The Sansa Clip(+) is an awesome player. Small, cheap, yet very powerful and with very good sound quality. unfortunately the 15 hour battery is one of its weakest points, and you might need to charge it a couple of times if you’re away for a few days. The cable that comes with it isn’t exactly that big, but it could be smaller- here’s how you make one that is.
The new Sansa Clip+ is one of several players that come with support for microSDHC cards. While smaller than SDHC cards, the capacity is also lower at 16GB max – although 32GB is coming. This means that while SDHC players like the Cowon D2 can get up to 32GB of extra storage, the microSDHC players are limited to 16GB for now. Or are they?
A few weeks ago I ran across an SDHC to microSDHC adapter on DealExtreme. Unlike most adapters between the two card types, this one actually gives you a microSDHC card from a bigger SDHC card instead of the other way around. Since the SDHC standard is the same regardless of size and the adapter simply takes the pins from the SDHC card and transfers it through a ribbon cable to a dummy microSDHC card, you can use any full size SDHC card as long as the player you use it with supports the SDHC standard (microSDHC counts). This means you can get 32GB of extra storage on your Sansa Clip+, Sansa Fuze or any other microSDHC player.
Still not convinced it works? Our forum moderator no9 ordered one of these and now have it fully working with a 32GB SDHC card in his 4GB Clip+. 4GB shy of the 40GB maximum you get with a 8GB Clip+ and this thing, that’s still a LOT of storage on a small player like that. The downside? The adapter sticks out, and refreshing the media library with a full card takes close to 15 minutes. If you use this with a bigger player like the Sansa Fuze you should be able to fit the adapter on the back and tape over it or whatever, and the slow refresh is only after you put the card in for the first time or after you’ve connected it to manage your music. Regardless of the downsides, the capacity we’re reaching with players this small is quite astonishing and make for very attractive players for people with large music collections. Hit the jump for a couple more pics.
The Sansa Clip has been a favorite among many as a quick and cheap way to listen to digital music. It has been a player for beginners and enthusiasts alike with a straight forward user interface along with top notch sound quality many times being paired with headphones and amps 10 times its price. For these reasons we made the Clip the number one MP3 player for 2008.
Since the Sansa Clips was release we immediately started screaming for a Clip with a microSD card slot, sure the Fuze had the same sound quality and features but it didn’t have the compact size that many users appreciated about the Clip. SanDisk has responded to our requests in the second generation Clip dubbed the Sansa Clip+. In addition to adding the microSD card slot SanDisk has taking the time to improve the player all around rightfully giving it its second generation badge.
Everyone loves to peek inside and see what makes these players tick and its always helpful to see them pulled apart for future repair or swapping out parts for customization.
The Clip+ resembles the original clip insides but with some upgraded silicone. Disassembling was easier than the original and fairly straight forward with the right tools. All you will need is a slim piece of plastic to pry the two half apart and a small screw driver. You can take apart and put back together the Clip+ without damaging the plastic housing if you are careful. Before your start, take a look at the pictures and mind where the latches are that hold the two pieces together. Then carefully pry at those locations. Good luck!
I have had a slotRadio well before it was released to the public and over these last 6 months tried to wrap my head around where this product fits into the way people consume music. I’ve used it myself at the gym and in the car, let friends and relatives borrow it, discussed with other tech bloggers, and prodded lots of sales floor reps for customer reactions.
With all this anecdotal evidence I’m going to bet against it. However, it may be a risky bet on my part since it may be applicable to a market or demographic I don’t at all understand. For the last three or four years I have been reading and writing about digital media players as a full time job. This may have created a myopic point of view now allowing me to see that fringe demographic of music consumers that is still a substantial enough of a market to sustain a profitable product line.
SanDisk’s latest update for the Sansa Fuze fixes a bunch of bugs and adds further improvements and features. One of the more notable features is the addition of File/Folder browsing, something many Fuze fans have been campaigning for since its release. Additionally they have added a normalization feature called “Replay Gain” which basically keeps the sound normalized (same volume) throughout the song or album.
Finally, the biggest update is the addition of slotRadio support. Below are a few screenshots of the implementation and a quick overview.
Our favorite little player got crammed into a once live grenade. The project creator Matt said that this genuine “decommissioned training grenade” was indeed a legal purchase in the state of New York, but stressed the purchase a bit. He used a 2GB Sansa Clip, but I think a Sansa slotPlayer may have been a bit of a better choice. The MP3 grenade is something that will surely turn some heads or alert the authorities walking around in any city. Just don’t scream “detonating!” when pressing the big red button used to change tracks. Getting though airport security should be a bit of a challenge as well.
[NYC Resistor | Make | Flickr via Gizmodo]
Remember the SlotMusic Player? Similar idea and concept, SanDisk announces the slotRadio. This whole idea of very easy to use / ready to go digital music is what the “slot” genre players are all about. The slotRadio is $100 and comes with 1,000 Billboard Chart songs hand selected separated into various genres. The user will simply select the type of music on the player’s 1.5” OLED screen.
The catch is you will not be able to move the songs off the player, so it’s not like getting 1,000 songs at 10 cents each, though these cards will work in other mSD card players like the Sansa Fuze. Additional cards can be purchased for around $40 each with 1000 songs of a specific genre.
I’m still quite bearish on this new type of music format on a memory card. Possibly because I have yet to meet someone that would fall into this purchasing demographic. Or it could be that I’m working on no sleep for the last two days. I will opine further after I have had a chance to check it out first hand tomorrow. Press release after the jump.
Earlier this year SanDisk introduced a new format to deliver music called slotMusic. This is simply a 1GB microSD card with DRM-free digital files on it. This format is backed by some of the major record labels such as EMI, Sony BMG, Universal, and Warner.
To go along with this new format SanDisk has introduced the slotMusic player. This memory-less and screen-less player relies solely on microSD for music playback. The idea is that non-tech savvy users will be able to swap out their purchased slot music albums.
I don’t believe that slotMusic will revolutionize the music industry, but may do well in certain niche markets. Aside from the new music format, the player itself is an interesting story.
After we learned about the 8GB Sansa Clip a few days ago the crave for a new firmware and FLAC support has grown even stronger. Well people you can stop hoping, FLAC support is now available along with other updates through the 01.01.30FW.
Along with FLAC support the update brings general upgrades like better M3U playlist support and faster database updates. There are also a lot of bug fixes which alone should be worth the update. Along with the 01.01.30 firmware theres a 2.01.16 update apparently linked to “hardware revision 2″. No one really knows what this is at the moment but it might be the 8GB Clip. Hit the jump for a changelog on 01.01.30.
[ABi Forum Download Page|SanDisk Forum Official Release Thread]
The Clip+ has a fantastic little form factor; somewhat cheap in build quality but very rugged. The interface is simple and relatively straightforward. The features on the Clip are more or less average, however it supports the alternative Rockbox firmware which provides tons of additional options (gapless playback, Replaygain, playlists, Last.fm scrobbling, etc). Read the full review or go ahead and buy it.
The J3 is a fantastic PMP with a very nice AMOLED screen and tons of features. It sports Cowon's trademark BBE sound enhancements, and offers a customizable user interface with strong support by our user community. You can usually find it at Amazon for the best price - and don't forget to check out our review.
Sure, many of us are not big fans of the walled garden, but there are a lot of great things going on with the Zune: sturdy hardware, ultra easy to use user interface, and a media player that is worthy of Editor’s Choice. You can check out our Zune HD review or stop by our Zune forums for the latest info and gossip.
Phonak Audéo PFE offer outstanding clarity and precision; natural, dynamic mids and treble, and decent bass for a single armature in-ear phone. They handle dense, complex music very well. The PFE work well with most acoustic and some electronic music genres, but bassheads might have to look at other alternatives. They're great for sports as well, since they fit very securely. Check out our review.
The Hippo VB (Variable Bass) offers a serious subwoofer for on the go, right in your head. They don’t just deliver generous quantities of punchy, textured bass, but good audio quality over the whole frequency range with decent clarity and exceptional soundstage. Exchangeable bass ports let you customize their sound to your liking. Read our in-depth Hippo VB review.
The Soundmagic E10 and E30 are basically right in the middle between the Phonak PFE and Hippo VB - not too analytical sounding, not too bass heavy. The E10 provide a bit more bass, the E30 a bit more clarity. Both come with a very fair price tag considering the sound quality they deliver - a great choice for the audio aficionado on a budget. Read our E10 and E30 reviews for more info.
