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which external hard disc for music storage?

i want to store my music uncompressed on an external hard disc and play it via a dedicated ibook (or similar) and external dac through a high-end audio system. can anyone suggest what might be the best external hard disc? looks, price and size apart i guess quietness is key. are there other factors to consider? i have about 400Gb of music to store. are there any relative performance issues in filling a 500Gb disc 80% versus to half fill a 750Gb disc? i am currently considering a fanless LaCie.
garbo
sfar's avatar
sfar
1,765 posts
 

I have one of the "Porsche" designed LaCie external firewire drives and have been very happy with it. It's the quietest external drive I've ever owned and certainly the nicest looking.
thymanst
35 posts
 
The western digital drives I've had have all worked fine - I've had problems with Seagate/Maxtor drives failing(soon after purchase)
sidssp
1,077 posts
 
Get a 750G or 1T. You will fill it up faster then expected. Noise and reliability are the two main issues. LaCie is good but I heard that some of the models (the ones designed by F.A. Porsche and shape like an aluminum brick) have overheating problem. I like the older Seagates. They are quiet and reliable. The newer FreeAgent series are just as good but Seagate added a strip of amber light running from the top of the case to the bottom, very distracting because it is bright and it blinks.
cwlondon
1,210 posts
 
I have also had good luck with the Porsche Design drives by LaCie.
tiger
313 posts
 
The larger the drive, greater is the chance of disaster. I think anything over 500G/7200rpm is risky. Better to start an array, in a cabinet that can support at least eight drives. These cabinets are not that expensive and you can add drives as you expand your music collection. Do compressed backups to a spare 750 drive. Like financial investments, best to 'not put your eggs' in one basket.
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