RNS-E - Anyone using 4GB SD Cards?

[galewis]

Assuming the SD card hasn't been removed, what are your experiences with how long you have to wait before you hear the music?

I've read with interest on the NAVplus forums that some users are experiencing a delay of over a minute from when they turn the engine on when using 4GB cards.

Many members of NAVplus mention that the speed of the SD card is unimportant because even the slowest can access data far faster than a CD could supply. This of course makes perfect sense, unless RNS-E has to read in all of the data from the SD card before it will play any music. It may therefore be worthwile using cards like the Sandisk Ultra II or III cards if you use large capacity cards with lots of data on them.

Any views would be appreciated as I was about to order 2 x 4GB cards and fill them as much as I can with music (I think I read somewhere that you can only store a maximum of circa 500 tracks per SD Card... is this true?), but I wouldn't want to live with waiting a full minute waiting for the music to start.

Gary

 

[Vertigo1]

I'm currently using a 4GB and a 2GB card and, although there's a delay, it's nowhere near a minute. If I had an MP3 playing on the 4GB card when I turned the ignition off then it only takes about 5-10 seconds before it starts playing again.

That said, I am using a fast card so this could help things. If you're interested it was sourced from here:

http://www.mobymemory.com/proddetail.asp?prod=SD_MOBYMEMORY_4096_001

The file limit per card is 512 but this includes directories aswell.

 

[Dandle]

My 4gb card works the same as Vertigos and only takes 5-10 seconds to start playing. Its speed is 150x and its no where near full before you hit the 512 file limit though(files at 192 bit rate).

 

[cliveywolves]

hi all....

i thought you could only use up to 256mb sd/mcc cards with rnse ???

cheers
clive

 

[Vertigo1]

You thought wrong mate 4GB cards work fine.

Dandle, 256k bitrate is the sweet spot as you hit the 512 limit around the same time the card is full.

 

[cliveywolves]

so the rns-e manual talks ***** then....
so i can use my 1gb without problems ???

cheers boys

clive

 

[A3_3.2_S-Line]

Its cos the SD cards some people have are budget. Like you said you need to go for the Ultra III when you have 4gb so it don't take as long to load.


Having said that it does it a age for the music to come on sometimes on my Ultra III's...


I believe there is no limit to the size of cards you can use just a limit to the amount of files it can handle.


I've been eyeing up the 8GB cards you can know get but I don't think the read times are all that quick compared to the the smaller cards still.

SAMSUNG have also got a 32GB card coming to the market so if you have hi bit rate mp4's 2x32GB of storage should sort you out!

 

[benw123]

I've been using a pair of 512MB cards since my install with no problems. As Vertigo1 says, the bit rate is everything because of the 512 file/folder limit, and being a bit smaller than 4GB, there's no delay.

Newbies should also note that you must format the card to FAT or FAT32 format, and use Constant Bit Rate (CBR) when ripping your music to MP3. Apparently the RNS-E doesn't like variable (VBR).

 

[Vertigo1]

The RNS-E will play VBR MP3s without problems but the elapsed time display will go wrong, especially if you skip forward or back within the track.

 

[Vertigo1]

Just a note to say the 4GB card I linked to above has now dropped in price to £37 which is a stonking price for a fast card which works perfectly in the RNS-E should anyone be on the lookout for one.