RCD 510 SDHC card vs USB stick

[SantaClaus]

Hi All,

My dad has had a mk6 GTI for a few months and he loves it! Of course, he would never let me drive it even if I could afford the insurance 

Anyway, I want to get him some memory and am going to put all his music on it for Christmas. I've searched google and this forum, so I hope this isn't a duplication and I hope it might be of help to others.

Basically, I'm still a bit lost as what to get - an SDHC card of a USB flash drive stick. I want to make it as easy as possible as he's a bit of a dinosaur - the GTI probably has something to do with a midlife crisis  Oh, he doesn't have an ipod and Santa can't afford to get him one 

So, which is better and SDHC card or a USB stick? I'll probably get 16gb. Anyone used both? Any difference in sound quality? Speed? What would you recommend? I suppose it also depends on the quality of SDHC/usb and the amount of data stored. Any specific SDHC card or USB stick I should get?

I've read on here that the SDHC can be slow and the USB stick works better. He'll never use it if it takes minutes to initialise/load up each time. But I've also read that the SDHC card is fine for others and seems smoother when fast forwarding tracks. There also seems to be some issues with folders and directories. Is the same for both and is it just how you organise your files? Any help on the best way to organise his music would also be amazing?! 

Anyway, sorry about the lengthy first post and all the questions. Any help at all would be gratefully appreciated, especially from those that have used both. Hope all you guys have a great Christmas and New Year. I'll try and get the presents you want but I probably won't be able to fit another GTI down the chimney 

Santa Claus. 

[VWKev]

I didnt think the rcd510 takes a usb ? 

[flc1962]

I didnt think the rcd510 takes a usb ? 

Should be in the ARM rest thats where mine is.

USB is hidden away and I've got an 8GB not 1 single problem with the music
SD card other people have reported issues.

My vote is for the USB stick.......

[VWKev]

I didnt think the rcd510 takes a usb ? 

Should be in the ARM rest thats where mine is.

USB is hidden away and I've got an 8GB not 1 single problem with the music
SD card other people have reported issues.

My vote is for the USB stick.......

Thats well cool, havent even noticed, will take a peek tomorrow.

[flc1962]

There should be 2 cables 1 for the IPOD and 1 for the USB.

I was told as I had DAB this would be removed but it was not BONUS..

[Freakinsweet]

I´ve had a 500Gb HD attached to the Media-In interface located in the armrest with no problem. Music loaded very quickly (seconds).

Eventually got a 16Gb USB-stick and any track resumes/loads within seconds, as with the HD.

Issues reported have all been related to users using a SD or SDHC card. My vote is thus: Go for the USB-stick or HD. A 16Gb sets you back about 25 Euros. Remember to format it using FAT32.

[nickparnell]

Hi Santa

I've spent a couple of weeks looking into this, here's what I found :-
1. SDHC card - I've got a 16GB SDHC which is what I originally intended to be my main source of music. But it is incredibly slow to start up - takes two to three minutes. And you get this delay every time you start the car. And you also get a big delay when you navigate back to the root folder. As of now I've only got 8GB of music on it to reduce the start-up time. Tried different ways of arranging folders etc - no joy. Annoying. I could buy another (faster) SDHC card but thought I'd try other approaches first...

So I then tried :-
2. In the armrest use the USB Media In cable and then just attach a card reader to it and put the SDHC card into this. Works fine - no delay at all. Seems to imply that it's just the card reader in the RCD510 that's slow.
3. Then tried a USB memory stick on the USB Media In cable - again works fine, no delay.

So I've now ordered a 16GB memory stick and will be using that in future.

I've also done side-by-side comparisons of the sound quality between the above - no difference that I can tell (I only did this because I recall some other posts saying the sound quality via Media In wasn't as good - didn't make sense I know as it's just a digital source) - but there are different audio settings (bass / treble etc.) for CD / SDHC and Media IN so make sure they are all set correctly before comparing.

[p3eps]

After reading that I had a quick look on eBay to see what I could get in terms of USB keys.
You can get a 64gb one for £12.99 with free postage!!

I was always a bit worried about filling the RNS510's hard drive with music, as most firmware updates clear the music off.

I wonder how fast an RNS / RCD would read the music off a 64gb stick though?!

[p3asa]

I wonder how fast an RNS / RCD would read the music off a 64gb stick though?!

There are quite a few folk who claim to have 500Gb hardrives attached to the USB slot and it reads them instantly so I don't think your 64Gb will have any problem.

I got the same findings as NickParnell after it took my SDHC card 20 minutes to access. Granted I had been putting folders inside folders and at the last count probably had around 5000 folders when the maximum is 400 or 2048 files.

After re organising it now takes about 20 - 30 seconds which is still poor.
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=135283.0

You can't beat the ipod for being able to select the exact song, artist, playlist, album, genre or whatever.
However I still have that annoying mute when a song plays via the ipod, although I've found a couple of songs it doesn't happen with which is strange.
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=131370.0

[GolfTi]

I've had problems with the ipod skipping at the start of tracks and a USB stick not being recognised every time. (I had to remove and insert the cable sometimes).

I've now gone for a Sony Walkman. Perfect. No skipping and it's always recognised maybe as it's battery powered.

I have all my music converted to mp3 variable rate and I'm happy.