USB flash drives for audio on location?

roonsbane · 5th September 2006

Hello fellow slutz,

I was considering buying a 4 Gig USB flash drive to take out on location for 2-4 track 44.1kHz recordings. My small classical gigs. It would also allow me to carry smaller multi-track songs around between the various places I work to transfer back to my various drives. Anything to save on weight in my setup. I figured it might be fairly reliable since there are no moving parts. Is anyone doing this? I know there are different speeds on various models. What should I be looking for for speed specs? Any recomendations on make and models?

Thanks!

Cameron

AlexLakis · 5th September 2006

Sure, it works, I wouldn't try recording to it in realtime, tho!! Just for backup. Anything will do. I got a 2 gig stick for around $30, I think. Keep it on my keychain at all times. A necessity for the travelling freelance engineer to keep your plugin installers on.

Keychain:

USB memory stick
iLok
Earplugs (freebie from Mercenary)
Bottle opener

What else do you need?

jdjustice · 5th September 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by roonsbane

Any recomendations on make and models?

I recommend the SanDisk Cruzer Titanium. It is very fast and rugged. Costs more though. I love mine.

J.D.

roonsbane · 7th September 2006

J.D.

Thanks for the info. I was wondering if you record right to this flash drive. If so, how many tracks were you recording to it at once? Also, I don't see a 4 gig version of the SanDisk Cruzer Titanium. I wonder if their other model flash drive would be fast enough?

Thanks!

Cameron

celticrogues · 7th September 2006

I can recommend the SanDisk Cruzer line too - as durable as anyone could ask for. I left one in a pants pocket once and had it go through the washing machine (no cap on it or anything). I pulled it out, let it dry overnight, and tried it out and not only did it still work but all of the data I had on it was intact and uncorrupted. I was impressed!
Cheers,
-Mike

handojin · 7th September 2006

i just successfully recorded about 5 minutes of 44/24 4 tracks using this little drive
techinally not a flash but pocket sized with a mini 4200rpm drive

http://www.westerndigital.com/en/pro...sp?DriveID=226

i just did a quick test after reading this to see,, ill check it out somemore and report back, maybe do a sandra test on it to check throughput ect
on first glance it works fine

handojin · 7th September 2006

actually a 3600rpm drive after looking closer,
just so you dont misinterprit this however,, sure recording 2-4 tracks.. i dont know about opening a project off it however,,
i want to know more about this to however as maybe some of the ram based ones will be fast enough... id love to mess around with heavy sample libraries running of that to see if it speeds up load times or program changes , aswell as running a project off

uncle duncan · 26th September 2006

Any of these go cross platform between 98SE and OSX? I just need a small one for moving MP3's around.

AlexLakis · 26th September 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by uncle duncan

Any of these go cross platform between 98SE and OSX? I just need a small one for moving MP3's around.

Many of these come formatted with the FAT file system, which I believe is compatable with OSX as well (as is FAT32...as long as the drive is less than 32GB in size, OSX should be able to read and write with it.)

If you value the material you're recording at all, I wouldn't record straight to one of these, tho.

travisbrown · 26th September 2006

You can record right to an iPod in disk mode. 4gb nanos can be got cheaply.

I use a 2gb CF card in an M-Audio Microtrack: 2track 24/96. The card's fast enough in that, so you probably will be okay with flash memory in a laptop.

aussie_techie · 27th September 2006

when only needing 4 tracks i record direct to the internal drive on my notebook. format the partition frash each time and its been fine.
i know its not ideal to do it at all and i certainly wouldnt do it for larger track counts, but for small track counts primarly using it as a backup system anyway it works and means i dont need to carry another drive. an internal drive is more stable than a flash drive.

i wouldnt risk recording direct to a flash drive, while the memory its self is fash the cheepo devices are not made for high speed transfers (its still going through USB) and they arnt always reliable they are not made for backup either they are made to move files between systems. always make sure you unmount the drive before pulling it out.

i go between pc and mac all the time, mac always adds its extra files which can be kind of annoying. doesnt OS X know if a disk is HFS or FAT? but besides that no problems, just dont use SD2 files or long file names or synbol characters. win 98 may also need manually installed drivers.

5th September 2006	#1
roonsbane Gear addict Joined: Mar 2006 Location: Saint Paul, MN Posts: 368 Thread Starter	USB flash drives for audio on location? Hello fellow slutz, I was considering buying a 4 Gig USB flash drive to take out on location for 2-4 track 44.1kHz recordings. My small classical gigs. It would also allow me to carry smaller multi-track songs around between the various places I work to transfer back to my various drives. Anything to save on weight in my setup. I figured it might be fairly reliable since there are no moving parts. Is anyone doing this? I know there are different speeds on various models. What should I be looking for for speed specs? Any recomendations on make and models? Thanks! Cameron

7th September 2006	#6
handojin Gear nut Joined: Mar 2005 Location: vancouver, ca Posts: 97	i just successfully recorded about 5 minutes of 44/24 4 tracks using this little drive techinally not a flash but pocket sized with a mini 4200rpm drive http://www.westerndigital.com/en/pro...sp?DriveID=226 i just did a quick test after reading this to see,, ill check it out somemore and report back, maybe do a sandra test on it to check throughput ect on first glance it works fine __________________ www.myspace.com/loveandelectrik http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?ref=m...0719710?ref=ts

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5th September 2006	#2
AlexLakis Lives for gear Joined: Mar 2005 Location: Annapolis, MD/Los Angeles, CA Posts: 3,631	Sure, it works, I wouldn't try recording to it in realtime, tho!! Just for backup. Anything will do. I got a 2 gig stick for around $30, I think. Keep it on my keychain at all times. A necessity for the travelling freelance engineer to keep your plugin installers on. Keychain: USB memory stick iLok Earplugs (freebie from Mercenary) Bottle opener What else do you need?

7th September 2006	#5
celticrogues Lives for gear Joined: Jan 2006 Location: NYC Posts: 709	I can recommend the SanDisk Cruzer line too - as durable as anyone could ask for. I left one in a pants pocket once and had it go through the washing machine (no cap on it or anything). I pulled it out, let it dry overnight, and tried it out and not only did it still work but all of the data I had on it was intact and uncorrupted. I was impressed! Cheers, -Mike

26th September 2006	#8
uncle duncan Lives for gear Joined: Oct 2005 Posts: 3,714	Any of these go cross platform between 98SE and OSX? I just need a small one for moving MP3's around.

26th September 2006	#10
travisbrown Lives for gear Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 4,140 9 Reviews written	You can record right to an iPod in disk mode. 4gb nanos can be got cheaply. I use a 2gb CF card in an M-Audio Microtrack: 2track 24/96. The card's fast enough in that, so you probably will be okay with flash memory in a laptop.

27th September 2006	#11
aussie_techie Lives for gear Joined: Jan 2004 Location: Perth, Australia Posts: 2,709	when only needing 4 tracks i record direct to the internal drive on my notebook. format the partition frash each time and its been fine. i know its not ideal to do it at all and i certainly wouldnt do it for larger track counts, but for small track counts primarly using it as a backup system anyway it works and means i dont need to carry another drive. an internal drive is more stable than a flash drive. i wouldnt risk recording direct to a flash drive, while the memory its self is fash the cheepo devices are not made for high speed transfers (its still going through USB) and they arnt always reliable they are not made for backup either they are made to move files between systems. always make sure you unmount the drive before pulling it out. i go between pc and mac all the time, mac always adds its extra files which can be kind of annoying. doesnt OS X know if a disk is HFS or FAT? but besides that no problems, just dont use SD2 files or long file names or synbol characters. win 98 may also need manually installed drivers.