Is there any drawback to using a microsd card to store sample libraries like omnisphere's and project files?

Is the read/write slower than the usual 7200rpm set ups?

I'm sure this was looked at in Sound on Sound (can't find the link now, though, sorry), where they found that SD card performance isn't good for this kind of use - even though, on the face of it, it would be convenient and inexpensive.

ive found the read/write (especially the write) on micro sd and usb flash sticks to be a lot slower than between harddisks, so Id say itd be a bit slower for constant use like this. handy for transferring between systems if youre not using huge libraries though

not even remotly possible to stream from these devices

Hey guys,

I am just thinking about the same question. In my case there are no sampler-based samples (no Kontakt, Omnisphere or anything similar), just my collection of sample CDs. So most of the time I just scroll through the files and try to find the files that I like for the current project, and then copy these to my harddrive. Main reason is that I don't want my external USB-HD to be connected all the time, because I like moving around with my Notebook.
So for this case a sd-card would be perfect! Anyone tried this out and could give a feedback?

Cheers, Chris

SD card average transfer rate: 10 mb/s
USB 2.0 average transfer rate: 30 mb/s
USB 3.0 average transfer rate: 100 mb/s
SATA III average transfer rate: 200+ mb/s

You see why SD cards aren't very suitable for that task.

Hello,

The previous reply has nothing to do with real world scenario.
I have a 32GB Adata SDHC card near me, class 10.
Yes the writing speeds are definitely slow: 10-18 mb/s.
But the reading speed always hits 85 mb/s according to blackmagic speed test.
The same for the Transcend 16 Gb SDHC.

Right now I work on mbp retina late 2013.
It has limited storage 256GB ssd, so I used to work with the external hdd from Samsung (D3).

But now i decided to expand the storage, which will always be in my laptop.
I did not want the external hdd, although considered buying SSD and enclosure.
I have decided to buy fast 256GB SDXC card.

I will report in days, when it will arrive, whether it is possible to work with the heavy sampled libraries like cinestrings or omnisphere.

That;s pretty fast reading speeds! I too have a similar issue with a laptop that has too small an SSD for as much as I want to store... not using it as a music production machine (actually just for an online blah blah blah...), but I use SD or MiniSD for storage of stuff like photo's and data etc... It's been ok, and it will play back mp3's etc without much of a hitch, I definitely notice how slow it is when I copy TO it, and its a new 128mbs card with high ratings etc... I can't imagine it working with Kontakt or anything though for sure.... Definitely curious to see what your experiences are! (It might work all right if you are using something like Kontact memory server where you are loading all samples into ram), but I really can't imagine at all it competently playing back multiple tracks of 48k audio or streaming samples... but hey, you are going down in the coal mine, let us know, and best of luck!

I've been using an SD drive (transcend jetdrive and also a third party high spec micro sd) to hold BFD, Superior drums, apple loops and various NI libraries. Most things are fine on this - but I encountered some difficulty with Omnisphere - it worked but was a little slow in a slightly annoying way - so I moved that back to the main drive. I haven't run a session with multiple large libraries running at once from the same drive but have had no problem running superior and BFD together (I know, why would you - just an experiment).

It DOES take a long time to copy to (20-30mb/s at best) BUT its fine for a sample drive - seems to read at 80-90mb/s.

From my early tests it seems to be fine BUT I haven't used it in anger yet...

What about with battery?

the faster (inexpensive) sd cards will match the read speed of a traditional hdd.

Yes, you can do this, and it can work; however, there will be variance in the results. It will depend on the sample size, the amount of RAM, how the DAW/plugin handles sample caching, etc.

You also need a really fast SDXC card, especially reads. Once you write your sample, make sure nothing is trying to write to the same drive, and make sure your OS does not try to put the flash drive to sleep.

Bottom, this is feasible, within limits.

I used to have a Zoom R8 which records to SD cards. For fun I tried recording onto a MicroSD card via an adapter. It worked, but later on the R8 crashed while trying to format it, which didn't happen when I switched back to SD cards. Also formatting the MicroSD cards on the computer seemed less stable too. I don't know the science behind this, but a guy at photography store also told me that the little ones are less stable.

Iv'e found SD cards[the one's that fit the ultra mini card] not very durable,not even half as durable as many USB drives.

sd-cards and usb 3.0 thumb drives with capacities of 128gb and above are still not cheap if you compare to traditional rotating harddrives, but they have the advantage of the very small formfactor.

you can also just buy a 2.5 inch ssd and an external usb 3.0 case, but there the limiting factor is in the ssd to usb controller of the enclosure.

one new product that looks interesting is the "samsung portable ssd t1" - this is interesting because its a samsung ssd with a samsung controller that directly adresses the usb connection in a very small package and the price is surprisingly low as it sits right between the samsung 850 evo and the samsung 850 pro 256gb 2.5 inch ssd. this should also be one of the fastest external storage devices you can find, with read and write speeds up to 450mb/s, besides some more expensive thunderbolt solutions. the only negative thing is the bundeled very short cable, but that can be replaced easily.

peace, rez

what about the class 10, sdxh. I heard those work very well, just like old HDD

Bumping for more recent experiences. Anyone?

Yup. I tried this yesterday with NI Kontakt libraries, to recover a lot of disk space on my 256GB MacBook SSD. Long story short, it worked brilliantly with a 64GB Class 10 Samsung MicroSD card via a generic adaptor I got off Amazon (which was dead cheap but took several weeks to arrive!). I didn't think it would work, but it really did. I moved Berlin, Vienna and New York pianos to the card, plus Scarbee Vintage Keys (all 6GB of it!) and Session Strings: a total of about 17GB. Then all I had to do was point the Kontakt Libraries to each of their new directory locations.

The instruments loaded near-instantly, which I was not expecting.

I tested polyphony and streaming by stacking all the instruments and setting them to MIDI channel one, then holding down the sustain pedal and playing all the notes from the bottom octave to the top. I didn't notice any drop-outs and while the disk meter showed high activity, to begin with, it soon settled down.

Give it a go, I say... with 200GB microSD cards going for about 60-odd quid, it's a lot cheaper than upgrading the internal SSD.

Bumping - as it's been three years since the last comment on this thread, and wondering if modern read/write speeds make keeping your Kontakt libraries etc. on an SD card viable.

I have a 2014 macbook pro which has an SD slot, and it would be great if I could put a 1tb micro sd card in there via one of those flush-adapter things as a semi permanent solution to doubling my memory.

I'm completely out of memory but otherwise really happy with the machine and have no desire to spend cash on a new MacBook any time soon.

imo you're better off getting a portable SDD, sd cards can't be depended on for mission critical data, they're easy to damage, lose and I don't think the quality control is as high as on a decent SDD

Bump agaon. Did you try? I think performance if simply loading samples into Kontakt/RAM off an SD card would be fine, but it might be problematic if samples have to be partly steamed off it, either in preview mode or otherwise. What do you think?

I have a 256GB SD on a Macbook Air, it works just fine. Try to get the ones with the faster read times.

No - haven't tried it as yet. I got so far as purchasing a used 1tb sd card, but it turned out to be fake and therefore ludicrously slow.

You'd think that many people would have tried this, given the silly cost of Apple storage. But can't seem to find a definitive answer anywhere.

As a Deluge owner, I've experienced for myself that it is certainly technologically possible to stream multi tracks of audio and looped/processed samples off of an SD card smoothly and easily. So really, can't see why this wouldn't work unless Apple has done something to make sure that it doesn't.

So just to confirm - you have no issues streaming Kontakt libraries from the SD card for example?

Yes, no problem.

Could you feed my curiosity and run the 'Blackmagic Disk Speed Test' benchmark against the SD card? It's in the App Store.

Image attached.

It's on my mobile machine and it loads the instruments fast enough that it doesn't annoy me, it's a Sandisk.
On my main machine, I have a Spitfire SSD which is a Samsung one.

I thought I would bump this thread again, just to see if anyone else has had a go at running their VSTs and sample libraries off an sd card in the last half a year. I'm still looking for a solution to the fact that I've run out of storage on my 2014 Mac, and don't want to pay Apple price for a new mac with 2tb storage.

Although Pali has reported that it works for them, I am still skeptical that I could run full-scale ableton projects off a 1tb SD. Mostly because there's no one talking about it online - and yet I would imagine a great many musicians run into storage issues and would rather pay a couple of hundred bucks for a 1tb card then buy a new laptop. It begs the question, if it worked, why isn't it a standard solution?

Hi,
They can work on small to medium projects. The big issue with SD cards is they tend to not have a shorter life span when it comes to reading and writes.
If your 2014 MacBook has free USB 3 port you would be better off with an external SSD drive speed-wise and reliability-wise. If not then Yes the SD would be your only option other than upgrading the internal drive to a larger one.
Chris

Yeah SD card are not reliable long term with excessive reads and writes afaik. I’d have a good back up the very least.
For example , I go through roughly an SD card every year or so with my dash cam and that’s about the norm depending on what size SD card you get and how much you drive.