Flash drive for music

[pete6032]

I am getting a receiver with USB flash drive support. I plan on putting 15 GB of mp3s on a flash drive and using it in the car. Do I need a super fast flash drive or can I just buy the cheapest usb 2.0 drive I can find?

I'm looking at this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820313385

 

[jlee]

A cheap one will work, just keep in mind it may take a while for the receiver to read the drive when it first boots up (regardless of drive speed).

 

[dstevod]

I use a Sandisk Cruzer Fit - they are unbelievably small. Looks like most of the drive is actually within the plug!

Any they're not expensive.

S

 

[Jimzz]

Get the cheapest USB 3.0 drive. Not that much price difference and you know it will be as fast or faster than most USB 2.0 drives.


16gb USB3.0 flash drive for $8 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820211572

 

[monkeydelmagico]

I've got a 16gb 2.0 and a 32gb 3.0 that I use on a cheap JVC reciever that has the USB interface. I can't tell the difference. They both seem to load up and play fairly quickly

 

[mvbighead]

Get the cheapest USB 3.0 drive. Not that much price difference and you know it will be as fast or faster than most USB 2.0 drives.


16gb USB3.0 flash drive for $8 AR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820211572

Ick. That'll stick out the front of the receiver and likely eventually cause the port to bend when it gets whacked.

Honestly, USB is ALWAYS going to be faster than the receiver reading a CD. By and large, the speed specs don't matter because the files are generally indexed on the drive (if memory serves). So, the index gets read, and the receiver shoots straight to the last file played. Any of the small ones work, and the one the op linked is perfect.

 

[jtvang125]

I suspect this will be different on each make and model car but on my bmw the more songs I placed on the drive the slower it got with searching through the songs. I'm not talking about just a few hundred but 1000+. iPods are also supported so I picked up a 2nd gen itouch. I've got 2000+ songs on it and it's just as fast as if I had 100 songs.

 

[fr]

What head unit actually supports USB 3.0?

 

[mvbighead]

What head unit actually supports USB 3.0?

I can't see there being much of a point. I don't believe the head units are scanning the drives contents bit by bit before loading a song, and playback requires much less than a USB 1 standard.

About the only benefit to the USB3 drives for this particular use is the quickness of loading a ton of songs onto them from your computer.

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

What head unit actually supports USB 3.0?

I would be surprised if any did.

I got the Cruzer Fit 16 GB for my car. Transferring music onto it was no big deal, it's not like you're going to pull it out every day to change the music on it.

 

[_Rick_]

Also make sure that the file system size you need is supported by the head unit.
Generally there shouldn't be an issue, but occasionally some ugliness rears its head.

 

[RU482]

What head unit actually supports USB 3.0?

its not so much about head unit support, as it is getting the songs ON TO the flash drive in a timely manner (USB3.0 on your PC will be way faster than USB 2.0)

Also, if you get a higher spec'd USB 3.0 drive, you are potentially reducing the NAND bottleneck that you'll encounter with a cheapo USB 2.0 drive. In my experience, a decent USB 3.0 drive plugged into a USB 2.0 port is quite a bit faster than a USB 2.0 drive, especially for a bunch of big files

 

[Aharami]

i got this one since it sits inside the armrest console
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820313340

but if mine were to be plugged into the HU, then I'd get the cruzer fit
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruzer...rds=cruzer+fit