DOCKING the Sanza Fuze

SanDisk MP3 players Sansa® Fuze™
21

gwk , you’re right!!

You piqued my curiosity, and I followed the cable down to the wee “wall wart” supply for the IM413.  Lo and behold, it’s a switching unit, capable of operation in either “world” of AC power.  All you need is a little adaptor plug.

The only drawback is that the power unit will be spaced away from the socket by at least 25mm.

Bob  :smileyvery-happy:

22

I have emailed Altec Lancing who have said that they have no plans to market the im413 in the UK.

There is no denying it – The ipod has a goodly number of quality speaker docking units available for it.  And the Sansa doesn’t

 

Having read the “DIY Line Out Cable” thread and other related threads, there are advantages to using line out capability rather than headphone out.

 

Being able to utilise an ipod dock via the Fuze’s line-out would be a neat idea, so I am considering making my own ipod-to-Fuze connector block and need to run a quick question or two past those who are more familiar with the pin-outs.

 

As I see it, the connector would be wired at the Fuze (female) end thus:

 

27 – Right Audio Line Out

28 – Left Audio Line Out

7 & 22 – Jumpered

29 – Audio Ground

 

At the ipod (male) end, it would be wired thus:

 

5 - Right Audio Line In (Fuze 27)

6 – Left Audio Line In (Fuze 28)

2 – Audio Ground (Fuze 29)

 

The connector itself would be solid (ie, no loose wire connection) so the Fuze could/would stand in the ipod dock correctly.  Such a connector could also then utilise other ipod cables (eg to the aux in on a car stereo)

 

I appreciate that no charging or remote facilities would be available in the above, but have I got this basically right?

 

Finally, are the physical connectors themselves the same, or does the Sansa connector differ from the ipod?

 

Thanks for any help, advice or comment.

 

John

23

The physical connectors are the same, thus the problem, if you put your sansa on an ipod accessory you will likely damage your sansa.

The adapter that lets the sansa sit on an ipod accessory would be very popular, but as far as I know it is not yet available. If wired properly the recharge feature would work, pin outs for the charging of both would help that idea, but I don’t know the pins myself, but here should be the sansa ones:

Sansa pins 

24

"… if you put your sansa on an ipod accessory you will likely damage your sansa.

 

The adapter that lets the sansa sit on an ipod accessory would be very popular, but as far as I know it is not yet available. "

This is exactly why I’m looking to build one!

I’m not overly interested in charging (although it would be nice) - Given the Fuze’s exceptional battery life, I’m happy to allow it to run under it’s own steam.

25

I’m currently working on modifications to a Klipsch iGroove SXT to take a Fuze directly. When/if I get it worked out, it should be the basis for a Fuze to iPod adapter cable. You’re pin 5 and 6 on the iPod end should be 3 and 4. These are lineout on the iPod and will be linein on the device connected to.

The Klipsch won’t enable the preamp unless it knows something is in the dock or something is on the aux in. The problem that needs further looking into is device detect for the accessory device to know that something is docked. This may not be the same for all accessory devices, as they may implement the connection different. It may also be the reason a universal adapter or cable does not exist due to variations out there. There are quite a few ways it can be done on the iPod, but some connections will change charging voltage depending on resistance on an input. This can get tricky, so you better have a spare Fuze in case you blow one!!!

26

14124all - Thanks for your clarification on the ipod pins - I had obviously read the ipod pin spec as female rather than male.

I, too, am a little nervous on the power issue and hence hadn’t planned on implementing that. 

I would be most interested to hear how you get on with the Klipch - The iGroove was one of the quality ipod docks I was referring to (although I think it’s now disconntinued?).  Failing that, the Bose is next on my list of contenders. 

I had also thought about opening the dock and modifying the dock internals but if I spent a decent amount on the dock itself and trashed it…

I’ve got the parts on order (from Qables)- enough to make a couple - but they will take a week to arrive I suspect.  I’ll report progress when I’ve got somewhere.

Thanks again,