7 Best External Hard Drive for Music Production 2024


The best external hard drive for music production will provide better performance and portability while you’re producing music on your Mac. Best External Hard Drive for Music Production

This is particularly important to speed up your Mac by speeding up its operating system.

You can use the HDD to save or backup your audio and videos (from music video cameras) while producing the music. You’ll reserve the system drive for the installation of programs, DAWs, and plugins.  

Reviews: 7 Best External Hard Drive for Music Production 2024

1. WD 8TB EX2 Ultra My Cloud Personal Network

WD 8TB EX2 is an effective external hard drive that’ll work great for your music production – you’ll get them in 2TB, 3TB, & 4TB storage capacities. Related – Cheap noise-canceling headphones.

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You can swap of add 3.5-inch drives to the WD 8TB EX2 Ultra easily through penning its latched top, removing its holding clip, before finally ejecting or inserting the drives. 

However, for installation or removal of the 2.5-inch SSDs or hard drives, you’ll need to have an extension cable (wither SATA power or data) and an adapter tray.

This WD 8TB EX2 Ultra has a 1GB memory plus an Armada 385 CPU – and it has an onboard 2 – 4TB WD drives (mirrored) will give you excellent performance. 

Therefore, you’ll get quick backups and excellent streaming of your 4K UHD (2160p). It has an easy-to-browse and clean interface that’ll easily navigate around.

You’ll get a sweet app collection including Z-way, Transmission, Joomla, Mule, Dropbox, and IceCast that’ll make it easy to manage or download content.

WD 8TB EX2 Ultra has pre-installed FTP and HTTP backups, plus P2P downloads. Thus, you can easily backup your data and files to some remote servers and PCs – you won’t require a backup client. 

WD 8TB EX2 Ultra has Logitech media and DLNA servers for effective streaming – you may also download the Plex server. It’s a great HDD for music storage and streaming for multiple users. 

Pros

  • The WD My Cloud provides large storage capacity, and it’s easier to share music files. 
  • Smart hybrid external HDD that includes services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Joomla, Mule, and IceCast for cloud storage features. 
  • The DLNA support HDD is also browser-based, allowing remote access to the drive using tablets, music production laptops, and smartphones. 
  • Add extra storage with the USB 3.0 port or even back up the data and music files on Mac or windows. 

Cons

  • None 

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2. Samsung 860-EVO SSD 2.5″ 1TB

Samsung 860-EVO is a great SSD with excellent performance. The inclusion of LPDDR4 and MJX controller guarantees lower power consumption in your music production processes. 

Samsung SSD 860-EVO 2.5" 1TB
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Luckily, you can use this Samsung 860-EVO on your laptop while also saving on its battery life – with its great 4th-generation technology – but still uses the TLC NAND. 

Samsung 860-EVO will not just save your music files but will also enhance your computer’s performance – you’ll get the hard disk in the 250GB to 2TB capacities. 

Further, the devices include TurboWrite and SATA3 interface, and hence it’ll be great for buffering with the flash memory. You can save the audio files while also transferring them at high speeds. 

The RAPID (Real-time Accelerated Processing for I or O Data) enables one to utilize the system RAM for caching the input or output – a great computer performance enhancement. 

Samsung 860-EVO will function great with sustained workloads since its 2-bit per cell flash (MLC), preserving 2.3% NAND for caching & background activities – great for your music production. 

Luckily. I consider this Samsung 860-EVO with its 3 varied form factors will easily beat your Crucial MX500. Further, the SSD will give you excellent performance with the low-queue depths. 

Pros

  • Great power performance 
  • LPDDR4 and MJX controller 
  • Allows DRAM Cloning and Cache
  • Excellent performance
  • Awesome endurance in music production
  • Reliable and name Recognition

Cons

  • Costly 

Related: How to Record a Song on Mac.

3. Seagate Backup Plus External Slim 1TB HDD

Seagate Backup Plus offers large backup space and enough storage for your music or audio files. You can use this device as an archive drive or the backup space. 

Seagate Backup Plus External Slim 1TB HDD Check Current Price

Seagate Backup Plus offers the 2.5 inches 5400 RPM in the 7mm device. You can use the Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR), and it’ll further increase your disk’s data density. 

Seagate Backup Plus offers easy setup through the USB 3.0 cable, and you can back up the files (audio, music, data, or photos) regularly – schedule it for maybe monthly, weekly, or daily. 

Seagate Backup Plus is powered through the USB port and won’t require an external power supply. The device is slim and weighs 150 grams, and it’s quite portable. 

Seagate Backup Plus is quite fast and will be great for music production including in easily backing up the local data, plus country from your mobile devices and social media.

Pros

  • Works well with your regular operating systems like Mac OS X or Windows 7
  • Robust metal enclosure for great durability 
  • The External HDD will be gear for both windows and Mac computed to store music files and photos
  • Has a slim body profile plus weighs 150 grams – portable build 

Cons

  • Limitred security features 

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4. Toshiba HDTB320XK3CA Canvio Basics 2TB

Toshiba HDTB320XK3CA Canvio is a slim external HDD that’s 2TB in storage plus has the USB 3.0 interface – excellent capacity for a form factor of 2.5-inch.

Toshiba HDTB320XK3CA Canvio Basics 2TB Portable Hard Drive Check Current Price

Toshiba HDTB320XK3CA Canvio is equally budget-friendly despite having a sturdy build that’ll withstand extreme handling while you’re producing your music.

Further, the external HDD is preloaded with NTI-Backup-Now-EZ and Pogoplug (with 10GB free online storage), and hence it’s possible to back up and get to your drive remotely.

This Toshiba Canvio looks small and will be comfortable to hold – weighing about 230g plus it has a white LED and rounded sides, but it requires access to a USB port.

Under the Toshiba HDTB320XK3CA Canvio, there are rubber feet and a sticker on its underbelly for the stability of the device. Thus, the external HDD offers great value at its price.

Pros

  • Highly portable as it’s slightly larger than your card deck
  • It uses a faster 3.0 port in its USB ports.
  • Faster disk rotational speeds about 5,400 RPM
  • Budget-friendly external HDD
  • Suitable application bundle

Cons

  • None

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Conclusion

On the best external hard drive for music production, these models will be great for your music library or storing your home videos.

You’ll get free online storage from Microsoft that runs to about 200GB.

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