The Audiophile is the only version that requires you have it shipped the hard drive (it does not require the hard drive after installation, however). All other versions can be downloaded.

You can install the Audiophile version onto your system if you have the drive space—no problem there—but the 44.1k Audiophile RealTracks and Audiophile RealDrums audio files cannot be downloaded. They ship on the hard drive only.

It can be argued that, if you're not going to perform with it, the Audiophile version isn't necessary. I like having the Audiophile RealTracks, even though I don't perform with them.

In my case, I don't use the USB drive after installation. I have everything loaded onto my system drive except for the RealTracks libraries. Those are on a separate SSD (the same one I use for Kontakt, SampleTank etc.). Moving them over and linking back to BAIB wasn't hard to figure out.

The USB drive sits on the same shelf as similar ones from NI (Komplete) and others.

Last edited by Mike Halloran; 04/22/18 04:02 PM.
BIAB 2024 Audiophile Mac
24Core/60CoreGPU M2 MacStudioUltra/8TB/192GB Sequoia, M1 MBAir, 2012 MBP
Digital Performer11, LogicPro, Finale27/Dorico/Encore/SmartScorePro64/Notion6 /Overture5