# Blackmagic Multidock or a Thunderbolt 3 docking station?



## PkCrumbs (Mar 12, 2018)

Hi all!

I'm getting ready to buy an iMac Pro, and I have 4 Samsung Evo's to go along with it. I was planning on getting a Blackmagic Multidock and using the TB2 -> TB3 adapter, but should I be considering a docking station that utilizes TB3 instead? 

Also, I'm stuck in deciding whether to stick with 10 cores for the iMac or if I should spring for the 18. Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Parker


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## khollister (Mar 12, 2018)

I passed on the Multidock and got a Akitio Thunder 3 Mini - TB 3 and has a switch so you can turn the fans off. I also have 4 1TB Evo's in mine and while the drives do get a bit hotter with the fan off, it is not enough to hurt anything. The performance is excellent - no real reduction in speed compared to the same drives in a PC on the Intel SATA6G ports.

The tests I have seen on the Multidock weren't very impressive - the SATA to thunderbolt bridge is slow.

I got the 10 core because of price and concerns about single core speed for CPU intensive instruments.


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## PkCrumbs (Mar 13, 2018)

khollister said:


> I passed on the Multidock and got a Akitio Thunder 3 Mini - TB 3 and has a switch so you can turn the fans off. I also have 4 1TB Evo's in mine and while the drives do get a bit hotter with the fan off, it is not enough to hurt anything. The performance is excellent - no real reduction in speed compared to the same drives in a PC on the Intel SATA6G ports.
> 
> The tests I have seen on the Multidock weren't very impressive - the SATA to thunderbolt bridge is slow.
> 
> I got the 10 core because of price and concerns about single core speed for CPU intensive instruments.



Okay, thanks! I've read some complaints about the Akitio self-ejecting the disks randomly. Have you had any issues with that?


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## khollister (Mar 13, 2018)

only on waking from sleep - my solution is not to sleep the computer but have the display shut off. Flawless otherwise.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Mar 13, 2018)

It really is ridiculous that you have to buy expensive disposable crap to house your computer's drives.

Sorry for grousing rather than being helpful, but really, this is a case (sic) of overdesign being underdesign.


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## PkCrumbs (Mar 13, 2018)

Nick Batzdorf said:


> It really is ridiculous that you have to buy expensive disposable crap to house your computer's drives.
> 
> Sorry for grousing rather than being helpful, but really, this is a case (sic) of overdesign being underdesign.


Ugh, agreed. Also, it's hard to find anything that consistently has above a 3-star rating.


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## PkCrumbs (Mar 13, 2018)

khollister said:


> only on waking from sleep - my solution is not to sleep the computer but have the display shut off. Flawless otherwise.


Okay, cool. Weirdly, I'm looking for it online and nowhere is really selling it right now. Akitio's website directs you to their Amazon page, where they have all their products for sale except this one. It's labeled as "unavailable." A lot of other websites don't have it in stock (but have other Akitio product in stock) or are just sketchy-seeming websites I don't want to buy things from. Maybe they're pulling it in anticipation of an updated version being released?


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## khollister (Mar 13, 2018)

PkCrumbs said:


> Okay, cool. Weirdly, I'm looking for it online and nowhere is really selling it right now. Akitio's website directs you to their Amazon page, where they have all their products for sale except this one. It's labeled as "unavailable." A lot of other websites don't have it in stock (but have other Akitio product in stock) or are just sketchy-seeming websites I don't want to buy things from. Maybe they're pulling it in anticipation of an updated version being released?


I think I got mine from B&H

UPDATE. And I see that B&H and Adorama are both out of stock. Must be a another container load coming from China


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## khollister (Mar 13, 2018)

I see from one of the reviews on Amazon that a user solved the disconnect issue by turning off hard drive sleep. Since my machine is all SSD, I had that switched off anyway.


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## babylonwaves (Mar 16, 2018)

The Akitio Thunder is virtually identical to the OWC Thunderbay Mini. I have one of those since years and never had a problem where the drive unmounts while sleep. And in case you want a fan (although not needed in many environments), i finally found a replacement which is really silent @8.2dB(A): Noctua NF A6x25 FLX


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## Sovereign (Mar 16, 2018)

I would advise against the multidock, it actually has much slower read/write speeds than the Akitio or OWC enclosures.


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## khollister (Mar 16, 2018)

babylonwaves said:


> The Akitio Thunder is virtually identical to the OWC Thunderbay Mini. I have one of those since years and never had a problem where the drive unmounts while sleep. And in case you want a fan (although not needed in many environments), i finally found a replacement which is really silent @8.2dB(A): Noctua NF A6x25 FLX



I think the Thunderbay Mini has been discontinued - the only thing showing on the OWC retail website (macsales.com) is the 3.5" version. The OWC Mini was not a rebadged Akitio either - not sure how the performance compared to the Akitio.

Amazon US does list 2 available from a 3rd party seller but fulfilled by Amazon. B&H says 2-4 weeks and Adorama says backordered. Since there is nothing to the contrary on Akitio's website, I guess it is just a supply-side miscalculation and stock will be forthcoming.

I have had one on 24x7 for several weeks and have had zero disconnect (or any other) issues with the caveat that I have sleep disabled for the iMP and the drives


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## bvaughn0402 (Mar 16, 2018)

I just recently bought a Multidock and it has been working great for me so far.


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## babylonwaves (Mar 16, 2018)

khollister said:


> The OWC Mini was not a rebadged Akitio either - not sure how the performance compared to the Akitio.


interesting. what's the difference? the housing looks the same and the chipset as well.

are we talking about the same?

https://www.akitio.com/portable-storage/akitio-thunder2-quad-mini

versus

https://www.owcdigital.com/products/thunderbay-4-mini


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## artomatic (Mar 16, 2018)

For me, it's the Multidock. The speed issue vs. its competitors is not really an issue for me. It's more than sufficient for what I do. 
No fan, no heat. Reliable. 
Just sits there minding its own business. 
A very happy user here.


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## X-Bassist (Mar 16, 2018)

Also keep in mind there are Akito models that load the drives horizontally:


And vertically (this even has a handle):


But I have not seen one yet that has a switch to turn off the fan. Hmmm.

If you have TB3 on the new machine I would probably go with something that has TB3 or USB C, which can work with a simple cable adapter at practically the same speeds.


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## khollister (Mar 16, 2018)

babylonwaves said:


> interesting. what's the difference? the housing looks the same and the chipset as well.
> 
> are we talking about the same?
> 
> ...



The Akitio T3QM loads the drives horizontally, not vertically and has an external fan switch on the back among other things.


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## khollister (Mar 16, 2018)

X-Bassist said:


> Also keep in mind there are Akito models that load the drives horizontally:
> 
> 
> And vertically (this even has a handle):
> ...




The TB3 version has a fan switch. Even comes with a short TB3 cable


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## babylonwaves (Mar 16, 2018)

khollister said:


> The Akitio T3QM loads the drives horizontally, not vertically and has an external fan switch on the back among other things.


the one i was referring to has no switch. but yes, the driveways are oriented differently.


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## scottu (Mar 16, 2018)

I've been able to torture test my Multidock with a full orchestral palette running at 24/96 and no real issues with disk access. I love it. I'm planning to get a second one in the near future. 

Plus, you know, pretty flashing lights...


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## holywilly (Mar 16, 2018)

https://www.atechflash.com/blackjet-ux1

This one is similar to BlackMagic Multidock, and it only has 2 SSD slots.


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## JJP (Mar 16, 2018)

I like my Mutidock. It's silent. I have no problems with throughput. I just works. It's like my old Unitor8. It sits in the rack and does its job without me having to think about it. I hope it lasts as long as my Unitor8.

Edit: It probably won't last that long. Tech changes too quickly now.


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## jmauz (Mar 16, 2018)

You could build a hackintosh. Save thousands of dollars and all this talk about how to connect your SSD's would be moot. I have 5TB of SSD in both of my machines and they work flawlessly. 10-12 hours a day of composing with a 1000+ track template and never a hiccup.


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## tmhuud (Mar 16, 2018)

The BlackJet looks interesting. Thanks for posting that. I hav two BlackMagic docks and am getting a third this week. I had to hack into them though to put in a power switch but its worth it. But TB3 sure looks tasty. (unfortunately trash cans don't support TB3 AFAIK)


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## Soundhound (Mar 17, 2018)

I have two multidocks, and getting to the point where I want to start getting 2tb drives instead of another multidock. 

The problem is the cost of 2tb ssds are very expensive. It would be like buying another multidock every time I get another drive. Hoping that 2 tb ssd prices will start falling someday soon. But I'm not holding my breath


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## Josh Richman (Mar 18, 2018)

I have 5 multidocks now and love’em so far. I’m glad to hear others still enjoying theirs. I experienced 1 faulty thunderbolt cable that would randomly disconnect, but once diagnosed and swapped out no issues. I would agree silent, cool, and just does it’s job.


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## X-Bassist (Mar 27, 2018)

The Thunderbolt 2 Akitos have now been discontinued from amazon. Such a bummer, great boxes. Now I'm off to search ebay. 

Edit: Many are going for double the price now! Still found one place on ebay selling them for a reasonable price- snagged the last two! Adramada on ebay still has a few if you're interested. But I'm sure the T3 versions will remain.


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## khollister (Mar 28, 2018)

X-Bassist said:


> The Thunderbolt 2 Akitos have now been discontinued from amazon. Such a bummer, great boxes. Now I'm off to search ebay.
> 
> Edit: Many are going for double the price now! Still found one place on ebay selling them for a reasonable price- snagged the last two! Adramada on ebay still has a few if you're interested. But I'm sure the T3 versions will remain.



I'm sure 95% of the TB market is Mac and since all the iMac's and MacBooks are now TB3, I'm not surprised at discontinuing the TB2 versions. The only market would likely be folks who have recently bought a 2nd hand older Mac.


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## artomatic (Mar 28, 2018)

Just bought another Multidock 2. The 2TB SSDs are still too expensive. I have extra 1TBs so I needed more slots. It's been working great.


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## X-Bassist (Mar 29, 2018)

khollister said:


> I'm sure 95% of the TB market is Mac and since all the iMac's and MacBooks are now TB3, I'm not surprised at discontinuing the TB2 versions. The only market would likely be folks who have recently bought a 2nd hand older Mac.


 True. For me I waited to get an MP, new but heavily discounted. Picked up 2 Akitios to hold 3 ssd’s and 1 hd in each. Just set them up today and I have to say- all metal heavy duty case is well made with solid connections. The fan is quiet and I can’t think of a better way to get 8 drives in such a small space (about 10”x12”x7” for both Akitios). Thanks for the tipoff guys.


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## keyman_sam (Nov 11, 2018)

I’m considering purchasing a multi dock for the new Mac mini. 

For 2 drives, does it hold any advantage over buying 2 external ssd enclosures like this one? 

Plan is to have one for audio, one for samples. Potentially a third for videos or omnisphere.


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## Wunderhorn (Nov 16, 2018)

For those who want a cheaper solution take a look at "RocketStor RS5212" - dual bay with no stupid fans for around $140. It doesn't look particular pretty but it does the trick. OWC offers a similar one for $250 with the difference that it can be daisy-chained. I have one of each. They are solid. Another advantage is that you can also put in regular hard drives.


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## OleJoergensen (Nov 16, 2018)

Even I think the multidock is overpriced and the max total read speed is only around 700 MB/s on Thunderbolt 2, Im happy about it. Used it for 2 years, no problems. 3 drives for ssmples and 1 drive for Logic and and finale files.


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## scoringdreams (Nov 16, 2018)

Why use Thunderbolt 2 when you are using an iMac Pro with Thunderbolt 3? Not sure about speed, but it should definitely be faster, and there's the thing about not needing an adapter (TB2 to 3).

OWC has some interesting TB3 docks. I use an AKiTiO Thunder3 Quad mini and I think it works perfectly fine for me; with the option to turn off the fan as well.

Oh and, regarding the specs, 10 cores might be more than enough; but it's always wiser to max out the specs of an Apple product. It all depends on your needs.


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## Cowtothesky (Nov 16, 2018)

I just bought a multidock about 3 months ago and I couldn't be happier. The speed difference from tb2 to tb3 wasn't a deal breaker for me. It is rocket fast compared to what I was using (HD). I like the simplicity of it and it works well with my setup, latest version iMac Pro. So far, so good.


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## scoringdreams (Nov 16, 2018)

Cowtothesky said:


> I just bought a multidock about 3 months ago and I couldn't be happier. The speed difference from tb2 to tb3 wasn't a deal breaker for me. It is rocket fast compared to what I was using (HD). I like the simplicity of it and it works well with my setup, latest version iMac Pro. So far, so good.



What's good is that the Blackmagic multidock can be rack-mounted. Makes it portable in a way. If only they release a TB3 version w USB-C compatibility.

I haven't tried TB2 docks myself, can't really say much on the speed.


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## keyman_sam (Apr 16, 2019)

I bit the bullet and bought the multidock 3 used. Then, of course this happens:
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicmultidock

Sigh..
Anyways, it works well. Omnisphere is blazing fast on an 840 EVO SSD. Instant-load. Honestly I don't know if the 10G would even matter..

I was hoping for a 4-unit NVMe USB-C solution from Blackmagic. Now, that would have been something..


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## KMA (Apr 16, 2019)

keyman_sam said:


> I bit the bullet and bought the multidock 3 used. Then, of course this happens:
> https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicmultidock
> 
> Sigh..
> ...



Damn, I was wondering when they were gonna release something like this.

Given that there are some who would argue that the Thunderbolt 2 interface was more than fast enough already, I'm guessing that the lack of NVMe in the 10g isn't something to worry about.


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## keyman_sam (Apr 16, 2019)

KMA said:


> Damn, I was wondering when they were gonna release something like this.
> 
> Given that there are some who would argue that the Thunderbolt 2 interface was more than fast enough already, I'm guessing that the lack of NVMe in the 10g isn't something to worry about.


But the limitation still is on the SATA interface of the SSD, isn't it? I thought only NVMe drives are capable of that insane 2Gb/sec read/write speeds.


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## Symfoniq (Apr 16, 2019)

keyman_sam said:


> But the limitation still is on the SATA interface of the SSD, isn't it? I thought only NVMe drives are capable of that insane 2Gb/sec read/write speeds.



Correct.


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## Virtuoso (Apr 16, 2019)

This one on paper does 1.2GB/s, which you might get close to by running 2 or 3 SSDs in a RAID0.

It's an improvement (I only get around 330-350MB/s from my Multidock 2) but I would have preferred one that could also take M2 SSDs and ran at the full Thunderbolt 3 speed of 40Gb/s.


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## jaketanner (Apr 17, 2019)

PkCrumbs said:


> Hi all!
> 
> I'm getting ready to buy an iMac Pro, and I have 4 Samsung Evo's to go along with it. I was planning on getting a Blackmagic Multidock and using the TB2 -> TB3 adapter, but should I be considering a docking station that utilizes TB3 instead?
> 
> ...



A TB3 dock will ONLY give you ONE extra port, from all that I've seen. Makes no sense, but apparently, there are no multidocks for TB3 yet. I also do not know how running TB2 off a TB3 impacts performance, but couldn't imagine it would too much. The iMac Pro comes with 4, so add the dock and you get 5 total. While a step backwards, getting the TB2 multidock is probably best. 

A studio I set up got a 10 core, but maxed it out with RAM 128gigs...10 cores shows as 20, so that is plenty for just about any application you can think of...but the Ram is ultra important.


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