[iceman91]

Guys,
how are these drives for sound quality? they are just basic players or have tuning options?
Sorry not well versed or aware about these

[appuchan]

I am still waiting for the time when these HUs and home theater units will start playing loss-less music formats such as wav and flac files. MP3s are a compromise for "pure audio" enthusiasts.

Regarding copyright laws, here is what RIAA says about CD ripping.

Copying CDs

• It’s okay to copy music onto an analog cassette, but not for commercial purposes.
• It’s also okay to copy music onto special Audio CD-R’s, mini-discs, and digital tapes (because royalties have been paid on them) – but, again, not for commercial purposes.
• Beyond that, there’s no legal "right" to copy the copyrighted music on a CD onto a CD-R. However, burning a copy of CD onto a CD-R, or transferring a copy onto your computer hard drive or your portable music player, won’t usually raise concerns so long as:
  • The copy is made from an authorized original CD that you legitimately own
  • The copy is just for your personal use. It’s not a personal use – in fact, it’s illegal – to give away the copy or lend it to others for copying.
• The owners of copyrighted music have the right to use protection technology to allow or prevent copying.
• Remember, it’s never okay to sell or make commercial use of a copy that you make.

RIAA - Piracy: Online and On The Street - January 06, 2009

[iceman91]

appuchan, they do play wav files. I have one usb stick filled with wav files alone. Yes they do occupy a lot more space though.

[ascertain]

Originally Posted by navin

Q: a 16GB playlist will contain 2000 songs how would one search through this long list? Can we put multiple playlists (I was thiking 26 playlists one for each letter of the alphabet).

Navin - That is a question I have too- because that really makes things more convenient, but regarding playback of multiple playlists, - Depends on the HU processor instruction set. It is definite in the A-V modules with in built playlist creator S/W

The main problem with creating a playlist in your computer and trying to get it read by the HU is - any playlists you have will reference the file location on the PC, not on the flash drive as seen by the car player.

Secondly, if the music storage device is an 'active' device with an interface of its own, which tells the HU processor -"Here play this list I am giving you- the files are stored here & here" The HU will (e.g Devices like an Ipod) , but a flash drive does not have the active interface- it is just a plain storage chip. So you see the problem! This may be surpassed by step 2 mentioned below.

One will have to check if your car player uses M3U playlists or can use ASX or WSX playlists.WSX is the default playlist type in WMP.

Among the CD Players - I know a few things that I'd like to share
1)Kenwood HU's with Kenwood Music Editor Software (KME) can create multiple Playlists.

2)If the directory structure of the pen drive is made in a manner that the playlist is at the Root directory of the drive it may play. All file locations will have to be renamed in relation to the Root i.e - instead of
E:\music\xyz.mp3, it will have to be just \music\xyz.mp3


This is only for a single playlist - Multiple ones are the problem.. through the device like the Ipod- multiple are possible, but through ordinary flash drives- I don't think so.

[nikunj_cal]

I tries to Use my Kingston 8Gb pen drive with my Pioneer HU and man is it slow ! You feel it specially when you start your car after being stuck in traffic for long , the HU turns off during cranking but comes alive after the engine starts purring. But halo no music !! It take upto nearly 8 seconds to resume palyabck. However the Transcend 1 Gb works ike magic. Absolutely instant playback. I wonder will switching to a Transcend 8Gb/16GB will solve the problem ? Some help here please!


P.S: Both My 1 Gb and 8GB were laded with songs with less than 5 MB free space !

[ascertain]

I think nikunj_cal, that you should free up a bit more of the drive space. I think at least around 1.5-2% of the drive capacity, the problem of slow reading is because of data seek times, because the processor of the HU will scan the entire drive before playback, so the more data you have, the more time it takes. It is the universal problem with all memory devices. Free up more space to have faster access times,and less delays.

[nikunj_cal]

Originally Posted by ascertain

I think nikunj_cal, that you should free up a bit more of the drive space. I think at least around 1.5-2% of the drive capacity, the problem of slow reading is because of data seek times, because the processor of the HU will scan the entire drive before playback, so the more data you have, the more time it takes. It is the universal problem with all memory devices. Free up more space to have faster access times,and less delays.

Hmm that could be . I have decided to borrow my friends Transcend 8Gb Pen Drive and plan to test that out vis a vis my Kingston 8 GB Drive. Also as you just mentioned that the HU will scan the entire drive before playback , so i guess 8 GB pendrives and above will face slower playback even if i keep 2% of the drive free .Anyway its worth a shot. Will post back the results soon.

[ascertain]

Yes do test it out and post the results- I think most companies have a clear cut demarcation regarding memory chip classes - a)Drives upto 8 GB and b)Drives over 8 GB . The read/ write speeds on the drives above 8 GB capacity are higher than the other class. How much of a difference that will make remains to be seen.

[mukeshgoel]

Originally Posted by ascertain

Among the CD Players - I know a few things that I'd like to share
1)Kenwood HU's with Kenwood Music Editor Software (KME) can create multiple Playlists.

Can you please provide the link to download Kenwood Music Editor. I have googled for that but all I could get is "KenwoodMusicEditor_V2_1_Update.exe". It just searches for a previous installation and does not install the whole program.

Thanks.

[DerAlte]

You can do the same with WinAmp and Windows Media Player as well. Drag and drop the songs from Windows Explorer, and save playlist.

[lejhoom]

[quote=In case any of you have used either of these types, please narrate your experiences and whether it does really make a difference.. because ultimately it's the HU's processor thats going to be doing the hard work right?

If you tell me "It's all the same" my decision is made- its the cutie black david instead of the silver goliath[/QUOTE]

I have one of these "cute" things. It works like any other pendrive does, may be a tad bit faster. It comes with a plastic sleeve, so you don't damage it. Certainly a good buy, considering the lightweight and unobtrusiveness. I got one from Singapore a couple of years back. It was 1GB then. It had a more skeletal look and came with a key ring. Everyone liked it for its novelty factor. I lost it subsequently.

[ascertain]

I guess that's just the one thing going against the slim drive - easily misplaced.But then, I say load it up with music, and let it stay as a permanent fixture on the HU.

[thereal]

Hi guys,

I am using 8GB Sandisk Cruzer micro pendrive with Pioneer HU, the problem i am facing is that the folders in the pendrive are not shown in the sorted order while i access them in my HU, it becomes a painful task for me if i need to search for a particular album in an 8GB pendrive.

But when i view the same on a PC , the albums are in sorted order

I have gone through this thread, As the option of playing a playlist is ruled out a minimum of this sorting issue should be resolved to have peace henceforth.

Hoping for a solution!!

[DerAlte]

^^^ You are mislead by the PC view, where Explorer is showing you directories in an alphabetically sorted order, when actually the physical directories are not.

1. Copy the whole stuff into a temp directory on your PC. Let Explorer show it in the alphabetically sorted order
2. Reformat the 8GB drive and open it in another instance of Explorer
3. Patiently, drag and drop one directory at a time (in the alphabetical order) from the temp directory to the pen-drive (painful process, but unless you have a manipulation tool, this is the only way to achieve what you want). Allow one directory to be completely copied before copying another

[thereal]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

^^^ You are mislead by the PC view, where Explorer is showing you directories in an alphabetically sorted order, when actually the physical directories are not.

1. Copy the whole stuff into a temp directory on your PC. Let Explorer show it in the alphabetically sorted order
2. Reformat the 8GB drive and open it in another instance of Explorer
3. Patiently, drag and drop one directory at a time (in the alphabetical order) from the temp directory to the pen-drive (painful process, but unless you have a manipulation tool, this is the only way to achieve what you want). Allow one directory to be completely copied before copying another

Thank you DerAlte, I ll try the same hope it works this time.