That seemed to do the trick. I am now off and away using my USB 3 drives now. Just for further information I have been using a Windows 8.1 host to make all of my media. I am not sure if that was having anything to do with the errors or not.
I too have seen this issue. It works fine when using an Intel SSD with a sata to usb connector. When trying some shiny new USB 3 thumb drives, I too am getting the exact same results as the OP.