2. pc-audio
  3. 1259267050

Best Hard Drive and Enclosure for Music Server

I'm going through the muck dealing with a faulty OWC miniStack. It's a great idea since it fits perfectly under a Mac Mini. But I had lots of problems with its connection to the computer dropping. I returned it for repair, they said the controller board failed its tests, replaced it and sent it back. Now the thing is giving me trouble again. The drive just disconnects.

Also just bought a Western Digital 1.5TB Green Caviar drive that's supposed to be really quiet. So far it's so-so. On idle it sometimes has a high pitch that goes away once it's accessing the disc.

Looking for a relatively rock solid solution that's not too noisy. Any suggestions or experiences to share?
cutterfilm
sidssp
1,077 posts
 
I use a pair of Western Digital MyBook Studio Edition 1TB with my Mini (see my system). They are very quiet.
restock
831 posts
 
Macdadtexas.

I don't understand why the noise from a Drobo would bother anything? Mine are in another part of the house.

Another part of the house would be in the bedroom or the bathroom in my 1-bedroom place ;)

The Drobo is otherwise very nice, but if in the same room as the music system my friend's Drobo was loud enough for me to hear while listening to quiet music . It is a bit louder than a fanless hard drive enclosure. The Raid array is hard to beat though.
macdadtexas
1,794 posts
 
Restock, that makes a difference for sure. Apt looks very cool though!!

I had a Raid array, and I found it took a bit more mainenence that I was comfortable with doing myself. It was definitely more cost effective, I had mine in an old desktop enclosure, and networked.

I don't remember it making any noise, but it was in the office in our house too, so.

hgeifman
2,297 posts
 
I am using the Seaport Free Agent Go Pro 500GB external hard drive for my MAC Book pro to store my music files. I have a 2nd Seaport for backup. I have had no problems with either hard drive. I load all my music on the external hard drive. It sounds better if it is on a different controller than the DAC, which means a FireWire hard drive. The Seagate is a portable external drive and has a 2.5" drive inside it. The advantage of this over a bigger external hard drive with a 3.5" drive is that it will be much quieter and it will run off the power provided by the bus. This means you will not need an extra wall plug for the hard drive.

Please see http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?name=ST905003FJA205-RK-fa-gopro-mac-500gb-hd&vgnextoid=13530c1001c11210VgnVCM1000001a48090aRCRD&locale=en-US
dmailer's avatar
dmailer
235 posts
 
I am using two 1tb western digital green enterprise drives in an Icy Dock enclosure. The Icy Dock has a variable speed fan which I keep at the lowest level. It is rather quiet.
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