Hard drive partitioning for optimal digital audio?

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Member Since: Mar 04, 2003

Hello, I'm new here and I recently set up a DAW on a PC running Sonar 2.0XL.

My question is how I should setup up the software for optimal management of the audio files. When I installed Sonar, it set up a directory to store audio in; should I change this directory, put it in a new drive partition, what?

Thanks,

Tyler

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Maniacal Genius
Contributor
Since: Dec 30, 2002


Mar 04, 2003 06:07 pm

TYY, firstly, welcome to the community! I'm assuming that you have only one hard drive in your computer. That being the case, you should leave it as one partition. If you make several partitions (ie. one for OS and Apps, one for audio), your computer will likely have a hard time keeping up the demands of reading system data from one part of the drive and writing aydio to another. I tried several variations on this theme and found it best to just have one partition. The ideal situation would be to have a separate physical drive for OS and Apps and one for Audio. In your case, I believe you will be best off leaving it just as it is. If eventually you get an additional drive for your audio, you can partition that one for easier organization of your files.

I hope that answered your question without too much running off at the keyboard! I tend to do that sometimes...

Member
Since: Nov 19, 2002


Mar 04, 2003 09:06 pm

I wanted to know about this, too. I have two hard drives, and I also use Sonar 2.2 XL. What folder should be on my audio drive? Just the Cakewalk Projects folder? The audio cache folder? The picture cache folder? Both? I don't know!! I'm gonna read the manual because, to be honest, I haven't checked this question out very closely. If anyone knows, I'd like to know, too!!

ed

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Mar 04, 2003 09:42 pm

Sonar 2.2 allows much better file management then before. You can create a folder, or as many folders as you like. I have always created a new folder for each porject and had the audio stored with each project file. It was hard to do before, because you had to rewrite the INI files. Now they give you that option form the get go. You can also choose to move the picture and audio cache files to a seperate drive. I have found that this really adds speed and stability to Sonars use of audio. The chapter pertaining to what you will need is near the end of the book.

If you dont find it let me know and I will walk you through it.

Brother in Christ
Member
Since: Jun 12, 2002


Mar 06, 2003 10:02 am

I can tell you what I have done on my DAW and it made a big difference in how well it transfers data. I but in a second HD. They are dirt cheap these days and a very worthwhile investment from a performance standpoint. I set up a 2GB partition for the first part of the second drive. (D:)The first partition on a drive is on the outer portion of the drive where it moves the fastest. By having a small partition there you can quickly defrag it instead of having to defrag 80 gigs worth of drive. I record one song at a time and then transfer each song to the second partition (E:) once I'm finished with it. I do a quick defrag of the D: drive and I'm ready fot the next tune. I always save my new project in a folder on the D: drive and name it after the song, so when it comes time to move the song to the E: partition, I can simply move the whole folder.

With rebates, I think my 80 gig, 7200RPM HD cost me about $40. You can't get this kind of performance increase that cheaply any other way that I know of. Hope this helps.

Blessings, Terry

Member
Since: Mar 04, 2003


Mar 06, 2003 11:24 am

Thanks all for the great suggestions. If I get any dropout issues, I think I'll probably install a second hardrive.


Tyler

Chief Cook and Bottle Washer
Member
Since: May 10, 2002


Mar 06, 2003 08:31 pm

Another little thing you can use is a pull out tray on your audio drive. Hard drives are quite inexpensive these days, and then when the drive is full you can pluck it and have an archive on the drive. Pop in a new one and off you go! I work with a few bands very frequently and keep an HD for each. Real easy to organize.

Member
Since: Nov 19, 2002


Mar 08, 2003 04:32 am

Thanks, fellas. I'm still a little unclear about the whole thing. In Sonar, I do use the per-project folders, but that's just where the stuff is stored, I think. I want to know about where the audio is streaming to. I assume it's the folder that I set up in options>global>folders(?), which is on my D drive.There are two folders on my D drive. The audio cache and the picture cache. Does the picture cache have to be there with the audio cache, or can I stick the picture cache on my C drive?

ed

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Mar 08, 2003 07:15 am

I am pretty sure you can scatter those folders all over if you want to, as long as it has it's own paramater in that option dialog box. However, scattering them around might decrease performance a little...not sure tho, let us know if you do find that.

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Mar 09, 2003 08:23 pm

Yep, I keep it all on one drive. It doesnt seem to make that big a differance, but it made enough to be noticable. And as Walt stated, the remobovable bays are the Kats Meow. I have been using them for years. It sure beats burning CDs everytime you want to archive something. I have 3 removables in my studio box, and my kids even have one in their game box. I plan on loading the older box I am building to run my SampleCell card in with 5 of em. And then the box will alos have 3 non-removable drives,one of which will run just the OS. It will act as a server for the studio to store stray audio and sample files and such.

Brother in Christ
Member
Since: Jun 12, 2002


Mar 10, 2003 10:08 am

Something to keep in mind, is that "folders" have nothing to do with where data is actually stored on the drive. They simply make if convenient for you to find them. Data is written to a drive in the next availible space it can use. If there are spaces created by deleting files, then parts of a single file can be written to two or more spots on the drive. This is why defragging is so important. You can't tell a computer where to record something on the actual hard drive by putting it in a particular folder. Putting files in folders, just make it easier for you to find them. It does not change data transfer at all.

However, if what you are interested in, is keeping things where you can find them, then before you start a new project, use the "save as" feature and save the song in a new folder named something you will recognize. The app should then save all new wave files, recorded in that song, to that folder.

Blessings, Terry

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