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External Hard Drive Search Frustration. Help

Finally i am set up with a Mac Mini and am in the end days of a trial with Pure Music. I am really enjoying Pure Music and since realizing how much it brings sonically to the table i decided i better get an external hard drive and start burning discs so i can take advantage of this. Well my oh my, just when i think i have found a drive that it seems it may be suitable i end up finding reviews that keep me from pulling the trigger on it. Think i am going to pull what's left of my hair out as well.... ; O

I am looking for a 1TB drive that is Firewire 800 compatible. Also in searching through searches i had read that perhaps 5400 drives are quieter than 7200's? Also that it may not be necessary to have the higher speed of the 7200 drive's for audio, which is what i am primarily wanting this drive for. Want to pick up two drives and have the other for a back up.

Any suggestions and help are greatly appreciated!
seekburk
seekburk OP
126 posts
 
Thanks guys for the input and suggestions! I really appreciate it.

Mrmb -that Newertech dock looks very interesting and will definitely be investigating that swappable device.

Jax2 -Unfortunately my drives will be quite close to where i will be doing my listening at my desk. Noise is an issue so i have to be careful as i would naturally like to keep it as quiet as possible. Yes backup is critical as i don't want to lose files after taking the time to load my CD collection. I already did that with a my Windows file platform and now can no longer use them for my Mac so i must start from scratch.....ugh! But loving the Mac Mini and it will be worth it : ) thanks again everyone! and Happy New Year to all! : )
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
I already did that with a my Windows file platform and now can no longer use them for my Mac so i must start from scratch.....ugh!
Could you clarify why you "can no longer use them for my Mac." Perhaps there is a way of getting around the issue.

Regards,
-- Al
seekburk OP
126 posts
 
Al -I use to have a PC Windows platform and from my understanding there is no way to use those files in iTunes. Perhaps i am missing something and am totally wrong about this?? Unfortunately that External Drive is USB only and i now am running a USB external DAC and now need to utilize a Firewire External Drive so they don't interfere with one another. That old drive just became obsolete to me for at least the time being it looks like...: \
If anyone knows how i could recover those files and utilize them in iTunes i am certainly all ears....cheers!
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
I would think that you could temporarily connect the USB drive and the new firewire drive to the Mac simultaneously, copy the files from one drive to the other, and set up the copied files on the firewire drive in the iTunes library.

What might be behind your understanding that "there is no way to use those files in iTunes" (on the Mac) is that if the USB drive is formatted with the NTFS file system (as opposed to FAT32), Mac's wouldn't be able to write to that drive (without using certain third party software programs). However, as I understand it Mac's are completely able to read files from NTFS-formatted drives, which would allow you to copy them to the new drive using your Mac.

Regards,
-- Al
seekburk OP
126 posts
 
Thank you Al!!!
Will definitely investigate this. This would save a ton of time re-burning my discs if this in fact is a viable solution. I have about 700gigs of WAV files on the USB drive.
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