What format did you rip the CD’s to? You can’t just “copy” the CD’s to the computer, and then to the player and expect them to play. They must first be converted (commonly called “ripped”) to a format the player can read, like .mp3.
As noted above, albums need to be ripped. Look at the file extension of the files you drag-and-dropped. If it is .cda you dragged and dropped the bookmarks that point a CD player to where the files are–not the files themselves. If it is .wav the Sansa can play them but won’t show them in the lists (Album, Artist, etc.) and you are wasting a lot of space with overlarge files.
There are a lot of different ripping softwares around but among the easiest are Windows Media Player and iTunes.
The Clip + plays .mp3, .wma , .flac , .ogg or .wav files. You need to set your software to rip .mp3 because WMP will rip to .wma (which is playable but not so portable) and iTunes will rip to .m4a, which the Clip will not play.
You need to go into the Settings of Windows Media Player and make the default format .mp3 , and in iTunes go to Edit/Preferences/Advanced and make the Importing format .mp3. You just need to do this once, and you’ll be good to go. Each version of WMP or iTunes is a little different, but if you look in the Help files for .mp3 you’ll find how to do it.
You do not need to pay for a ripper. Whatever software you use, you do need to take a few minutes to set the default encoding (ripping) to .mp3 at 320 kbps.
Do be sure to read a bit about the ripping process. There is a trade-off between rip quality and file size-you want to choose a rip rate that meets your needs, and best to determine something now, before you start ripping a lot (to avoid having to re-rip in the future).
At this point, with cards as large as 32GB, don’t even bother to read up. Use top quality MP3: 320kbps.
Back in the old days, people were trying to get away with 128kbps because there was no storage capacity or high bandwidth. But 128 sounds awful (esp. cymbals).
Some people’s ears can’t tell the diff between 192 kbps and 320 kbps, but some can. You might as well just get the best, 320.
For strictly portable use I’d say VBR at high bitrates (~245 kbps, Lame -V0) is good enough even for demanding ears and the best compromise between sound quality and size. If you want better, you may choose Flac.
As a self-confessed audiophile who still can detect sonic differences with cables (despite soon 65 years), I was never sensitive to compression artifacts from MP3s, so even ~200 kbps is good enough for me, at least for SanDisk players and canalphones such as the Shure SE846. In my main (headphone) setup at home it’s another story. And I never seriously tried listening to MP3s through my speaker setup when I was into speakers, but I suspect it would be more critical than through earphones and headphones in general.
At this point, with cards as large as 32GB, don’t even bother to read up. Use top quality MP3: 320kbps.
Back in the old days, people were trying to get away with 128kbps because there was no storage capacity or high bandwidth. But 128 sounds awful (esp. cymbals).
Some people’s ears can’t tell the diff between 192 kbps and 320 kbps, but some can. You might as well just get the best, 320.
Sorry, but I just disagree. Space still is at a premium, if you are using a player as a jukebox player/want to have lots of choice options.
