USB Recording (Stick) - Dropouts

SQ SQ Troubleshooting
1

I know, there are many threads on that problem. But I guess, one more won’t hurt anybody :wink:

I recorded some shows I mixed last weekend. Just stereo recordings in 48 kHz - nothing special. I used a large Intenso mini stick. It’s very fast on my macbook (I copied 11 GB in 1 min or so…). I stopped the recording after every band, so the longest file is about 90 minutes.

I’ve checked the recordings and recognized some short dropouts from time to time. How can this be? The stick is really fast and I only recorded stereofiles in 48 kHz! The USB-B port wasn’t used. This is really annoying and frustrating…

Are there any recomendated USB sticks (min 32 GB) or SSD that will work fine? Amazon links (or whatever) would be much appreciated :slight_smile:

I really don’t want to try 20 different sticks till I find one that works…

2

I used SanDisk-Sticks for the Soundcraft ui24r Multitrack recordings and hat never any problems

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3

I use Samsung T7 SSD. Not tried using any stick, except for data storage, since 2018, too much trouble.

3 Likes
4

Exactly

T7

Problems gone, multitrack 32 channels regularly, no issues

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5

I use WD & Kingston 2.5 inch SATA SSDs for multitracking with my SQ5. I’ve never had a glitch.

6

Ive been using Sansdisk Extreme portable SSD 1TB with no issues. I had multiple issues when using various sticks.

7

On an SQ-6, I’m using a Samsung T5 SSD to record 24 tracks (24bit/48kHz) for an hour or so. It works most of the time, but occasionally, it will go through the motions of recording and then refuse to close the files at the end of the session.

8

I’ve made many successful multitrack recordings on Q16, SQ5 and SQ6. I have used spinning drives and lately SSD type - I can’t say one brand is better or more reliable than another. I have occasionally had errors and although I’m not 100% sure, I think the key is to stop the recording at the end of the gig using the stop button (obvs) then , here’s the critial bit - do not un-plug the drive. Shut down the mixer and wait for “it’s safe to turn off your mixer”. Power down and then remove the drive. On the occasions I haven’t followed this procedure ie. just pulling out the USB cable while the desk is still “alive”, that’s when I’ve had errors. Inserting and removing a USB stick with show files and scene data hasn’t ever been a problem. I got my Q16 in 2015 and the SQ6 in 2021 so that’s a lot of recordings. One thing I have noticed is that, as the drive fills up, it takes SQ longer from the point of pressing “record” for it to actually go into record - not a big deal but a little nerve racking - 10 seconds is a long time when the show’s about to start!

9

My approach is to record straight into my DAW, and use that USB jack for a board light.