Glyph 050Q External Hard Drive

by Scott Norton

In a recent How-To on this site, Jackie explained some of the reasons why, and what to look for, when buying an external hard drive for audio recording. The benefits of using separate or an external drive for audio are explained in that segment, so I will not recap here.  These are fairly small items, easily overlooked or discounted, which eventually contain hours, days and potentially months of our work. 

I have been using hard drives for audio recording for about ten years.  Admittedly, I was dragged kicking and screaming into the digital world, from the soft and fuzzy embrace of analog tape.  There was something very comforting about tape.  It was large, heavy, and felt safe, as long as you did not stick it on top of a magnet.  Simply put, it felt substantial.

Once I had to switch to digital, it was time to look to hard drives to secure and store my work.  Unfortunately, these early units were not only expensive, but also often unstable.  As the industry progressed, the drives became more reasonably prices, and owe hoped, more stable.  But this is not always the case.  There is nothing more frightening than hearing a drive act funny.  The clicking, whining, spinning sounds can be a musician’s or engineers worst nightmare.  That is why I decided to purchase a high quality drive for my professional work.

My first, and still my current choice for all ‘working’ external hard drives, has been Glyph.  I will often have cheaper drives for redundant backup, but Glyph drives are the only ones I trust for daily, intensive use. I currently own three 050Q drives. Over time, the models have included small changes, but have remained basically the same.

The heart of any drive would be the drive itself.  This would be the spinning hard drive secured inside the encasement.  Glyph uses Seagate drives exclusively.  Keep in mind, hard drive manufacturers often purchase the cheapest drives on the market at any given time, wrapping it inside their own enclosure, stamping their name on it, and selling it under their own moniker.  The difference here is that Glyph has found a drive that they believe in, and have confidence in.  That relationship is important to me. 

The next most important feature of the Glyph 050Q would be the enclosure.  The case itself is very solidly built.  For me, the highlights are the internal power supply, and the fan.  I am constantly getting external power supply cables tangled on the floor, or confusing power supplies from different models, and using them on the wrong drive.  These are the small boxes that sit on the floor, connected by a cable from the drive, and a second cable connecting to the power in the wall.  Accidental use of the wrong power supply can cause serious damage to your drive.  The standard IEC (3 prong) power cable used on the Glyph means no accidental power damage.  The fan provides cooling for protection, often needed on long sessions when drives can be spinning for up to 12 hours or more.

The connectivity will be a factor for all consumers, and with the 0050Q, Glyph covers all the bases.  Working with audio is most secure with firewire, but often people will use USB 2.  This drive offers 1 firewire 400 port, 1 firewire 800 port, 1 USB 2 port, as well as an eSATA port.

The final piece of the puzzle is the Glyph warranty.  Unlike any other manufacturer that I have found, Glyph offers a three-year warranty on their hard drives and enclosures.  I have found this to be significantly longer than the industry standard.  As if that weren’t enough, the company also offers data recovery for their drives, for first two years from the date of purchase.  This is all done via FedEx overnight service, and replacement drives are offered for any tech time that may take longer.

I have witnessed friends and clients lose valuable time and money to drive failure, only to be more disappointed when the manufacturer will not even discuss recovery.  I consider the higher cost of the Glyph drives, piece of mind.  Knowing that the company is standing behind their product, and will take care of any issues that may arise, is paramount to me.