# ExFat + Kontakt + OSX still whack? Any workaround?



## curry36 (Aug 4, 2020)

Hey all, 

is there a workaround to make ExFat and Kontakt work fine on OSX? Just being curious why it happens to be no issue on Windows. 

Best regards


----------



## iobaaboi (Aug 4, 2020)

While Microsoft designed the exFAT format to read/write to both Mac and PC, exFAT is not an ideal format for Macs when more demanding operations like sample streaming are concerned. 

I think it working better on the PC side makes sense since it was Microsoft who created it. From what little deeper knowledge I have of it, exFAT lacks performance features likes journaling that Macs utilize. 

Unfortunately, there is no drive format that will give equal performance on Mac and PC.


----------



## curry36 (Aug 4, 2020)

I see. Thanks for your insights. 

How about drivers/extensions to use NTFS on OSX or the other way around? I know that these solutions exist and do work solid, however I have no idea how it would appeal to working with Kontakt. 

Just trying to find the best solution for my Windows focused dual system.


----------



## iobaaboi (Aug 4, 2020)

I’m not sure about those extensions but I can’t imagine them working as well for sample streaming as a Mac format. 

Straight from the mouths of developers I know, there is no way to use the same library drive between a Mac and a PC and have the drive perform at its peak on both systems.


----------



## EvilDragon (Aug 4, 2020)

I've heard great things about Paragon's NTFS driver for Mac.









Microsoft NTFS for Mac | Paragon Software


Boost Your Mac with Paragon File System Link. Read/write Microsoft NTFS files on your Mac for free.




www.paragon-software.com





However, Mac doesn't have problems reading NTFS drives, which is about the only thing you need for sample libraries, really.


----------



## iobaaboi (Aug 4, 2020)

That is true, if you only install samples with your Windows system and read the drive from the Mac, NTFS will work. 

I don’t know how it will compare to native OS X drives performance-wise but from what I just saw regarding EvilDragon’s suggestion, it seems promising. 

“I ran Blackmagic Speed Test to see how NTFS for Mac 14 fared against a native OS X drive. Using a 1TB portable hard drive formatted OS X Extended, Speed Test clocked 104.2 megabytes per second (MBps) read and 104.8 MBps write connected via USB 3.0 on a mid-2012 Retina MacBook Pro. After reformatting as NTFS, that rate increased slightly to 105.7 MBps read and 106.5 MBps write.

In my experience, NTFS for Mac 14 is virtually indistinguishable from using native OS X volumes.”


----------



## curry36 (Aug 5, 2020)

Thanks for your replies! Meanwhile I have been trying APFS on Windows. Unfortunately it was very slow, so I will try the other way around as you guys suggested and report back. 

My results so far when loading 50 GB into RAM: 

APFS on OSX: 1:40
APFS on Windows: 9:10
ExFAT on Windows: 2:40
ExFAT on OSX: 11:05

Looking all the way up to NTFS.


----------



## detritusdave (Aug 5, 2020)

My iMac dual boots between Catalina and Windows 10 (via Bootcamp). My external hard drive is formatted as ntfs, and the Paragon software really does seem to work as if native. Not noticed any slowdowns in the year I've been using it.


----------



## curry36 (Aug 14, 2020)

detritusdave said:


> My iMac dual boots between Catalina and Windows 10 (via Bootcamp). My external hard drive is formatted as ntfs, and the Paragon software really does seem to work as if native. Not noticed any slowdowns in the year I've been using it.



Thanks for your insights. I tried it with NTFS and Tuxera, and the results when loading Kontakt sounds were better than with ExFat, however it also slowed down the read and write speed of the drive. Before, the speed was about 3000 MB/s each, now it's only about 600 MB/s. Still performing better in Kontakt than ExFat working with 3000 MB/s R/W. Strange. I will try out Paragon, maybe it's better programmed than Tuxera.


----------



## EvilDragon (Aug 14, 2020)

Paragon people know their shit, that's for sure.


----------

