h120 and the CF mod

[animatorgeek]

As someone who uses his h120 for recording as well as listening, the CF mod is very appealing to me. It'll let me use the built-in mic for my more casual recording needs (don't have to lug around a good mic) without the annoying hard drive hum. Also, it lets me increase my capacity (something I've wanted for a while now), and for less money than getting a new hard drive.

Here's my understanding on the effects of the CF mod: faster seek time, slower sustained read, significantly slower write, and significant power savings. Is that about right?

So my question is, what negative impact is there on the player functionality? Where do people see longer waits due to slower disk access? Any issues with recording? (I'm particularly interested in this, since a big part of the reason to do the mod would be to get rid of HD noise.) I've read that there may be an issue with dropped samples in recordings that auto-split to separate files.

Similarly, what's better with the CF mod, apart from the aforementioned lack of HD noise and potentially higher capacity? I've read that bootup is faster, but how much faster?

And lastly, has anyone had success with brands other than the ones listed on the Wiki?  I know the common choice is the A-Data Speedy cards, but I'm moderately concerned about speed.  Would the greater speed offered by other cards even be worth the higher price? (e.g. a 233x card seems to run about 40% more expensive than an A-Data Speedy 32GB card on Newegg).

[Davide-NYC]

So my question is, what negative impact is there on the player functionality?

Currently the Rockbox bootloader V7pre4 does not exit USB disk mode gracefully. So you'll have to boot into rockbox and then connect to the host machine for USB transfer. If you do connect using the Bootloader USB disk mode you'll have to reset after disconnect.

Where do people see longer waits due to slower disk access?

I only feel it when transfering file to/from my laptop. During normal operation I do not notice on the player.

Any issues with recording?

None that I have experienced so far.

I've read that there may be an issue with dropped samples in recordings that auto-split to separate files.

I do not use the file split option so I cannot comment on that.

Similarly, what's better with the CF mod, apart from the aforementioned lack of HD noise and potentially higher capacity?

Well, that is  a lot of you ask me. But the player will be lighter, and the CF card is more durable and less prone to shocks etc. I presume you could even jog with this thing after the CFMod. If you shake an HDD player it'll pause for a bit (or forever).

I've read that bootup is faster, but how much faster?

It's freaking instantaneous. It's unbelievably fast. Press butto..Done! Truly a thing of beauty.

I'm moderately concerned about speed.  Would the greater speed offered by other cards even be worth the higher price?

I would go for the 233x cards. I have one and I'd like to see even fast transfer speeds. I plan on purchasing a 32GB card soon.