Re: [microsound] external firewire drives for audio?

[David Kiers <david@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

 sound on sound, feb 2001:

                   
GLYPH X-PROJECT SCSI & FIREWIRE HARD DRIVES



Derek Johnson looks at Glyph's new SCSI and FireWire drives, and
investigates the advantages of dedicated audio storage.

It's said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and if that's
the case then Digidesign must be feeling pretty pleased about Glyph's
X-Project hard drives. Anyone familiar with the look of the recent
(and very successful) Digi 001 digital recording interface will be able to
see where Glyph got their inspiration for the cosmetics of the X-Project
series. And it's hardly surprising that the 1U,
rackmountable X-Projects match the Digi 001, because Glyph see the drives as
ideal adjuncts to the 001 system. However, they also see them as being
suited to anyone else who needs a fast,
reliable, high-capacity solution for direct audio recording.

                   
Overview

The X-Project family comes in two variants, each with a range of disk
capacities. One line of the family is equipped with a SCSI interface (the
large Ultra Wide connector is specified), and the other
comes with a FireWire connector. In the case of the former, three capacities
are available: a single 9Gb or 18Gb drive, or a dual-18Gb model yielding
36Gb total disk space. There are only two sizes for
the FireWire model: 30Gb and dual-30Gb (total 60Gb). All X-Project units
feature 7200rpm drives.

                   
In the case of the SCSI devices, I'm told that the drives are Seagate
Barracudas modified by Glyph to improve access times by up to 23 percent ?
sustained data
                   
transfer rates can be up to 23Mb/second. On the other hand, IBM IDE drives,
again customised by Glyph, are specified for the FireWire X-Projects, and
these are
                   
capable of a sustained throughput of around 15Mb/second. If you're wondering
about the reason for the different mechanisms, it seems that Glyph see the
SCSI
                   
X-Projects as the more professional proposition, hence the 5-year warranty,
whereas the FireWire drives, which are cheaper on a £/Mb basis, are aimed at
semi-pro
                   
users, hence the 3-year warranty. Note that I reviewed these drives attached
to a 450MHz single-processor Apple G4 (384Mb RAM), but that they can also be
used with
                   
PCs.

                   
X-Project drives come bundled with all power and connection leads (including
terminators with the SCSI drives), driver software on CD, rack ears, and
stick-on rubber
                   
feet for those who prefer free-standing use. The drives themselves are even
ready-formatted. What the SCSI drives may need, if you're an owner of a
recent Apple
                   
computer, is a SCSI card of some kind, since this connector has been
banished from the latest Apple generation. And since the Glyph SCSI drives
use Ultra Wide SCSI,
                   
with its larger 68-pin connector, the card will be slightly more expensive
than a standard SCSI card. Luckily, Glyph offer packages based around a
modified Advansys
                   
card that adds only a modest premium to the overall price.

                   
Which X-Project drive you choose depends on you. FireWire saves you the need
to install a controller card and is hot-swappable, plus the
FireWire-equipped units in
                   
this range come with larger hard drives and are cheaper than the SCSI
models. Though the SCSI X-Project drives out-perform the FireWire options in
terms of data
                   
transfer, in practice both drives work perfectly with Digi 001/Pro Tools LE.
Those working with this system and any drive in the X-Project range will
easily manage this
                   
system's 24-track recording/playback, even with edits and fades. Either
drive should also be compatible with software capable of more than 24-track
simultaneous
                   
playback, and there are reports of 32 tracks being no problem with Logic
Audio Platinum, Digi 001 hardware and the X-Project FireWire. However, the
advantages of
                   
the SCSI X-Projects' greater data throughput may be evident on larger
sessions. Other strengths of Glyph's SCSI options may only show over time:
for one thing, SCSI
                   
drives are generally thought of as more robust than IDE drives of the type
specified for the FireWire X-Projects.

                   
X-Project SCSI

                   
The SCSI drive I had for review was the 9Gb model. It was supplied with the
optional Advansys Ultra Wide SCSI PCI card, plus a chunky, good-quality SCSI
cable and
                   
active terminator. There are no controls to concern yourself with beyond an
illuminated power switch and a SCSI ID selector. An LED flashes with drive
accesses. At the
rear are two SCSI connectors ? one of which serves for a through lead or
terminator ? and the power socket.

Anyone who doesn't already have a SCSI host card in their computer will have
to install one before the drive can be
connected. The software needed to allow the computer to talk to a SCSI
device will depend on which card is chosen; in
the case of the Advansys supplied by Glyph, it consists of a system
extension and a little utility.

Once everything was installed, the first thing I noticed was the drive's low
level of fan noise ? Glyph have chosen one of
the quietest I've encountered. The drive itself is well-damped, and the
access noises produced during recording and
playback of audio are refreshingly unobtrusive. The 9Gb model such as the
one I had for review is capable of recording
43 minutes of continuous 24-track audio at 24-bit/48kHz resolution, and
these figures increase for 16-bit/44.1kHz audio. I
had no trouble getting full 24-track performance with the Digi 001.

                   
X-Project FireWire

Physically, the FireWire X-Project is identical to the SCSI model, save for
the FireWire logo near the power switch. It also
has an access LED on the front panel and at the rear, two FireWire
connectors take the place of the other unit's dual
SCSI sockets. Obviously, a FireWire cable is provided, and the user doesn't
need to install any additional hardware. A specific driver isn't required,
though you'll need the latest FireWire drivers for your
OS, and Glyph supply a handy utility/extension combo, El Gato's Disk
Control, which prepares FireWire hard disks for use on the Macintosh ? this
can format, partition and test attached drives.

Once this is installed, following a reboot, everything is ready to go: one
hot-swappable FireWire drive appears on your Mac's desktop.

The FireWire drive I had for testing was a 30Gb model, which can accommodate
up to 144 minutes of continuous 24-track audio at 24-bit/48kHz. Again,
operation was trouble-free and I easily achieved
24-track playback. Self-generated mechanical noise was at a similar level as
for the SCSI model.



                   
Conclusion

What can I say? Thankfully, not a lot, because both drives installed
painlessly, were running in minutes and worked flawlessly, easily providing
the speed and access performance required by the Digi
001/ProTools LE system. Personally, I would gravitate towards the FireWire
drive, for the elegance of the controller card-free operation, but if I had
an older, SCSI-equipped Mac, or wanted the extra
robustness of a SCSI mechanism and the five-year warranty, the SCSI option
would be ideal. Moreover, I hear that a further X-Project variation is on
the way, combining one SCSI and one FireWire drive
in the same package ? it's expected that a 9Gb SCSI/30Gb FireWire
combination will retail for under £600.

Glyph are great evangelists for the practice of keeping dedicated audio
drives outside the host computer, and this makes good sense when you
consider that the insides of a computer are an
electro-magnetic minefield, and that stacking record drives next to system
drives can introduce mechanical interference, as well as causing internal
busses to become overworked. On a more practical
note, if you tend to move between studios or recording setups and need to
take your audio data with you, it's obviously much more convenient to drag
around an easily portable drive such as the
X-Project than a whole computer!

On the subject of price, you can certainly buy extra drives ? even external
ones ? for less than the X-Project family. However, we're not talking
differences of hundreds of pounds, and you wouldn't be
benefitting from Glyph's optimisation of hardware and driver software for
audio recording and playback, nor would you be able to take advantage of the
three- and five-year warranties from a company
dedicated to producing drives for digital audio. The bottom line is that if
you're shopping for an external drive for audio recording, the X-Project
models are a very good bet. They offer approachable
pricing and Glyph reliability for all ? not to mention aesthetic harmony for
owners of Digi 001 hardware!

  information


             See 'Prices' box.

             Global Distribution
             +44 (0)1799 584925.

             +44 (0)1799 584094.

             www.globaldistribution.com
             www.glyphtech.com



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