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Comparing the Different SCSI Storage Devices
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Confused about the different SCSI storage options and which one is best suited for you?
Here is a bit of information about some of the most popular devices, what they are used
for and their pros and cons.
We are often asked "what do I need a SCSI storage device for and what will it do?".
You need to think of a SCSI storage device just as you think of the floppy drive in
your sampler (if it has one). It operates the exact same way, only with a lot more
storage space and a whole lot faster. And in the case of a Hard drive, there is no
extra media to fool with, like zip disks or CDs.
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Model: Media Card drives
Media Type: Removable
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Media Card drives (also called Card Reader drives) are removable media storage devices that
allow you to use flash memory cards like Smart Media and Compact Flash for SCSI storage of
your sampler files, just like a zip drive or hard drive. Compact Flash cards are the small
non-volatile memory cards that you see used in MP3 players, digital cameras and other personal
digital devices. They are tiny, inexpensive and extremely reliable. For those who prefer
the unlimited  capacity of a removable media
storage solution, these drives are an excellent choice over the old Zip, Jaz or Magnetic-Optical
drives that used to be popular for samplers.
Pros: No moving parts, nothing to wear out or break down. Completely silent during
operation. Cheap, reliable media that is getting cheaper all the time. Acceptable access
times for saving and loading, usually a bit faster than a Zip drive. Makes transfering files
between computer and sampler very easy.
Cons: Slower than a hard drive.
Does SCSIforSamplers.com sell them? Yes! We carry the Spyrus MCDISK and MCDISK-2 drives
as well as the Microtech PCD-47B (click here). They are compatible
with most samplers; see our Compatibility Chart for more information.
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Model: CDROM drives
Media Type: Removable
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CDROM drives are read-only SCSI devices that allow you load files from a CD into your
sampler. This is the most popular way to get sample files into your sampler and most all
samplers support CDROM drives. If you currently are loading your samples off
floppies, you will love the ability that a CDROM drive gives you to have many very large
sample files at your fingertips, ready to load with a couple of button presses.
Some samplers have the ability to load sample files from user-burned CDs, while others
require you use only CDs that have been created in the format of the sampler's disk system.
For instance, the Akai MPC2000 cannot load wav files from a user-burned CD; the CD must
have been created in the Akai format. The majority of samplers, however, will let you use
CDs that are user-burned as well as the many professionally produced CDs that you see for
sale. If you aren't sure about your sampler, contact us and we'll be glad to answer any
of your questions about compatibility.
Pros: the ability to store many large sample files on one disk with reasonable
load times, much faster than a floppy drive. Also, there are very large sample libraries
available on CD. Many companies exist that produce high-quality sample CDs. And for the
many samplers that support it, you can burn your own CDs of samples that you download
from the interweb (or get from anywhere).
Cons: CDROM drives are read-only, meaning you cannot save files to them, and
they are slower than a zip drive or hard drive.
Does SCSIforSamplers.com sell them? Yes! We carry a couple of models of Sony and Toshiba
drives which are compatible with most all SCSI-enabled samplers.
Click here for details.
A note about CDR drives: We often get asked the question "can I burn CDs from
my sampler if I use a CDR drive?". The answer is NO, you cannot. While it would be great
if you could save your samples and sequences directly onto CD from your sampler, this is
not supported in almost every case. The sampler manufacturers just didn't want to put
the effort in developing this functionality, so they left it off, with a few notable
exceptions like the Korg Triton Studio. So don't waste your money buying a SCSI CDR drive
because it will not give you any extra ability beyond what a CDROM drive would (read-only).
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Model: Hard Disk drives
Media Type: Fixed
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Hard drives are fixed media storage devices that give you access to large amounts of
very fast storage space for your sampler. They are the Cadillac (or maybe the Hummer)
of sampler storage! Unlike
Zip, Jaz or CDROM drives, Hard drives require no external media; they have their storage
media built-in, like the drives in your PC or iPod. This enables them to save and load
data very quickly. In fact, they are absolutely the fastest way to save and load your
sampler data that exists at this time.
Hard drives come in external cases, like our HD-9 model, and some samplers
will support installing a hard drive inside the sampler case itself. For the power
users with large sample libraries that need to be accessible all the time, you
can daisy-chain multiple hard drives together for maximum storage capacity.
Pros: Very fast access times for saving and loading data. No removable media to
buy and mess with. Proven reliability.
Cons: Fixed amounts of storage with no expansion capability. In other words, if
you buy a 9GB hard drive and fill it up, it is full and there is no way to expand it;
if you need more storage, you either have to delete files off the drive or buy another
drive.
Does SCSIforSamplers.com sell them? Yes! We carry brand new IBM 9GB and remanufactured
Seagate 18GB and 36GB hard drives. We have been selling these drives for years now and they
have proven to be very reliable. We offer them in external cases
(click here) and without cases
(click here). See our
Compatibility Chart for specific sampler information.
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Model: Iomega Zip drive
Media Type: Removable
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The Iomega 100MB and 250MB Zip drives are popular removable media storage devices that were
first made in the late 90s and are supported by most all the SCSI-enabled samplers. The drives
use removable Zip disks for storage and allow you to store/load any type of file with reasonable
speed. Zip drives are mostly made of plastic, are lightweight and have external power supplies.
Pros: ease-of-use, universal compatibility, virtually unlimited
storage (just buy more zip disks) and reasonably cheap price.
Cons: The SCSI versions haven't been made since around 2001/2002 so most of them are
quite old and used. Due to the design of the original Zip drives, they tend to break
frequently.
Does SCSIforSamplers.com sell them? We no longer sell Zip drives due to the
unavailability of reliable units. Any drives you find that are still on the market (such as on
eBay) will be at least 6 years old and since they are so likely to break and cause problems,
we just don't fool with selling them.
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Model: Iomega Jaz drive
Media Type: Removable
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The Iomega 1GB and 2GB Jaz drives are popular removable media storage devices that were made
in the late 90s and are supported by many SCSI-enabled samplers but not as many as the Zip drive.
Jaz drives are basically removable hard drives. They use removable cartridges, thicker than
Zip disks but otherwise about the same size, for storage and allow you to store any type
of file with speed that is very close to a hard drive.
Pros: large storage capacity, virtually unlimited storage (just buy more jaz disks)
and high-speed operation.
Cons: the fact that they haven't been made in a number of years and they break
frequently. Only it's even worse when a Jaz drive dies because when one of the disks goes
bad, you lose 1 or 2GB of data. The 1GB drives came on the market first but were discontinued
after a short time due to their high rates of failure (avoid them for sure). The 2GB model
came quickly after that and they are more reliable. If you decide to get a Jaz drive,
definitely get a 2GB model, which can use either the 1 or 2GB disks.
Does SCSIforSamplers.com sell them? We no longer sell Jaz drives due to the
unavailability of reliable units. Any drives you find that are still on the market (such as on
eBay) will be at least 5 years old and since they are so likely to break and cause problems,
we just don't fool with selling them.
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We hope you find this information useful in helping decide which SCSI storage option will be
best suited for your needs. Please contact us if you need any more information.
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