I was in a similar positionen. Ended up with an Envoy 4TB (Timecapsule), 4M2 (Raid0, main data disk 32TB) , a Gemini 2xSata (raid 1, 2x24TB online backup), 2 Mercury Sata (2 24TB for alternate offsite backups) and a 14 port dock, all from OWC bought over five years. I guess I had needed a decent stack of Studiostacks for that.
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OWC StudioStack being released
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Non-Euclidean
macrumors 6502a
Yeah. I have 3 external SSDs, in 1M2, 1M2 80 (because MOAR SPEED!) and Satechi 2.5 and a Mercury Dual (2x SG 16TB Exos). Happy with all of those.
I don't see myself reaching a point in NVME count where the 4M2 is required.
Rather I want 2.5 SATA III SSDs to come down and RAID some in a 4+ bay in the future, but that is a want not a need that will be driven by the market.
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whgmkeller
macrumors member
I don't think this device is what OWC announced back in 2022. What was announced back then was a multi-bay M.2 device with (if memory serves) 4 or 5 bays.
What they offer now is the successor to the MiniStack STX with faster speed.
What they offer now is the successor to the MiniStack STX with faster speed.
Non-Euclidean
macrumors 6502a
Yeah. Skip to 5:35. The mini stack studio was originally envisioned with 6 SSDs. Clearly they changed direction. I wonder if they ran into heat problems. It looks like they thought they could just use ambient cooling ... maybe ... not so much.
From the page on their 4M2 (4x NVME chassis):
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Received my order via UPS last night and set it up this morning. Here's some pics of what it looks like in the wild.
I connected the Studiostack to my Mac Mini M4 Pro. The TB cable that comes with it is short, at the moment I have the MacMini sitting on the Studiostack. I plugged in two monitors, another external USB-C drive and three USB A accessories to the Studiostack. Turned everything on and it worked as expected. I bought the 4TB model with no SATA drive. The SSD was preloaded with an OWC utility that can be used to set up the drive along with documentation.
I plan to use the SSD for my photo library and will be installing a SATA drive for time machine backups.
To test the speed, I moved a 20GB folder of video files from the Studiostack to the MacMini hard drive...didn't take long at all.
I connected the Studiostack to my Mac Mini M4 Pro. The TB cable that comes with it is short, at the moment I have the MacMini sitting on the Studiostack. I plugged in two monitors, another external USB-C drive and three USB A accessories to the Studiostack. Turned everything on and it worked as expected. I bought the 4TB model with no SATA drive. The SSD was preloaded with an OWC utility that can be used to set up the drive along with documentation.
I plan to use the SSD for my photo library and will be installing a SATA drive for time machine backups.
To test the speed, I moved a 20GB folder of video files from the Studiostack to the MacMini hard drive...didn't take long at all.
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Non-Euclidean
macrumors 6502a
Brian33
macrumors 68000
Thank you @chuck21401 for a peek at the StudioStack. Has anyone else received one yet?
If anyone cares to comment, here are some areas I'd like to know more about:
Noise level -- it's supposed to have a single fan that's "Temperature controlled variable speed". Anyone know what size it is? Usually the bigger, the quieter. OWC nicely documents the temperature ranges and PWM percentages of their USB Express 4M2 device, which maybe can be used to guess RPM (and noise), but there no such specs for the StudioStack. Under "medium" usage, is it audible? Under "heavy"? I know, it's hard to quantify and ambient noise has a big effect, but any comments on the StudioStack's fan noise are welcome.
(I have sent an email to OWC asking about the fan; since it's a holiday period I expect it will take awhile to get a response; that's understandable.)
Status LED visibility -- I'm actually one who likes knowing what the device is doing, so I do appreciate the four status LEDs on the StudioStack. However, it looks like they are on the bottom of the device, facing down! Are they visible in normal room lighting?
If anyone cares to comment, here are some areas I'd like to know more about:
Noise level -- it's supposed to have a single fan that's "Temperature controlled variable speed". Anyone know what size it is? Usually the bigger, the quieter. OWC nicely documents the temperature ranges and PWM percentages of their USB Express 4M2 device, which maybe can be used to guess RPM (and noise), but there no such specs for the StudioStack. Under "medium" usage, is it audible? Under "heavy"? I know, it's hard to quantify and ambient noise has a big effect, but any comments on the StudioStack's fan noise are welcome.
(I have sent an email to OWC asking about the fan; since it's a holiday period I expect it will take awhile to get a response; that's understandable.)
Status LED visibility -- I'm actually one who likes knowing what the device is doing, so I do appreciate the four status LEDs on the StudioStack. However, it looks like they are on the bottom of the device, facing down! Are they visible in normal room lighting?
I didn't even notice the LEDs until this week when I walked past my office with the lights out. Not sure they would be noticeable in normal room lighting.
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The unit it silent most of the time but I have heard the fan when using the Mac Mini after a couple of hours. But I'm also not putting it through the paces. I'm using it to store my photo library and movies...so probably not even medium usage.
Brian33
macrumors 68000
Thank you, @chuck21401 ! Regarding the status LEDs, at least I have an idea of what to expect now. I appreciate the feedback on the LEDs and the fan noise.
Brian33
macrumors 68000
Quoting myself, ha ha...
I have received a reply to my email to OWC, with useful information about the StudioStack fan.
It has (a single) 40mm fan (about 1.6"). Temperature ranges are:
< 50°C (FAN OFF)
>= 60°C (FAN-PWM 50%)
>= 70°C (FAN-PWM 60%)
>= 80°C (FAN-PWM 70%
However I don't know how the temp is sensed. From the enclosure's heatsink? From the enclosure air? Can they get it from the NVMe in a manufacturer-agnostic way? What if there's only an HDD and no NVMe installed?
These ranges are quite different from the 4M2 (which has two fans and can contain 4 NVMe drives). It is at least an indication that the designers customized and put some thought into the fan behavior for each enclosure. That seems like a good sign!
I have received a reply to my email to OWC, with useful information about the StudioStack fan.
It has (a single) 40mm fan (about 1.6"). Temperature ranges are:
< 50°C (FAN OFF)
>= 60°C (FAN-PWM 50%)
>= 70°C (FAN-PWM 60%)
>= 80°C (FAN-PWM 70%
However I don't know how the temp is sensed. From the enclosure's heatsink? From the enclosure air? Can they get it from the NVMe in a manufacturer-agnostic way? What if there's only an HDD and no NVMe installed?
These ranges are quite different from the 4M2 (which has two fans and can contain 4 NVMe drives). It is at least an indication that the designers customized and put some thought into the fan behavior for each enclosure. That seems like a good sign!
Ifti
macrumors 601
How are you finding it now that you've used it for a while?
Ifti
macrumors 601
With a lot of actively cooled enclosures, you'll notice the fan is actually on the opposite side of the board - so opposite to the SSD - so its primarily used to cool the chipset rather than the actual SSD itself. The SSD still has a thermal pad that creates contact with the external enclosure casing.
Looking at the interior images of the Studiostack, the same seems true. The difference being the SSD has no thermal pad and no contact with the outer case. Instead we have venting holes above the SSD, and some on one side of the SATA bay.
So it seems the cool air enters the unit via these venting holes, is passed over the drives, and exhaust via the the fan out of the rear. As the air is pushed through, it passes the chipset too - the chipset being the last component in the chain to get any cooling (which means it could be subject to air that's already been 'warmed' by the drives).....
I'm sure OWB have the airflow cracked though - I still think the Express 4M2 solution is the ultimate though - a huge heatsink, and then the fans that push air through the heatsink as and when needed - even though the fans very rarely even come on in the first instance!
Looking at the interior images of the Studiostack, the same seems true. The difference being the SSD has no thermal pad and no contact with the outer case. Instead we have venting holes above the SSD, and some on one side of the SATA bay.
So it seems the cool air enters the unit via these venting holes, is passed over the drives, and exhaust via the the fan out of the rear. As the air is pushed through, it passes the chipset too - the chipset being the last component in the chain to get any cooling (which means it could be subject to air that's already been 'warmed' by the drives).....
I'm sure OWB have the airflow cracked though - I still think the Express 4M2 solution is the ultimate though - a huge heatsink, and then the fans that push air through the heatsink as and when needed - even though the fans very rarely even come on in the first instance!
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I have one of these. There is a thermal pad on the bottom that connects to the NVME drive. Inside the vent hole is a copper plate that connects to the other side of the thermal pad.
Brian33
macrumors 68000
That's what I thought too, but @OWC_TAL has posted a great picture and explanation: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...re.2475920/page-3?post=34382553#post-34382553
In short, there's a thermal pad and a copper heatsink/spreader that conduct the NVMe heat to the enclosure bottom. Looks nice!
No complaints. No dropped connections. There's never any lag when I open a file on the drive. Pictures/videos/movies that live on the drive pop up instantly. Once in a while the fan will kick on but it's barely noticeable.
I have two monitors connected to the Studiostack (Apple Studio Display + older Thunderbolt display), not a single glitch.
Ifti
macrumors 601
Ifti
macrumors 601
Seems to be in short supply, and has been for a while.
It's on the Amazon US site (empty enclosure) where it can be delivered to the UK though - you'd just need to change the power lead to a UK based plug of course, which is easy enough (and what I did).....
Or if you can wait a few days there seems to be stock coming in here soon.....
OWC StudioStack Thunderbolt 5 Enclosure – Stackable SSD Storage & Dock with USB, Ethernet, PCIe Expansion
Compact stackable enclosure with up to 6,302 MB/s NVMe speed, NVMe+HDD (up to 32TB), 3 Thunderbolt 5 ports, USB‑A and adaptive fan — ideal for editors.
flexxmemory.co.uk