# Thunderbolt 3 enclosure



## musicallyhere (Sep 16, 2018)

Hello,

I am planning on using a Samsung Evo 850 ssd externally for my sample library, and am looking for an enclosure for it. My new MacBook has the usb-c / thunderbolt 3 ports, and I haven't found any reviewed enclosures of this type, only of the older usb /eSATA.
I'm looking for something with fast reading/writing speeds that wouldn't need an adaptor, and something portable that can be easily transported.

I know this is a good enclosure, and am looking for something equivalent to it:

https://www.startech.com/HDD/Enclosures/esatap-usb-3-sata-6gbps-hdd-enclosure~S251SMU33EP

I would enormously appreciate any suggestions and/or advice on this.

Thank you!


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## Prockamanisc (Sep 16, 2018)

If you're using Samsung Evo 850, which reads/writes around 550MB/s, then a TB3 connection, which reads/writes at 40GB/s, is overkill. USB 3.0, which reads at 640MB/s will be more than enough.


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## Mike Marino (Sep 16, 2018)

Any reason you're not looking to use the 860 EVO instead of the 850?


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## musicallyhere (Sep 16, 2018)

Prockamanisc said:


> If you're using Samsung Evo 850, which reads/writes around 550MB/s, then a TB3 connection, which reads/writes at 40GB/s, is overkill. USB 3.0, which reads at 640MB/s will be more than enough.



Thanks for your reply, but as I said, I'm looking for USB 3.1 (thunderbolt 3), not USB 3.0, and I haven't found many reviewed USB 3.1 / thunderbolt 3 enclosures...


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## musicallyhere (Sep 16, 2018)

Mike Marino said:


> Any reason you're not looking to use the 860 EVO instead of the 850?



Not any specific reason, do you think there's a big difference between the 850 and the 860?


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## Prockamanisc (Sep 16, 2018)

Are you referring to the shape of the plug? That's called USB-C, and it runs USB 3.1 or Thunderbolt 3, but those are 2 different things. They just share a connection type. My point was to say that you don't need Thunderbolt 3, you'll be fine with anything above USB 3.0 (which includes USB 3.1) that has a USB-C connection.


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## X-Bassist (Sep 16, 2018)

If you plan on doing orchestral work, you will probably end up with more ssds. I have 2 of these Akito enclosures (4 drives each) and they work great. One may seem like overkill, but they hold HHDs or SSDs and allow you to buy internal drives, installation is 30 seconds.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1273176-REG/akitio_ak_t3q_t3dias_aktu_thunder3_quad_4_bay_storage.html?ap=y&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_vfcBRDJARIsAJafEnFaC9qhgRVH5UBKnI_EGGTEYMAN5lXxQCO34-Z76RnY7t9QeoOq894aApn1EALw_wcB&smp=y

Or just get their $49 single enclosure (they have a double as well):
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1183441-REG/akitio_ak_sk2_u31as_akt_neutrino_u3_1_storage_enclosure.html


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## Mike Marino (Sep 16, 2018)

musicallyhere said:


> Not any specific reason, do you think there's a big difference between the 850 and the 860?


The 860s are newer (replacing the 850s I believe) and slightly faster. The 860 500gb SSD is on sale over at Amazon for $98 I think?


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## musicallyhere (Sep 16, 2018)

X-Bassist said:


> If you plan on doing orchestral work, you will probably end up with more ssds. I have 2 of these Akito enclosures (4 drives each) and they work great. One may seem like overkill, but they hold HHDs or SSDs and allow you to buy internal drives, installation is 30 seconds.
> https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1273176-REG/akitio_ak_t3q_t3dias_aktu_thunder3_quad_4_bay_storage.html?ap=y&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_vfcBRDJARIsAJafEnFaC9qhgRVH5UBKnI_EGGTEYMAN5lXxQCO34-Z76RnY7t9QeoOq894aApn1EALw_wcB&smp=y
> 
> Or just get their $49 single enclosure (they have a double as well):
> https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1183441-REG/akitio_ak_sk2_u31as_akt_neutrino_u3_1_storage_enclosure.html



Thanks for the suggestion, the Akito single enclosure seems great, especially since I'm looking for something portable. Ideally I would buy the Samsung T5 for its portability, but I was advised it might not be fast enough since I use heavy orchestral samples. If you have used the T5, how do you think it would compare to one samsung evo drive + the akito enclosure?
Thanks a lot!


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## musicallyhere (Sep 16, 2018)

Mike Marino said:


> The 860s are newer (replacing the 850s I believe) and slightly faster. The 860 500gb SSD is on sale over at Amazon for $98 I think?



Thanks, I might buy that instead.


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