S80: Stereo/SatNav/Phone Tip on what type of USB stick to use for music

[andyg]

The original design of the USB port was for computers. That design did not take into account the shock and vibration that is experienced in a moving car. Often a standard length USB data stick inserted in the car USB port will quickly shake enough so that contact is lost. Either the stick will not play at all, or worse it will become annoyingly unreliable. That is why many Volvos are supplied new with a short USB extension cable. But over time that cable just gets lost, for example if you are the second owner bits like that often don't get transferred. The best way round this, and far better than the cable extension solution, is to use a micro USB stick like the one below. I have an 8GB version, formatted FAT32, with gazillions of MP3 tracks and it plays beautifully. Because it is so light and short it is immune to the shock and vibration problem. Cost = £3.98!

*** Kingston DataTraveler Micro DTMCK/8GB 8GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive ***

Hope that helps,

Andy

[macs]

I have one of these and it also works flawlessly.

[adsk]

I'd been using Volvo recommended method of having a cable inserted into the usb port for several years. A few weeks ago I upgraded to this - 32GB for £10.50. I was using a 16GB before and wasn't sure if a larger size would work but it does.

http://www.mymemory.co.uk/USB-Flash-...-Drive---Black

[I-S]

We use the Sandisk Cruzer Fit:





I don't think there's any smaller that can easily be got back out of a USB port, and it avoids as much as possible the possibility of knocking/breaking the port.

With a 32GB stick it holds a huge amount of music and doesn't need swapping about.

[tt82]

Agreed with I-S. I got one after he recommended it to me and it's brilliant. I did attach a little bit of string to mine through the little hole to make it easier to remove though.

[green van man]

Yup got one of those little ones, works well.
I miss the old 6 CD changer, with this memory stick system I forget what I have and where it is, far too much choice.
Paul.

[H20 VOLVO]

We're all guilty of it. But if you've specified Premium Sound Option, it's always worth keeping your favourite albums on CD in the car. MP3 compression rates just rob that extra quality and definition.

Not all, but comparing some songs, you can tell a big difference.

We're all guilty as it's more convenient. But for you top 5 albums - make room for the CDs.

[I-S]

I disagree, and I do so as someone who is deeply into hifi and I have designed some of the highest performance amplifiers in the market.

With a very good quality system in a good environment then absolutely the difference between mp3 and uncompressed music is notable and significant (and then the difference between CD quality and high-res and recordings released without dynamic compression).

However, the car is not such an environment - certainly dynamic compression significantly helps the listening experience when used in an environment with such a high noise floor, and the quality loss of high bitrate mp3 is not significant within such an environment.

Note that my comments apply to best quality 320kbps mp3. There's no need to go lower than that.

My other point of disagreement is that if you still wish to have that material uncompressed then why not put those particular albums on your USB stick as WAV files? Then they are not subject to the increased jitter and other transport problems inherent to CD (particularly in a vibration prone environment) and so will offer a marginally superior sound to the CDs, along with not having to deal with stuffing CDs into the thing.

It is unfortunate that Volvo chose to ignore free, open audio standards like FLAC and OGG, yet implemented closed, proprietary, licensed standards such as MP3, WMA and AIFF.

Here's one for you to ponder, H20 (and I'm not saying there's necessarily a correct answer)... I have some favourite music on HDCDs (the short-lived pacific microsonics technology later bought by microsoft). On a standard CD player they play as standard CDs (16/44.1) and would do so in the car. On an HDCD player they're decoded as 20/44.1.

When I ripped them I decoded the HDCD info and encoded them as 24/44.1 FLACs (with empty LSBs). I then transcoded the FLAC to 24 bit, 320kbps MP3.

Which will sound better - the 20 bit content MP3 or the 16 bit playback of the CD? Greater dynamic range vs perceptual coding loss...

[H20 VOLVO]

Originally Posted by I-S

My other point of disagreement is that if you still wish to have that material uncompressed then why not put those particular albums on your USB stick as WAV files? Then they are not subject to the increased jitter and other transport problems inherent to CD (particularly in a vibration prone environment) and so will offer a marginally superior sound to the CDs, along with not having to deal with stuffing CDs into the thing.

A time thing - as we all tend to do these days, we download MP3s for convenience. But my favourite albums (which are also more older ones) I keep on CD - for use in Home/Car for quality. On some of these albums, I do notice a distinct difference on some of the tracks between CD/MP3. More of clarity issue. I also have them on MP3.

I agree with transferring to WAV, but it's a bit of a faff. Also, I use my iPod for MP3s, not USBs. Again, for me, transfer of Music with this is easier.

Originally Posted by I-S

Which will sound better - the 20 bit content MP3 or the 16 bit playback of the CD? Greater dynamic range vs perceptual coding loss...

Not my bag this, but understand what you are saying. I would suggest, that actually there's probably not much in it.

I remember the old HDCDs - thought they were a good idea. Having said that, I also thought the Sony Mini-Disc was too......

[andyg]

This thread has taken an interesting turn. Many thanks to all for the contributions. It looks like just about everyone agrees that micro (or nano) USB sticks make a better mechanical contact than traditional standard size USB devices in the shock and vibration environment of a moving car. The later comments about the sound quality of native CDs vs Wav vs MP3 files are beyond my original point. I guess that is very much a matter of personal taste. However, it does occur to me that in a moving car with engine, wind and tyre noise a driver would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the different formats? Not so when the car is stationary, but I grant that sound quality is a matter of personal choice. There are many free computer apps to convert music files on CD to MP3 format. I use Audio Grabber, but that just one of many out there.