Is there a file size limit for MP3 files on a Sandiak Clip +?

SanDisk MP3 players Sansa® Clip | Sansa® Clip+
1

I bought the Sandisk Clip+ so I could download radio 4 comedy programmes to listen to them during long car jouneys. However, although I can download files of any size and see them through my computer, I am not able to see the files through the Clip+.

Is there some limitation and, if so, how do I get around the problem. My files are around 25mb and I have the 8gb player with bags of room left.

Chris

2

25 MB files shouldn’t be a problem for the Clip+. Those files might have the genre podcast though, in which case you would access them via music, podcasts on the player, and not mixed in with your music files. Sometimes with very long files though the elapsed time counter might not work properly, but the file should still be playable. Are these mp3 files?

3

The files from the BBC are mp3 according to their website.  OP are you looking in the podcast menu?  If they’re tagged as podcasts they won’t be listed with music.

4

Info. below on the use of ID3 tags by the Clip and Clip+, for file organization and display, in case that answers your issue.  Also, you might want to look for the files under the Clip+'s folder option under Music, in case you have not done so. 

As a general matter, the Clip players internally organize files by “ID3 tags,” metadata put into the files which provides identifying information concerning the files under various categories, typically including artist/author, album/book, selection title, genre and year.  The original Clip generally does not organize by folder view, as does your computer.  Instead, the ID3 tags are used to create the lists that show up on the Clip’s display.  This has become something of the default for modern audio players.  The Clip+, in a welcome addition, offers both forms of organization:  ID3 tag organization using the ID3 tags (resulting in artist, album and title listings), and a separate folder/file view.

When you rip music from a CD, many rippers offer the option of filling in the ID3 tag fields from free Internet databases.  You also can manually enter this information and edit it via tag editors such as MP3Tag and The Godfather (Internet freeware).  Windows users can edit it by right clicking on the file and going to one of the screens under Properties.  (For more than occasional editing, a tag editor is easiest.)

If your Clip reports many files as Unknown or seems to organize and show file information erratically, it often is because the ID3 tag data is missing or is incorrect or inconsistent.  Again, as a general matter, for the album, artist and title listings, the Clip does not care about your folder and file organization or the names selected for them–the ID3 tags control.

Hence, a good reason, when ripping CDs, to enter in the ID3 tag information.  With many rippers, this can be done automatically or with the minimum of extra work.  At this point, for me, it’s just part of my ripping process, along with adjusting the files’ volume/gain through MP3Gain (also Internet freeware).

Especially for those who have not entered ID3 tag info., various people here and at anythingbutipod.com (the Clip forum) have developed software that will create a playlist for each of your Clip folders.  That way, after running the software on your Clip folders and files, you simply play those playlists, each of which will play each of your folders.  Here are 3 of the playlist creators to check out.

http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/board/message?board.id=clip&message.id=11605#M11605

http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/board/message?board.id=clip&message.id=21101&query.id=5942#M21101

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41782

An exception to the above: 

Files put into the Clip’s or Clip+‘s Podcasts or Audiobooks folders, or elsewhere on the Clip but with the Podcast or Audiobook ID3 tag filled in as such, will use the files’ folder and file names for organization.  That way, for these more transitory of files, you can avoid having to fill the tag info. in, if you would like, instead relying on the folder and file names.

I hope this helps some–

5

Dear JK98, Summerlove and Miikerman,

Many thanks for your helpful comments, which have guided me to the solution. Simply user error at this end - I did not see the folder for ‘Podcasts’!

Am now able to enjoy the delights of radio 4 comedy thanks to you.

Have a great New Year celebration; I will drink your toast.

Regards,

Chris

6

Having the podcasts be in the podcasts folder or if they have the genre podcast will cause the player to list them separately, so they won’t be shuffled with your songs, and so that the player will have an autoresume feature, so that if you play part of a podcast then something else, the player will give you the option to resume your place in the podcast next time you play it.

7

Chrisrr-

There’s a wee quirk to the Sansa that comes into play here as well.  Actually, it was designed that way: if the genre field of a file is entered as podcast , the Sansa moves the file to the Podcast “folder” during the initial transfer.

This can be quite convenient, as the podcasts then heve bookmarking, and the “resume / start from beginning” option.  The tricky part of this automation is that the files appear to be “missing” when you first look for them.

For example, I have several playlists, automatically updated, with my current podcasts.  I use many different models of Sansa, and each one has slightly different “habits”.  The Clip / Clip+ / Fuze “steal” podcasts automatically, moving them to Podcasts.  If one navigates to “playlist”, some of the lists are shown as <empty> on the device; the podcasts are in the Podcast folder.  On the Sansa e280, my playlists are intact, so I have to remember which little friend I’m using at the moment.

With daily podcasts such as my favourite BBC NewsPod, it’s nice to be able to zip between days, and the Clip+ resumes on each podcast exactly where I left off, once playback mode resumes.  You’ll see that during the initial entry to podcast mode, you’ll be prompted to resume from the start / current position.  After this, you can enjoy “zip mode” between them, if you use a single tap of the << or >> button.  A slightly longer press scans within the track.

Enjoy your podcasts!

Bob  :smileyvery-happy: