[ardour-users] DAW recommendations

[Lars Tobias Børsting]

"Maluvia" <terakuma at imbris.net> writes:

> The raptor seems to be outperforming the 250 gig drive somewhat, so
> maybe between areal density and platter speed the platter speed has
> the edge?

Sequential transfer rate (STR), also referred to as sustained transfer
rate, is a computed from the amount of sectors in a track and the
spindle speed (and many other factors). Six years ago an 18 GB 10k drive
could deliver a max. STR of ~30 MB/s. Today, the fastest 160 GB 7k drive
can boast a max. STR of ~72 MB/s.

> Is there some reason no one makes a 15K rpm pata or sata?  I can't
> seem to find a 10K pata either - is there a physical reason for this?

Western Digital is first and only on the ATA-market with 10k drives. The
reason they don't make a PATA version is market related. As for 15k
ATA-drives, the reason they don't make these is also market
related. Hard drive manufactureres tend to make SCSI drives faster in
other ways as well as the spindle speed, knowing that they are targeting
a market where customers are more concerned with all sides of
performance, not just the STR.

The 74 GB Raptor drives have a maximum STR of ~71 MB/s.  The fastest 15k
SCSI drive today has a max. STR of ~97 MB/s whereas the fastest 10k SATA
drive (Raptor 150 GB) sports a max. STR of ~88 MB/s. The SCSI interface
can handle up to 320 MB/s, and the devices may be daisy chained, so one
controller can support several drives.

Check out www.storagereview.com for more information and performance
reviews.

> I've heard they also run hot ...

They do get hot, but so do many 7k drives. Anyway I'd recommend to have
cooling solutions for the drives. This could mean an extra fan (with
good external fresh air supply) just to get some airflow or special heat
sinks with heat pipes and whatnot. I feel more comfortable knowing my
drives aren't overheating, regardless of their spindle speed... ;-)

> ... and rather noisy.

The thing about noise is that it's a subjective matter. Two people will
possibly have very differing perceptions of which sounds they find
irritating. Anyway, the idle noise from 15k drives varies from ~45-50
dB/A measured at a 3 mm distance, according to some test I have read,
while 7k drives make ~40-45 dB/A @ 3 mm.

Consider rubber mounts to minimize ressonance with the case. Use special
HDD bays or thick regular rubber bands in the 5½" drive bays. Also,
there are special noise-reducing computer cases (i.e. the one from
Zalman).

-- 
Regards,

Lars Tobias