Not delivered yet, but I am considering putting my FLAC files on an SSD instead of a memory stick. I figure this should draw less current than the spinning discs and be more reliable. Has anyone tried this yet? Or have any recommendations? I figure a 256gB will do the job, although I could get away with 128 if needed.
Anyone recomend a brand of SSD Hard Drive to use with the Audi system
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Samsung 840Pro SSD's have been good for us at work (and home); reliable, fast and reasonable £.
Whack it in a carrier and surely it should work a treat. Now you've mentioned it I'm tempted myself.
Whack it in a carrier and surely it should work a treat. Now you've mentioned it I'm tempted myself.
snakehips
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I have tech pack and FLAC plays fine but I didn't think it was the tech pack that enabled this.
DJAlix
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Have been using both offerings from Crucial without issue, the M4 and M500 range, 256GB and larger.
I've just purchased a 960Gb Crucial M500 SSD for my desktop computer. I have two 256Gb Crucial M4 SSDs and they work fine but I need a bit more capacity which is why I went for the M500. Unfortunately every time I try and create a partition on the M500 I get a BSOD. My computer has a Haswell processor and looking on the Crucial website it suggests upgrading the firmware version from MU02 to MU03 to overcome a compatibility problem with these processors. So I have done that and it makes no difference. I have also tried a M500 480Gb and it gave the same results. According to DJAlix they seem to work OK with the A3.
So the M500 is going back and I shall purchase a Samsung 840 EVO either 750Gb or 1Tb. The best prices I've seen for both the Crucial and Samsung are from Amazon and if you were to get problems it is very easy to return the SSD for a refund. What size SSD are you thinking of buying as I will shortly have at least one Crucial M4 256Gb, maybe two, which I would be happy to sell.
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Am using the same 960GB M500 that h5djr mentioned with no issues, however I have not been trying to create partitions and been using on a MAC with OSX so cannot comment on the reported issues.
The M500 is new to me and seems like a great bit of kit so far. I have an M4 256GB also, going on 3 years now, also with no issues. I have read / been told good things about the Samsungs though. h5djr is correct re Amazon pricing. They do seem to beat dabs and overclockers 9 times out of 10.
The M500 is new to me and seems like a great bit of kit so far. I have an M4 256GB also, going on 3 years now, also with no issues. I have read / been told good things about the Samsungs though. h5djr is correct re Amazon pricing. They do seem to beat dabs and overclockers 9 times out of 10.
Actually I think I only tried with the Apple Lossless (ALAC) which didn't work. Will try FLAC to see if it plays.
pat15312
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Thanks for your help here. So as I hear what you are saying is that there are a few good economical choices. These are really internal drives and I would need to get an enclosure, that i presume comes with a USB connection. Is that right? Are these easy to find a fit?
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If going for a newer drive then you need an SATA III caddy with a mini USB connection, and all the SSD's listed above are SATA III.
Just to throw another idea out there... You could probably get away with using a cheaper SATA II SSD as I doubt the MMI will take advantage of the SATA III read speeds. Only reason I am using SATA III is because I had the drives as spares for my macs.
Just to throw another idea out there... You could probably get away with using a cheaper SATA II SSD as I doubt the MMI will take advantage of the SATA III read speeds. Only reason I am using SATA III is because I had the drives as spares for my macs.
pat15312
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Gen 3 Intel Core i7-3632QM CPU @ 2.2GHz in a Dell XPS 15. I wanted to wait for the Haswell version but needed something sooner.
My desktop is a Dell 9020 with a 4th gen Intel Core i7-4770 (3.40GHz) Haswell processor, the Intel Q87 chipset and 8Gb RAM. Having had the problems with the Crucial M500 disk I've returned that to Amazon and had a new Samsung 840 750Gb SSD delivered at lunchtime today. I have just installed it and created the partitions and everything is now working as it should. 750Gb should keep me going some time now.
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pat15312
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The Samsung was my second choice to be fair but it didn't seem to have much of an advantage over the Crucial. Also I paired the hard drive upgrade with the bump to 16GB of Crucial RAM at the same time as taking the laptop apart is straightforward but always worrying.
Dave, are you running 64-bit OS?
If so, are you running Etka in a 32-bit virtual machine, or have you managed to get Etka and all updates to work properly in 64-bit OS?
If so, are you running Etka in a 32-bit virtual machine, or have you managed to get Etka and all updates to work properly in 64-bit OS?
I'm running 64-bit Windows 7 and have Etka running in a VM Ware 32-bit Windows 7 virtual machine. I originally had in running in the Windows XP virtual machine but I have found VMWare Player (which is free) to be quite a bit quicker at loading and suspending. I think the problem with running Etka in 64-bit is the hardlock drivers that are needed. I understand there are no 64-bit versions of these.
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if you only need 128Gb, why don't buy an SD card ? it will take 0 space compared to an SSD in the glove box, will not need an usb adaptator and probably work better.
this is what I use
anyway, I don't think putting FLAC files in the A3 is really usefull. I don't think someone can hear the difference between a good mp3 320 and a flac file in a moving car
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Good points. I might try the SD first. I have FLAC files not MP3 so it would be a PITA to change them all to MP3. I also figure with the B&O I should give it the best input I can. It is certainly obvious at home when I am listening to crappy and compressed recordings.
Does the MMI in the A3 8V support FLAC then? I was trying to find this out but I read conflicting reports based on the different car models...
All my music is in FLAC after spending forever backing up all my CD's so I'd hate to have to convert them to MP3 when I eventually get a shiny new car.
All my music is in FLAC after spending forever backing up all my CD's so I'd hate to have to convert them to MP3 when I eventually get a shiny new car.
Tech Pack High certainly does.
I did have an issue with unplayable files recently when ripping some new CDs.
The software I use (Exact Audio Copy) had written both FLAC and ID3 tags - which the MMI didn't like and refused to play.
Once I removed the ID3 tags - all was good again.
Thats good, I planned to get the tech pack and B+O sound system anyway 
Waiting patiently for the e-tron to come out, missus has given approval for that, although still working on persuading her to let us try out the 184 TDI quattro as well
Waiting patiently for the e-tron to come out, missus has given approval for that, although still working on persuading her to let us try out the 184 TDI quattro as well 
To resurrect this thread.
I'm now using a re-purposed Crucial M4 128GB SSD.
It's in this enclosure: http://www.ebuyer.com/221434-startech-2-5-sata-external-hard-drive-enclosure-sat2510bu2. The enclosure has a mini USB connection, and it's connected with a genuine AMI mini USB cable.
I was looking at some £10 cables on Amazon, but they went out of stock and some of the reviews suggested they didn't work very well.
A couple of times the connection has dropped for 1-2 seconds, then comes back.
It's annoying as the music re-starts but from the 1st track on the disk.
Anyone else had troubles with HDD/SSD intermittently loosing the connection?
I'm now using a re-purposed Crucial M4 128GB SSD.
It's in this enclosure: http://www.ebuyer.com/221434-startech-2-5-sata-external-hard-drive-enclosure-sat2510bu2. The enclosure has a mini USB connection, and it's connected with a genuine AMI mini USB cable.
I was looking at some £10 cables on Amazon, but they went out of stock and some of the reviews suggested they didn't work very well.
A couple of times the connection has dropped for 1-2 seconds, then comes back.
It's annoying as the music re-starts but from the 1st track on the disk.
Anyone else had troubles with HDD/SSD intermittently loosing the connection?
