USB flash drive brand affects playback quality

[Alext]

I have been a bit concerned over the quality of playback in the Z4 compared to my 135i. Even with the premium 14 sound system and extra speakers of the Z4, I thought the 135i had the edge. Sure it's a small cabin convertible but the difference was significant enough to my ears to warrant further investigation. I had been constantly adjusting the tone settings on the idrive to no avail.

So today I tried a Kingston branded USB stick instead of the cheap Lexar I had been using. The MP3s I use are mostly 320kbps. The difference was immediately noticeable. Much more rounded sound, brighter highs, tighter mid bass and deeper lows. Amazing. It's now comparable to the 135i - actually the bass sounds more solid on the Z4. Got to do some more testing and adjusting first.

I plug my USB into the arm reset socket for reference. Havent tried the glovebox one.

[Dr Stig 2]

I plug mine in the glove box. Then I upload them. Never had an issue with the sound quality.
Never needed to use the USB in the armrest.

How's your fuel filling problem going?

[Alext]

Good idea I might try to upload them to the car from the glovebox.

The fuel filling issue is still present. I took it to the dealer but they said they couldnt find an issue. I spoke to a couple of petrol station personnel and they reckon its the pumps - some are better than others, but the design of the car's piping can affect it too.

[BMWZ4]

Hey AlexT,

Yes, different brands can yield different results. Sandisk is another brand I use (also Kingston). Apparently has to do with the quality of "processors" on the usb sticks (yep, sticks have so-called processors on-board). Affects all sorts of things like transfer speeds, quality of the data on the stick after x number of deletes & re-writes etc.

Dave

[dknightx]

Sorry, but the engineer in me is calling BS on this. In the digital era, it shouldn't matter where the "bits" are coming from. If the MP3 player is having trouble reading the file, in my experience you will either get complete garbage (as in the sound of a thousand cats being tortured) or no sound at all. But "brighter highs, tighter mid bass and deeper lows" I can't comprehend.

Sorta like those Monster branded HDMI cables that cost 4x other brands and claim improved picture/sound. Not true - the cable either works in your system or it doesn't. There is no in-between.

I don't doubt that some brands of USB flash drives may be more compatible with the car than others, but the symptoms should be the same. They should either work identically or not at all.


-David

[BMWZ4]

No problem, everyone is entitled to an opinion. Suggest a bit of google research, I think you'll find that some sticks are "better" than others.

As for Monster....definitely agree. That happens to be the biggest consumer joke of the last century.

Dave

[rfx45]

Has anyone successfully played music directly from the flash drive without uploading the music through the USB in the glove box?

[Al Blue4.6l]

Originally Posted by rfx45

Has anyone successfully played music directly from the flash drive without uploading the music through the USB in the glove box?

yup.

didnt even know there was a port in the glove box.

[Al Blue4.6l]

Originally Posted by dknightx

Sorry, but the engineer in me is calling BS on this. In the digital era, it shouldn't matter where the "bits" are coming from. If the MP3 player is having trouble reading the file, in my experience you will either get complete garbage (as in the sound of a thousand cats being tortured) or no sound at all. But "brighter highs, tighter mid bass and deeper lows" I can't comprehend.

Sorta like those Monster branded HDMI cables that cost 4x other brands and claim improved picture/sound. Not true - the cable either works in your system or it doesn't. There is no in-between.

I don't doubt that some brands of USB flash drives may be more compatible with the car than others, but the symptoms should be the same. They should either work identically or not at all.


-David

im with you on this one.

not all flash sticks are equal for a number of reasons - SQ is not one of them.

[jparnes1]

Originally Posted by Al Blue4.6l

yup.

didnt even know there was a port in the glove box.

the one in the glove box is for importing songs into the car's hard drive. It's a little tricky to find. Look on the left side (assuming LHD car) of the glove box. The USB in the center console is just for playing music.

[09cbb]

Originally Posted by Al Blue4.6l

im with you on this one.

not all flash sticks are equal for a number of reasons - SQ is not one of them.

+1

There might be subtle differences depending on the error correction side, but nothing that would be audible as described. Also, the USB stick processor really doesn't control the audio quality. Is is transferrring the data but not decoding it, which is done by the signal processor on the car. Now that one definitely affects audio output...

[Baremeg55]

Originally Posted by rfx45

Has anyone successfully played music directly from the flash drive without uploading the music through the USB in the glove box?

All the time...

[ChuckB]

They way you write also makes a difference, i.e. if you delete and add files they may no longer be written sequentially in the drive and you may have some fragmented files, which may slow it down. I always wipe the entire USB stick, and then write everything to it in one session so nothing should be fragmented. All my music is sampled at 320 (except for the Pink Floyd - Pulse which was ripped off a DVD @ 640) and never had any issues.

[Conflagrare]

Originally Posted by ChuckB

They way you write also makes a difference, i.e. if you delete and add files they may no longer be written sequentially in the drive and you may have some fragmented files, which may slow it down. I always wipe the entire USB stick, and then write everything to it in one session so nothing should be fragmented. All my music is sampled at 320 (except for the Pink Floyd - Pulse which was ripped off a DVD @ 640) and never had any issues.

I call BS on this too.

A) there's typically buffer on reading.
B) If it actually misreads, or misses a gap, you'd hear major problems with the sound, like a silent gap, or a shrieking sound. It wouldn't have been a "SQ" problem.

Brand of USB having an effect is BS also.

Like the guy above, I'm also an engineer.

[BMWZ4]

Curious what you base your findings on, other that your engineering background? Seriously, please feel free to educate me.

[Al Blue4.6l]

Originally Posted by Dave Marien

Curious what you base your findings on, other that your engineering background? Seriously, please feel free to educate me.

its a digital format. as long as the 1s and 0s are being transferred, they're being transferred.

what DOES make a difference, as someone indicated above, are the DACs *in the car stereo*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital...alog_converter

[BMWZ4]

Ahh...right. Digital. Of course! That certainly explains why all usb sticks are alike. Thanks for clarifying.

[Al Blue4.6l]

Originally Posted by Dave Marien

Ahh...right. Digital. Of course! That certainly explains why all usb sticks are alike. Thanks for clarifying.

no one is saying that you are wrong in your reference to differences in read speeds, write speeds, etc. if that is your concern.