I have two boys wanting a MP3 player for Christmas; I purchased the Sansa Fuze but I cannot find a docking station with speakers for them. I have been told that any player with a USB port will play the fuze with the cord that connects to the computer for charging, including ones that say for use with iPod. I have been reading on this forum and can’t find any definitive answer. I see the Alta Lansing mentioned but they are hard to find and expensive. Any suggestions or can anyone give me links to compatible players? Thanks:)
DO NOT GET ONE THAT REQUIRES THE IPOD PLUG. If you plug the Sansa into an Ipod plug you could fry it. You really want one that is universal. This means that the dock plugs into the headphone port.
The player that I looked at had a USB port. I don’t have the Fuze in hand, but I know it has a cord with a USB connector. The other players that say they are for an iPod have a headphone jack and they said I could use that to connect the Fuze as well. Let me know if anyone knows of a specific player that the fuze will work with. I don’t want to spend $100 each on them (i have to get two).
You say “a player it works with”. That’s a bit confusing…
The “players” that have a USB input will basically access the Fuze as a simple storage device and play the MP3 files stored on it, similar to playing MP3s from a memory stick.
If you want to use the Fuze itself to play the music you’ll need external speakers. The simpliest method is a cheap set of amplified speakers or dock that does NOT have the iPod interface, but instead only has a stereo plug to insert into any mp3 player. Avoid those with the iPod interface since plugging in the fuze may fry it…
Cheap powered (amplified) speaker sets for MP3 players are available at most retail stores for $10-$20 or so…
Alternatly you could use a set of computer speakers rather than a dock thing.
Message Edited by timn on 12-02-2009 10:39 AM
Along the same lines mentioned above about using amplified computer speakers instead…
I’ve found that these sound quite good (for their price) when used with the Fuze:
Logitech X-140 Amplified Speakers
Otherwise, if you want a true “docking” set up that can also charge the Fuze… well
those are very, very hard to find now. Even the Altec Lansing model that was
designed to work _specifically_ with Sansa MP3 players are now hard to find, and
they are rather expensive also (great sound if you can find and efford them though).
One more comment on amplified speakers… I like the ones that have volume and even bass/treble levels, gives you better control when playing the Fuze. Before I managed to find the Altec-Lansing iM413 for $29 (buy.com) I used a set similar to the ones above (different brand) that I had on hand and they worked great… (actually louder than the iM413).
The Griffin Dock is supposedly available for 10-15$ (see other posts) and coupled to speakers would be great… and provide a charging path too when used with a usb charger. So for like $50 you could add the dock, USB charger and amplified speakers… not an all-in-one solution but would look and sound cool… IMHO of course…
If you use the griffin docks line-out you’ll absolutely want speakers with their own volume control…
Message Edited by timn on 12-02-2009 12:25 PM
Momof3: The easiest solution is to purchase a set of amplified (meaning they are powered by an AC electrical cord) speakers such as the Logitech model already mentioned. I recently purchased the Logitech Z313 speakers with a subwoofer for less than $50 at Staples. The store had a demo station set up so that you could sample performance. The speakers are connected to the headphone jack on the Sansa Fuze via an included cable. The sound is great and can be controlled using the Sansa Fuze itself and/or the Logitech wired control. Speakers of this type can also be used with any computer or MP3 player that has a headphone jack. There is absolutely no need to purchase an overpriced docking station where the bulk of its cost often goes towards styling and compact size rather than speaker performance.
