External hard drive for expanding iTunes library?

I just felt up the G-Drive and she's runninq cool. A few degree above my room temperature which is 66 F.

Mine runs very cool as well. The only criticism I have of the drive is the noise level.

Just in case anyone is interested, I called up G-Tech Customer Support and asked some questions about the drive. Of potential interest to Agon members, this is what they said:

1. The drive noise is due to the five platters, which are spinning at the same time. For a comparable hard drive from another company, the drive would be even louder because it would have a fan.

2. As I expected, they said the G-Mini drive, which is similar to a laptop drive, is much quieter than the 500 gigabyte G-Drive.

3. I asked if there were any ways to reduce the noise. As expected, they advised against putting it in an enclosure, due to potential overheating.

4. They were surprised I was so concerned about this and asked if I was using it in a recording studio. I should have just said yes, but I explained that I was using it in a listening room.

5. They don't have specifications on db levels for different drives.

6. So, I didn't learn much that I didn't already know. However, I could try getting a long cord and moving it farther away from the listening position.

Mark

For reviews of noise levels for various drives, check out www.silentpcreview.com. The comments on silentpcreview are consistent with what I've been saying. If you want a 500GB external drive, then it isn't going to be silent, even if it is fanless. It seems misleading, but silent to audiophiles is much different than silent or quiet in the computer products field. The quietest 3.5" drives appear to hover around 30dbA@1m, while the quietest 2.5" drives (laptop-sized drives) can be below 20dbA@1m, which is a huge difference. For a quiet drive near the listening position, the 2.5" drives are the best option. However, they max out at 160GB, so if your iTunes library is bigger than 160GB, you'll need to try one of the quieter 3.5" drives (which, for all I know, may include the G-Drive in the 500GB category). If you have a huge iTunes library and you have a wireless setup, then you could set up an iTunes library in another room or in an audio closet, using a cheap used Mac or PC connected to your wireless network.

For near field listening, I'm thinking about buying one of the quietest 2.5" models recommended by silentpcreview and using my G-Drive for backups and videos.

Mark

I’ll toss my 2 cents in.

Like some of you are discovering, HD can be loud. They can make all sorts of sounds, fan sounds, spinning up/down, chirps, beeps, clicks, etc.
I’d like to read the above referenced review on www.silentpcreview.com.
As far as fan cooling/no fan cooling for external HDs, there is no hard and fast rule. I have gone to fanless because I do not want the fan noise and have had no problems thus far. This latter doesn’t mean anything, as ALL drives will fail in time, it’s just a matter of when…so it must be backed up. A fanless vs. fan cooled HD also tells us little: the cooling all depends on how well the fan/ventilation passages/materials/vents have been designed…there’s a lot of very cheap poorly designed enclosures out there (both fan and fanless) and a low quality enclosure can also give up the ghost.

Oftentimes internal HDs will come with a longer warranty than their external counterparts. However (this was pointed out to me recently) do not put too much stake in big warranty claims, ex. ‘5 year warranty’, it will not do you any good anyway after the drive sh**s the bed; as for a warranty replacement HD 5 years from now…think back to the drive you bought 5 years ago (10GB, 20GB, 60GB??) …5 years from now the drive you buy today will be boarderline, if not completely obsolete, based on HD capacity and features in the year 2012…hard to predict the demands of a music library hard drive 5 years from now, and I’d put money that you would not care to replace the HD you are using now, with an identical one 5 years from now.

IMHO RAID is overkill for a music server unless you have $$$ to burn. After you make changes to your music library, just back it up to another 1 or 2 HDs.

I’m ready to step up my iTunes and computer based music server from casual listening to more quality. I too am looking for a HD, a 500GB internal drive, which I will put into a well designed fanless enclosure. If anyone has a recommendation for a QUIET drive (speed isn’t an issue) please do post it.