Serato Video General Discussion

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 Serato Video General Discussion
connection type...usb, firewire, thunderbolt...what u use?
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connection type...usb, firewire, thunderbolt...what u use?

tomatoslice 11:47 PM - 10 March, 2012
i was speaking with someone earlier today about connection types.
one thing they mentioned was that they thought they were getting a great connection with firewire 400 but then realized that usb 2.0 was 480mbit/s.
firewire 400 being 400mbit/s seems worse.
not one to debate something i knew nothing about i did not argue.
so later i looked up some info.

USB 2.0 has a faster max speed than FW 400, but FW is capable of reaching 400mbps and sustaining it, where as USB 2.0 speed will go up and down.
USB data has to travel through the CPU, where as FW is totally independent. So for large file transfers, FW is overall faster and puts less load on your computer.

although while Vjing we are not transferring files we are exchanging data between comp and external hd. i think i'd rather have that data going over firwire than hogging up my cpu.

i am finding it increasingly difficult to find firewire 800 drives and enclosures, besides the go flex.
does anyone have recommendations?
and is the tech release on thunderbolt drives yet?
what u use?
popnwave 11:53 PM - 10 March, 2012
I'll go thunderbolt next time I upgrade my MacBook and I've decided to keep my OWC firewire 800 drive as backup for now. I do prefer the internal drive option first and foremost though. I really don't like an extra set of wires to worry about if I can help it.
djnak 3:09 AM - 11 March, 2012
Im stuck on the wd my books, some people bitch about them but they have been rock solid for me and I have 3 2Tb my books and 2 4Tb my book externals all have esata firewire 800 and usb...and the drives are hot swapable
next mbp upgrade ill probably start upgrading the drives to thunderbolt.No real reason too but faster is always better right? lol
phatbob 3:17 AM - 11 March, 2012
I'm all internal for DJing, but I'd definitely stick to FireWire for DJing if I was using externals.

Really hope the Thunderbolt ecosystem starts getting some proper support soon, because there's no way I'm paying the kind of prices demanded for Thunderbolt drives at the moment.
carter 3:55 AM - 11 March, 2012
Have 2 OWC enclosures with quad interface, one 2.5 and one 3.5. Both have been great and have swapped drives in and out of them as my collection has grown.
DJMark 9:05 PM - 11 March, 2012
Quote:
i was speaking with someone earlier today about connection types.
one thing they mentioned was that they thought they were getting a great connection with firewire 400 but then realized that usb 2.0 was 480mbit/s.
firewire 400 being 400mbit/s seems worse.
not one to debate something i knew nothing about i did not argue.
so later i looked up some info.

USB 2.0 has a faster max speed than FW 400, but FW is capable of reaching 400mbps and sustaining it, where as USB 2.0 speed will go up and down.
USB data has to travel through the CPU, where as FW is totally independent. So for large file transfers, FW is overall faster and puts less load on your computer.


Yep. This all mattered a lot more back in the dark ages of much-less-powerful CPUs (the G3/G4 era), but is still a factor for "high load" and "long-term sustained" use...both of which are of course very much the case for video DJ-ing.

The other big advantages of Firewire:

1) much more bus-power available than USB
2) much more flexibility with cable lengths
3) ability to daisy-chain multiple devices on one FW bus (though sometimes with unpredictable results).

Thunderbolt is for all practical purposes really in "beta" form now (much like Firewire was in the late 90's), and the next implementation will be supposedly about as twice as fast as the current version.
DJLRock 7:53 PM - 12 March, 2012
USB is a shared bus so the more USB connections the slower the speed. If you are running external for video you probably wanna stay at fw800 at the minimum.
Code:E 9:38 PM - 12 March, 2012
option 2.

eshop.macsales.com

plus a 2nd drive (lets say another 750gb) internally. :) now you ask what about my superdrive for the 1 in million chance i cant just download some software i wanna install or a person shows up a gig im playing and needs me to play a track off a cd.

BAM!
eshop.macsales.com
You buy that. :)


Option 3 already discussed. (And i think this future proofs you more)

If you need a ridiculous amount of space. www.lacie.com

Or if you dont.

www.lacie.com


Option 2 is cheaper though and what i just ordered on friday. i recently ran out of harddrive space and between all of the other MIDI devices and controller i setup i dont want to add an extra harddrive to setup also. So option 2 works better for me.
Joee 11:54 PM - 12 March, 2012
3tbs firewire usb & esata -------> eshop.macsales.com

i use this drive works flawless
Code:E 1:09 AM - 13 March, 2012
If only it had usb 3 and thunderbolt it would be "THE WORLDS MOST AMAZING DRIVE". But it still looks pretty bad ass.
Joee 1:29 AM - 13 March, 2012
Quote:
If only it had usb 3 and thunderbolt it would be "THE WORLDS MOST AMAZING DRIVE". But it still looks pretty bad ass.

you guy's are looking for a thunderbolt drive! if your using a thunderbolt drive you won't be able to do video wright? doesn't that port double as the mini display output?
skinnyguy 1:32 AM - 13 March, 2012
thunderbolt hub.
skinnyguy 1:32 AM - 13 March, 2012
or passthru.
Code:E 1:33 AM - 13 March, 2012
all thunderbolt drive have an thunderbolt output for the video.
Joee 1:38 AM - 13 March, 2012
Quote:
all thunderbolt drive have an thunderbolt output for the video.

so i would output from my hard drive to my screen, i did not know this, i might have to look into a thunderbolt drive as well

but do i really need it? firewire 800 is working great for video, or at least it was, using a 62 no more video for me till serato video comes out
Code:E 3:31 AM - 13 March, 2012
Quote:
so i would output from my hard drive to my screen,

Yes.

Quote:
but do i really need it? firewire 800 is working great for video, or at least it was, using a 62 no more video for me till serato video comes out


No. If you where new to this (djing VJing) and didnt already own a drive i would say dont buy old tech and a thunderbolt. firewire wont even be offered on the next gen MBP's so thunderbolt will become the new standard.
But for you I say stick with your firewire drive until you need to replace it.
DJMisterE 12:58 AM - 14 March, 2012
thunderbolt will be the superior connection port for a very long time. 1gig per second transfer rate and the drives are daisy-chainable with no drop in speed.
DJCrank 11:07 AM - 16 March, 2012
I owned a Lacie rugged 400/800 and it stopped working so I had to use a 1TB Western digital USB 3 im no computer expert but this thing works better then my firewire. I use the rugged for back up only.
djpuma_gemini 4:50 PM - 16 March, 2012
FW400 is faster than USB 2.0 (overall transfer rate is better than usb 2.0)
FW800 is slower than Esata
Thunderbolt is faster than Esata, but costs a hell of a lot of money)

If you own a macbook pro you should at least have a fw800 drive. Anyone who gets a big ass external with just usb 2.0 is wasting their time and money.
Alixx J 5:52 PM - 16 March, 2012
my FW 800 1TB has worked amazing on video for nearly 2 years, i went through 2 other drives (that burnt out on gigs) before i got to this one! It's a tank and never fails.

I'll be interested to see how well thunderbolt will do with the daisy chaining to HD and screen, not sure how trustworthy it would be.

Even though Esata is the quickest of the old tech, i got really unreliable results with SSL
Alixx J 5:53 PM - 16 March, 2012
Oh, and it's a G-Tech drive i'm using now.
DJCrank 6:50 PM - 16 March, 2012
Quote:
Oh, and it's a G-Tech drive i'm using now.


Is it the one with the metal casing? I know Best Buy has some G-tech drives on clearance for $88.
Alixx J 10:30 AM - 17 March, 2012
Yup all metal casing, that's what's great about it because it gets rid if the heat. I've had western digital, seagate and you coulda fried eggs off those things, cheap plastic.
That's a good deal on the 1tb, I paid £150 when I bought mine. I'd pay the same again though for the quality...
Taipanic 6:27 PM - 19 March, 2012
Quote:
I'll be interested to see how well thunderbolt will do with the daisy chaining to HD and screen, not sure how trustworthy it would be.


I sometimes daisy-chain my Firewire 800 external and my Korg Zero4 mixer (Firewire 400) with no issues.