Question for Edirol or Zoom H2 Users!

[ForestThump]

I just got one of these units which I intend to use for WAV files and when I went to the shop to get a 4gb HD card I noticed there were 3 different price ranges by the San Disk for the 4gb card - They offer different data transfer rates, the faster the more expensive.
OK, the salesman (who did not give me the impression of being all that knowledgable about these cards) said that the data has no influence on the quality of the recording, it only influences the data transfer to the computer and that is more true with heavier photo files when these cards are used in cameras .
Is this true? And if so when you transfer to a computer how big a difference is there in speed of transfer?

Thanks for any light shed on this.

[ForestThump]

bump! anyone!

[kevinmoore73]

Originally Posted by ForestThump

I noticed there were 3 different price ranges by the San Disk for the 4gb card - They offer different data transfer rates, the faster the more expensive.

I assume you mean the class rating of the card (like Class 2, Class 4, Class 6). Any Class 2 card should be able to accommodate recording stereo audio at 44.1kHz/16-bit. That said, I bought a Class 6 card. Better safe than sorry, I guess.

Originally Posted by ForestThump

OK, the salesman (who did not give me the impression of being all that knowledgable about these cards) said that the data has no influence on the quality of the recording, it only influences the data transfer to the computer and that is more true with heavier photo files when these cards are used in cameras. Is this true?

Knowledgeable salesmen are rare. The speed of the card will not influence the quality of the recording. The speed rating affects how quickly data can be written (and read from) the card, with write speed being the most important.

Photos are usually much smaller than my recordings; however, one would want photos to write to a card faster than is required to record stereo 44.1kHz/16-bit audio.

Originally Posted by ForestThump

And if so when you transfer to a computer how big a difference is there in speed of transfer?

I don't know what the read speed differences are and I don't really care. The write speed is much more important to me. None of these cards will be unbearably slow to read.

[butchblack]

Originally Posted by ForestThump

I just got one of these units which I intend to use for WAV files and when I went to the shop to get a 4gb HD card I noticed there were 3 different price ranges by the San Disk for the 4gb card - They offer different data transfer rates, the faster the more expensive.
OK, the salesman (who did not give me the impression of being all that knowledgeable about these cards) said that the data has no influence on the quality of the recording, it only influences the data transfer to the computer and that is more true with heavier photo files when these cards are used in cameras .
Is this true? And if so when you transfer to a computer how big a difference is there in speed of transfer?

Thanks for any light shed on this.

Hi

Your salesman was essentially correct. The card has no effect on quality as long as it recorded all the info. The faster rate mostly affects download speed. A really slow card might affect the recording if the recorder is capable of recording faster then the data transfer rate, Check your owners manual for that info.
If by chance the USB on the recorder is the older 1.1 you can buy a USB card reader for about 30 bucks that will download the card faster. Music, especially if you record at the higher quality levels, have a lot of info in them. There would be a difference in download speeds, I don't think enough though to warrant spending a lot more for a faster card