Giving Up On The Fuze

[bluesun]

I have been using Fuzes since they first came out after the disastrous View (I also have a couple of old E-series that still work perfectly). I was for a number of years a studio guitar player and have some training in recording engineering. I have been forced to develop an excellent ear (to my bank account’s discomfiture ). When Sandisk announced they were discontinuing the Fuze for the less desirable Fuze+, I bought a half-dozen to be sure of a long supply. So far, in that 10 years, 2 have experienced intermittent difficulty with one track in their headphone jacks (difficult, but not impossible to fix due to construction of the jack). I still pick up a used Fuze whenever I can find one in good condition for a price of $125.00 or less (I currently have 8 8GB models with class 10 64GB microSD cards). I recently compared one of my original Fuzes with the most expensive iPods using Stax SR-009 studio reference “earspeakers” ($3,825.00 with a Stax SRM-727II ($1,600) non-feedback output stage (driver) at a friend’s recording studio. The Fuze beat every iPod, even the most expensive, by a mile. Apple has never gotten the bass correct. Last year, I had also compared it to high-end mp3 players costing from $300.00 to $2,000 using my own BeyerDynamics DT-770 and DT-990 headsets and borrowed Audeze LCD-3 headphones (a steal on Amazon at $2,793.00 including an iFi micro iDSD Black Label Edition DAC/amplifier & a higher-end player). The most expensive are better than the Fuze, but the difference was not as great as I expected until I got well over the $1,000 mark in players… For those who don’t particularly admire the Fuze, keep a periodic eye on eBay. Whenever a brand new Fuze still in its bubble pack is offered, it typically sells for from $300.00 to $800.00. And all sell quickly. There is a significant Fuze following (perhaps heavy with musicians & serious listeners) who recognize it as the remarkable player it is (especially for the original price) and are even willing to pay the price of a high-end player favored by audiophiles with a well-developed ear and deep pockets or professional musicians or recording engineers.