Best USD sticks for NDS

Posted by: ken c on 16 January 2014

a very nice person has just given me some FLAC files that i have on my PC hard-drive. The files have some interesting music arranged in folders for each album, but i can see other files in each directly.

 

2 questions:

 

(a) what is the best (sounding) USB stick to use on my NDS?

(b) given (a), does it matter that the folders have other files in addition to the music/tracks?

 

I normally play music from my NAS drive via UnitiServe/SSD, hence the somewhat noddy questions.

 

Many thanks

 

enjoy

ken

Posted on: 16 January 2014 by Graham Clarke

Ken,

 

I've not noticed any SQ differences between USBs into my nDAC/XPS-DR.  I guess you could buy a couple of relatively cheap (< £20 each) sticks to compare.

 

nDAC ignores files it doesn't support, I would be surprised if this isn't also the case with NDS.

 

Graham

Posted on: 16 January 2014 by ken c
Originally Posted by Graham Clarke:

Ken,

 

I've not noticed any SQ differences between USBs into my nDAC/XPS-DR.  I guess you could buy a couple of relatively cheap (< £20 each) sticks to compare.

 

nDAC ignores files it doesn't support, I would be surprised if this isn't also the case with NDS.

 

Graham

Thanks Graham. I hope you are well and enjoying your music on your fabulous system!

 

enjoy

ken

Posted on: 16 January 2014 by Graham Clarke

Hi Ken,

 

Yes, am doing well, hope you are too.  How are you getting on with the 135s and 52?  Did you get the 52 serviced and upgraded to POTS8?

 

Possibly looking to get an NDS/555 this year and maybe a third NAP 300

Posted on: 16 January 2014 by ken c
Originally Posted by Graham Clarke:

Hi Ken,

 

Yes, am doing well, hope you are too.  How are you getting on with the 135s and 52?  Did you get the 52 serviced and upgraded to POTS8?

 

Possibly looking to get an NDS/555 this year and maybe a third NAP 300

Good to hear Graham.

Yes, the NAC52 was serviced and upgraded to POTS8 by Class A and it sounds great.

 

enjoy

ken

Posted on: 16 January 2014 by winkyincanada
Originally Posted by ken c:

 

(a) what is the best (sounding) USB stick to use on my NDS?

 

Really? To me that's like asking what is the best sounding CD case. OK, not quite - but I'd be horrified if there was discernable difference between functional USB sticks (a faulty one might work poorly, though).

Posted on: 16 January 2014 by AndyPat

Ken,

Good question and it depends on how you intend to use the sticks. There is considerable difference in build quality that, amongst other things, can result in poor connectivity through the usb port. I found HP branded sticks problematic in this regard, but Lexar and Sandisk are always fine. 

 

If you are intending to use larger capacity sticks ( I currently use two Lexar 128GB sticks) and may occasionally want to swap files then you need to look at read and write speeds. USB 3.0 compatible ones are much faster potentially, presuming your computer has USB 3.0.

Write speeds are the more important. 128GB of files can take a long time to copy, faster sticks lead to more listening time. 

Read speeds usually far exceed those required to play music but your Naim does need to take control  (I think I'm describing this appropriately) of the folder structure so that you can navigate to a particular file. I think (though cannot prove) that the sticks I have used with faster read speeds have 'loaded' more quickly for a given memory size. 

Hope this helps.

 

Andy

 

Posted on: 16 January 2014 by ken c
Originally Posted by AndyPat:

Ken,

Good question and it depends on how you intend to use the sticks. There is considerable difference in build quality that, amongst other things, can result in poor connectivity through the usb port. I found HP branded sticks problematic in this regard, but Lexar and Sandisk are always fine. 

 

If you are intending to use larger capacity sticks ( I currently use two Lexar 128GB sticks) and may occasionally want to swap files then you need to look at read and write speeds. USB 3.0 compatible ones are much faster potentially, presuming your computer has USB 3.0.

Write speeds are the more important. 128GB of files can take a long time to copy, faster sticks lead to more listening time. 

Read speeds usually far exceed those required to play music but your Naim does need to take control  (I think I'm describing this appropriately) of the folder structure so that you can navigate to a particular file. I think (though cannot prove) that the sticks I have used with faster read speeds have 'loaded' more quickly for a given memory size. 

Hope this helps.

 

Andy

 

very helpful Andy. many thanks indeed...

 

enjoy

ken

Posted on: 18 January 2014 by pete T15

Hi ken i've been using integral xcel 64 gb for the last 6 months , its very well made,lightning fast and has been very reliable. I've found usb playback by far the easiest and most reliable playback method with my streamer.

Posted on: 19 January 2014 by ken c
Originally Posted by pete T15:

Hi ken i've been using integral xcel 64 gb for the last 6 months , its very well made,lightning fast and has been very reliable. I've found usb playback by far the easiest and most reliable playback method with my streamer.

thanks Pete -- I think I have one somewhere -- will dig it up and see/hear :-)

 

enjoy

ken