What do you look for in an SD card?

[Shephard]

I am really annoyed with mp3 players with no expandable storage aka iPod. I got an 8GB touch and it can't even hold 4% of my music library. Lucky I got it used cause I wouldn't pay full price for them.

I thought maybe I should get an SD card and just put it in my phone and use it for music.

Not sure what to look for. Sandisk I know is a good brand, but at the same time I saw some reviews on one SD and it was flaking out on people.

I know you look for Class 10 for speed.

Basically I want something reliable that won't crap out.

32gb cards seems to go on sale a lot and that's good enough for me. Is $19.99 for 32gb a good price?

Thanks

 

[Coup27]

I retired my Sony MP3 player and now use my Galaxy S2 as my MP3 player. I've got a Samsung MicroSD 32GB class 10 card in mine - although I wanted class 10 so I could record 1080p video on to it as well.

The reality is any reputable brand SD card will be fine, but I personally stick with Samsung for a lot of my electrical / electronics these days.

 

[Shephard]

so they are all the same?

Don't most video cameras use sd cards now? I would think recording 8 hours of footage and then card suddenly dies on you would be really bad. Curious to know what cards they use.

 

[dagamer34]

Any SanDisk will do. Storing music onto an SD card is pretty easy, there's no reason to pay more for high speed cards used in photography.

 

[KingFatty]

Well, I've heard some people have to wait a bit sometimes when the SD card is initialized, while your particular application on the phone looks through all the folders and files on the card.

I could see having a fast *READ* speed would reduce that need to wait because the phone could read through things really fast. But the class designation on the card usually only tells you a baseline minimum of the *WRITE* speed, to make sure you are at least fast enough for recording constant video.

So really, you should take a look at some independent reviews that measure both the read and the write speeds of a card.

Sometimes, a class 6 card can be faster than a class 10.

I think for music, it's more important to have a fast *READ* speed, and you don't really care about write speed.

Also, I can't say this enough, but really please try out Google Music. You load the app in Windows, and tell it where all your MP3s are stored. Then it lets you have access to all that music on any device that also is running Google Music, including any website and any Android device. So you no longer have to think in terms of which file is stored where, or how much space you have left. Also, you just put all your playlists there and updates to any playlist will be synchronized across all devices. It's freedom, truly. And if you want, just tell the app to download any specific songs, or all songs. Personally, I just tell it to download local copies of all my playlists. When I add new music to my MP3 collection, I add it to any playlists, easy. But even without downloading, you can still access any of your music, and it will still be cached locally.

 

[jaqie]

since when does music streaming off of an SD card require a fast SD card?

I understand wanting to read the contents quicker, but... is it really that important?

I play video regularly on my phone off of my SD card and it most definitely is not class 10, or even a fast one.

 

[Cerb]

For music, get the cheapest from a good brand, such as:
Sandisk
Kingston
Toshiba
Transcend
A-Data
Patriot

FI, right now, for a 32GB, I'd get the $20fs Transcend at Newegg. CD audio is around 150KB/s, and chances are you will have much smaller files, coming in at more like 12KB/s.

For other uses, random performance can matter (class rating measures sequential only), and I would gladly just spend the money on a Samsung or Patriot LX (if it fits) and be done with it, in such a case (RPi OS drive, FI).

 

[jihe]

I am really annoyed with mp3 players with no expandable storage aka iPod. I got an 8GB touch and it can't even hold 4% of my music library. Lucky I got it used cause I wouldn't pay full price for them.

I thought maybe I should get an SD card and just put it in my phone and use it for music.

Not sure what to look for. Sandisk I know is a good brand, but at the same time I saw some reviews on one SD and it was flaking out on people.

I know you look for Class 10 for speed.

Basically I want something reliable that won't crap out.

32gb cards seems to go on sale a lot and that's good enough for me. Is $19.99 for 32gb a good price?

Thanks

That's a lot of music. Do you have uncompressed music or something? 32 Gb still won't hold 16% of your collection. Maybe you should just setup a NAS.

 

[jaqie]

That's a lot of music. Do you have uncompressed music or something? 32 Gb still won't hold 16% of your collection. Maybe you should just setup a NAS.

FLAC is wonderful! I have ~800gb last I checked, most recorded from radio some purchased some ripped from purchased media, some free to get (one great example is the nitronic rush soundtrack, yum!) all legally gotten.

 

[kleinkinstein]

I buy solely based on color!

 

[KingFatty]

Interesting question - is it legal to record music that is playing over the radio, even with a crappy tape recorder, not to mention an MP3 recording.

I guess it would also be nice to have a fast recording speed for when you add music to your collection. If you buy several albums, and want to copy them to your phone, a fast write speed can make that much less of a hassle.

But ultimately, I don't think there is a memory card that you could buy that would be too slow to be able to function. So really, it's more about faster = more convenient and saves your time when you make changes or when you initialize/read the contents of the card (e.g., when your phone's audio App reads through all the memory card's directories and itemizes all the music so it understands what you have available).

Unfortunately the "class" rating of a card only tells you for certain what minimum threshold is met. But you don't know how much faster than that threshold the card actually performs. What I mean is that you could see two different class 10 cards on the shelf. The first one barely meets the class 10 spec, so it's about a 10.8 class read/write performance. But the second one may be quite a good performer, and exceed the class 10 spec and behave more like a class 40 read/class 20 write. If both of these cards are about the same price, why not buy the faster one - isn't your potential time savings of value to you, to minimize the hassle of waiting for file copies/reads to finish up?

 

[Shephard]

That's a lot of music. Do you have uncompressed music or something? 32 Gb still won't hold 16% of your collection. Maybe you should just setup a NAS.

well obviously a micro SD won't fit ALL my music.

I have an 8GB iPod and a 16GB. The 8GB is nothing. Maybe 600 songs and I listen to them all. So it's annoying have to change my playlists or albums so often. The 16GB is good, but I think 32GB SD card would be the sweet spot.

All my music FLAC or 320kbps, highest quality you can get.

 

[Phynaz]

The least expensive name brand.

 

[Shephard]

I keep seeing this Sandisk Ultra 32GB Class 10 go on sale for $28.

The reviews however say the card cannot record HD 1080p videos.

Not good. So how do you know if they suck?

 

[Carson Dyle]

You don't need Class 10 speed for music, although I'm not sure you really pay a premium for it these days. Not many music players use full sized SD cards, most use microSD. And many of the players spec'd to use microSDHC, which has a max size of 32GB are able to use 64GB microSDXC cards.

It's somewhat futile to expect your whole music library to fit on a portable player. So you pick and choose what goes with you.

 

[corkyg]

An interesting thread - I find it odd that no one has mentioned one of the longer time makers of flash memory cards - Lexar! I consider them and SanDisk as the top drawer.

 

[ronbo613]

Kingston or Transcend SD for my many cameras, MP3/media players and other devices. I usually buy Class 10 for a few bucks more so I can swap cards between devices if needed.
Nothing against the popular SanDisk cards, I use SanDisk CF cards in my DSLR, but I like other brands for SD.

 

[Shephard]

ok link me some brands that you use so I can compare. micro and regular size.

 

[Shephard]

also I know there are 3 sizes with SD card.

all phones use micro.

Then I think all cameras and camcorders use the 'mini' size.

Then there is just standard size. What uses the standard size?

Also would you say it's better to buy a micro SD that comes the 'mini' adapter so you can use it for other things?

this one is going on sale on Friday. $29 bucks I am guessing it's usually always on sale.

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Produc...mail&utm_campaign=Mar2013_24hrDailyDeal-Mar25

 

[Carson Dyle]

I'd never seen or heard of miniSD before. Most cameras use standard sized SD cards, I believe.

I don't see how you would easily use a 32 or 64GB card for both music and some other application. It takes a while to fill that card. You couldn't just pull it out of a camera, remove photos from it, load 30GB of music on it and run out the door. It would take too long to load. Most people with many devices own many different cards.

I wouldn't have any use for a microSD to SD adapter. I ususally use USB adapters for reading/writing both SD and microSD cards on a PC. I have one of these that came free with a SanDisk SD card, and I bought one of these microSD adapters for a couple bucks.

 

[Shephard]

I'd never seen or heard of miniSD before. Most cameras use standard sized SD cards, I believe.

I don't see how you would easily use a 32 or 64GB card for both music and some other application. It takes a while to fill that card. You couldn't just pull it out of a camera, remove photos from it, load 30GB of music on it and run out the door. It would take too long to load. Most people with many devices own many different cards.

I wouldn't have any use for a microSD to SD adapter. I ususally use USB adapters for reading/writing both SD and microSD cards on a PC. I have one of these that came free with a SanDisk SD card, and I bought one of these microSD adapters for a couple bucks.

that's an awesome adapter I didn't know they had those. no need for a card reader then.

here's the sizes.

 

[skriefal]

MiniSD seemed to be popular for a year or two. Then MicroSD came along and very quickly killed MiniSD. Smaller cards = smaller cell phones and MP3 players. Not by much perhaps... but still smaller. Haven't seen any new MiniSD-using devices in at least 5 years.

 

[Cerb]

Then I think all cameras and camcorders use the 'mini' size.

Mini is dead. Mobile devices did use it, prior to MicroSD, but MicroSD took over quickly. If you need MiniSD, get a MicroSD card (not SDHC or SDXC!) that comes with a MiniSD adapter, such as this one. Random no-name adapters have all the quality you would expect, and will almost certainly lead to corruption. Plain MicroSD is not cheap per GB, but it is still available, and being made.

Also would you say it's better to buy a micro SD that comes the 'mini' adapter so you can use it for other things?

Only if you have those other things, and need to share that one card between them. SD tops out at 2GB, though there have been 4GB spec-breaking cards (you would have to hunt for cameras or phones that took them, and buy one as for that device, to be sure). SDHC tops out at 32GB. SDXC tops out at 2TB.

SD readers are backwards-compatible, but the cards are not. So, you can't necessarily use a SDHC or SDXC card in a device that does not support them, even if you only use a 2GB (or 32GB) partition (some have unofficial support, though, being made with supporting controllers, but before the new cards themselves were on the market to test with). Be aware of this when you see a SDHC 2GB or SDXC 32GB card for sale.

P.S. I really don't like SD, as a storage standard, but MicroSD has made it ubiquitous, so we're stuck with it.

 

[Shephard]

oh okay good info I didn't know Mini was dead.

I want a micro SD for my phone. So Class 10 SDHC.

What about the one I linked? That's a 32gb. I thought I might buy that if it's on sale and I decide to get a Raspberry pi.

 

[Cerb]

http://elinux.org/RPi_SD_cards

I wouldn't, but there are many at similar prices to choose from. Kingstons can be non-working even with the same model (different actual cards, same SKU). Sandisks that don't work right at least have different model numbers (though not always a different model name). Buying one from a vendor that sells RPi stuff, as being for the RPi, is fine, but otherwise, I would avoid Kingston for that use. It's a problem unique to using SD cards as embedded OS drives, not specifically an RPi issue (IE, I knew some with the same model # would or wouldn't work well before I verified it at the RPi wiki ).

Samsung are usually good bets, as are Lexar, even if the model isn't on the wiki, or otherwise verified by Googling (Samsung, especially, increments model numbers very quickly). Most A-Data are good, too. Due to the quick model # changes, somebody's blog post, or a user review, are every bit as useful as the main list at the wiki page, and more up to date.

For Sandisk, make sure the full model number matches one someone has verified as working correctly. Sandisk does may overload the model name from a series, and some may not work for boot drives (or just be too slow), but the full SKU won't be the same, if it's actually a different card. Also, buy from a vendor of good repute, as Sandisks are the most commonly counterfeited.

With CF, all you had to worry about was DMA support. SD is much more frustrating.