As a DJ, you know that having a huge and good music library is essential. You also know that lugging around physical copies of all your music is a pain. The solution is using external hard drives which is a separate hard drive from your computer’s hard drive which plugs into one of your computer’s usb ports!
An external hard drive is a portable external storage device that you can use to store all your music. External hard drives are an essential tool for any DJ or music producer. They give you the portability and storage capacity that you need to take your music with you wherever you go.
In this article, I will be discussing the 10 best external hard drives for DJs in 2024 and I will be looking at the top hard drives on the market.
Why are quality external hard drives important for DJs?
An external hard drive is essential for DJs who are on the go. They provide ample storage space to fit your entire music library while remaining lightweight and portable. External hard drives make it easy to transfer music between different machines and to take your music with you wherever you travel.
Most external hard drives are compatible with both Mac and PC computers, so you don’t have to worry about compatibility issues. Many of the newer hard drives come with USB-C ports, allowing for faster transfer rates, as well as the ability to connect to newer computers and devices. An external hard drive also provides peace of mind.
Your music library is incredibly valuable, so you want to be sure that it is backed up and stored securely. This includes your music files, playlists, samples and any other content that you have. External hard drives provide secure storage for your music, as well as the ability to back up your music in case something goes wrong and you should end up needing to get data recovery services.
What to look for in an external hard drive for DJs?
When it comes to external hard drives for DJs, there are a few key features to look out for. First and foremost, you want to make sure that you’re getting a drive that has enough storage space to fit your entire music library. They come in various sizes.
At the same time, you want to make sure that the drive is reliable and durable. Look for drives that use shock-resistant technologies, such as rubber bumpers and shock-resistant enclosures.
Additionally, look for hard drives that come with a long warranty. This ensures that you’ll be covered if anything goes wrong. Finally, look for external hard drives with fast transfer rates. USB 3.0 and USB-C connections are the fastest connections available today, so look for hard drives that come with those connections too. This helps ensure that you’ll be able to quickly transfer music from one machine to another.
How you can choose the best external hard drive for your situation
When choosing an external hard drive for your DJ setup, there are a few key factors to consider. You want to make sure that the drive is reliable and durable. Also make sure that you’re getting a drive with fast transfer rates.
It’s also important to consider the form factor of the drive. Do you need a small size drive that is lightweight? Or are you more concerned about storage space? Some hard drives are slim and lightweight, while others are larger and bulkier but have more storage space.
For most DJs, 500 GB to 1 TB of storage will be plenty of space to store all of your music. However, if you are a more serious DJ or music producer, you may want to consider getting a 2 TB or a 4 TB drive or even bigger, just get the right storage size for your situation.
The ideal choice when deciding which external drive to purchase should be a Solid State Drive [SSD] as that type of hard drive does not have any moving parts so is much more reliable and more durable than any other type of hard drive.
So you can look for the best ssd drive with maximum speed on the market today at an affordable price which you can afford which will give you also better data protection for your entire music collection and best performance. You don’t want one with long load times which will take a very long time for data transfer so getting the SSD type should be your priority.
Also, getting a high quality and especially waterproof and shock resistant case for the external hard drive will be very highly recommended so you will have less worry and better peace of mind knowing your external drive has the solid outer protection. You should get one at a low price if you shop around.
It’s not as easy as it seems to purchase a new hard disk for your DJ music collection. Make sure to search for all of the necessary qualities rather than selecting the first one you come across.
Getting thumb drives and the best usb stick is another option but not the best overall option due to it’s tiny size and fragile build, you will be much better off with something more solid than the best usb drive. However, if you should opt for a thumb drive, look for the best option with a very fast transfer rate.
Note however that a pocket-sized ssd can come in handy in certain situations like having a condensed music collection stored on it which you can always have on hand for unknown usage. For example, whenever I myself visit my buds simply to hang out, sometimes they ask me to run a music session for them so with having my dj usb stick on hand I simply plug it into their laptop and start a session.
So now that you have all of this info guys, it’s time to look for the right external hard drive for you which you can afford. You’ll find some recommendations for some of the top external hard drives for your DJing or Music Production career below but of course you should shop around for the best deal which comes with a long and reliable warranty.
The 10 best external hard drives for DJs in 2024
- Seagate Expansion Portable: This drive has USB 3.0 connection. It is compatible with both Mac and PC computers.
- Toshiba Canvio Basics: This drive has USB 3.0 connection. It has a slim and lightweight design, making it a good basic option for DJs who are always on the go.
- WD My Passport: This drive has 256-bit hardware encryption and password protection for extra security.
- SanDisk Extreme Pro: This drive is designed for heavy-duty use. USB-C connection.
- ADATA HD830: This drive has a rugged design and shock-resistant construction. It has USB-C connection.
- OWC Mercury On-The-Go-Pro: Reliable high performance. Shock Isolation System.
- LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt: This drive is designed for extreme conditions. It has a reinforced rubber bumper and aluminum enclosure for extra durability. A lot of people go with the Lacie rugged mini drive.
- G-Technology G-Drive: This drive is designed for both Mac and PC users. It has USB-C connection for super fast transfer rates and is an excellent choice.
- Samsung T5: This drive is incredibly fast and reliable, has USB-C connection. It is also compatible with both Mac and PC computers.
- Glyph External Hard Drives: I also have one of these, they are expensive but is THE best external hard drive that I have ever come across! Glyph SecureDrive+ Bluetooth is the most secure portable drive on the planet, featuring military-grade XTS-AES …
How to first safely backup your existing music from your hard disk drives
NEVER WAIT for disaster to strike then end up losing all of your music which most times would have taken you years of hard work not to mention a hell of a lot of money to acquire your music collection.
An Operating System can crash at any time requiring data recovery and also having to reinstall MacOS or reinstall Windows 10.
I always advise people to have at LEAST 2 backups just in case one should fail and in that event then you should immediately backup again to another source. Using Cloud Services is also another great option to store your music files online.
See guys, being a 20 year Computer Repair Technician doing hard drive data Recovery, some people come to me here so very frustrated and some “near tears” I can honestly tell you, hoping and praying that I can get back their lost music but computer data recovery success rate is ONLY 10%. I have my personal music collection backed up on at least 3 hard drives!
Also, as is usually the case especially with Mac users, they use and depend on the Mac’s Time Machine utility to do the backup but let me tell you that doesn’t always work as sometimes it can do the backup but not ALL files will have been transferred over to the usb drives.
So best recommendation is always to first check your music folder’s properties and write down or take a pic of it so will see the size of the music folder and also how many folders and files are in it.
That way when you are finished transferring over the files you can check the sd card, usb flash drives or external ssds and compare to make sure you have the same amount of folders and files on them as what’s on your internal hard drive.
So, after you are sure your music is safely backed up now its time to format the solid sate drive or whichever external hdd you have purchased and start the backup process.
Formatting your new reliable external hard drives before using
First thing before transferring or backing up your music collection will be to know which “formatting” option you should choose for for your operating system and this will depend on your personal preference and application.
Strict Mac only users mostly tend to choose the “Journaled” format option while DJ’s, Music Producers and the average music lover who uses both Windows and Mac computers [like myself] will tend to prefer the ‘Ex-Fat” option which means you can easily plug and play the external drive on both Mac and Windows Computers.
Note that some external hard drives come already formatted to plug and play on both Windows and Mac so you can simply choose one of those to avoid having to do any formatting yourself.
What Happens if the external drive you bought does not work?
It’s always a great idea to run a hard drive diagnostics test on a new external hard drive before starting any music transfer as any new drive can be defective so best you find that out before transferring so you can return it to the seller and not end up having data loss.
Also be sure to save your receipts and all packaging when you receive the external hard drive until after you will have tested the drive and have safely fully and accurately transferred over your entire music collection.
What to do if you should need any help, advice or recommendations?
Should you be needing help with formatting hard drives, data backup, data recovery, Operating Systems [Windows and macOS], computer viruses, hard drive replacement, DJ Softwares [Serato, Traktor e.t.c], digital DJ controllers, analog or digital equipment, music library organization e.t.c you can feel free to contact me.
I am Mike and I have been involved in music since childhood and bring some 50 years of experience in analog and now digital music and equipment. A lot of DJ’s come to me here in Queens, New York to fix their Mac or Windows computers and also for me to setup digital music systems and softwares on their machines.
They also come to me to troubleshoot problems with their DJ Controllers and laptops and sometimes troubleshoot problems with their music equipment. I can give advice remotely no matter where you are.
Music is one of my biggest passions guys so if anyone reading this should have any questions at all regarding music and DJ equipment please feel free to reach out to me, you can email me at at my private email address which is fonzhende1@yahoo.com or call or text Mike at 718-219-9733 anytime.
I don’t know everything but whatever I should not know I can find out for you or at least point you in the right direction. I am always happy to discuss music and equipment with anyone.
Also, far as Computer Repair goes you can check my reviews on the home page and testimonials page so you can put your trust in me that I am very knowledgeable about this topic and can give you very solid accurate advice and recommendations!
Conclusion
A reliable external hard drive with fast transfer speeds is an essential tool for any DJ or music producer. It gives you the portability and storage capacity that you need to take your digital files with you wherever you go.
In this article, I have discussed the 10 best external hard drives for DJs in 2024. I looked at their key features and benefits. I have also discussed the storage capacity issue you’ll need for your music library.
No matter which drive you should choose to purchase based on your budget, please get one which will give you the solid portability, reliability, speed and storage capacity for your audio files whenever you should need to take your music with you wherever you go.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions at all or to discuss anything and you can check my Services page to see what else I do, take it easy guys and keep the music playing!
