What HD and/or power adapter are you using with your Pioneer 6900UB?

[vexter0944 10+ year member]

Just bought a 6900UB and installed over the weekend - now that's done - ready to buy the usb hard drive to carry my mp3 collection around with me - looking for 120 to 160gb - just seeing what models/brand everyone is using to see what I need to buy so I don't have to worry about getting a drive that I can't get to work. Also, if you're using an external power adapter to power the drive which one are you using? Thanks for any help ahead of time!

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[AltarCrystal 10+ year member]

Well, I won't be able to install mine until Sunday, Monday, somewhere around there.

But, I'm putting in a 160GB Seagate GO. This is almost certenly your best bet. I've always trusted Seagate with my internal HDs, so I figured I go with them. Only $110 right now on Newegg I believe. Plus, it has dual USB plugs already (one for power, the other for data) so any power inverter with a USB port will work.

I got one from BestBuy for like $50, but they can be had for less. I chose a cig lighter one, so I can just soilder the leads into it, and still use that cig lighter. Everything's hidden and out of the way.

I recommend defientally getting a 2.5" drive as opposed to a 3.5" drive, because they can resist vibration/shock much easier.

I'll have more info on how the install went in about a week.

 

[vexter0944 10+ year member]

Thank you for the reply - keep the ideas flowing - I'll be watching for your review! much appreciated everyone!

 

[AltarCrystal 10+ year member]

Will do, man. Like I siad, I should be receiving it probably no later than Saturday, but I have to work that day, and Sunday I'm going out with the guys to celebrate MUH BIRFDAY! Ahem, but I'll be sure to get pics of how it's hooked up.

Not to mention, I've been working on building up my music collection for teh past couple weeks. Almost at 3000 songs now //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/naughty.gif.94359f346c0f1259df8038d60b41863e.gif

 

[sdmtnbiker420 10+ year member]

wow all you ballers. i thought i was cool with my 8GB usb pen drive and 3000 songs //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

160 GB is a lot though. My brand new computer is 80 GB and my previous one was 20 GB total memory.

i can't believe how fast times are changing.

 

[tez4life Premium Member]

wow all you ballers. i thought i was cool with my 8GB usb pen drive and 3000 songs //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

160 GB is a lot though. My brand new computer is 80 GB and my previous one was 20 GB total memory.

i can't believe how fast times are changing.

X2, my last computer had a 60GB HD and my current one has about 200GB. And Im here braging about the 2800mp3s in my Creative Zen Vision M.

But on the real, Im looking foward to that review too, im leaning toward that JVC DD touchscreen and wanted to use a external portable HD as well. Hope it turns out well!

 

[AltarCrystal 10+ year member]

wow all you ballers. i thought i was cool with my 8GB usb pen drive and 3000 songs //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

160 GB is a lot though. My brand new computer is 80 GB and my previous one was 20 GB total memory.

i can't believe how fast times are changing.

Haha, well, there's no way I'm using all 160GB, but the difference between say, 80GB and 160GB is like $30, so I figured why not.

But I'm all about storage. Hell, my computer right now has 520GB of storage.

 

[vexter0944 10+ year member]

I wanted to post my results -

bought this drive:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148258

bought this usb power adapter for the cig lighter:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16882328001

Used this article/utility to get rid of NTFS and go FAT32:

http://www.crapcontrol.com/content.php?article.14

Worked like a charm! Enjoy and thanks for all the help and input everyone!

 

[AltarCrystal 10+ year member]

I wanted to post my results -
bought this drive:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148258

bought this usb power adapter for the cig lighter:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16882328001

Used this article/utility to get rid of NTFS and go FAT32:

http://www.crapcontrol.com/content.php?article.14

Worked like a charm! Enjoy and thanks for all the help and input everyone!

Thanks for the formatting utility, man! Can't wait for the weekend to put mine in! I "bought" a bunch of songs to load my baby up with...sadly, I'm only at about 5 thousand songs now, since I had to rebuild my entire library, but I can manage //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif.

I might return my power inverter to Best Buy, because I payed a good $50 for that. I liked the AC plug as well, but ****, $6, can't beat that!

 

[vexter0944 10+ year member]

No problem - I wanted to put my results out there because I haven't found much info - now people will know what to buy, where to get it from and what utility to use - have fun and I appreciated your help too!!! People helping people - that's what it's all about - thanks!!

 

[Monologuist 10+ year member]

First of all, has it been established that there are NO 2.5" drives that can work off the 6900 with no external power? Perhaps one of the more power efficient ones like the Samsungs?

Second of all, is there anything about that Seagate that makes it better for the 6900 than other externals (or buying a bare 2.5" drive and putting it in an enclosure)?

Third of all...how are you all liking your 6900's? I think the USB functionality is really great. But I find the UI to be quite unintuitive. Also I'm not sure that I am happy with the SQ. Everything is sounding a bit too glassy and bright even with full res. CD's. Although it's possible the culprit may be my Alpine PDX class D amps. But I don't think so...Also, sometimes it is very slow to respond to fast forward or rewind (audible) on USB.

I will say that playing ipod off of USB sounds noticeably better than aux in or the Ipod "adaptors" (non USB). The pure digital connection doesn't seem to sap as much bass from the ipod as the analog connections.

 

[Escape Goat]

Hello, I'm new to the 6900UB and new to the forum. This looks like the place to start.

According to the manual the USB power supplied from the head to power an external HD is 500 mA. Problem is none of the external HDs have the USB mA power requirements. I'd assume that the larger the drive, the more power that's required. I read somewhere else that a Simpletech 80 GB drive worked ok.

Another issue is the indexing time required by the head unit everytime it's turned on. Right now I just have a little 4 GB flash drive hooked up and it takes about 30 seconds to index. The Manual said it could work with a 250 GB external drive. How long would it take to index a drive that big? Mr Vexter says he has a 160 GB running. How long does that take to index before actually playing? I'd like to get a drive hooked up but not at the sake of having it take 10 or minutes to index. Often times I'd be at my destination by then.

 

[vexter0944 10+ year member]

Monologuist -

I'm not 100% sure about any other drive - I honestly didn't research a whole lot - so hard saying if something else would or would not need extra power. I just wanted to post what I did get to work.

I think the Seagate was a winner because it was already setup for dual usb power instead of having to get an adapter or another cable, at least that was one of the reasons I chose it.

so far I'm really enjoying the 6900 - my biggest complaint so far is the fact that when I switch to XM - it doesn't remember what channel I left it on - so I always have to go back to the channel I usually listen to (150) - wish it would stay. I find the remote to be very intuitive and easy to use - after just a few days I'm able to do everything from it that I need to - works pretty well IMO.

Escape Goat -

The drive seems to take about 30 sec to index - now honestly - I don't have more than about 5 gb of music on there right now - but according to the other posts about external hard drives and this unit - it stays at 30 sec no matter how much music - posted by Tommy Ceez -

" am happy to report that it seems with the additional 500mA as mentioned above, the Pio 6900ub will ABSOLUTLY play my 120gig HD.

Up to 20gig so far, and the 20 second initial seek time has not gotten any longer.

Im VERY happy"

I'll be getting my whole collection in over the weekend - if the 30 sec goes up - I'll post...

 

[AltarCrystal 10+ year member]

First of all, has it been established that there are NO 2.5" drives that can work off the 6900 with no external power? Perhaps one of the more power efficient ones like the Samsungs?
Second of all, is there anything about that Seagate that makes it better for the 6900 than other externals (or buying a bare 2.5" drive and putting it in an enclosure)?

Third of all...how are you all liking your 6900's? I think the USB functionality is really great. But I find the UI to be quite unintuitive. Also I'm not sure that I am happy with the SQ. Everything is sounding a bit too glassy and bright even with full res. CD's. Although it's possible the culprit may be my Alpine PDX class D amps. But I don't think so...Also, sometimes it is very slow to respond to fast forward or rewind (audible) on USB.

I will say that playing ipod off of USB sounds noticeably better than aux in or the Ipod "adaptors" (non USB). The pure digital connection doesn't seem to sap as much bass from the ipod as the analog connections.

I don't THINK anyone's found an external drive that can run off the HU, and I believe that this is because the HU simply doesn't put out enough power. Remember, I believe Pioneer said that the HU was ment to use flash drives, and was not intended for use with hard drives. That didn't stop us, though //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif. Really, the inverter the TC posted is perfect. It's small, and if you take a little time, can be hidden.

The reason I chose the Seagate is simply because I like their quality of hard drives. I'm running a 320GB ATA and a 250GB SATA in my computer right now, both Seagates. And like I said, I don't believe it's a problem with the power handeling, but the HU not putting out enough power. People ahve gotton HD's to start up and spin, but not load data strictly from running off the HU.

I love my 690. I feel they could have done some things different with the display, I"d love a visulizer that also displayed the song name and artist, but I can live without it. EQ is enough for me. If I want anything that's REALLY precise, I'd just buy an external EQ.

Now, I've got to go take care of some things at work, and get to installing mine //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[vexter0944 10+ year member]

Just wanted to let everyone know - I moved my whole mp3 collection to the truck today - the 30 sec read did not increase - NICE. So there ya have it - any other questions - let me know - I'll try to answer. Have fun!