Quiet hard drive for desktop raid enclosure

[Enquiries]

Hi,

I'm looking for a hard drive that is quiet when idle. I work in post production sound and have a large library of sound files that I keep connected to my Mac Studio and access regularly. I can accept a certain amount of hard drive sound when the drive is being accessed but when it's idle I need it to be quiet (a normal steady whir is acceptable). I had no luck with the Western Digital Ultrastar DC HC550 as it would make little knocking, thumping noises every 5-10 seconds even when not being accessed. This is a data center drive so I guess that's normal (I should have done more research before buying). I appreciate any advice you might have.

[ed]

Considering your need for a quiet hard drive for your desktop RAID enclosure, I'd recommend looking into the Seagate IronWolf (non PRO)series. These drives are optimized for NAS systems and offer reliable performance with minimal noise levels, particularly when idle. With capacities up to 16TB, you'll find ample storage space for your sound library within your budget range.

Alternatively, you might consider setting up two separate RAID configurations—one with SATA SSDs for fast access to frequently used files and another with IronWolf HDDs for larger storage capacity. This dual RAID setup can provide a balance between performance and storage capacity to suit your workflow requirements.