I have a new 1 GB and 2 GB Sansa clip. I am not interested in downloading music or other features but only want to use it as a drive to hold Artist name folders with song files from my own collection. Any music on it will come from my own CDs or files. So do I really need these folders that are on it but are empty, like Service, Podcast, Albums, all of which come back if deleted?
I believe but do not know , that the last file in list controls the icons but was afraid to delete that one in case it messed up the workings of the clip itself. I am brand new to mp3 players.
Does anyone know if this can be safely deleted? If not, I can live with the folders,but wondered what this file does.
Also, what is the forum member’s opinion on whether WMA or MP3 format is best to use, and if 64 or 128 kbps is best?
I know that my ears are my own and I will have to rip and listen and learn but I wondered if there is a general preference. I was using a 320 kbps mp3 file but it is twice as big as a 128 kbps and the 128 sounded OK. What do other users find useful. thanks.
These are good questions. The answers vary. Some people use the device for working out or causal listening, they have standard headphones, and may not care so much about quality or space. Then there are those who listen using good headphones and more controlled listening environments. They may put Quality before space. Then some others may want a good compromise.
I will give you a few things to consider for your quest.
I don’t encode in CBR formats. VBR formats reduce the file size while keeping the quality higher. I typically use lame mp3 v2 settings for most music. It gives me a good compromise.
Also the Format and bitrate you choose will effect how long your battery will last.
Flac files - lossless format - your battery will last around 8 hours - (my tests on two clips, your mileage may vary)
Ogg files - uses about 1/3 more battery power than mp3’s last around 10 hours
mp3 files - even at the highest vbr setting of v0 - last around 15-17 hours slower bitrates like v6 128kbit average vbr gets around 20 hours out of a fully charged battery.
Let your ears judge. Do your math. Decide what’s important to you.
Edit:spelling check
Message Edited by niko_sama on 02-15-2009 04:25 PM
I have a new 1 GB and 2 GB Sansa clip. I am not interested in downloading music or other features but only want to use it as a drive to hold Artist name folders with song files from my own collection. Any music on it will come from my own CDs or files. So do I really need these folders that are on it but are empty, like Service, Podcast, Albums, all of which come back if deleted?
I believe but do not know , that the last file in list controls the icons but was afraid to delete that one in case it messed up the workings of the clip itself. I am brand new to mp3 players.
Does anyone know if this can be safely deleted? If not, I can live with the folders,but wondered what this file does.
Also, what is the forum member’s opinion on whether WMA or MP3 format is best to use, and if 64 or 128 kbps is best?
I know that my ears are my own and I will have to rip and listen and learn but I wondered if there is a general preference. I was using a 320 kbps mp3 file but it is twice as big as a 128 kbps and the 128 sounded OK. What do other users find useful. thanks.
With your first issue, you can just leave them on they are part of your Firmware, and deleting them wont really open up any space. But I am not 100% sure on that.
I recently switched my 100,000 song music collection to OGG Vorbis format, and I will swear by that from now on, simply because for the size of the file the quality is excelent. But of the two you asked I prefer MP3 at 256 kbps. 128 is the smallest but also the lowest quality, I cant even find a ripper to go smaller than 128.
Thanks a lot. This helps me a great deal on deciding what to do next. At first I just thought high quality in itself was important so just made a lot of 320kbps songs and the 1GB was full at 120 songs. Then I read that WMA might be better but after this post I read a whole lot of forums and reviews and it seems mp3 LAME may be at least as good. 128 to 192 is usually recommended but this time I make from CD on WMP11 a 64, 128, 192 wma and 128 and 192 mp3 and using the buds darned if my non-audiophilic ears could tell any real difference. All sounded just as good. But I dont think i will go down to 64 based on one song. I will probably leave the player like it now is but make my future music MP3 128 or maybe a VBR that includes 128. I am a casual listener and dont plan to need any more than the earbuds supplied. I have lots of CD-R I made a few years back from mp3 files before I knew anything about other formats. I had a hunch that mp3 would be more useful and recognized more widely by machines. I am also rather theoretical oriented so I would feel better going with 128 that 64 or lower even if I really could not tell the difference. My test song was 3 minutes long and the files were1.58, 3.15, 4.71 MB for the wma 64,128,192 kbps. And 3.11, 4.68, 7.80 MB for the mp3 128,192,320 kbps. So even going 128 I can get many more songs on without really hearing much difference in quality, which suits my needs.
I like to put them in there by naming Album and Artist and Contributing Artist the same and leaving the track number in filename so it stays in order of tracks instead of going alphabetical and not in track order. Then I copy the Artist folder with songfile to clip. Even so, WMP11 has its own ideas about file and folder names and it was a big learning curve to figure out how to defeat it, which I never did completely accomplish. Some things I still have to rename several times after. But I like to have all the artist folders under artist and the next level down all the songs in that album. Still get some that come up Unknkown though even though I named and renamed them. Seems to have prior knowledge of a disc or a track I cant change. But i have had the 1 GB 2 weeks and the 2GB 1 day and I am very much satisfied with the device, its performance, and the price. Just discovered the forums the other day.
