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Options for getting music library off of iMac internal HD


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I have an older iMac (2008) I plan to replace soon. My iTunes library is currently stored on the internal HD, and I use an external HD connected via firewire for backup. I've read that I might get a small increase in sound quality by moving my iTunes library off the boot drive. From what I've been able to gather, I can do this by moving my library to an external HD or a NAS.

 

I'm not sure I need a NAS at this point. I do most of my listening in my home office using my iMac. When I want to stream music to my home theater room, I use an Airport Express (and might replace it with an Apple TV at some point). Maybe I'm missing something, but I'm not sure a NAS would give me any real advantages over this setup.

 

This leads me to think that moving my library to an external HD might make the most sense. This would still let me stream from my iMac to the Airport Express or Apple TV, wouldn't it? What I don't understand about this option, though, is how would I make sure that both this external drive and my computer were backed up? Would it be a matter of linking external drives together and somehow telling them to backup different drives?

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I have exactly the setup you want to go to, with 2 external hard drives, one as time machine backup, the other one with the music.

 

If I understand your 2 main questions well:

 

Yes, it doesn't matter whether the music is on the internal or external hard disk for ITunes/AirPlay etc, as long as ITunes knows where to find the files. You can ensure this by having iTunes doing the migration to the external hard drive itself.

 

And regarding backup, within time machine you can chose to backup all volumes, including external drives. Just make sure your backup disc is large enough (and don't forget tht you may want a second backup off-site in case of fire/burglars etc).

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Thanks for the information. It sounds like I probably do not need a NAS and can accomplish what I want to by adding a couple of external firewire drives. I may even wait a bit to see if Apple releases a new iMac so I could then pick up thunderbolt drives instead.

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Thanks for the information. It sounds like I probably do not need a NAS and can accomplish what I want to by adding a couple of external firewire drives. I may even wait a bit to see if Apple releases a new iMac so I could then pick up thunderbolt drives instead.

 

The new iMacs that were announced this week have Thunderbolt and USB 3, but I don't think they have FireWire. The least expensive Thunderbolt drives I've seen so far are Seagate GoFlex + Thunderbolt adapter. AFAIK, WD hasn't announced any portable Thunderbolt drives yet.

Office: MacBook Pro - Audirvana Plus - Resonessence Concero - Cavailli Liquid Carbon - Sennheiser HD 800.

Travel/Portable: iPhone 7 or iPad Pro - AudioQuest Dragonfly Red - Audeze SINE or Noble Savant

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The new iMacs that were announced this week have Thunderbolt and USB 3, but I don't think they have FireWire.

 

Apple's Thunderbolt to Firewire 800 adapter is $29.

 

If you don't already have a Firewire 800 hard drive enclosure, USB 3 enclosures are cheaper.

HQPlayer (on 3.8 GHz 8-core i7 iMac 2020) > NAA (on 2012 Mac Mini i7) > RME ADI-2 v2 > Benchmark AHB-2 > Thiel 3.7

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