External hard drives for music production

Music production software, like most other applications, can take up a lot of space on your computer. The countless plugins and samples you need when creating music will also gobble up your storage space, just like high-quality music files and tracks. Below, we’ll highlight the best reasons why external hard drives or SSDs are vital for music production. We’ll also take a look at which factors you should look for in an external SSD that can help you the most, so you can spend more time creating.

Want to know the differences and benefits between SSDs and hard drives? Visit our article SSD vs HDD: Know the Difference.

External SSDs are super important for any creative venture, especially during live performances. For one thing, having portable storage can help give you peace of mind if your device fails during a show. The portable nature of external SSDs is also useful in the studio. File management and  organizational best practices are integral skills for music production but can be difficult habits to master. Having an SSD can aid your organizational skills and help you stay on top of what you need access to, both in the studio and in the field. 

Having a working drive and a backup drive is the best practice for every stage of music production. This will give you the peace of mind you need in the event of a drive crash or file corruption. 

So why choose an external SSD for your backup drive? There are several benefits, but one is the portable nature of an external drive. It can be transported between devices, stored offsite, or even placed in a safe to ensure that lost or stolen equipment or system crashes will not be as devastating. Replacing equipment sucks, but trying to redo hours of work? That might be impossible. Being able to restore all your files from an external drive will give you the peace of mind you need in case the worst happens to your computer.

There are several aspects to consider when looking at external SSDs for enhancing your music production. First is storage capacity. It’s no secret that recorded sessions, tracks, plugins and samples will take up a lot of storage. The right external drive will offer enough capacity to store your current projects and those you’ll be storing in the foreseeable future. 

Are you producing music on the road? Then durability is a must.. Even though you can find portable hard drives on the market, the nature of these devices – with moving arms and spinning platters – makes them fragile. Do you really want to risk that once-in-a-lifetime live recording on a storage device that will fail if you drop it? Choosing an external SSD takes away this particular worry. With an SSD, the technology is inherently more durable, meaning bumps, turbulence, vibration and even drops shouldn’t affect the data on your drive. 

Let’s not forget about speed. No one wants to spend all night waiting for data transfers. With a fast external SSD, even large files can be transferred in minutes. 

When performing or DJing, it’s important to be able to load up large quantities of music quickly and seamlessly so you’re ready for any performance demands. Having a fast SSD with tons of space will help you get to the files you need as fast as possible. Reliability is another key factor when you’re performing live. Having your entire set derailed by bad tech would be embarrassing and bad marketing for your next gig, so it’s vital to choose a high-quality SSD for the music library you use during live performances.

The Crucial X10 Pro provides both stability and fast performance to help keep your live sets tight and your in-studio production run smooth and efficiently. With sustained read/write speeds up to 2,100/2,000MB/s, the X10 Pro is amazingly fast, and shouldn’t slow down as it fills up. It’s also water, dust and sand resistant, which means your files will be safe even if the vibe is Burning Man or Coachella-esque! With capacities up to 4TB, the X10 Pro gives you plenty of space for all of the projects you can create for years to come.

Need a more budget-friendly option? Consider the Crucial X9. Like the X10 Pro, it is especially small for an SSD (65 x 50). But it still packs a punch, with speeds up to 7.5x faster than most traditional HDDs. The Crucial X9’s durability is impressive too. It is not only shock, vibration and extreme temperature resistant, it can also survive drops up to 7.5 feet without damage to your music files. 

No matter what you need from an external SSD for your music production, you’ll find it from Crucial’s impressive portfolio of external SSDs.

Crucial memory and storage options are the perfect solution for a range of creative tasks, whether professional or hobbyist. Check out our top picks for creatives along with great tips on compatibility, installation and a variety of use cases. We also have articles on the benefits of NVMe SSDs for creatives, and portable SSDs for photographers.

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