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Post by Johnkenn on Jul 28, 2019 8:51:04 GMT -6
Thinking about getting a new one. Of course, the upcharge for the bigger SSD’s is enormous. I currently have a 512 boot drive and a 256 in my current Mac mini...and then an external 512 SSD and big 4TB physical HD.
So what is my best course of action if and when I get the new one? I don’t really want to clone over the old boot drive because - well, when I turn it on, I don’t want it to look exactly like the old one lol. Can I add the second drive internally? Or is it not user configurable anymore? Also - same question with RAM.
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Post by tasteliketape on Jul 28, 2019 9:25:08 GMT -6
I just bought a refurbished Mac mini from Apple saved around 400$ if I bought the same mini new. But from what I read was the hard drive is not replaceable. So buy what you need . The ram you can upgrade. Owc for one shows the ram on there website and much cheaper than Apple of course. .
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Post by the other mark williams on Jul 28, 2019 12:25:21 GMT -6
RAM is possible to upgrade (though not as easily as on, say, an iMac). The SSD is not user-upgradable. Well, maybe if you’re a cowboy.
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Post by popmann on Jul 28, 2019 13:04:10 GMT -6
You can NOT....I posted about it when the topic first came up--because I said what a cool unit it would be for a home studio if you could buy a SSD from them sized for samples where it functionally matters....and then add a SATA larger one via some interlay connector. No one seemed to think this was a good idea for non tech reasons....and so I had to look it up myself.
It can not be. So, I built a new PC. There is no SATA connector inside the new line of hex core minis.
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Post by kcatthedog on Jul 28, 2019 14:24:06 GMT -6
I saw a reference recently that Apple was lowering its pricing on upgrading the ram and ssd. There is a video online showing you how to upgrade I think the ssd and ram yourself?
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Post by BenjaminAshlin on Jul 28, 2019 15:24:05 GMT -6
I saw a reference recently that Apple was lowering its pricing on upgrading the ram and ssd. There is a video online showing you how to upgrade I think the ssd and ram yourself? Only the Ram on the new Mini. SSD is soldered to the logic board.
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Post by Johnkenn on Jul 28, 2019 16:03:44 GMT -6
Total bummer. Do they make Thunderbolt sleds for SSD drives?
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Post by clumsycongregation on Jul 28, 2019 17:12:03 GMT -6
Total bummer. Do they make Thunderbolt sleds for SSD drives? yes. You really don't need an enormous internal drive. I bought the new Mini with 500 GB drive. It's totally sufficient. I use External SSDs with USB-C enclosures, bought from amazon for under $20. I love the mini! After almost 10 years on Hackintosh it's a huge comfort...and VERY stable/fast. have fun.
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Post by BenjaminAshlin on Jul 28, 2019 17:16:23 GMT -6
Total bummer. Do they make Thunderbolt sleds for SSD drives? Sure do. USB 3 is fine for individual drives. If you have multiple drives a thunderbolt caddy/enclosure might be worth the investment.
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Post by popmann on Jul 28, 2019 17:56:25 GMT -6
Total bummer. Do they make Thunderbolt sleds for SSD drives? Sonnet made one when I was shopping--but I just looked and it's discontinued. I think the "need" for internal storage is a disconnect between audio and MIDI productions. A nice external USB3 drive has never been an issue handling audio sessions....and a good bit of mine would be HD. Virtual instruments, though...if they can't complete their NOT buffered disk access in the time of the process buffer, you get an "over". Their polyphony is tied to the random read/access times of drives, which when you ADD an OSX level USB stack...well, it just ADDS that...you can often balance it some by using more RAM. But, I think that's the disconnect. Audio doesn't need internal drive access. Hopefully another company has picked that idea up. I seem to remember seeing some kind of contraption ina Spitfire Audio demo--bunch of SATA SSDs all plugged up to something that I would assume had to be Thunderbolt to an iMac.
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Post by mulmany on Jul 28, 2019 18:07:02 GMT -6
Total bummer. Do they make Thunderbolt sleds for SSD drives? I am running a dual drive Tbolt enclosure from OWC.
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Post by Blackdawg on Jul 28, 2019 19:22:13 GMT -6
The new on is thunderbolt 3. So a 40Gb/sec buss Lane. That is huge and way more than any audio drive or sample library needs. You could chain together 5external enclosures on one buss alone or more and be fine. (Assuming the hardrive array can keep up for what you're doing. Again, for audio you'll be fine with standard speed setups)
That is the beauty of thunderbolt.
I'd get a 256 internal...maybe a 512. And just use external storage for literally everything else.
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Post by wiz on Jul 28, 2019 21:34:34 GMT -6
I run my System disk for my iMac on externalSSD USB drive.... way faster than the internal.
Only issue, I cant upgrade to Mojave from High Sierra because of the disk format.
Cheers
Wiz
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Post by kcatthedog on Jul 28, 2019 22:00:14 GMT -6
I know a couple of people running mini’s and they bought the internal ssd really focusing on it being the system drive and cost,took advantage of the larger ram options for their vi needs and added external drives.
They are very happy and have very powerful, fast and stable systems: Drew at UA has been running one for about 3/4’s of a year now I think ?
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Post by Bat Lanyard on Jul 28, 2019 22:29:33 GMT -6
Total bummer. Do they make Thunderbolt sleds for SSD drives? yes. You really don't need an enormous internal drive. I bought the new Mini with 500 GB drive. It's totally sufficient. I use External SSDs with USB-C enclosures, bought from amazon for under $20. I love the mini! After almost 10 years on Hackintosh it's a huge comfort...and VERY stable/fast. have fun. 2nd this. Bought the base Mini earlier this year to run Logic (moving from PT 11.3 on another 2012 Mini) and haven't had an issue whatsoever. 256GB internal SSD, 8GB RAM, i5. Even with the space needed for plugins, UA software, etc., only about 50GB of SSD is consumed at this point. Everything else is on externals including backup. Works like a champ.
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Post by ragan on Jul 28, 2019 22:36:48 GMT -6
I've been strongly considering the Mini for my next studio rig.
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Post by popmann on Jul 28, 2019 22:48:57 GMT -6
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Post by jampa on Jul 28, 2019 23:25:58 GMT -6
I have a 256 GB recent Mac Mini - probably using half storage atm with two albums in progress
Once complete, I move sessions to an external drive, freeing up space
I would have no reservations having external drives permanently attached to it
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Post by guitfiddler on Jul 28, 2019 23:40:24 GMT -6
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Post by Johnkenn on Aug 1, 2019 10:07:56 GMT -6
I was just thinking about cloning my current startup drive over...which I think it approaching 250GB. But maybe it's best to just start over. Ugh.
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Post by adamjbrass on Aug 1, 2019 10:13:20 GMT -6
I just configured a new Mac Mini 6-core with 32GB ram, running an HDX system in a sonnett PCie chassis (TB2) using a TB2-to-USB-c adapter. I spec'd a 1TB internal drive, but also added a 1TB USB-C (USB 3.1) Glyph Drive (Atom SSD) and I had over 200 minutes of 96K/24 with 34 inputs on that drive. Slamming good.
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Post by indiehouse on Aug 1, 2019 11:10:14 GMT -6
I was just thinking about cloning my current startup drive over...which I think it approaching 250GB. But maybe it's best to just start over. Ugh. Considering how much software, plugins, VI's I have installed, the thought of redownloading and reinstalling everything sounds painful. I did that once, and it sucked. It's a lot of work and sunk time. If it were me, I'd clean up my existing drive and just clone it.
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Post by indiehouse on Aug 1, 2019 11:11:17 GMT -6
On the other hand, the thought of a clean slate is tempting.
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Post by Blackdawg on Aug 1, 2019 13:42:26 GMT -6
I just configured a new Mac Mini 6-core with 32GB ram, running an HDX system in a sonnett PCie chassis (TB2) using a TB2-to-USB-c adapter. I spec'd a 1TB internal drive, but also added a 1TB USB-C (USB 3.1) Glyph Drive (Atom SSD) and I had over 200 minutes of 96K/24 with 34 inputs on that drive. Slamming good. Sonnet makes a 1u chassis that is TB3 for the new mini btw.
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Post by adamjbrass on Aug 1, 2019 15:04:04 GMT -6
I just configured a new Mac Mini 6-core with 32GB ram, running an HDX system in a sonnett PCie chassis (TB2) using a TB2-to-USB-c adapter. I spec'd a 1TB internal drive, but also added a 1TB USB-C (USB 3.1) Glyph Drive (Atom SSD) and I had over 200 minutes of 96K/24 with 34 inputs on that drive. Slamming good. Sonnet makes a 1u chassis that is TB3 for the new mini btw. Cool, but HDX firmware does not yet work with TB3
Are you refering to the xMac Mini Server rack? Looks pretty cool. Seems it operates on TB2, which could have worked with HDX. I will look into this for the next rig I build around the Mini
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