add USB adapter or upgrade HU

[hondarider 10+ year member]

Ok so i am getting to where i would like to get rid of my CDs and have all my songs all the time with a USB hard drive or flash drive. My headunit is in my sig. The adapter and a 16gb flash drive would cost about 175ish. I have about 4 gb of music right now but it is growing somewhat fast so i want plenty extra room. Would it be a better idea to buy a new HU with built in USB for about $100 plus what i can get mine sold for or buy the adapter for my current piece?

The flash drives i have seen are about 70 dollars would i be better off getting a 2.5" hard drive instead? I have heard of some of them not compatible and longer load times.

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[Kai Winters 10+ year member]

Depending on the hu you may not be able to use a hard drive only usb drives.

For instance my old JVC KD-AR770...built in usb port on front of unit...would not play my WD Passport hd nor the newest PNY Optima Pro usb drives, only older drives (it apparently is a power issue with the hard drive...the hu/usb port does not offer enough power to run the hard drive). My Alpine iDA-x001 hu plays the hard drive and all my usb drives.

The same thing goes for the adapter...it is only an interface between the usb drive and hu.

My hard drive is 160gb and is approx 1/3 full of songs, etc. When I use it it takes approx 10 seconds for the hu to access the folders and another few seconds to access the songs on the folder I choose. Once I am in the folder all the songs are instantly accessed.

My usb drives are much faster. When I plug in a usb drive it takes the hu several seconds to access the folders and a second or less for each folder...songs are instantly accessed regardless of the type of usb drive.

Newer hu's also have full speed access to usb drives compared to old ones.

Today you can get an 8gb usb drive...PNY Optima Pro...at Staples for $30. That is a great price and 8gb is a lot of songs depending on the format of the songs...the higher the bit rate the more room each song takes equals fewer songs per drive.

A WD Passport portable hard drive of 160gb runs around $100 +/- a bit at BB.

Most of todays usb drives don't use that silly "uE" software anymore. Good thing too because auto hu's will not be able to read them and you have to remove the uE software...which is an easy thing to do but can drive you crazy if you are not aware of it lol.

The best of both worlds would be flash drive units of high capacity and we are heading that way now but it will be a while before we start to see usb drives at 100gb and they will be expensive at first as all new tech is.

Good luck and keep us informed.

I am not sure if investing $175 towards and adapter and 16gb usb drive is worth it. It depends on what your hu will run. I do not know the cost of a 16gb usb drive but if it is much more than buying 2x8gb's at $30 each it is not worth it at the moment but costs will come down.

 

[1991Brougham 10+ year member]

I have a Lasonic 931 boombox that plays iPod, SD/MMC and USB devices. I went with an OCZ Flash Memory 4Gb, bought from newegg.com for $25.98, to see how it would work out as compared to the iPod.

Managing playlists is doable but a headache on the Lasonic when using an iPod. The OCZ doesn't do playlists per se, it uses folders and one can only program 20 of them.

Loading up the iPod from my computer is slower than loading up the OCZ.

Quality of sound is similar when comparing the two.

On a rare occasion a song gets "skippy" on the OCZ. The iPod plays through just fine all the time.

Bang for the buck favors the memory stick. An 8Gb model is around $40 shipped. I believe a 32Gb model is available as well. It's quite a bit more but when compared to other mediums, it's still a pretty good deal.

Portability favors the memory stick. It's about the size of a BIC lighter.

As for using a memory stick in car audio, I'd have a collection of smaller ones with each stick dedicated to a certain style of music or preferred mixes. Plug it in, hit the random button and away you go! It beats monkeying with the menus and buttons on current HU's that don't have touch screens.

In terms of making a decision on what to do for the OP's setup, bite the bullet to get USB 2.0 going today and figure plenty of delivery devices will be available for a long time. In 2009 and 2010, the CES shows will unveil the latest and greatest. When you see a HU or module you like, then step up to buy after the newest models have had some time to hit the market with reviews posted to let you know what's up and also to see the initial price drop off some.

Rick

 

[hondarider 10+ year member]

Thanks for all the help.

I am just a little worried about spending 175-200 dollars on my head unit that i might want to change out in not too long anyway and performance on hard drives still seems a little hit or miss.

I might wait around a bit longer see how things go.