New Clip User With Some Questions

Hi,

I’ve learned so much by reading this forum; its great! I just got my Sansa Clip today and have been reading/playing and using it…I love it!

i have installed the latest firmware.

I have some “newbie” questions to ask and hope someone can answer for me :slight_smile:

 

1. What is MTP and MSC mode (also what is DRM – I’ve noticed some references to it on this forum)? Please explain and what is better. And what is AutoDetect, which is the default?

2. When would I ever need to use the Reset All option in Settings? And would it remove my current list of recordings?

3. When I hold down the power button for more than 15 seconds, it still says Goodbye, and it does not refresh the database. The only time I notice that is when I unplug it from the USB port of my computer.

4. How do you stop play of a current song/book? Do you just shut down the Clip?

5. If I use the Sleep mode, will it shut down the player after the set time, or will it just put it to sleep?

6. Can I use the equalizer in Audiobooks? I notice I can get to the equalizer directly while listening to music, but not when listening to an Audiobook; I have to go through the settings in order to do so.

7. I have been looking everywhere and cannot find out the expected life of the internal battery (I am not talking about recharging it, I am referring to the actual life span of the battery) under normal use conditions. – sure wish it was replaceable!

 

Thank you all so much for your answers! :wink:

Some answers:

1.  MSC = Mass Storage Capacity, in which your player is seen by your computer as an external drive; MTP = Media Transfer Protocol.  MSC is especially good (and necessary) for systems not up to spec with the Clip’s requirements, such as older (but still not that old!) PCs, Macs and Linux-based systems.  A somewhat universal system.  However, MSC cannot be used with DRM’ed music–music protected by “digital rights management,” such as Rhapsody music or music bought at many Internet sites, which tries to protect uncontrolled copying of the music (and the possible loss of resulting sales).  Neither is better or worse, but one may suit you more than the other.  I use MSC mode, so that I more easily may use my player on different machines of whatever types.  Of course, as you know, you readily can change the mode used to connect to a computer, at any time (but see the note below).  There are some other advantages to MSC mode, such as when your computer needs to see a drive to run software on it (such as to normalize your music, with MP3Gain).

A “trick” with the modes:  files transferred to your player under one mode are not seen by your computer when you are hooked up under the other mode  (although everything is seen by the Clip)–hence my preference to stay under a single mode most of the time.

Autodetect will hook up in the mode that is possible.  I believe it defaults to MTP and then “falls back to” MSC if MTP is not possible.

2.  To re-set all your settings, such as when you made changes but can’t remember what you did and want to get back to the original settings and a clean slate.  Good when you made a lot of changes and things are not working out, although I don’t think that the Clip is all that complex that this feature would be needed much (if at all).  Re-set does not erase your files.  (Format under settings will erase your files.)

4.  To stop play (a Sansa idiosyncrasy):  use the play/pause button (the top of the wheel) and press to put the file into pause.  You also simply can turn the player off, if you’re done using it.

5.  It will shut the player off (I believe)–that’s the purpose.

7.  The battery will last 300-500 full charges (not partial charges–partial charges will make up a full charge).  You can check out batteryuniversity.com for helpful information as to batteries, some of which was summarized here by a member.  It would be nice if the battery easily could be replaced, but that would add bulk (my last Sansa used a AAA battery–very handy and nice, but larger).  In the end, even if you fully charge every day, the player would last 1 to 1-1/2 years; you more likely would be charging every few days, getting at least 2-3 years of use.  And by then, quite candidly, more robust players will be out.  Many have posted tips here as to how to lengthen the life of the player, both the battery and the screen (which has a life of about at least 5000+ hours).

I hope this helps.  You made a good choice–enjoy!

:slight_smile:

Milkerman:  THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Your answers were great and really helped me a lot. I appreciate your time :smiley:

I was debating between the Clip and the e200 or c200 (because of the replaceable battery), but I have read so many raves about the Clip that I thought it would be the best choice. I will mainly use it for Audiobooks and some music, but already I can tell the sound is splendid on both the voice recordings as well as the music! If it lasts 2 years, it will be well worth it. Of course, I am already finding that I want more room! LOL. Books can fill up the player quite quickly. I just noticed that there is a 4 gb Clip available soon–that ought to be a dream!

I am just hoping I didn’t get a bad battery in mine, as I have been reading about here, but time will tell.

Oh, one more question, please…when I hold down the power switch for more than 15 seconds, it doesn’t seem to do anything different than when I just hold it for a few seconds. It doesn’t refresh the database when I turn it back on, only when I unplug it from the USB. Do you know about this?

Again, thanks for your kind help. :womanhappy:

Glad to be of assistance. 

Holding the power switch up for 15 seconds is to re-set the player if it freezes.  As far as I am aware, the only time the player needs to rebuild the database, as a general matter, is when you add files to it (and that is what it does when you transfer files from your computer and disconnect the USB).

In 1-2 years, I am envisioning that you will be able to get a much greater capacity flash drive, at the prices you are paying today–it’s just a matter of time.  (32 gb SD cards are now or in a few months will be available, albeit for a hefty cost–but the greater capacities are coming more readily, which will drive prices down.  Maybe that’s what you will be buying in a year …)

Professor,

You seem very knowlegeable so I address this to you in the hope you or another has an answer.  I just tranferred a large (55Mb) WMA file to my e280.  It plays the file fine but has somehow reset the audio volume to about half what it used to be.  Battery is full.  Is there a universal volume setting somewhere?  Or is this how it handles multiple file types?  I would rather have the full audio level than the WMA file so… Thanks in advance for any help!!

Artimus

You may want to post this in the forum for your player.  This is the Clip forum.

And by reseting the volume, do you mean independent of the player’s volume setting?  If so, it sounds like WMP is doing this–you may want to check its software settings.

Good luck.

Here are some navigating tips:

After selecting a song and starting to play it, to go back to the menu you were just in, press “down” and then “back to music list”.

Pressing the Home button once after starting a song will bring you to the main menu, pressing it again will bring you back to the play screen.

Holding down the center button while a song is playing will add it to your go-list.

You can change this to activate “rate song” instead. (change from the settings menu).

  Hello,

Can you also answer my question?
I just bought sansa clip 2Gb and am looking for FM car transmitter.

I was interested in theese:

Griffin Technology iTrip Auto FM Transmitter and Car Charger for Sansa ,(is it going to fit into clip)

BELKIN TUNECAST II MOBILE TRANSMITTER - FM TRANSMITTER and also Tunecast 3,

CYGNETT CY-3-FM GrooveRide FM Transmitter

Are they all compatible with a CLIP?? And which one is the better one?

Thank You!

They should all work with Clip.  I can’t say which is best, however.

Basically,  the headphone jack will accept the connection from a FM transmitter.

To get the best performance,  turn the volume on the Clip to MAX when using with a transmitter.

Thank You.I think I’ll  get Belkin tunecast 2.

Actually…I think I’m gonna get cygnett instead…it has lcd battery:)

Message Edited by Jonsana on 03-12-2008 01:09 PM

Message Edited by Jonsana on 03-12-2008 01:09 PM

Just a minor nit pick.  MSC is Mass Storage Class.

Robert

Not to sound stupid…but what do you mean by MSC?

Many thanks for the correction!