Andreas, you’re right. He’s talking about the predescessor of the Ultra Fit. I’m trying to get a 64 GB model of this drive an then we’ll see ;-).
The write speed should be OK for multitrack recordings (8 MB per minute per track = 2.4 MB per second with 18 tracks).
2.4MB/s is only the bandwidth required to write the audio data, but maintaining the drive integrity more reads/writes are required (cluster allocation, FAT management). These updates will occur in bunches (18 FAT updates for 18 Tracks) and if this takes too long, the Qu may run out of buffers (even with clever buffer management and delayed FAT updates). So the margin is not as large as it seems to be…
OK, as the Fit series was out of stock, I bought a Cruzer Force 64 GB model a few minutes ago. I’ll test this evening…
I don’t understand why you’re trying to use unapproved media when the Extreme is the only approved thumb-drive to date. The experience posted on this and a half-dozen audio forums all points to the Extreme as THE consistently correct choice.
Why look elsewhere? You’re wasting time and money. For now it’s the Extreme or nothing…
If we can get a low profile USB stick approved (and without testing then none ever will be) then that becomes a better choice due to profile. The Extreme is extremely long, and therefore easy to knock, potentially breaking the Qu-Drive port, or at least the stick itself, certainly fritzing the recording…
One of these ultra low profile devices would be an excellent option. I’m kind of surprised that Class 10 SD media wasn’t considered an option, an SD card clicked in could be a zero height option (or indeed a USB port on the underside of the mixer…)
The three connections on the face of the mixer are all potentially vulnerable to being knocked. I have two “right angle” extension cables to minimise the height profile of Qu-Drive and ST3, but phones are still exposed (although I didn’t actually PAFL anything last gig, I was all set up to do so over FM, but never did).
A couple of extension cables and I’m OK, but a low profile stick would be one less thing to cause issues, one fewer connection…
@Dick Rees: Because I think there has to be more than that only device which can be used as Qu-Drive (and perhaps a cheaper one).
Thats’s a great suggestion for next mixer generations… No more headphones outputs on the top of the surface (its not a DJ business!) horizontal front connection like every other manufacturer! 
usb and inputs for sure as well on a better position (or at least one out of two usb ports on the back or front! (SD card for multitrack recording sounds nice as well!)
when positioning the sockets rack mounts need to be considered as well, out of the front isn’t always best…
Mine is off to a transmitter, so PFL will normally be out of alt-out …
The Cruzer Force is recognized by my Qu-16 and could be formatted :). It seems that multitrack recording also works :).
I’m not sure why you’d need a 64 gb stick. I use a couple of 16’s and transfer the .wav files to my laptop on breaks, reformat the stick and go again. If I need to I just ping-pong from one to the other for recording. Since the file system limits things to 4 hour increments I don’t see the advantage to putting all your eggs in one 64 gb basket.
Just because the desk recognizes a stick does not mean that it will format properly and write clean files…
The recommendation from A&H is to do one thing at a time, off-load and re-format to avoid the possibility of file fragmentation and errors. Since I use my Qu-16 for paying work, I can’t afford to shop around for cheaper stuff that might work. That said, I spent a lot less on a package deal of 3 Extreme 16 gb sticks than buying a 64 gb stick and having extra unusable (for my application) capacity.
The clients get their tracks/recording on a regular USB stick. Once the .wav files are recorded, any old stick will do for delivery. But for the critical task of writing the recorded files it makes ZERO sense to guess about what MIGHT work. One failure and I’ve lost a client.
And I’m not sure why you don’t want me to do so. After a few test recordings I can confirm that the Cruzer Force 64 GB works fine without any problems (stereo playback, stereo recording and multitrack recording).
Thread can be closed.
64 gb stick means I can go about a gig with a stop/start after soundcheck,rehearsal,set1,set2…
Well over the wekend I tried a Sandisk Cruzer Fit 32GB (the forerunner to the Ultrafit) and it worked fine. Admittedly I only recorded 2 channels but it writes 18 anyway in multitrack. I had extimated that 48kHz sampling for 18 tracks would write about 3.3MB/sec and it worked out at 2.5MB/sec. This was based on two test recordings one of 60 seconds and another of 120 seconds. I think the Cruzer Fit is only rated at about 4-5MB/s write speed anyway. So based on that, I would say that most current drives would perform OK. So there are several low profile drives I would be prepared to try:-
| make | model | read | write | size GB | price £ |
| Transcend | Jetflash | 80 | 20 | 32 | 18.82 |
| Integral | Fusion | 140 | 20 | 64 | 19.99 |
| Patriot | Spark | 110 | 64 | 20.98 | |
| Patriot | Tab | 110 | 64 | 24.99 | |
| Transcend | Jetflash | 90 | 20 | 64 | 24.99 |
| Verbatim | Store n go | 60 | 12 | 32 | 12 |
| Sandisk | Extreme | 245 | 190 |
The read and write speed are in MB/sec.
My motive is not the price, but the convenience of having a low profile USB device that will be used mainly for backups of scenes etc, sound checks. If I am going to make serious recordings, I would do that via USB streaming straight into a Cubase project.
HTH
Oh well - that didn’t work too well.
and neither did that
The issue is when FAT updates happen - if the stick can’t cope with that excess load then the QU buffers will be overrun.
Exactly, FAT updates, which require additional transactions are the problem, not the write speed. Additionally the stick may need additional time to handle internal wearing issues. Don’t forget that these types of Flash Drives (and SSDs as well) use NAND flashes which degrade over time and therefore needs some special care to maintain integrity. Contrary to FAT updates this is totally undeterministic. This is not critical for regular use, but may hit you in realtime applications like audio streaming.
Got this one and it seems to be working perfectly 