32GB USB Drive

[gwhunter]

Greetings everyone -

Load this baby up with your favorite MP3 files and plug into your USB port -

http://www.pcconnection.com/IPA/Sho...235&oext=1038A&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=8159235

Happy motoring! Between the XM radio and this feature, I have not even used the 6 disc CD player yet!

 

[Sal Collaziano]

I gave up my CD player as well. iPod.

 

[cliffbig]

And it's even cheaper at Amazon:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-32GB-Flash-Voyager-Drive/dp/B000XUMR6C/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1220804522&sr=8-1"]Amazon.com: Corsair 32GB Flash Voyager USB 2.0 Flash Drive - CMFUSB2.0-32GB: Electronics[/ame]

 

[Viking]

I like using my USB (because of the somg capacity), but there is definitely a loss in audio quality when you compare it to a disk - even if it is not a DVD-A disc. I have a reguler disk that I burned some songs to and have some of the same songs on my USB. When I switch between the two, the disk is much richer sounding.

 

[musher51]

USBs imply a significant compromise in audio quality, unfortunately, which is too bad given how convenient they are. The same is true for iPods, too, although it's harder to find people that can tell the difference between iPods and general disc sources.

At the risk of sounding like a Luddite, I don't even own an iPod because of the sound degradation (I think there are only a few dozen of us in the US still holding out!). Hell, I still find many CDs that sound harsh compared to analog sources (e.g. vinyl). I still rely on tube amps for the same reason.

One of these days, audio designers will hopefully bridge the gap between high-quality discs and memory chip-based devices (aka iPods), but until then, it sounds like I'm one of the few Genesis owners that's using the 6-CD/DVD changer!

 

[cliffbig]

You can have iPod and quality; Apple offers a lossless codec that gives you the convenience of iPod with the quality of a CD. Of course, you'll get fewer songs on the iPod than you'd get if you converted them to MP3 or AAC, but you'll still get a pretty good bit on there, depending on which iPod you chose to go with.

 

[BaywayRic]

The storage medium should have no impact on the quality of digital files. The issues are the BIT RATE they were created with, and the equipment they are played back through. Given the car equipment is the same [which ever version you have], the only variable should be bit rate. They range from 48Kbps [smallest file size] to 192Kbps [Best Quality]. If you play a CD in the system that has 192Kbps files it will sound far better than if you take that same CD and RIP the files to your PC at 96Kbps for storage on the USB drive. When you play the USB based songs back through the same system [the car] at 1/2 the bit rate they will not sound as good. With a 32GB drive, you could afford to RIP all your music at 192Kbps and have convenience, as well as fabulous sound.

As an aside, Windows Media Player has both variable bit rate and lossless capabilities to create your files. And, the Lexicon supports both MP3 and WMA files.

 

[Wordman]

Having read the dissatisfaction of some owners with the iPod interface in the Tech Package, I decided to try the USB flash memory approach.

I used iTunes to rip all my CDs a while back - I spend a lot of time at my PC and it's a convenient way to play my music. I have every intention of buying an iPod at some point but it's not an urgent thing for me.

I bought a 32GB USB stick from Microcenter (http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0292241) for $80. I then used iTunes to convert all my ripped music from m4a to mp3. All the tracks are 128kbit/s. Sixteen hours later...

I loaded up the USB stick last night with some of the tracks - about 5GB worth. At around 1MB per minute, that's over 80 hours of music. As much as I love my car, I'm not going to live in it. But at least I'll have lots of choice.

The results? Excellent! The sound quality at 128kbit/s is not as good as a CD, admittedly, but it's good enough.

One caution: a 32GB stick can hold a lot of music. I structured my folders as Artist then Album. It's taking the DIS a while to scroll through the artist-level folders. I'm going to try subdividing the artists by genre to make selection quicker - I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[thomaspf]

You can have iPod and quality; Apple offers a lossless codec that gives you the convenience of iPod with the quality of a CD. Of course, you'll get fewer songs on the iPod than you'd get if you converted them to MP3 or AAC, but you'll still get a pretty good bit on there, depending on which iPod you chose to go with.

However, from the connectors it looks like the Genesis is not extracting digital bits from the Ipod but is using the analog output. The USB port is only for control.

The resulting sound quality is gated by the analog stage in the Ipod. It is not so clear to me that Apple lossless through the earphone jack is any better than a 325Kb WMA data stream converted by the Lexicon sound system.

Cheers

Thomas

 

[thomaspf]

I like using my USB (because of the somg capacity), but there is definitely a loss in audio quality when you compare it to a disk - even if it is not a DVD-A disc. I have a reguler disk that I burned some songs to and have some of the same songs on my USB. When I switch between the two, the disk is much richer sounding.

I am going throught his right now and I found the quality heavily depends on the bit rate you choose for the compression. Did you use MP3 or WMA and at what bitrate did you encode? Also make sure you have all the same settings for surround and eq since these are indepedently settable for each sound source.

I also started with a USB key but after my experiments I just bought a 1.8" drive with 120GB. The power requirements of these drives is so low that you can drive them directly from a USB port. Even at 325Kbit/s encoding this should make for a lot of music. I will post an update when I receive the hardware and it all works.

Cheers

Thomas

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[Stormy]

However, from the connectors it looks like the Genesis is not extracting digital bits from the Ipod but is using the analog output. The USB port is only for control.

The resulting sound quality is gated by the analog stage in the Ipod. It is not so clear to me that Apple lossless through the earphone jack is any better than a 325Kb WMA data stream converted by the Lexicon sound system.

Cheers

Thomas

You bring up a very good point Thomas. The iPod connection in all cars right now uses the analog to digital converters within the iPod itself, then amplifies the analog signal through your car's stereo system.

When using the USB option, those files are read in digital format, then converted into analog by the analog to digital converters in the Lexicon system itself.

The real question when evaluating the difference in quality is whether the iPod's analog->digital converters are better than the Lexicon's.

I have heard good things about the iPod's A->D converters, and in my personal opinion they are very good. On the other hand, I haven't tried USB yet so I can't speak for that.

I would be curious if anyone had the same CD encoded in a good bitrate, say 256k variable MP3, on both iPod and USB, if they could tell which one was better in a double blind A-B test. That would be the true test of which one had better quality. I suspect they will both sound good enough that most people can't tell the difference.

 

[thomaspf]

There is quite a bit of coloring in the analog out of an Ipod. I am not saying it's bad but it is different than the D/A converters in the Lexicon system.

Precisely matched volumes are key to a neutral comparison here.

Cheers

Thomas

 

[enjoyingsilence]

I would've been happier to see the system play FLAC or OGG files, even WAV uncompressed audio. For many songs, ESPECIALLY complex rock musicians, and jazz, compression kills the instrumentation and tonality. even high bit rate AAC or MP3.

 

[thomaspf]

Interesting. Compression kills rock ....

I guess orchestral classical music is okay then

Cheers

Thomas

 

[enjoyingsilence]

lol.. You knew what I meant when I said "complex".... my apologies for not listing each genre that compression tends to "ruin" (for lack of a better term)

 

[Stormy]

Ok, so I just got a brand new 120GB iPod classic to use with my Genesis. It replaced an old 3G iPod 30GB that needed a new battery, and my music library was too large to fit on it anyway.

The sound quality is good, however, it leaves something to be desired. If I turn up the volume past 10, then select a track, I can hear the definite sound of electromagnetic interference as the hard drive spins up (whiirrrrr), reads the track (clickity, clickity), then music begins to play.

While music is playing the noise floor is not noticeable, but in the silence before the track begins, you can hear the hiss.

I'm not sure if this is something new to the 120GB classic model (just came out a few weeks ago), but I would say that the quality leaves a little bit to be desired. I should never hear the electronic components within the iPod being amplified through the speakers.

YMMV, but my recommendation would be to go with the USB thumb drive and high bitrate MP3 (192-256k or better) for best quality.

The main reason I went iPod is ease of syncing, also automatic syncing of podcasts, as well as protected AAC content (iTunes store).

 

[enjoyingsilence]

What sort of cable are you using? Dock connector on the bottom, or a 3.5mm jack?

Also, if you are using the 3.5mm jack,,, make sure the ipod volume isn't all the way up.. Try turning on sound check as well.. turn off EQ settings in your ipod, or set to flat.

 

[thomaspf]

If you use a sensitive in ear monitor for eaxmple Super-fi 5 you get the same effect.

The conversion and analog stages of the Ipod are not that good.

Cheers

Thomas

 

[3587]

Okay, so I just picked up an 8GB USB Flash Drive... For one, the Genesis only recognizes a PC formated drive... Now, I created a few folders and dragged some songs from my iTunes library onto the folders and it all copied over just fine... I go to plug it into the Genesis and only three songs show up... I realize that the three songs that show are MP3 and the ones that don't are AAC... I know I can convert all the AAC to MP3 within iTunes, but I've read that the quality will be lost... What other options do I have? Other than plugging in my iPhone and the 10K+ songs that scroll about a page a minute?!

 

[grtday]

Response: 32GB USB Drive

New Egg has the 32gb Corsair at $49.99 after rebate and with free shipping.