Sansa Clip Firmware 01.01.35 & 02.01.35 Release

MP3 players Sansa Clip | Clip+
1
Follow the instructions below to verify the hardware revision of your Clip before proceeding. 
  • Turn on your Clip
  • Select Settings from the main menu
  • Select System Info
  • Look at the Version #

Revision 1 = 1.XX.XX (example: 1.XX.XX)

Revision 2 = 2.XX.XX (example: 2.XX.XX)

 

If your Clip is Revision 1 proceed to Revision 1 instructions.

If your Clip is Revision 2 proceed to Revision 2 instructions.

 
SanDisk has just released the 01.01.35 and 02.01.35 firmware revision for the Sansa Clip. Download links and the release notes are available below.
 

Windows Users can Connect the device in any Mode and follow the instructions below.

Mac and Linux users can connect their Clip in MSC mode and follow the instructions below.

MSC mode instructions:

  1. Turn on the Clip
  2. Put the device in Hold (move Hold button until orange is showing)
  3. Press and hold the Center Button
  4. Plug the mini-USB connector into the device (be sure the USB is plugged into the computer)
  5. Wait for the Clip drive to mount
  6. Follow instructions below and drag files to the Clip drive

                                              Sansa Clip Firmware version 01.01.35 download and installation instructions

 

Update using the Sansa Firmware updater

For Sansa Firmware Updater - Click here to download 


 

Manual Firmware Update download and Instructions

All Regions - Click here to download


  1. Ensure your battery is > 50% full.
  2. Extract the .zip file into a folder on your computer.
  3. Once extracted, drag the file to the root directory of your Sansa Clip.
  4. Disconnect the Sansa Clip and let it restart.
  5. The firmware update will now begin.
  6. Once it finally finishes doing its update, it will boot back up. Once its back to the main menu, head to "Settings" > "System Info", and verify the "Version" is now 01.01.35.

Sansa Clip Firmware version 02.01.35 download and installation instructions

Manual Firmware Update download and Instructions

All Regions - Click here to download

  1. Ensure your battery is > 50% full.
  2. Extract the .zip file into a folder on your computer.
  3. Once extracted, drag the file to the root directory of your Sansa Clip.
  4. Disconnect the Sansa Clip and let it restart.
  5. The firmware update will now begin.
  6. Once it finally finishes doing its update, it will boot back up. Once its back to the main menu, head to “Settings” > “System Info”, and verify the “Version” is now 02.01.35.

Sansa Clip Firmware 01.01.35 & 02.01.35 Release Notes

Thisnew firmware has various bug fixes, including key fixes listed below, as wellas enhancements. Upon completion of the firmware upgrade, the device will turnoff.  Power on the device to complete theupgrade process.  If the device does notinitiate or complete, slide up & hold the Power switch for 10 seconds toreset the device and then release and slide up again to restart.

  

Enhancements:

o   No new enhancements

Bugs Fixed:

o   Portuguese display error in the language menu

o   OGG files crashing while fast-forwarding across track boundaries

o   OGG track caused Player crash

o   Dropouts on high bitrate flac files

o   Chirp at end of mp3 file

o   Device can’t play FLAC with Padding removed & 440hz toneisn’t audible

o   Volume is increased to the maximum when FF or RW key is pressedwith volume operation simultaneously

o   Device hangs in sequential operations of FM resume and channelsearch

o   French Language: Info section shows wrong translation for Power

o   Some Polish & Brazilian languages are not translatecorrectly.

o   Some WAV files cannot be played

Known Issues:

  • Popping noise when changing the speed of podcast
  • EQ spectrum moves slowly when playing OGG contents that are 16KHz or below
  • Device in ON state will not be recognized by PS3 console when connected
  • Repeated songs in playlist does not playback properly
  • Playlist referencing content in Audiobook folder does not work
  • Icon of the device doesn’t display after standby or hibernate

Message Edited by slotmonsta on 04-20-2010 03:49 PM

1 Like
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I’m a bit disappointed in the lack of new features, but at least maybe this will silence the “Sandisk has abandoned us!” complaints.

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gwk1967 wrote:
I’m a bit disappointed in the lack of new features, but at least maybe this will silence the “Sandisk has abandoned us!” complaints.

Good point…I’d bet most people had given up on any more updates. I’ll admit, I was skeptical too…I always hoped they wouldn’t “View” the Clip, but it’s nice to see they haven’t.:smiley:

4

You’ll find that the new release is quite stable.  I’ve been playing with it all day, trying various codecs on the machine. It’s nice to get a few kinks out, too.  I wouldn’t expect a handful of new features at this point, with the new Clip+ taking the reigns as the front runner, as each model has to have its own unique attributes.

Bob   :smileyvery-happy:

Message Edited by neutron_bob on 03-15-2010 10:05 PM

5

One thing I see missing is improving the 44.1kHz sampling rate playback accuracy.  I take it that hasn’t changed with this revision?

6

Not sure if this is pre or post .35 but it now has replay gain.

7

tnmats wrote:
One thing I see missing is improving the 44.1kHz sampling rate playback accuracy.  I take it that hasn’t changed with this revision?

I can’t say for sure, as I don’t have an original Clip anymore. But here’s some results others have had, starting with post #6…http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53437. Like I said, I can’t confirm any of these findings…so your mileage may vary.:wink:

8

@marvin_martian wrote:

@tnmats wrote:
One thing I see missing is improving the 44.1kHz sampling rate playback accuracy.  I take it that hasn’t changed with this revision?

I can’t say for sure, as I don’t have an original Clip anymore. But here’s some results others have had, starting with post #6…http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53437. Like I said, I can’t confirm any of these findings…so your mileage may vary.:wink:

Thanks Marvin.  I’ll have to check it out myself now as there seems to be some extra features some claim in that post that aren’t documented.  I’ll give it a shot and report back.

9

@marvin_martian wrote:

@tnmats wrote:
One thing I see missing is improving the 44.1kHz sampling rate playback accuracy.  I take it that hasn’t changed with this revision?

I can’t say for sure, as I don’t have an original Clip anymore. But here’s some results others have had, starting with post #6…http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53437. Like I said, I can’t confirm any of these findings…so your mileage may vary.:wink:

Wow! Did not think that was ever going to happen. Maybe I’ll update from .18 now.

10

@marvin_martian wrote:

@tnmats wrote:
One thing I see missing is improving the 44.1kHz sampling rate playback accuracy.  I take it that hasn’t changed with this revision?

I can’t say for sure, as I don’t have an original Clip anymore. But here’s some results others have had, starting with post #6…http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53437. Like I said, I can’t confirm any of these findings…so your mileage may vary.:wink:

I updated my v2 Clip (8GB Clip), and ReplayGain does show up in the Music Options listing, with “Off”, “Song” and “Album”.  I don’t remember if it was there before as I never use Replay Gain but R/G is there now.

Now for the accuracy.  Things have improved.  I took some lab measurments and I’m pretty confident in them.  I have access to a nice Tektronix 1GHz digital scope, and to make it more fun the thing had it’s yearly calibration a few weeks ago.  I’m a mixed signal IC design engineer so I’m used to taking these kinds of measurments.

I found some MP3 files, 128kB, CBR, mono, with frequencies at 100Hz, 250Hz, 1kHz and 10kHz.  I checked their accuracy with the output of my PC’s audio and they’re dead-nuts-on those frequencies with my PC.

With the new firmware, I get the following:

100Hz plays at 100.3Hz (standard deviation 0.017Hz)

250Hz plays at 250.6Hz (standard deviation 0.024Hz)

1Khz plays at 1.003kHz (standard deviation 0.37Hz)

10kHz plays at 10.02kHz (standard deviation 2.9Hz)

Error as a percentage:

@ 0.3% fast @ 100Hz

@ 0.24% fast @ 250Hz

@ 0.3% fast @ 1kHz

@ 0.2% fast @ 10kHz

With the previous firmware, the same player, with the same 1kHz sound file, sampled at 128kb/44.1kHz, yieled 988Hz, a 1.2% slow playback.  Just for grins I took a measurment with my old Creative Zen Nano, a 1GB player powered off a AAA alkaline.  That unit plays 1kHz as 1.0003kHz, 0.03% error.  The Clip isn’t at that level but it got a lot closer.

Sandisk has indeed improved the pitch tolerance at least with V2 hardware.  Previously my player was about 1.2% slow and I could easily hear the difference.  My “solution” was to create an all-new library of MP3s from my CDs at 192kb/48kHz (I had all of the WAV files of my CDs already extracted so I was able to skip a step).  I’ve been using 48kHz sampled files as the Clip does a good job at 48kHz, more like sub 0.1%. 

Something has definitely improved for 44.1kHz sampled mp3’s, and what’s kind of humorous is now the player is marginally fast but it’s a lot closer to ideal.  That’s great!  I will need to give it a listen with 44.1kHz material and see if I hear it more on-pitch with 44.1kHz sampled files.

Why Sandisk didn’t mention the speed improvement in the firmware update listings is puzzling.  This is a BIG improvement and they should tout that.  I have to give them credit and they should at least toot their own horn a bit after all the griping about it last year (and yes, I was one that griped and don’t regret it).

Message Edited by tnmats on 03-16-2010 02:28 PM

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Just did a music test and I personally can’t hear much difference betwen two music files I tried.  One was a 320kb VBR/44.1kHz file, the other a 192kb VBR / 48kHz file of the same song (She’s a Rainbow by the Rolling Stones).  For some reason that song was so easy to hear it being slow on my Clip with the previous firmware when sampled at 44.1kHz; Jagger’s vocals sounded sluggish, the piano slow, and Charlie Watts’ drums were draggy sounding.  With the latest firmware it’s gone.  The 48kHz and 44.1kHz files sound pretty much the same.

I found that approxmiately 5 cents is the threshold of when humans can (usually) detect a pitch error.  Musicians are likely more sensitive to pitch, so 5 cents may not still be good enough for them.  This web page explains it better than I can:

 The Use of Cents for Expressing Musical Intervals

My Clip is right at ~5 cents fast, previously it was  21 cents slow.  That’s a huge improvement and now is at or below the threshold of my hearing.  Not iPod accurate and not as accurate as my comparable Creative Zen Nano 1GB but lots lots better.  I’ll take it and run.  :smiley:

One annoying quirk I did find with the new firmware was sporadic switching from MSC mode to “Auto” after ejecting the Clip from the PC’s USB port.  I never had it happen before but it’s done it to me twice now but I can’t reproduce this consistently.  I noticed the couple of times it happened after I just unplugged it from the USB slot, didn’t eject it from the systray (I’m using Windows XP).  Not a big deal, just don’t flip out if after updating your Clip it sporadically switches to Auto mode instead of MSC mode.

14

@miikerman wrote:

So nice to see bugs having been looked into, and SanDisk not having abandoned the original Clip!  Although I can’t but be disappointed that folder view from the Clip+ didn’t back its way into the original Clip (my Clip having been working fine before, and so the bug fixes with the current firmware upgrade not really adding to my enjoyment of my Clip) …

 

And so nice to read that people are finding that although not commented upon by SanDisk (perhaps because there had been so much commentary before …), there in fact has been a pitch fix!  Thanks, SanDisk (and feel free to add folder view, now …).

 

:smiley:

I don’t understand why Sandisk didn’t list these big improvements.  The pitch improvement (it’s not a fix really) alone is worth the upgrade.  I don’t think they can really get the pitch dead on with the chip set they use, the battery size used and keep the play time per charge in the 10+ hr. range.  Part of the blame is USB works off a multiple of 48kHz but the CD format uses a 44.1kHz sampling rate.  You’ve got to have a really fast clock to reduce the pitch error but that costs power.

15

This oddity is probably only in my head, but did anyone find that at least audiobooks are now a bit unbalanced in right vs left volume? It seemed quite pronounced at first, but now my brain may have adjusted to it and I hardly notice. This was with a continuation of a track I was listening to before the upgrade, and most of it was a single voice that shouldn’t have any stereo difference. I don’t think there is a setting for balance anywhere.

Upgrade was a nice gesture, but I guess a funeral for our hopes of the really important issue of folder browsing. 

16

daft wrote:

This oddity is probably only in my head, but did anyone find that at least audiobooks are now a bit unbalanced in right vs left volume? It seemed quite pronounced at first, but now my brain may have adjusted to it and I hardly notice. This was with a continuation of a track I was listening to before the upgrade, and most of it was a single voice that shouldn’t have any stereo difference. I don’t think there is a setting for balance anywhere.

 

Upgrade was a nice gesture, but I guess a funeral for our hopes of the really important issue of folder browsing. 

Every player I own has it, yet I very rarely need to use it. To each his own though.:smiley:

17

@daft wrote:

This oddity is probably only in my head, but did anyone find that at least audiobooks are now a bit unbalanced in right vs left volume? It seemed quite pronounced at first, but now my brain may have adjusted to it and I hardly notice. This was with a continuation of a track I was listening to before the upgrade, and most of it was a single voice that shouldn’t have any stereo difference. I don’t think there is a setting for balance anywhere.

 

Upgrade was a nice gesture, but I guess a funeral for our hopes of the really important issue of folder browsing. 

I don’t use audio books so I can’t comment on your observation, but to make sure it’s not an analog issue (internal amplifier or headphone/connector), did you try playing an audio file that is mono or switching your FM radio to “Mono” mode and listening for proper channel balance?  If it’s unbalanced, then likely it’s a headphone issue (connector or your headphones), an amp output inside your Clip or the headphone connector in your Clip is problematic.  A dirty headphone jack/connector can also cause problems.

In my case, all of my music sounds balanced between channels.  I’m listening right now to mono encoded mp3s of the recent Beatles Mono box set and there’s no channel imbalance.

18

Does anyone else think that the music sounds more alive, like they removed digital dust if that makes any sense.

19

@wolf_6 wrote:
Does anyone else think that the music sounds more alive, like they removed digital dust if that makes any sense.

Okay, I wasn’t going to mention this but when the equalizer was set to “flat” it did sound better with my old headphones.  I thought it was just my giddiness of having the pitch close to perfect.  :smiley:  I wouldn’t claim the sound was better but just having the pitch improved will make the music sound nicer as it’s closer to what you heard on a system were it had correct pitch.  Maybe that’s what we’re hearing?

20

My 8g v2 players have been on the :16 firmware since i purchased them.[have 2x v2 and 1x +]

I installed the latest :35 on one and compared them.

I use the V2 models solely with my amp ETY ER4 combo.

I was surprised that i could hear a difference, was not really expecting too.

The :35 firmware player seemed to be slightly cleaner and more punchy less bloom or shade in the lower registers,

closer to the clip+.

The :16 player appeared to sound slightly more subtle in tonal shading.[related to LF handling]

Whether this is related to any pitch correction or the affects of how it was corrected , no idea.

The pitch issue was never a conscious issue with me. [though technically it bothered me a little]

Not sure which i prefer, but as i cannot tell by looking which player has which firmware it will be interesting to see

whether i find myself gravitating to one or the other. [both players have much the same music on them at the mo]

21

setmenu wrote:

My 8g v2 players have been on the :16 firmware since i purchased them.[have 2x v2 and 1x +]

I installed the latest :35 on one and compared them.

I use the V2 models solely with my amp ETY ER4 combo.

I was surprised that i could hear a difference, was not really expecting too.

The :35 firmware player seemed to be slightly cleaner and more punchy less bloom or shade in the lower registers,

closer to the clip+.

The :16 player appeared to sound slightly more subtle in tonal shading.[related to LF handling]

Whether this is related to any pitch correction or the affects of how it was corrected , no idea.

The pitch issue was never a conscious issue with me. [though technically it bothered me a little]

Not sure which i prefer, but as i cannot tell by looking which player has which firmware it will be interesting to see

whether i find myself gravitating to one or the other. [both players have much the same music on them at the mo]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ReplayGain on the V2 makes the .35 on V2 Clips a no-brainer, IMO.

22

Something that has really decreased the value of my Sansa clip with this update is the decrease in sound, this became very apparently right from the beginning after I’ve updated it. So the question, really, is, what can I do about it?

Is there any setting I can go on and mixture with (I have it as high as it goes right now) or do I need to remove the latest update and try the previous? If so - where do I do that and how do I do that? Sound is the most important to me.