:


> On another note, why do you need that many tracks for your templates? Not trying to judge or second guess your needs, but it just seems insanely huge to me to need all of that available. Maybe we're just in drastically different genre's of music.


No problem, we are here to discuss. Let me explain.
I'm writing classical music for video games and short movies. I'm a classic composer, I used to write for full orchestra using each individual instruments and many articulations. I have many different libraries and I like to have a template file with all theses libraries to try out different violins for exemple without loading sample at each try. I know I can do that in a different way but it's for me the more efficient workflow. Btw, the 450 tracks template is a try, I used to have a template with 50-60 tracks. My old libraries was not very memory consuming but last Spitfire audio libraries used a lot of memory. The full 1st violon patch used something like 800Mo RAM


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## EvilDragon (Nov 27, 2018)

revlam said:


> I needs about 1To-2To to store everything. I want to be sure



Get Samsung 860 Evo.


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## bosone (Nov 27, 2018)

can you just "Unload from memory" all the kontakt instances you don't use for a particular project? that is my way on Cakewalk. i have about 30 VSTi instances but i load the template with all the VST unloaded and i load them just when i need.


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## Garry (Nov 27, 2018)

One thing I'm confused about is whether I can use an 'internal' or 'external' SSD card, and if I've even understood these terms correctly!

For internal, I've been looking at Samsung EVO 860 1TB - (currently 167 Euros on Amazon.de)
For external, I've been looking at Samsung T5 1TB (currently 231 Euros on Amazon.de).

I have an iMac (2017, 4.2GHz, 32GB, 2400 MHz DDR4) - without opening up the machine, I presume I cannot use an internal SSD, is that correct? If not, since the internal is cheaper, is there any advantage to the T5 that justifies it's additional expense?

Sorry, I realize how basic these questions are (in my defense, hopefully my naive question also helps someone else out who is equally baffled!).


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## revlam (Nov 27, 2018)

bosone said:


> can you just "Unload from memory" all the kontakt instances you don't use for a particular project? that is my way on Cakewalk. i have about 30 VSTi instances but i load the template with all the VST unloaded and i load them just when i need.


Yeah I did that but at the end of the day it's a bit confused and Kontakt/Logic doesn't seems to purge correctly at each time. In my case it's a composer template so I try many articulations, many library it's a bit too long to wait sample loading just to try something. But it's a good temporary solution


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## revlam (Nov 27, 2018)

Garry said:


> One thing I'm confused about is whether I can use an 'internal' or 'external' SSD card, and if I've even understood these terms correctly!
> 
> For internal, I've been looking at Samsung EVO 860 1TB - (currently 167 Euros on Amazon.de)
> For external, I've been looking at Samsung T5 1TB (currently 231 Euros on Amazon.de).
> ...


External drives has an onboard controller to handle SATA / USB conversion + a box. Btw it's expensive. In my opinion, buy an internal drive and a separate box.


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## Garry (Nov 27, 2018)

revlam said:


> External drives has an onboard controller to handle SATA / USB conversion + a box. Btw it's expensive. In my opinion, buy an internal drive and a separate box.


Thanks. So 'internal' doesn't mean you install it internally (like a PCI card), it still sits externally? (wow, confusing terminology if that's correct!). 

So, if I understand: I can still use an EVO 860 (which is internal) with an iMac (which I can't/don't want to open up), I just need a cable (thunderbolt or USB3.0?) and a 'box' to do the SATA/USB conversion - is that right?

Sorry again for the dumb question, but what 'box' is needed? And if the box is around 60 euros (the difference between the EVO 860 and the T5), is there any advantage to internal vs external?

(and thanks for tolerating my ignorance on this!)


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## revlam (Nov 27, 2018)

Garry said:


> Thanks. So 'internal' doesn't mean you install it internally (like a PCI card), it still sits externally? (wow, confusing terminology if that's correct!).



No internal mean with internal bus like SATA. External means external bus like USB, Thunderbold. You can use an internal SSD in an USB external box like this one :
 
In fact an external SSD sold by Samsung is a Samsung internal SSD in a Samsung USB box.



Garry said:


> So, if I understand: I can still use an EVO 860 (which is internal) with an iMac (which I can't/don't want to open up), I just need a cable (thunderbolt or USB3.0?) and a 'box' to do the SATA/USB conversion - is that right?


Yes, you needs a external box like the one on amazon in the links.



Garry said:


> Sorry again for the dumb question, but what 'box' is needed? And if the box is around 60 euros (the difference between the EVO 860 and the T5), is there any advantage to internal vs external?
> 
> (and thanks for tolerating my ignorance on this!)


No problem, it's a bit confusing  You can find many external box on Amazon for 10-20€. Looks here : https://www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?__mk_de_DE=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=external+box+ssd


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## Garry (Nov 27, 2018)

revlam said:


> No internal mean with internal bus like SATA. External means external bus like USB, Thunderbold. You can use an internal SSD in an USB external box like this one :
> 
> In fact an external SSD sold by Samsung is a Samsung internal SSD in a Samsung USB box.
> 
> ...




Thanks for the help - that really clarifies things, much appreciated.


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## jbuhler (Nov 27, 2018)

EvilDragon said:


> Get Samsung 860 Evo.


Any particular reason for this model? I ask because I find SSD specs difficult to parse and to know what is actually worth paying extra for.


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## jbuhler (Nov 27, 2018)

Garry said:


> Thanks for the help - that really clarifies things, much appreciated.


I think they are usually marketed as "hard drive enclosures." For SSDs you need the 2.5" variety. You can also get "bays," that hold multiple disks and you can configure as a RAID, that offer some benefits (either speed or redundancy), if that's what you want to do.


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## EvilDragon (Nov 27, 2018)

jbuhler said:


> Any particular reason for this model? I ask because I find SSD specs difficult to parse and to know what is actually worth paying extra for.



Samsung have the SSD tech figured out. Plus you get nice 5 years of warranty.


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