maximum volume? still not easy to hear in crowdy situations, like in a train..

MP3 players Sansa Fuze
1

Hello all…

Since a couple of days, I have the nice Sansa fuze…

What about the volume of the sound, In crowdy situations, it is sometimes hard to listen…

Is there an option to increase the volume, so that the music sounds louder?

If i have now the maximum volume, but for me it is not enough, I need more volume in for example in a train…

Hans

2

It’s possible that you have headphones that need more power than the Fuze can provide. Some full-sized headphones just need more juice. But if you’re using earbuds, the Fuze should give them plenty of signal. .

If you are in Europe,  there is a legal cap on the volume. So reinstall the firmware manually and tell the Fuze it’s not in Europe. 

The instructions and files to download are here.

You have to check your unit to see whether it is a 1.x or 2.x

unit. Then download the All Regions link for your unit. Unzip the file, find FuzeA.bin and drag it onto the Fuze (the driveletter in Windows Explorer that says, for instance, E: \SANSA FUZE.)

Now comes the tricky part. You will be asked, when you disconnect and reboot, what region to install. Don’t use Europe–use Rest of the World. More volume. If you use the radio, you’ll have to go into Settings and change the radio settings to Europe–the stations are in different places–but that won’t affect the volume.

If the Europe regional setting is not the problem, then…how does the volume sound at maximum when not in the train? It should be too loud for regular listening.  And if it is, you don’t want to blast it any louder in the train because you’d be damaging your ears.

What you should do instead for train listening is get new headphones that block ouside sound. They are called IEMs (Inner Ear Monitors) or in-ear headphones and are basically earplugs with speakers in them. They are different from regular earbuds because they fit snugly, and deep, in your ear.

Sennheiser makes one that’s not too expensive, the CX300, under $40.

http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-CX300-B-In-Ear-Stereo-Headphone/dp/B000E6G9RI

If you have more to spend, look at models by Shure, Westone and Ultimate Ears.  Personally, I think the Shure SCL4 is a great  IEM, and you can find it (look on Ebay) for $159 or less. I know that’s a lot for earbuds, but it will make a huge difference to the music, and train noise will be gone.

3

Thanks alot! What a good advise, I followed your instructions… and after rebooting, etc… I have more volume…

For me that is very important, I regularly listen to classical piano music and for example: Satie… 

Now I can hear all, in noisy surroundings…

And those headphones… also a good idea… I will look around now…

It is not for this topic… but I have also problems with youtube movies, converting with the Sansa Media Converter…

Is says that it is not possible… and it says: install first the correct code setting…

Rockbox… other topic… is this an improvement?

Anyway, thanks for the help… it is a nice player…!

Hans

4

You can also use the Reset Factory Settings function to change the region, saving the firmware installation process for an upgrade if desired.  It’s available via Settings > System Settings, then look for Reset.

This sets all values to the default settings, and does not affect your loaded music or firmware that’s currently loaded.  Don’t be alarmed at the warning screen that pops up.  This is quite different from the Format option which erases all media from the device.

The first choice that will pop up after a Reset is region.  You will then need to go to Settings > FM settings > Region, and select USA for odd frequency steps, or Rest of World for even steps.  The USB mode will also be reset to Auto Detect.  If you had previously decided on MSC or MTP, be sure to reselect your choice.

Bob  :wink:

5

Thanks Bob for the information!  I did already what was suggested and it works fine now!

What about Rockbox as an alternative for the Sandisk firmware… Do you have experiences about that?

Is this an improvement? I have seen some youtube movies about it…

Hans

6

Use Video4Fuze for easier video conversion. 

Rockbox is for people who like playing with computers. It can be a little more complicated than the original Fuze firmware, but it also offers options that people like. It just depends how much you like adjusting settings and customizing. Go to www.rockbox.org and look around. If you like the extra features, have fun with it. If you don’t need them, then don’t bother.

7

Thanks for the reply…

I have heard that Rockbox can cause problems with your player… that after booting, the player does not work anymore… etc

Did you hear this too ? 

Hans

8

Many, many people use Rockbox with no problems. But every piece of software gives somebody trouble.

As I said, Rockbox is for people who are good with computers. Only you can judge that for yourself.

Rockbox installs alongside the Sansa firmware. It does not replace it, because you stlil need the Sansa firmware to do transfers via USB (and also in case you want to uninstall Rockbox, the Sansa firmware is still there). 

When a device has two operating systems–like Sansa and Rockbox–it loads something called a bootloader when it starts, to decide which one to load. If something goes wrong with the bootloader, yes, things could get stuck. Or if something goes wrong with Rockbox, it could get stuck. Things happen. There are usually ways to fix them. 

9

New to the forum - I live in Europe - I was unaware that there was ‘Nanny’ legislation regarding how loud I could have music in my ears! and that on my last upgrade it changed my volume settings.  I play my MP3 through my car stereo and even with the amp on the head unit I was still struggling to hear it over usual road/motorway noise.

Followed your instructions following upgrade - English language , rest of the world and it works a treat.

Top notch solution thanks - back to Guns & Roses at full blast !!!

10

Welcome to the jungle.