[Ross Norton]

hi Dave,

Not that I use USB connections for media drives, but in case it seems that USB2 (480 mbps) is marginally faster than FireWire 400 (400 mbps), the key term that Rafael and Walter have used is _sustained_ transfer rate.

USB2 can hypothetically reach transfer speeds of up to 480 megabits per second (divide by 8 for megaBYTES per second), only in short bursts.

As far as stability and speed go, I can vouch that the Sonnet SATA PRO ExpressCard/34 adapter
https://sonnettech.com/product/temposataproexpress34.html
gives my MacBook Pro screaming fast media drive access speeds.

I’ve been putting various SATA drives (typically Seagate 7200 RPM units) into inexpensive eSATA + USB2 cases (usually Vantec), but next time I’m going to get Vantec’s new removable HD “toaster”
https://vantecusa.com/front/product/view_detail/372
and stop the rat’s nest of power supplies and housings.

Not sure if I can use this unit in a RAID configuration, but if not I’ll buy 2 and be done with housings for the forseeable future.

For the budget-minded, there’s the Calvary Hurricane 1TB external eSATA/USB unit for only $149., though of couse one has no idea what drive is inside:
https://accessories.dell.com/sna/products/System_Drives/productdetail.aspx?c=ca&l=en&cs=cadhs1&sku=A2339781

best,

Ross

[Ross Norton]

Thanks Bill, have done that – now running grading in Color and hope to see heck of a lot faster encoding in Compressor tonight.

If this turns out to be so, I think it shows a weakness in Compressor, in that it would be a great deal slower than FCP in converting 32 kHz sound to 48 kHz sound.