Sansa Fuze+

Hate to be a pooper here, but this device seems like a design combination of a Zen-ish build and a Zune-ish interface.

Despite all that . . . This thing looks good and I like it.

Here’s my question.  How stable is the firmware?  This has been a never-ending issue with the original Fuze.

@saxmaster765 wrote:

 

Here’s my question.  How stable is the firmware?  This has been a never-ending issue with the original Fuze.

 

Are you sure you don’t mean the View? The Fuze has never had a firmware problem.

But just so you know, a firmware update (01.27.02) was just posted for the Fuze+adding some refinements & fixing a few issues that didn’t make it in before the product release date.

@saxmaster765 wrote:

 

Here’s my question.  How stable is the firmware?  This has been a never-ending issue with the original Fuze.

 

Huh?!? Are you sure you don’t mean the View? The Fuze has never had a firmware problem.

But just so you know, a firmware update (01.27.02) was just posted for the Fuze+ adding some refinements & fixing a few issues that didn’t make it in before the product release date.

When comparing the Fuze+ to Fuze, which audio functions have been added? Has the play speed option for podcasts and audiobooks been improved? Have any audio enhancements for podcasts and audiobooks been added?

@drlucky wrote:

Below is copied from slotmonsta’s post it does not mention xvid or divix so probably not supported.  

The Fuze+ is advertised to support MPEG-4 so xvid/divx shouldn’t be a problem, not sure about .avi though

So with this “gapless playback” support - what are the conditions?

i.e. Will it work with my LAME encoded MP3’s which playback gapless on my Rockbox enabled iRiver H140 and Winamp etc?

(I don’t have a Clip+, but I’m sure I’ve seen people say that gapless support on the clip+ does NOT include MP3s)

Question: I currently have a Fuse.  I currently have an Altec Lansing docking station for it.  Will any of the Fuse+ models still work in this docking station?  Thank you.

@j_r_milne wrote:

Question: I currently have a Fuse.  I currently have an Altec Lansing docking station for it.  Will any of the Fuse+ models still work in this docking station?   Thank you.

With the Altec Lansing 1M413, you will have tlo use the headphone jack on the Fuze+, and turn the volume up on the device.  Use a standard 3.5 mm audio cable, plugged in to the AUX IN jack on the back of the iM413.

Select AUX via the Source control.  You will only have volume function on the remote, and the Sansa will be running on its internal battery.

Unfortunately, the Fuze+   does not have a docking connection.  The upside?  The Altec Lansing will amplify the audio of the Fuze+ / Clip / Clip+ via the headphone connection.

Bob  :smileyvery-happy:

@coreying wrote:

So with this “gapless playback” support - what are the conditions?

i.e. Will it work with my LAME encoded MP3’s which playback gapless on my Rockbox enabled iRiver H140 and Winamp etc?

(I don’t have a Clip+, but I’m sure I’ve seen people say that gapless support on the clip+ does NOT include MP3s)

I don’t know about that, gapless is clean on the Clip+ using basic MP3s ripped using Windows Media Player, and the LAME encoded test tracks I’ve loaded.  FLAC is also very clean in the transitions, without any stutters or pops.  There was quite a bit of splitting hairs going on a while back.  It was reminiscent of the battle between the taste of _Coke versus Pepsi, _in retrospect, as some expressed concern over the concept of “true” gapless.

With a firmware revision, the transition has become quite acceptably smooth on the wee Clip.  I’m confident you’ll like it.

Bob  :smileyvery-happy:

@funm4n wrote:

@drlucky wrote:

Below is copied from slotmonsta’s post it does not mention xvid or divix so probably not supported.  

 

The Fuze+ is advertised to support MPEG-4 so xvid/divx shouldn’t be a problem, not sure about .avi though

DivX support was integrated in 2008, if I recall correctly.  Conversely, Xvid (open source) should fall into line depending upon your source codec in conversion.  Search via Google (it doesn’t appear via “news”, oddly), and you’ll see that there are several articles on the Sansa / DivX issue.

Essentially, h.264 and MPEG-4 fall into that compatibility equation.  I’m looking forward to doing some “crunching” with video preparation for the Fuze+.  As long as the final video falls into the resolution / bit rate / codec specification as listed, we should have happy video!

Bob  :stuck_out_tongue:

@coreying wrote:

So with this “gapless playback” support - what are the conditions?

i.e. Will it work with my LAME encoded MP3’s which playback gapless on my Rockbox enabled iRiver H140 and Winamp etc?

(I don’t have a Clip+, but I’m sure I’ve seen people say that gapless support on the clip+ does NOT include MP3s)

With the Clip+, the “gapless” is very close, but not quite perfect. Going through a variety of LAME mp3 albums of mine, there were a couple albums that were perfectly seamless in their track transitions, and a couple albums where sometimes there would be a very faint click that you would hear. Most people might not even hear it…but if you are used to  Rockbox-type seamlessness, the Clip+ isn’t quite there. 

As far as the Fuze+, who knows?

Thanks Bob

One feature I’m curious about…

While the Fuze+ is playing music can I add an album (or song) to the playing queue, so that new album being added will play after the last item in the queue?

BTW, I haven’t used a Sandisk player before.

Thanks,

Jay

What is the maximum number of songs that can be in the GoList?  Is it still 200?  And can we make more than one GoList?

So glad to see that Sansa has finally upgraded the User Interface. I was shopping around for a new players with some better video playback compared to my Fuze. Some people recommended the ZuneHD and CowonS9 but I would rather pick this up instead. 

Although you gotta wonder, would it be wise to give it a few months before buying new? Cause as anyone knows, sometimes the first batch of new products always encounter some problems before everything is fixed right by the company. 

Cheers!

@cibernetico wrote:

 

Although you gotta wonder, would it be wise to give it a few months before buying new? Cause as anyone knows, sometimes the first batch of new products always encounter some problems before everything is fixed right by the company. 

 

The good thing about SanDisk is they are very responsive and issue firmware updates on a regular basis. In fact, there is already one out for the Fuze+ that fixes a few things that didn’t make it in before the product release date.

Sansa Fuze+ Firmware 01.27.02

Interestingly enough, this firmware update made it out before the User’s Guide. :dizzy_face:

“would it be wise to give it a few months before buying new”

I suggest you wait just a few weeks, and not a few months. If there are glitches, they are most likely to be software issues which will be fixed with a firmware update. The reason to wait a few weeks is for the players to be in plentiful supply at many retailers and to be suitably discounted. While there is still a small supply of players available, you can’t fault a retailer for insisting on full price(since he knows he can get it easily enough).

 When the 4 GB Clip+ first came out for example, those who had it sold it at $50, which was full suggested retail. A few weeks later, some retailers were selling it for as low as $40. If you really want it now and don’t mind paying a little extra to get it immediately, then go for it now.

@marvin_martian wrote:

 


@coreying wrote:

So with this “gapless playback” support - what are the conditions?

i.e. Will it work with my LAME encoded MP3’s which playback gapless on my Rockbox enabled iRiver H140 and Winamp etc?

(I don’t have a Clip+, but I’m sure I’ve seen people say that gapless support on the clip+ does NOT include MP3s)


 

With the Clip+, the “gapless” is very close, but not quite perfect. Going through a variety of LAME mp3 albums of mine, there were a couple albums that were perfectly seamless in their track transitions, and a couple albums where sometimes there would be a very faint click that you would hear. Most people might not even hear it…but if you are used to  Rockbox-type seamlessness, the Clip+ isn’t quite there. 

 

As far as the Fuze+, who knows?

Thanks for your response Marvin. I have just borrowed my friend’s Clip+ to test this out and for the most part the gapless playback with my LAME encoded MP3’s works fine, and there is no click either!

However, the method that Sansa are using to perform the gapless playback appears to be the “read ahead and listen for silence at the end and start of tracks and then remove that” rather than the “read the gapless information from the LAME encoding and process the files based on that” methods. What this means is that where there is music playing at the very end and very start of the song, the gapless is working perfectly. But where you have a song with a moment silence at the end or start of the song, but no “gap” (as silence is not necessarily a gap!), then the silence is also removed, mucking up the timing of the silence.

An example of this would be the “Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes From A Memory” album.

At the end of track 2 (Overture 1928) is a series snare hits in time with the guitars and bass, with pauses in between the groups of hits. The track transition occurs during one of the pauses in the groups of snare hits (~0.75 second at end of track 2 and ~0.25 at start of track 3), but the pause is cut out by the method of “gap skip” which Sansa are using.

Still, this is a far rarer occurrence in music than continual sound between tracks, so I can live with this fault :slight_smile:

@coreying wrote:

 


@marvin_martian wrote:

 


@coreying wrote:

So with this “gapless playback” support - what are the conditions?

i.e. Will it work with my LAME encoded MP3’s which playback gapless on my Rockbox enabled iRiver H140 and Winamp etc?

(I don’t have a Clip+, but I’m sure I’ve seen people say that gapless support on the clip+ does NOT include MP3s)


 

With the Clip+, the “gapless” is very close, but not quite perfect. Going through a variety of LAME mp3 albums of mine, there were a couple albums that were perfectly seamless in their track transitions, and a couple albums where sometimes there would be a very faint click that you would hear. Most people might not even hear it…but if you are used to  Rockbox-type seamlessness, the Clip+ isn’t quite there. 

 

As far as the Fuze+, who knows?


Thanks for your response Marvin. I have just borrowed my friend’s Clip+ to test this out and for the most part the gapless playback with my LAME encoded MP3’s works fine, and there is no click either!

 

However, the method that Sansa are using to perform the gapless playback appears to be the “read ahead and listen for silence at the end and start of tracks and then remove that” rather than the “read the gapless information from the LAME encoding and process the files based on that” methods. What this means is that where there is music playing at the very end and very start of the song, the gapless is working perfectly. But where you have a song with a moment silence at the end or start of the song, but no “gap” (as silence is not necessarily a gap!), then the silence is also removed, mucking up the timing of the silence.

 

An example of this would be the “Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes From A Memory” album.

At the end of track 2 (Overture 1928) is a series snare hits in time with the guitars and bass, with pauses in between the groups of hits. The track transition occurs during one of the pauses in the groups of snare hits (~0.75 second at end of track 2 and ~0.25 at start of track 3), but the pause is cut out by the method of “gap skip” which Sansa are using.

 

Still, this is a far rarer occurrence in music than continual sound between tracks, so I can live with this fault :slight_smile:

 

I ended up deciding it was good enough, for a good long while…because as you saw, it’s pretty close. But I ended up Rockboxing my old Clip+ after I got my second one, and liked it so much that I did it to the other one too.

But as far as the Fuze+, I can’t answer if it will be handled the same way as the Clip+ or not…and with the new touch controls on it, I don’t anticipate myself getting one, either. I already had a player with controls that worked that way, and unless I was standing or sitting still, the controls were a pain the the butt.:wink:

Agreed. I don’t like the touch controls either. Give me real buttons for general usage any day. Now I know the Clip+ does gapless fine, I’ll just grab one of them :slight_smile: