Hello,
I recently purchased a Fuze+ due to the ability to handle FLAC files. However, after several attempts to load them, I find all I get is a unit that only says unsupported file format, or the unit goes into an indefinite reset mode, unless I delete the files. What level of FLAC is supported by the Fuze+? I get 24-bit, 96Khz files from HDMusic.com Do they need to be down-converted to play on this unit? I can’t find any info to help me on this topic - any info would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
I don’t have a Fuze+, but if it’s like the other FLAC-compatible Sansas, it only supports 16-bit.
There are a number of discussions on this subject already here, but the short answer is 24-bit FLAC files aren’t supported.
@rikzter wrote:
Hello,
I recently purchased a Fuze+ due to the ability to handle FLAC files. However, after several attempts to load them, I find all I get is a unit that only says unsupported file format, or the unit goes into an indefinite reset mode, unless I delete the files. What level of FLAC is supported by the Fuze+? I get 24-bit, 96Khz files from HDMusic.com Do they need to be down-converted to play on this unit? I can’t find any info to help me on this topic - any info would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
Rikzter,
Your best bet is to get an older Fuze and install RockBox. RockBox will play most 24/96 Flacs without a problem. I’ve been using the Fuze/Rockbox to listen to my collection of vinyl rips, and the sound is pretty sweet, although it is downconverted during playback.
Here’s a link for more info:
http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/SansaFuze
I was quite disappointed that Sandisk ignored the high-end user with the Fuze+.
I’ve also been getting this problem with some of my OGG files. It plays most of the files just fine, but I’ve noted that specific artists (Aimee Mann, The Killers) it just tells me that their songs are of unsupported file type. I never had this problem on an older SanDisk Sansa Fuze (the one with the radial dial). Am I going to have to simply return this device?
@fuzzyghost wrote:
I’ve also been getting this problem with some of my OGG files. It plays most of the files just fine, but I’ve noted that specific artists (Aimee Mann, The Killers) it just tells me that their songs are of unsupported file type. I never had this problem on an older SanDisk Sansa Fuze (the one with the radial dial). Am I going to have to simply return this device?
Just like other formats (FLAC, WMA for example) all OGG files are not created equal. Before you fault and/or return the player, try a bit of deductive reasoning and see if there’s a commonality in the files that you’re having problems with. Did you download (or otherwise receive) these files all from the same location or source? Did you rip them from CD’s with different software than you usually do? Are the tags different?
Many thanks to all who contribute on these forums, especially the gurus!
Can anyone recommend an audio converter that runs on Mac (Mountain Lion) and will make FLACs that play on the Fuze+?
I’ve used Switch and gotten 16-bit files that play on my old Fuze, but not the Fuze+ (“Unsupported file format”). Sandisk Support very kindly steered me to an online audio converter that reconverted those files, after which they play on the Fuze+, but 1) they are now smaller (what got lost?) and 2) I’d rather not have to up- and download.
(I also tried re-ripping one of the CDs in question using Winamp on my husband’s Windows machine and got an “unsupported format” message when I tried to load the files onto the Fuze+.)
My Fuze+ has firmware 02.38.06A.
If the files got smaller when it converted them to FLAC I tend to think you had them in some weird format to begin with. Did you have switch convert them to some weird sampling rate? What tool did sandisk support tell you to use?
Thanks for the speedy response!
Again, the ideal would be to find a converter that runs on Mac and produces files the Fuze+ can read. And again, one of the oddest things to me is that my old Fuze does play the FLACs from Switch that the Fuze+ doesn’t recognize. The gentleman at SanDisk said this suggested a tag issue.
I’ve spent a fair amount of time poking around online (mostly going in circles, I’m afraid), and I gather that the Fuze+ can be picky about tag formats. Marvin the Martian even posted an example from MP3Tag on the AnythingButiPod forum. But the tag editors I’ve looked at (Switch, Tag, and Winamp) don’t reveal nearly that much about the formats of the tags they produce.
I used the 96000 sampling rate with 8 (best) compression. The original file was 27.4 MB, the Switch output was 13 MB, and the file from Online-Convert.com (audio.online-convert.com, recommended by SanDisk Support) was 8.1 MB.
The Online-Convert output displays this encoder: Lavf55.2.100 Switch’s gives reference libFLAC 1.2.1 20070917
I’d be interested in trying another converter that used Lavf55.2.100, but most converters don’t reveal which encoder they use.
LAVF is the muxer/demuxer used by FFMpeg. FFMpeg is probably THE most popular free converter, due to its massive support of almost every file format know to man (and several known to monkey!). However, FFMpeg can be difficult to use, since it uses a CLI-based interface. However, there are GUI programs available, if you google around. After doing a quick search, I found FFMpegX, although I don’t know much about this program. If you search for something like “FFMpeg frontend Mac”, I’m sure you’ll find something.
Thanks so much for this idea - and apologies for my delay in following up. I didn’t try FFMpegX because it didn’t list the formats I wanted to work with (AIFF-C to FLAC); another FFMpeg GUI site said it didn’t come with some critical-sounding binary code. However, I did try ripping with Max <sbooth.org/Max/>. The resulting file was at 44.1 KHz, not the 96 KHz I’d been aiming for, and it lacked tag information, but it did play on the Fuze+. However, I’ve caved in and purchased an iPod. I need music in my pocket this month, and I don’t have any more time for experimentation and tweaking. Perhaps I will work on this puzzle again at a later date.
You’ll want to use 44.1k (or maybe 48k), since pretty much no portable device supports 96k. They’ll all silently resample to 44/48, often with poor quality. ffmpeg uses an extremely high quality resampler, and of course it saves space and does not hurt battery life.
dBpoweramp will convert to 16 bit, and its pretty quick too, just gotta select bit depth under effects/actions and select 16 bit.
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/
