Clip Zip Feedback and Feature Request Thread

@tapeworm wrote:


@crescentmage wrote:

If the UI to show the time already exists for select files, why not use it for everything?


Good question . . . one we’ve been asking for the last 8 months.

Nope…I gave up long ago. :stuck_out_tongue:

@marvin_martian wrote:


@tapeworm wrote:


@crescentmage wrote:

If the UI to show the time already exists for select files, why not use it for everything?


Good question . . . one we’ve been asking for the last 8 months.


Nope…I gave up long ago. :stuck_out_tongue:

A question, until answered is still a question.

There, that’s my Zen moment for the day. :stuck_out_tongue:

@marvin_martian wrote:


@tapeworm wrote:


@crescentmage wrote:

If the UI to show the time already exists for select files, why not use it for everything?


Good question . . . one we’ve been asking for the last 8 months.


Nope…I gave up long ago.

A question until answered, is still a question.

There, that’s my Zen moment for the day.

Functions of Buttons in Radio Mode Request:

[Now]

  • Press [Select] to jump foward to next channel

Problem: No shortcut to jump backward. In order to move to previous channel, you’ll have to press [Select] several times or use [View All Preset] which is placed inconveniently

  • [<<] and [>>] used to adjust Frequency

Problem: Adjustment is only used at first (after format,…). These two buttons will be more useful if they help us move Forward/Backward

Then [Select] can be used to change between 2 modes: Change Channels / Adjusting Frequency

  • [View All Preset] (which might be the most often use)  in menu [Option] placed in THIRD line, while [Add/Delete Preset] (already have shortcut) and [Auto Preset] (which is used less often) are placed on top

Could you please change the functions of buttons as well as radio menu position to make them more flexible?

Feature in Podcast and Audiobook Mode Request:
Would these mode have the Shuffle and Repeat Feature?

a play all feature for podcasts would be nice.
the ability to leave podcasts and listen to radio and then resume where you left off would also save a lot of frustration

i load about 70 mph podcasts on my clip each week. If i go to the podcasts icon i can only play a group of podcasts from the same “artist” and then it stops and i have to back up and enter the next “artist”. Very annoying. If i go to folders, card, etc then i can play all but when i leave i have to remember where i left off or delete each pod as i play them which is also frustrating.

other handy features would be:
multi item delete
useable clock

@f0sud0 wrote:

other handy features would be:
multi item delete
useable clock

What exactly do you mean by a “useable clock”? The Zip displays the time in the upper left corner of the screen. It also has a “Sport” menu that allows timing. What more can you use a clock for?

I recently posted a question titled “I don’t think Play All works as it should”. Now that it has been confirmed that indeed the Play All function endlessly repeats the same folder over and over if it is started by first selecting a specific folder I would like to elevate my question to a request is to change this behavior. I feel that when the player is done playing the contents of a folder it should simply pass to the next folder in sequence. Conceivably you could add a different way of repeating the same folder ad nauseum, but frankly I don’t think it would be worth the effort. For every person you find that wants to cycle thru a single folder repeatedly you probably could find a few hundred who would rather have the player advance to the next folder. Since my post, I found a few posts from other users complaining of the same thing (which is also a factor when choosing music by artist). So I think it is about time that you change the play all logic so that it behaves in a more logical fashion. For reference and clarity, I’ve included my original post below:


I’m a new Clip Zip owner and recently complained to tech support that if I selected a particular folder, after the player finished playing the music in that folder it would simply stop! (Who would want it to stop? Certainly not a runner.) Tech support said it shouldn’t work this way, and recommend I upgrade the firmware to 01.01.18A (which I did, and later to 01.01.20). True enough, the player no longer stops at the end of the folder. Now what it does is wrap around and starts playing again at the beginning of the folder?

Say what?? Why would I want to listen to the same album over and over again?? (especially when I have over a hundred albums loaded onto my SDcard). Of course what I want it to do is simply to advance to the next folder in sequence.

To be fair, I have sort of figured out a way to do this. First I select “folder” mode, but then instead of selecting a particular folder, simply select “Play All”. Indeed the player starts at the first folder, plays the music, and then goes on to the next folder in sequence - pretty much like I said I wanted.

But there is still a rub. There is a good chance that eventually I will accidently select some other mode. Then when I go back to folder mode, and Play All, it will start at the very beginning again. Imagine if I have already played folders 1-63. What could I do? Listen to all 63 albums again? What are the chances I could actually hear all my music this way? Of course I could get to album 64 buy hitting the forward button like around 1000 times until I get to the album I want, but who has the patience for that?

Perhaps the designers didn’t imagine that users would put so many albums on the player at once. But now that 32Gb cards are quite reasonable in cost, it’s trivial to do. Or maybe they figured everybody would be using the shuffle mode. Personally, I rarely want to to randomize the music, preferring instead to listen to each album in its entirety. (And by the way, I’ve used a few other mp3 players, and I haven’t had this kind of problem).

 Thanks

~Paul

Using Folder navigation does have its limitations.  The player was designed primarily as a media device navigating through your collection via the embedded ID3 tags in your music files.  This is a natural assumption, the best choice for most use, as the ID3 tag metadata is a standardized part of the file type we are working with.

By tag, you can use Play All to run through a Genre, an Artist, or an ALbum, for example.  Starting at the Songs mode, the player will play all songs.

By filename or folders, the device only has two choices, “all folders”, or “one folder” (the one selected).  

If you don’t have proper ID3 tag information on your media files, an ID3 tag editor is your best friend.  Most of us here like MP3Tag, a great utility, and it’s free via the Interwebz.

Bob  :wink:

I think that folder view and navigation has been vastly under-rated by many manufacturers, as a simple and effective tool.  

I am unhappy with the sandisk. The earphones do not fit in my ears. Dont know who designed them but they are much much to big to fit in the ear connal. do you have some soft earphones that can be used in the player. I would like to be able to plug them in my ears. At this time the sandisk is usless to me. Got it as a gift for Christmas and just getting around to try and use the scadisk.

Jim

The Sansa is supplied with basic, cup-type (flat speaker) earphones.  They are intended as a universal basic 'phone.

Compared aginst most, they actually perform quite well, more bass, and far less “tinny” than most.

In-ear types are an entirely different animal.  They seal completely,  and are better in high noise environments.  They also vary considerably, depending upon the individual listener’s ears.  IEMS are available most anywhere for under $20.

i currently like the little Maxell ones.  I like their fabric-wrapped cables, much better.  They look like the Maximo Sansa IEMs, and cost a whopping $15!  I wish these little guys had a model number stamped somewhere.  Bought them as a thrasher pair, and was really surprised with the quality.

My favorites are custom-moulded (requires a trip to the local audiologist for fitting) 1964 Ears IEMs.  These have replaceable cables as well, very nice, but far more expensive.  A Clip Zip would cost about $750 if packaged with them, so you can see why the basic buds really make sense.

Here’s a cool m&m type:

These are the cool $15 tyoe I like:

And here is Godzilla, the 1964 Ears:

Bob  :wink:

A good source for questions and answers about headphones and recommendations, at anythingbutipod.com: http://anythingbutipod.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=22.

> By tag, you can use Play All to run through a Genre, an Artist, or an ALbum, for example.

> By filename or folders, the device only has two choices, “all folders”, or “one folder” (the one selected). 

> Bob.

Bob, it seems like you were responding to my feature request, yet you are talking about tags? I think that means you don’t understand the reason for my request. What does tags have to do with anything? My music already has the most common tags, but that doesn’t change the problem. For instance I can select “Album” and it will indeed play that album. But then when it gets to the end of the album, it does what I consider to be a very stupid thing. It simply plays the album over again! Why do I think this is stupid? Well just ask a random user if they listen to the same album over and over again. Other than the rare person who only owns one album, you might be hard pressed to find one. So what would be the crime in simply starting to play the next album in sequence? (I don’t think it even matters what the sequence is - alphabetically, the order loaded, or whatever). I think if Sandisk did this, users would be pleased. You might argue “Why not let the user decide when to go to the next album?”. That might be a reasonable response for the typical handheld ipod type device most often used sitting in an armchair. But look at the shape of this thing (i.e. clip). This is ideal for runners and the like and I suspect many or most of the users are on the go. We want to start it playing and then let it do its thing. We don’t want to stop and adjust our music player!

~Paul

I don’t understand you.

When Play an Folder „Play All“ or Normal. The Folder will play and Stopps on the end. Not Play over again?

Sample

F:\ Music\Bruce Springsteen

Album 1

Album 2

Album 3

F:\ Music\Madonna

Album 4

Album 5

Album 6

Browse to Music and select „play all“. All Album 1-6 Play in Order. No Repeat Album 1 again.

With Repeat is on under Settings the Sansa Clip Zip play again. Starting with Album 1. When Album 6 ends.!!!

Without Repeat, it ends an Album 6. Similar to Tags, Albums, Artist. Play all Plays all subfolder from the Selected Folder.

No Problem?

Paul, I agree that auto folder advance would be preferable (and, indeed, is an option with the alternative Rockbox firmware). In the meanwhile, though, if you want to play multiple albums of your choice: add each album to the GoList–voila! I very nice option, that.

PLEASE FIX  the PLAYLISTS capability. Your boards are full of users with playlist problems and NO consistent solutions, relating to this apparently acknowledged problem area/bug. MP3 players are first and foremost about playing music. Sansa touts the feature of adding a micro sdhd card, and it is a great feature. BUT if you want to use playlists which many if not most do want to do, you will of course use tracks on both the internal and external memory, and the problems of trying to do that are horrible and just drive you crazy. Playlists are an integral part of using the ClipZip or any MP3 player. This is simple: I want to put music tracks on my MP3 player, and I don’t want to be concerned whether they’re in internal, external or both memories. I then want to play the music using ID  Tag fields like Genre, and PLAYLISTS into which I put whatever tracks I wish. That’s it. FIX THE PLAYLISTS, please. Work on the stopwatch, etc, later. It is a Music Player.

Thanks

Steve   

Stevehc63 wrote:

PLEASE FIX  the PLAYLISTS capability. Your boards are full of users with playlist problems and NO consistent solutions, relating to this apparently acknowledged problem area/bug.

 

The last firmware update released 4/06/12 fixed a major playlist problem that had been plaguing the Clip Zip. I don’t know if it’s one affecting your situation, but if you haven’t updated to version 01.01.20 you may consider doing so and see if it helps you. :smiley:

@koto wrote:

I don’t understand you.

 

When Play an Folder „Play All“ or Normal. The Folder will play and Stopps on the end. Not Play over again?

 

Sample

F:\ Music\Bruce Springsteen

Album 1

Album 2

Album 3

F:\ Music\Madonna

Album 4

Album 5

Album 6

 

Browse to Music and select „play all“. All Album 1-6 Play in Order. No Repeat Album 1 again.

With Repeat is on under Settings the Sansa Clip Zip play again. Starting with Album 1. When Album 6 ends.!!!

 

Without Repeat, it ends an Album 6. Similar to Tags, Albums, Artist. Play all Plays all subfolder from the Selected Folder.

 

No Problem?

Hi Koto. Thanks for responding, but I don’t think you read very carefully. Indeed it works as you describe and with only 6 albums like you have in your example, this probably would not be a problem. If you listening sequence got interrupted half way thru (which can happen a number of ways) then you could resume by starting at the beginning at then press the forward button to skip all the tracks of the first 3 albums. (That would only take perhaps 30 button pushes or so). But now imagine you had several hundred albums loaded. (Easily done with an external memory card). Now if your sequence got interrupted half way thru it would not be practical to start where you left off since it would require a rediculous number of button pushes. Changing the operation the way I suggested would make this easy and would have no practical drawbacks.

> Paul, I agree that auto folder advance would be preferable (and, indeed, is an option

> with the alternative Rockbox firmware). In the meanwhile, though, if you want to play

> multiple albums of your choice: add each album to the GoList–voila! I very nice option, that.

> Miikerman

Yes, sounds like the GoList would be the only practical way, although this too is a pain compared to what I would like to do.

I thought I would be saved by the Rockbox firmware, but I looked it up and it suggested it was not yet stable on the clip zip. Do you have information that suggests otherwise?

Thanks

~Paul

@pmennen wrote:

 

> Paul, I agree that auto folder advance would be preferable (and, indeed, is an option

> with the alternative Rockbox firmware). In the meanwhile, though, if you want to play

> multiple albums of your choice: add each album to the GoList–voila! I very nice option, that.

> Miikerman

 

Yes, sounds like the GoList would be the only practical way, although this too is a pain compared to what I would like to do.

I thought I would be saved by the Rockbox firmware, but I looked it up and it suggested it was not yet stable on the clip zip. Do you have information that suggests otherwise?

  

The Clip Zip is not “officially listed” as a stable port for Rockbox yet, but I know for a fact there are many, many people already using it without any major issues.

Yep. In fact, I’ve never heard of a permanent malfunction with the Clip Zip Rockbox port.  

It appears that only some finishing touches for the port remain (although when I asked earlier, this wasn’t confirmed).  MarvinMartian, you may have seen, is a major proponent of the port–perhaps he’ll pipe up here.