For DJs, the selection of a USB drive is usually a fairly essential step in preparation. Ensuring that your DJ flash drive is a dependable companion that stands as much as the stresses of your DJ life is vital. On this article, we discover the important elements DJs ought to take into account when deciding on a USB drive – learn on:
We all know that lots of you have already got your personal USB drives for DJing and are proud of them. Some people would possibly even have purchased our Chroma USB Drive – our personal reply to this drawback. However for brand new DJs, and those that would possibly want a refresher, I assumed I’d share a few of the insights that our workforce discovered whereas creating the Chroma Drive.
There are tons of nice drives on the market – so how is a DJ to decide on? Right here’s some essential issues to contemplate:
USB drive speeds are not the identical as theoretical marketed speeds
USB drive pace may not matter to you in any respect – however should you’ve ever waited an hour for 100 new songs to repeat to your drive from Rekordbox, you’ll need to learn on.
Learn and write speeds are – seemingly – the easiest way to guage quick syncing of DJ libraries. However marketed most speeds are sometimes very deceptive. Most USB drives will promote a learn and write pace, however these are virtually all the time measured in a “greatest case state of affairs” kind of switch. Most significantly, the marketed speeds are often sequential, not random, transfers. Right here’s an instance of every:
- Sequential write operation: Transferring a 2 GB video file out of your laptop computer to an exterior drive. The information switch course of writes the video file knowledge in steady, ordered blocks from the beginning of the file to the top. The sort of switch sometimes displays greater speeds and is perfect for giant file operations.
- Random write operation: Think about you’re saving a mission from a DAW. The mission consists of a number of small recordsdata equivalent to samples, monitor settings, and plugins configurations. Each bit of knowledge could be saved in several elements of the drive, relying on the place area is offered. This requires the drive to write down knowledge in non-consecutive, scattered blocks, leading to a random write operation.
Virtually each DJ who makes use of a USB drive can be doing random learn/write operations when including music to it. That’s since you’re not copying a single audio file, however reasonably a bunch of audio tracks and separate metadata, waveform, evaluation, and database recordsdata. And for subsequent library syncing, your software program must look by means of all the present recordsdata and verify to see if something has modified – that could be a random learn operation.
Different elements that affect pace will embody drive formatting, block dimension, connector kind/model, warmth administration, and extra. However as a rule in our testing of 20+ USB drives, the reminiscence inside a USB stick was bottlenecked by low random learn and write speeds. Whenever you discover a stick to greater random speeds, it tends to be considerably costlier.
It’s essential to look past the specs sheet and take into account real-world efficiency. For our Chroma USB Drive, we revealed real-world outcomes of precise DJ transfers and in contrast them to different well-liked DJ drives. That’s the one method to inform how mixed random learn and write pace elements will truly affect the period of time it takes to maneuver your library replace onto your USB drive.
If you wish to audit different drives efficiency earlier than shopping for, strive utilizing a benchmarking database like SSD-Tester. They’ve a variety of drives listed and you’ll see the random learn/write numbers within the CrystalDiskMark sections to get a tough sense of what you’re getting.
As a common rule, we discovered that DJs will discover that flash drives get acceptably quick outcomes syncing DJ libraries at greater than 15MB/second random learn, and 5MB/s random write.
Sturdiness + Design ought to suit your DJ way of life
The bodily design of the USB drive could be essential. If you happen to’re always on the transfer and need to be certain you’ve all the time received your drive with you, take into account a sturdy USB drive with a strong construct or a steel casing. I’ve had a number of USB drives constructed from plastic enclosures which have fallen aside (the keychain loop is without doubt one of the most typical culprits).
You may additionally take into account the scale of your drive to be essential. I’ve seen some DJs who love their super-tiny SanDisk Extremely Match (picture beneath – word that some fashions of this line are fairly gradual), as a result of the drives are the scale of the USB slot. That’s nice from a portability standpoint, but it surely additionally may be very straightforward to lose in a bag or pocket.
The opposite factor you would possibly need to take into account is connections. Virtually each piece of DJ gear has a USB-A port on it, however more and more few laptops have USB-A ports. You may want a drive that does each if remembering dongles is difficult. In a few of our testing final yr, we discovered that usually, drives that had A and C connectors on them would not have good random write speeds. Bear in mind, most flash reminiscence drives merely aren’t made with a DJ’s use case in thoughts.
Shade and design of a drive are usually not nearly aesthetics, but in addition matter for performance—choosing a vibrant or distinctive design might help guarantee your drive doesn’t get blended up with others or misplaced within the chaos of a gig. If you wish to go the additional mile, our Chroma Drives are customizable with laser engraving for a number of extra bucks – right here’s an instance:
Capability: Does the scale of your DJ drive matter?
The capability of your USB drive ought to align together with your particular wants. If you happen to play uncompressed audio codecs like WAV or AIFF, you’ll want a drive with a bigger capability. For DJs with intensive music libraries, taking part in all kinds of kinds of gigs, it could be price contemplating having a ton of additional area so as to add a broader choice for sudden requests or prolonged units.
Value noting that bit depth impacts lossless storage lots. Need to calculate your personal music storage wants? Use Audio Concierge’s Music Storage Calculator device. Right here’s a easy information for frequent sizes of drives (5 minutes avg monitor size):
This one is right down to desire and utility. We simply added a 256GB model of the Chroma Drive to accommodate extra people, however I completely can relate to these on the market who want much more than that – particularly should you’re a lossless-files-only audiophile.
Authenticity: Make sure you get what you’re bought
The place you buy your USB drive could be as essential because the drive itself. The market is flooded with counterfeit drives – we’ve seen a variety of experiences of some sellers hawking “SanDisk” drives on Amazon however the precise specs being nowhere close to what have been marketed. That’s nothing in opposition to SanDisk, however reasonably a sign that even drives that look like one factor could be one thing completely totally different, particularly if the deal appears too good to be true.
My steerage right here is that purchasing USB drives is similar as a variety of different on-line purchasing – learn the evaluations, verify the vendor info (take into account a device like FakeSpot), and purchase from a spot with a good return coverage.
An even bigger answer: SSDs for Intensive Libraries
For DJs needing to hold an intensive music library, SSDs with enclosures supply a viable various. One which I see beneficial a bunch is the Samsung T7 ($149.99 on Amazon at time of publicaiton). These drives sometimes supply quick pace and bigger dimension in comparison with conventional USB drives. Nevertheless, they’re bulkier and require cautious dealing with, particularly since they typically join by way of a cable which is usually a potential level of failure.
Whereas newer SSDs boast compatibility with each USB-C and USB-A, making certain your tools matches the connectivity choices of your SSD is essential. Be aware that some older DJ tools could have points powering these drives or studying bigger sizes of drives, so it’s important to confirm compatibility together with your particular DJ {hardware} setup earlier than simply shopping for and assuming it’ll work.
Right here’s a number of particular drives that DJs would possibly need to take into account:
Value noting, that is only a small subset of the drives which might be on the market in the marketplace. Many individuals make USB drives they usually all have totally different the reason why you would possibly need to take into account them – or not.
- Samsung BAR Plus 3.1: Low cost and comparatively dependable. Solely USB-A. Speeds are alright.
- Sandisk Twin Drive Go: Mojaxx’s “runner up” decide in his latest roundup overview – they’re additionally low cost and have USB-A/C on them.
- Samsung T7 SSD: If you happen to’re down to hold an exterior with you, this can be a fairly good selection. It’s a costlier choice for certain, however may very well be price it.
- DJ Techtools’ Chroma USB Drive: You’ll be able to learn extra concerning the drive right here. It’s not the most affordable one, however we stand behind it as being an excellent choice. Plus, customizable.
- Your suggestions – beneath within the feedback!
It might be practically not possible to recommend each drive that’s a very good choice for DJing in a single article – so please, share your favourite within the feedback beneath. Tell us why it shines.