BMW M3 Forum (E90 E92)

BMW Garage BMW Meets Register Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read


Go Back   M3Post - BMW M3 Forum > E90/E92 M3 Technical Topics > Coding / ConnectedDrive / Audio-Video / Electronics / Bluetooth / I-Drive & Nav
 
BPM
Post Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
      02-13-2008, 08:19 PM   #1
eclipsisNA
Colonel
United_States
348
Rep
2,937
Posts

Drives: 2013 Estoril 328i M Sport
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Beverly Hills, CA

iTrader: (6)

Garage List
2014 BMW 428i  [7.76]
My recommendation for a USB flash drive

I started another topic a while back asking about what a good choice for a USB flash would be. After a ton of research, I settled on the Corsair Flash Voyager 8GB. I've had the unit for about three weeks now and can give a brief synopsis of its overall quality.



It's encased in sturdy and firm rubber padding. Tests have shown that you can run it over and it'll remain in pristine quality. This is unlike many earlier USB flash drives that were in normal plastic housings that could break without much harassment.

The unit I bought in particular is the 8GB version, which holds roughly 1,300 songs in 320kbps quality. A main factor in considering a flash drive is it's read speed, and the Flash Voyager is the fastest unit on the market (outside of its more expensive brother the Flash Voyager GT). It's average read speed is 38 mb/s, which is a great deal faster than other drives that average around 8 mb/s. Even if you're sending FLAC quality songs through your amp, there won't be any lag time in requesting the song and it appearing through the speakers.

The MAJOR plus in running a USB flash drive instead of your iPhone/iPod as the provider of your MP3s is that iPhones/iPods are the utility that process the audio signal and they do it in analog only. Flash drives on the other hand don't do any of the processing at all and hand that task over to the unit installed in your car which in turn does it digitally, thus giving a more pristine representation of the original MP3/WAV's quality.

The Voyager comes with a USB extension cable that allows you to clear the height restriction in our tiny armrests. Overall I think this is the ideal piece of hardware to use with the iPod adapter that many of us will be getting. If anyone's interested, Newegg has a good deal on it:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820233037
Appreciate 0
      02-13-2008, 08:33 PM   #2
drvai
Major
drvai's Avatar
United_States
135
Rep
1,274
Posts

Drives: E92 M3 AW
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: FL

iTrader: (0)

Hi. Thank you for sharing.

Wouln't be better to buy one of the smaller Pen drives so it would be easier to put it con the car (no extension needed). ???
Appreciate 0
      02-13-2008, 08:35 PM   #3
eclipsisNA
Colonel
United_States
348
Rep
2,937
Posts

Drives: 2013 Estoril 328i M Sport
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Beverly Hills, CA

iTrader: (6)

Garage List
2014 BMW 428i  [7.76]
Quote:
Originally Posted by drvai View Post
Hi. Thank you for sharing.

Wouln't be better to buy one of the smaller Pen drives so it would be easier to put it con the car (no extension needed). ???
Those smaller units are a fraction of the Voyager's capacity (8GB) and their read speed is also much slower (probably around 9 mb/s. I have over 1,000 320kbps MP3s and those smaller drives can't hold all those songs. It's best to just get something like the Voyager and hook up the tiny USB extension (which is very secure I might add).

EDIT: It should be known for those that are unaware that Corsair is one of the leaders in the low latency, high speed PC memory market alongside OCZ and Patriot. Their reputation in providing stable and fast memory is second-to-none, so that's another plus to consider.
Appreciate 0
      02-14-2008, 02:28 AM   #4
nechronics
Lieutenant
nechronics's Avatar
Syria
24
Rep
438
Posts

Drives: M3
Join Date: May 2007
Location: south tampa

iTrader: (0)

That's an excellent drive.

Last year I bought a 4gb Patriot drive similar to that one - for the same reasons. It was by far the quickest drive on the market for read and write speeds - works like a charm to this day. It's also in a similar rubber casing which is a HUGE plus, feels so much more durable than other plastic drives I have.

they make a 16gb version of that exact drive too

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820233042
Appreciate 0
      02-14-2008, 02:47 AM   #5
Big Windy
Major General
Big Windy's Avatar
United_States
150
Rep
5,124
Posts

Drives: None
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Bay Area

iTrader: (0)

looks ugly but seems to do the job quite well. thanks! i'll be getting on of those!!!
Appreciate 0
      02-14-2008, 07:28 AM   #6
drvai
Major
drvai's Avatar
United_States
135
Rep
1,274
Posts

Drives: E92 M3 AW
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: FL

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xcellere View Post
Those smaller units are a fraction of the Voyager's capacity (8GB) and their read speed is also much slower (probably around 9 mb/s. I have over 1,000 320kbps MP3s and those smaller drives can't hold all those songs. It's best to just get something like the Voyager and hook up the tiny USB extension (which is very secure I might add).

EDIT: It should be known for those that are unaware that Corsair is one of the leaders in the low latency, high speed PC memory market alongside OCZ and Patriot. Their reputation in providing stable and fast memory is second-to-none, so that's another plus to consider.
Ohhh. I see. Thank you so much. Do you know if they make a "more discrete version"?
Appreciate 0
      02-14-2008, 12:14 PM   #7
eclipsisNA
Colonel
United_States
348
Rep
2,937
Posts

Drives: 2013 Estoril 328i M Sport
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Beverly Hills, CA

iTrader: (6)

Garage List
2014 BMW 428i  [7.76]
Quote:
Originally Posted by drvai View Post
Ohhh. I see. Thank you so much. Do you know if they make a "more discrete version"?
I wish they did, but as of right now they don't. The technology is still pretty new, so hopefully we'll see something a bit tinier in a few years. And you're welcome.
Appreciate 0
      02-14-2008, 02:43 PM   #8
GarryF
First Lieutenant
United Kingdom
34
Rep
330
Posts

Drives: SSII E90 M3
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: UK

iTrader: (0)

in a 320D today I tested a CD, Flash drive & ipod. My self and someone else couldn't tell the difference in quality between the 3 different sources, this was on the base euro sound system though so you might hear differences on the higher end systems.

I'd take it with a pinch of salt though until someone does some proper double blind tests, the line out using the dock connector of an ipod is pretty good, most people compaining about poor ipod sound quality are probably playing dodgy 128kbs mp3 downloads
Appreciate 0
      02-14-2008, 04:30 PM   #9
eclipsisNA
Colonel
United_States
348
Rep
2,937
Posts

Drives: 2013 Estoril 328i M Sport
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Beverly Hills, CA

iTrader: (6)

Garage List
2014 BMW 428i  [7.76]
Quote:
Originally Posted by GarryF View Post
in a 320D today I tested a CD, Flash drive & ipod. My self and someone else couldn't tell the difference in quality between the 3 different sources, this was on the base euro sound system though so you might hear differences on the higher end systems.

I'd take it with a pinch of salt though until someone does some proper double blind tests, the line out using the dock connector of an ipod is pretty good, most people compaining about poor ipod sound quality are probably playing dodgy 128kbs mp3 downloads
You can tell the difference on the Individual Audio system, as I've compared that to my E46 M3's HK.
Appreciate 0
Post Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 02:27 PM.




m3post
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
1Addicts.com, BIMMERPOST.com, E90Post.com, F30Post.com, M3Post.com, ZPost.com, 5Post.com, 6Post.com, 7Post.com, XBimmers.com logo and trademark are properties of BIMMERPOST