Intermittent skips / garbled playback of FLAC music from USB stick?

[Buyer2021]

I have a USB stick with thousands of music files (artiest > album > songtracks) all FLAC format.

I've recently experienced skips and garbled playback of random tracks during extended listening sessions, almost as if the FLAC codec buffer is overwhelmed (?).

This random glitching persists even when I burn the same catalog of FLAC music to a different USB stick.

When I take those same USB sticks and playback on my computer I cannot re-create the glitch.

When I use a USB drive with the same catalog in WAV format to the truck I cannot re-create the glitch.

I'm using 'fresh' Samsung 128GB USB C 3.1 flash drives for all of these tests. My music drives have FLAC files only, no album art or 'playlist' files ever. All files were ripped from CDs using EAC (Exact Audio Copy) software running on a PC (so there are no 'hidden' MACOS files).

Just curious if anyone else has experienced similar?

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[YabbaDabbaDo]

Yes, exact same issue here with FLAC and Samsung USB. I can only surmise the USB was overheating...and perhaps USB voltage differences between stereo and computers. I solved it by throwing them in the trash and using PNY.

Junk:
Amazon.com: SAMSUNG MUF-64AB/AM FIT Plus 64GB - USB 3.1 Flash Drive, Black/Sliver : Electronics

Good:
Amazon.com: PNY 128GB Turbo Attache 3 USB 3.0 Flash Drive, Grey (Pack of 1) : Electronics

 

[Buyer2021]

Yes, exact same issue here with FLAC and Samsung USB. ....

Interesting, thanks for the reply.

I'd had trouble in the past with those very physically-tiny 'Fit' USB drives getting hot to the touch, those happened to be PNY branded. I stopped using those tiny drives thinking that the tiny size in any brand might suffer similar heating issues.

Here's the slightly physically-larger Samsung used as described in my OP, which have never run hot that I can perceive by touch (unlike the tiny 'Fit' drives):

Amazon.com: SAMSUNG Type-C™ USB Flash Drive, 128GB, Transfers 4GB Files in 11 Secs w/Up to 400MB/s 3.13 Read Speeds, Compatible w/USB 3.0/2.0, Waterproof, 2022, Blue, MUF-128DA/AM : Electronics

I've got on hand an even physically larger and always cool-running Samsung T3 USB C SSD, it's still a size that would be convenient hidden in the truck's front cubby where I plug in my music drive. I suppose I should burn my library to that and see if that solves the problem.

BTW, I do have the apparently latest APIM update. but that does not seem to correlate to my music glitch issue timing

 

[YabbaDabbaDo]

The key for my troubleshooting was documenting that it was not the same tracks erroring. And, it always took 30-45 minutes of playback before the digital errors started. My errors were associated with USB A devices...not C.

 

[tjtennispro]

If you use Apple products why not not rip to ALAC? ALAC allows embedded artwork and doesn’t have this issue in my truck plus. ALAC files on my NAS and in cloud storage play directly over wired CarPlay

ALAC and FLAC are exactly the same

 

[YabbaDabbaDo]

If you use Apple products why not not rip to ALAC?

Because my testing indicated the root cause of the issue here is the performance of the USB device. The problem is easily solved by purchasing a capable $10-15 device. It makes zero sense to re-rip hundreds/thousands of files we already have to solve this problem.

 

[Buyer2021]

If you use Apple products why not not rip to ALAC? ALAC allows embedded artwork and doesn’t have this issue in my truck plus. ALAC files on my NAS and in cloud storage play directly over wired CarPlay

ALAC and FLAC are exactly the same

Got no problem with ALAC per se, I agree that like FLAC it's a lossless compression scheme, but not an exactly identical codec and it's not supported by nearly as many playback devices as FLAC.

I don't happen to use Apple devices for music playback, don't use CarPlay or cloud storage / streaming.

An admittedly 'old school' approach, but I prefer my music source be 'stand-alone', independent of any external playback device or data bandwidth (especially my phone with a limited data plan that works for me).

YMMV, no worries!
_____________

Last night I copied my complete FLAC catalog from my PC 'master' to the previously mentioned Samsung T3 USB SSD after doing a 'long format' of that drive so it's completely 'clean'.

We'll see if the glitches persist with that different storage device ....

 

[Buyer2021]

It makes zero sense to re-rip hundreds/thousands of files we already have to solve this problem.

Yeah, not an undertaking I'm up for.

I have a 'master' of all of my music catalog in both FLAC ('lossless' compressed) and WAV (un-compressed) formats.

ALAC allows embedded artwork

I have zero interest in album art, it's all about the music for me. Again, YMMV, no worries!

 

[raider23]

I know this is off topic but I can’t find any where on the forum step by step instructions for putting music onto a USB drive. I’m using a Mac, any software recommendations and advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

 

[Buyer2021]

I know this is off topic but I can’t find any where on the forum step by step instructions for putting music onto a USB drive. I’m using a Mac, any software recommendations and advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

I'd really like to help but I'm not a Mac user.

I don't mind a redirection of this thread at all, and welcome responses to your question, but perhaps a new thread with a descriptive title would better catch the attention of those who can offer useful suggestions?

Either way, Good Luck!

 

[Kanuck]

Yeah, not an undertaking I'm up for.

I have a 'master' of all of my music catalog in both FLAC ('lossless' compressed) and WAV (un-compressed) formats.


I have zero interest in album art, it's all about the music for me. Again, YMMV, no worries!

When ever I have copied files to a USB, I just treat the USB as a folder and do the copy/paste. I do format the USB as exFat. I don't know if Mac's are the same, but there must be programs that emulate Windows on a Mac PC.

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