sdxc or usb on a MacBookPro Retina - which one is faster?

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Level 1

9 points

sdxc or usb on a MacBookPro Retina - which one is faster?

Hi,

i have a "high-end" question 😉 - i want to use my full blown MacBookPro Retina for some music - with the VSL-Symphonic Library (for pre-production) - so lot´s of streaming from the fastest possible external (and internal) media is required. On my MacPros i use SSDs, but because of many things i cannot use these SSDs on the macbookpro (hopefully this changes in some weeks).

In the meantime i need to know, if it is better to use a big sdxc-card or a USB-stick (USB-3.0 of course). What is the fastest transferrate in either case - which one is faster - if you buy the fastest medium you can get 😕

Of course i would use as much of the internal SSD as possible (it´s faster), but not everything i really need from the music-lib will fit... so in any case we are talking of 512 GB on a sdxc or a USB-stick. (like the Kingston DataTraverl HyperX Predator, the sdxc from Lexar 400* with 256 GB)

Maybe i should mention that the reading/access-time is important - the write-speed will be good enough anyway 😀 because i would store lots of sounds there (if this takes some hours does not matter) - and from then on the mac would mostly read from the medium...

I did find this: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3553?viewlocale=en_US#5

Thist link shows basically, that a sdxc will be seen as a USB-Drive - but this does not tell me, if a sdxc-card is/can be faster than a USB-stick? At least not for shure...😎

Any suggestions???

Just to be save: Whatever would be faster , will a USB-device on the other USB-port (like a music-keyboard, of course USB 2.0) slow down the port or the slot???? And yes - all software and OSX is up-to-date on the machine.

Hope someone can help...

Greetings and thanks!

Posted on Apr 21, 2013 2:16 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Bimmer 7 Series

Level 6

10,337 points

Apr 21, 2013 2:21 PM in response to simplex7

Types

As of 2010, USB has three versions: 1.1, 2.0 and 3.0, according to EverythingUSB. SD cards come in regular, Xtreme (SDXC) and High capacity (SDHC). The two fastest standards of each, SDXC and USB 3.0, write at an average of 100 megabytes per second and 300 megabytes per second respectively.

Considerations

The transfer rates for SD media are highly volatile because it relies on electrical charges. To a lesser extent, USB devices have variable speeds, but mostly due to differences in the quality of manufacturers.

Potential

In 2012, the SD Card Association plans to approve a new SD standard that would boost write speeds to those comparable--about 300 MB/sec--with USB 3.0, according to Engadget.

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Answer 2

simplex7 Author

Level 1

9 points

Apr 21, 2013 2:53 PM in response to Bimmer 7 Series

Thanks Bimmer,

Greetings to BC! I´ve been there 2 years ago - writing you from near the alps...🙂

[...] The transfer rates for SD media are highly volatile because it relies on electrical charges. To a lesser extent, USB devices have variable speeds, but mostly due to differences in the quality of manufacturers. [...]

2...

That basically means - you never know - it relies on electrical charges - but - USB seems to better, if you buy high-quality? And every manufacturer will tell you that he only builts super-duper-high-quality...😉

3....

The new standard will (if so) implemented in future macs...

I would test it - but who gives me the two "drives"?

Thank you for your answer!!!

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Answer 3

Apr 21, 2013 2:57 PM in response to simplex7

You're welcome - enjoy the Alps......

As for my personal choice - I use my SDXC card instead of the USB - it's a little slower but it doesn't stick out as much as the USB Stick.

Enjoy your day.

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