Sansa Clip+ Replacement?

Looks like another entity (besides me) thinks the SanDisk Clip Sport and Clip Jam are worthy mp3 players to buy in 2015.

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2996037/data-storage-solutions/heres-why-western-digital-is-buying-sandisk.html

@dfeld2005 wrote:

Looks like another entity (besides me) thinks the SanDisk Clip Sport and Clip Jam are worthy mp3 players to buy in 2015.

 

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2996037/data-storage-solutions/heres-why-western-digital-is-buying-sandisk.html

 

 

Maybe it’s my eyes, but I didn’t see the Sport or Jam mentioned in the article . . . .

@miikerman wrote:


@dfeld2005 wrote:

Looks like another entity (besides me) thinks the SanDisk Clip Sport and Clip Jam are worthy mp3 players to buy in 2015.

 

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2996037/data-storage-solutions/heres-why-western-digital-is-buying-sandisk.html

 

 


Maybe it’s my eyes, but I didn’t see the Sport or Jam mentioned in the article . . . .

Looks like we both have the same optometrist then . . .

Although it IS an interesting article about Western Digital’s very recent acqusition of Sandisk.

Surprised no one has mentioned their phone as  relacement for their mp3 players.  I’m not suggesting it’s better than the clip+ but since I’m carrying the phone most of the time, I might as well use it for music as well.

@fredtal wrote:

Surprised no one has mentioned their phone as  relacement for their mp3 players.  I’m not suggesting it’s better than the clip+ but since I’m carrying the phone most of the time, I might as well use it for music as well.

Most people today ARE using their phones for everything, including playing music. Hence the decline in the assortment and features of available dedicated mp3 payers these days.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Western Digital, which makes memory like SanDisk, phased out the players entirely.

However, there is an interesting, inexpensive player on the horizon from another company:

It’s the FiiO M3,  which will list at $55 (and FiiOs don’t get discounted much) with 8GB of internal storage, capacity for 64GB cards and playback for mp3 and lossless files. The hype says it has a separate digital-analogue converter for better sound.  Buttons, not a touchscreen, like the Clip.

http://www.fiio.net/en/products/47

FiiO is known for hi-fi at low prices, but until now their players have been thick and chunky, and their cheapest player, the X1 at $99, is not loved, though the X3 and X5 are. 

The M3 has only been announced, not on sale yet, but for just  $55 I’m going to keep an eye out for reviews.

Not quite as tall as a butane cigarette lighter…

http://www.head-fi.org/t/780622/fiio-m3-ultra-portable-8g-64g-2-0-320-240-tft-50mw-flac-ape-aiff-in-line-control-ogg-mp3-aac-wma-24-hours-hifi-earbuds

The FiiO M3 is based on nearly the same SOC as the Clip Sport/Jam (ATJ2129 for M3 vs. ATJ2127 for Sport/Jam) and they share many of the hardware limitations. It will be very interesting to see how they have dealt with the tiny amount of memory and if the end result is any better than of the Sport/Jam.

Probably not the best to discuss another manf.'s DAP here . . . .   ;)    Discussion can be found at anythingbutipod.com and head-fi.org.

No one has messed with it yet. Honesty is the best policy. It’s on Amazon now.

http://www.amazon.com/M3-Portable-Player-microSD-Expansion/dp/B018K88OSS/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1449208850&sr=1-1&keywords=fiio+m3

@black_rectangle wrote:

No one has messed with it yet. Honesty is the best policy. It’s on Amazon now.

 

http://www.amazon.com/M3-Portable-Player-microSD-Expansion/dp/B018K88OSS/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1449208850&sr=1-1&keywords=fiio+m3

Please see my prior post, above yours . . . .    :wink:

I don’t see anything wrong/unethical, etc. about discussing a similar product in so much as how it compares to a SanDisk offering. If one were to ‘promote’ it that would be an entirely different matter and yes, in poor taste but otherwise I think it’s ok.

Just my humble opinion of course.

I am reminded of a small, family-owned store owner friend of my family, who reported of a couple of customers casually talking in his store, in perfectly heard voices, of better deals being available at competitor stores.   I am happy that SanDisk has “opening up a space” for its users to discuss–personally, for me, it doesn’t feel appropriate to use that space to direct others to the purchase of competing products or to discuss those products absent a direct tie to SanDisk in some aspect (and even then, again for me, I see it as iffy–third-party sites exist where that can be done).    But, again, that’s me.

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The purpose of my previous post was to point out that The Clip Sport/Jam and the other DAP shares the same hardware and software platform, are closely related and thus also shares most of the limitations. In my opinion SanDisk has received a lot of unfair criticism for not being able to address the flaws of the Sport. When the initial excitement has passed I think we will see very similar complaints from the other side and I think the flaws will remains just as with the Sport. The hardware is very limited and it’s not much you can do with it. It’s not easy to find a caplable SOC at this pricepoint nowdays.

I’m aware of that this is a SanDisk only forum and that’s against the rules to discuss products from other manufacturers and wish to thank Miikerman for the exemplary way he pointed that out to me. It will be all SanDisk posts from me here on.

Thanks, robert_a, and I really wasn’t bothered by posts here initially, and found them fine as “state of the art” posts–but then things started to move a bit to “where to buy competing products” and it just made me a bit queasy, as a guest here.  Again, just my personal feeling and nothing intended against you (or anyone else).   

SanDisk isn’t a mom-and-pop store, miikerman. And if I hadn’t mentioned the FiiO we wouldn’t have gotten the interesting information that the units have a similar (and limited) SOC (system on chip). 

As further information emerges, it appears the FiiO M3 can’t do Replay Gain or gapless, so that SOC is indeed limited. Still Googling around to see if there’s a limit on the number of files.

There aren’t a lot of standalone players being introduced any more, particularly in the Clip price range. If SanDisk isn’t worried about the quality of its products there’s no harm in mentioning a competitor. If it is worried about the quality of its products, it can improve them.

Personally I think that Sansa players have been going downhill since the Fuze.  Still, I’m glad I picked up a couple of $20 refurbed Clip+ while they were still around. Saw an 8GB Clip+ today on Amazon for about $67.

Again, personally, I have and see no issue in discussing technology generally as it applies to a whole group.  But yes, as to discussing a competitor’s product in and of itself and directing to where it may be purchased, within the confines of a sandbox that a company kindly has provided presumably principally for the discussion of its own products.  Again, my personal opinion.

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The OP wanted to know what to replace the Clip + with.  Since the Jam and Sport are, by all accounts, serious downgrades from the Clip+ , the answer to the question may be another brand–or, while they can be found, another Clip+.  Never had a Zip, so I can’t address whether that was an improvement, but those are disappearing too.

If there’s another little inexpensive unit comparable to the Clip+, I certainly would like to know about it. 

The FiiO M3 won’t take Rockbox and does have a file limit (for navigation by tags)  in the neighborhood of 3700-4000, while a Rockboxed Clip+ will take as many as the card can hold. 

The ABI thread gets interesting around this page: 

http://anythingbutipod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=75157&highlight=fiio&page=5

The only reason I put in a purchase link was because when I initially posted the FiiO  had only been announced, not made available. It’s also an easy place to see what it looks like and, eventually, to look at user reviews–so better than a link to the FiiO website that’s all hype. 

If a moderator wants to delete my posts, fine, but I don’t see any reason to withhold potentially useful information from people who come here looking for it. I get the feeling SanDisk can afford the bandwidth for a text forum. If they would just bring back the Fuze, all would be forgiven. 

And in my opinion, because this is a SanDisk forum supported by SanDisk (and this sub-forum the Sansa® Clip | Sansa® Clip+ sub-forum), not an agnostic forum such as anythingbutipod or head-fi.org to talk about anything under the sun, including all form of competing products.  And just like I wouldn’t go to the Sony DAP forum and spend any amount of time discussing Sony’s competitor’s products.  But maybe that’s just me.

Black-Rectangle wrote:

 

If there’s another little inexpensive unit comparable to the Clip+, I certainly would like to know about it.  

Absolutely, and that’s why I look at third-party sites such as anythingbutipod.com and head-fi.org for that, rather than at a competitor’s own run website . . . .     ;)     But we’ve now both provided our personal feelings on the topic.

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Head-fi.org is the place to discuss other brands of players and compare them to Sandisk players. I am also disappointed with Sandisk’s current player offerings. The last two players I bought were not made by Sandisk(no, I won’t mention here which they are). I do own the Sandisk Clip+, Clip Zip, and Clip Sport. The Clip+ and Clip Zip are Rockboxed. I owned two Fuzes, and used Rockbox on the Fuze. I also owned the original Clip. 

I gave away the Fuzes and the original Clip.