After initial disappointment from the several bug reports and especially because of the split database I have somehow made friends with this great looking cheap little player. Sure, it must be seen as a downgrade in terms of functionality, but it has some unexpected strenghts:
The sound quality is excellent, even better than with the already great Clip Zip; it seems to have even greater extension to both frequency extremes (at least it seems so to my ears), and the bass has more substance. The output power is enormous, much higher than with Clip+ and Zip. And even if it’s just higher gain (impossible to judge), the benefit is the same, as I never heard any distortion even at highest volume settings. Moreover you can use a 64 GB microSDXC card with it. In view of the 2000-files limit it should naturally only be accessed via folder mode (with no corresponding limitation) – which is the bad news in this context, since it will limit shuffle play to the folder with the file selected for playback. My solution is to put all MP3s into the «Music» folder without any subfolders. By doing so, selecting a specific song is virtually impossible, as the list is long and scrolls extremely slow (link). The latter also applies to reactions of the player to commands. It gets better when you select the internal memory and perfect when you remove the card.
I forgot to mention: the screen may be larger than with the Zip, but resolution isn’t any better. It’s even harder to read the writings in tiny white characters on a pale blue background.
A reasonable compromise: internal memory filled with your 2000 best songs, stored in a normal folder structure, for direct access (for shuffle play, remove the card!); external card filled with as much songs as you like, stored in the «Music» folder without subfolders, for shuffle play.
