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Due to the humongous size of VSL's new Fazioli piano release (something close to 700GB), I can no longer play musical chairs with sample libraries on my 4TB and 2TB SSD's and must buy another 4TB SSD (8TB is still well over 2x the cost of two 4TB drives).

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/externa ... -Envoy-Pro

The one I bought in late 2020 (EX, shown above) is still available but two similar models (FX and SX) have come along and it is quite confusing!

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/owc-envoy-pro-fx

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/owc-envoy-pro-sx

From what I can tell, the more expensive one is PROBABLY the same but simply has more compatibility with older connectivity formats (which I don't need), but the descriptions are done differently enough to be confusing about whether they both have the same future compatibility.

Although there are two earlier topics on SSD's from OWC, they are too specific to 2017 iMac and iMac Pro, whereas this is just about trying to understand what questions to use for forming a decision on SX vs. FX (I'd do either over another EX as the price difference is so low that the upgrade is worth it).

mhschmieder wrote: ↑Sat Dec 17, 2022 3:25 pm Due to the humongous size of VSL's new Fazioli piano release (something close to 700GB), I can no longer play musical chairs with sample libraries on my 4TB and 2TB SSD's...

Good God! 700MB!!! That's immense. It sure better sound AMAZING taking up that much space! And here I've felt spoiled when I moved up from my 1TB internal SSD I was using for sample libraries to a 2TB NVMe external! I have about 600GB left available on it. Geez... that's insanely huge for a piano instrument. Seems like even 70GB would feel large!

Certified Thunderbolt external drives do not seem to be prone to the wake from sleep issue that plagues many USB externals.

There is no difference between TB3 and TB4 when it comes to drives. TB3 Macs can have only one TB3 drive per bus; TB4 Macs can have multiple TB3 drives daisy chained or attached to a TB4 hub.

Ah yes, that matches the System Report for my 2017 iMac.

I'll probably have to open the product pages in separate browser windows to try to line up each feature and spec, to see the real differences, as OWC often doesn't divulge all the details. Sometimes there's a doc to download though.

I think Fazioli is around 660 GB once unpacked. Lots of mics! I can't remember the size of my current largest piano library but likely it is one of the Synchron offerings. A while back, it was probably Soniccouture Hammersmith or Wavesfactory Mercury Pro, both now sold as I exclusively use Synchron Pianos now (so many choices in that suite anyway!).

The SX seems the best one spec-wise. I think the FX is just for those who need backward compatibility with older USB specs, hence the higher price but slower performance.

The main difference between my EX and the new FX and SX models is the chipset:

EX: ASMedia ASM2362
FX: Intel Titan Ridge (Thunderbolt), Realtek RTL9210 (USB)
SX: Intel JHL6340

Intel Certification is required for it to be labeled Thunderbolt 3. USB 4 has nearly the same speed but uses cheaper components. “Thunderbolt compatible” is not the same.

The FX you linked to is Intel Certified TB3

The “thunderbolt compatible” SX is not Thunderbolt except for the Certified cable. The description references an EX with TB3 but that link goes nowhere and there’s no longer one listed.

The Envoy Express is Certified TB3 but only 2 Lanes instead of 4 so it is not as fast—or as hot which is why it can handle an 8TB blade. Available empty or up to 8TB.
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/envoy- ... nderbolt-3

Were I buying (and I may be soon), I’d take he FX or the Envoy Express if I didn’t need the speed.


I’m also looking at this one. You can add up to four 1–8TB blades configured RAID or JBOD. It doesn’t mention having a fan but it’s externally powered and boasts “vibration resistant” feet.
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/express-4m2

Thanks, Mike. I have found OWC to not be very transparent with their specs, but they're usually good if you contact them directly for specific details. I knew the difference between TB3-certified and TB3-compatible but didn't know the best way to ascertain that from published specs. I remember it being important when I made the EX decision a couple of years ago.

The speed difference is minimal, so it's not a major consideration. I'll go with the FX instead of the SX, once my credit card payment goes through and I can use it to make the purchase.

I was so busy working and gigging during the Black Friday period that I have no idea if I missed any Black Friday sales. So maybe I should wait for the next holiday sale. Certain sites aren't good about marking things as being on sale, or how long the sale lasts. I think these MIGHT be on markdown at the moment. I may have to write OWC to find out.

The drive cannot be formatted as it isn't seen by the desktop or by Disk Utility, and yet a system report shows it as connected, though bizarrely not to port 3 of my TB hub. Also, the light on the drive isn't lit.

I think this happened with the last SSD as well.

Maybe we have to plug it in directly to the computer the first time, or use OWC's drive formatter?

I've already restarted the computer to see if that was the issue.

mhschmieder wrote: ↑Sat Dec 24, 2022 3:20 pm The drive cannot be formatted as it isn't seen by the desktop or by Disk Utility, and yet a system report shows it as connected, though bizarrely not to port 3 of my TB hub. Also, the light on the drive isn't lit.

I think this happened with the last SSD as well.

Maybe we have to plug it in directly to the computer the first time, or use OWC's drive formatter?

I've already restarted the computer to see if that was the issue.

I've seen this before. In DiskUtility, you need to Show All Devices and un-hide the Sidebar. As you've not formatted yet, there are no Volumes to show. Why this isn't the Default is a mystery to me.

Sure enough, OWC's own hubs and docks appear to be incompatible with their own-branded SSD's that they were supposedly primarily developed for.

At any rate, now that VSL is on iLok vs. eLicenser, I can probably forfeit/sell my 2 TB Glyph SSD and push all of its content to the new 4 TB SSD so that I don't need any Thunderbolt hubs/docks and only have two TB cables to plug into the back of my 2017 iMac.

Mike, thanks, I am pretty sure that is what happened when I bought the earlier Envoy Pro SSD from OWC. This time, I used their utility, but I unchecked the cyber attack protection software that it wanted to install.

Your visual does ring a bell though. I am almost certain I followed those steps with the previous SSD.

I think I'm good to go now. I'll try plugging it back into the dock now that it is formatted. I think the older model is directly connected mostly because it has a super-short tethered cable that probably was designed for laptop use.

It's OK on the TB hub now that it is APFS formatted and after a computer reboot.

Also, I am now plugging in the older model to the TB hub, with no issues.

I'm really happy with this latest OWC SSD in its FX variant. Blazing fast and also seems to go much quicker for copying files, whether at installation time or afterwards.