Is SDXC support probable?

I have about 50 GBs worth of music - 90% of that is FLAC. For the Fuze, I convert the FLACs into Vorbis, and that compresses into about 13 GBs: The capacity is still too large for my Fuze (4 + 8 GB MicroSD). So, I can either buy a 16 GB card, or wait for the 64 GB SDXC. I really don’t like graduating to the next capacity unless it is needed, because the old cards (as well as the money) just goes to waste. It would also be much easier to manage a single FLAC library rather than an additional Vorbis one. The future 32 GB SDHC isn’t really an option for me, because it still wouldn’t contain all my FLAC files, so it’d just be easier to encode to Vorbis than switch around files/cards.  

I’ve read some posts here suggesting that it may be possible with a firmware update, but every other instance of information regarding SDXC seems to suggest the contrary. Can anyone shed some light on this? If it’s possible, I’ll hold out for the higher capacity, otherwise, I’ll just stick with a 16 GB and Vorbis. Thanks.

Unfortunately, what you’re read is all we know: it may be possible. But XC cards are probably still a year or two away, so Sandisk may not even still be issuing firmware updates. The Fuze could be discontinued in favor of a new player by then.

@gwk1967 wrote:
Unfortunately, what you’re read is all we know: it may be possible. But XC cards are probably still a year or two away, so Sandisk may not even still be issuing firmware updates. The Fuze could be discontinued in favor of a new player by then.

If I can get one of these “replacements” free, then they could discontinue it tomorrow! :stuck_out_tongue: 

Here’s an interesting article on the future of Sandisk and the  direction they’re moving in.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/06/02/technology/sandisk_flash_memory.fortune/index.htm

It states that sansa is second in mp3 players.

Until now not much about the sepcifications of SDXC is publicly known. So there is no way to tell if it would be possible hardware-wise for the fuze to support SDXC. But I’m pretty sure, even if this were the case, sandisk would not create a firmware update for the fuze to do that:

  1. SDXC uses a different file system (by default). I can imagine to be “allowed” to carry the SDXC-compatibility-icon (or whatever) the device must handle it (exFAT). Of course most users would be happy if they just could reformat it to FAT32 and then use it. But that’s not how company decisions usually are made.The fuze does even need read-write support (database, delete function…). Even though FAT32 and exFAT sound similar, there are biggere differences between the two than between FAT16 and FAT32 for example.

  2. Sandisk (like any company) wants to sell “better” products in the future. Giving new features away for free is ok for features that don’t involve a lot of cost, but SDXC is a major development. OGG and FLAC for exmaple are patent free solutions with open source implementations that can be used by any company for free. Adding them to the firmware of any player is not a big thing.

The possibility of a “firmware update” that supports SDXC is very low:

  1. it must be possible electrically

  2. sandisk won’t do it, some hacker might give it a shot (the old sandisk players got SDHC support by rockbox)

  3. it highly depends on the (public) availability of SDXC specifications. Until know they seem to keep them very secret

Why don’t you use a slighly lower quality setting for vorbis? After all its just around 8% too much.

SDXC support will undoubtedly be an integral part of future Sansa players.

I’m working on wearing out my Sansas, so I’ll be ready for the new future generation.  Gotta get my money’s worth out of the current ones, of course.  Lots of listening yet to be enjoyed.

Little tweaks are possible, improving functionality with the current devices, but SDXC is a new breed.  With Rhapsody, for example, the refresh rate is atomic fast with the Fuze, compared to the identically-powered (same processor) e200v2. The burning question is whether expanding to the new capacities will be hampered by long database refresh times. 

I am confident that this will be improved, allowing smooth operation with the increased capacity.  SDXC will be wonderful once available.

Bob  :smileyvery-happy: