Mac mini SSD/HDD combination for DAW/Logic 9

"So would it be best to use 128gb Ssd for JUST the OS and applications and keep the original 500gb HDD for my Logic project files etc?"

I'd reckon that this is what you want. SSD for OS and apps, HDD for project data.

My suggestion is to partition the factory HDD.
Make one or two "work partitions". They should be about 3x the size of your average project.

The advantage is that by "cordoning off" a relatively small area of the HDD as a work partition, you will limit the area (sectors) of the drive that need to be written to/read from during recording or playback. You can also use a defragmenter to optimize these work partitions, and to compact existing files so that contiguous "free areas" are available for more data.

Of one thing I'm certain:
You DO NOT want a fusion drive setup for audio production.

Fishrrman said:

Of one thing I'm certain:
You DO NOT want a fusion drive setup for audio production.

Click to expand...

Why is that?

Fishrrman said:

The advantage is that by "cordoning off" a relatively small area of the HDD as a work partition, you will limit the area (sectors) of the drive that need to be written to/read from during recording or playback. You can also use a defragmenter to optimize these work partitions, and to compact existing files so that contiguous "free areas" are available for more data.

Click to expand...

This seems to contradict everything I've ever read about HFS and using drives. Can you explain it a bit more?
Normally, OS X does not need defragmenting. But I guess if you're making partitions of 3x your PROJECT then you might be making a rod for your own back.

Fishrrman said:

Of one thing I'm certain:
You DO NOT want a fusion drive setup for audio production.

Click to expand...

No problems running Logic on a Fusion drive here.

The Fusion drive is a cheaper BTO option than the SSD alone on the Mini, so it's worth getting, even if you do decide to go nuts and split it.

I just bought a refurbished 2012 2.3 GHz i7 Mac mini with a 1 TB HDD for Logic, Aperture, and Photoshop Elements. I did quite a bit of research before I settled on my model, and I read posts from two or three people who are using a Fusion drive with Logic with no problems. (I plan to create my own Fusion drive when I find a 500 GB SSD on sale.) What I gathered is that you could potentially run into speed problems if you're creating enormous, complex professional recordings, and some of the data is on the SSD, and some is on the HHD, but this was speculation on the part of some posters, not based on actual experience. If you do run into problems, you could record to an external FW 800 scratch drive. My own recordings aren't complex enough that I expect any problems.