Why does the Fuze have a hard time driving headphones?

[d_headshot]

It seems that the Fuze has a hard time trying to drive my ATH-M50s. They're only 38 ohms of impedance but I really have to crank the Fuze almost to the max just to get a decent volume. I've tried a few other headphone models and they're hard to drive as well for some reason(without an external amplifier).

Is there any reason aside from the possibility of the Fuze having a wonky output impedance?


Also, whenever plugging in the headphones, or even just touching the Fuze the headphones connected, there's loud and painful pop/cracking noises. The same thing happened with several different headphones as well. Could this just be a problem with the jack?

[CrowdAds]

[Marvin the Martian]

All my 32 ohm headphones work fine with my Fuze and Clip+'s....my 60 ohm KSC75's do need the volume cranked higher though.

It's not just impedance that makes all the difference though.....sensitivity is part of it too.

And it does sound like there is a problem with your headphone jack....hope not though.

[WalkGood]

Not sure what’s wrong but something is defiantly not right. If my Clip can drive 300 ohm headphones, the fuze shouldn’t have any problems driving the Audio-Technica’s, their impedance is only 38 ohms. Also a sensitivity of 99db shouldn’t make the difference you note ...

Sensitivity (loudness): A measure of headphone efficiency in dBs SPL per milliwatt of input. A low number means that the headphones need more power to sound as loud as those which have a higher sensitivity. Headphones for portables need to be fairly sensitive because of the lower power output of portable stereos. Modern dynamic headphones have sensitivity ratings of 90 dB or more. When shopping for portable headphones, look for a sensitivity rating of 100 dB or greater. Quoted from the HeadWize library here.

[gebbss]

Those pop's and crack's are a bad sign. I'm quite sure your Fuze isn't working properly and you should get it switched for another one.

[d_headshot]

Yeah it's pretty scratched up as well and I was hoping to get a new one. It's a version 1 though so it's going to be pretty hard to find one that isn't used. I might actually just get a new pmp altogether.

[skip252]

Why the need for a V1?

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by skip252

Why the need for a V1?

How true, I'd rather have a V2

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by skip252

Why the need for a V1?

Good question....I wondered the same thing.

[d_headshot]

I thought rockbox was the most stable version for v1? If that's not the case, v2 would be fine lol.

I just wish there was more capacity though. Even a 16 gb fuze + 32 gb sd card isn't enough for my library.

[skip252]

Rockbox has full USB support on the V1. Battery life is better on the V2. My V1 gets about 14-15 hrs. The V2 gets about 18-21 hrs. That's not battery benches but using it in real life. In the OF the battery life is about equal for both versions at around 18hrs for me. There have also been some enhancements to all the V2 Sansa Rockbox port to bring the volume in line with the OF.

In use the stability is the same, very good. The Rockbox Utility works on all models now.

Kind of a strange feeling for me. For years the V1s were always the most desirable models if you were thinking about Rockbox. I actually dumped a e280 before Rockbox was ported to the V2 models. No tears over it but I'd easily trade a V1 Fuze to get that back.

[Marvin the Martian]

I borrowed an e280 for an afternoon once a while back, that had RB on it, long before I knew anything about RB. What kept throwing me off was the e-series circle and buttons being separate, unlike the Fuze's combo deal.....I suppose if I owned one I wouldn't have minded, but it was weird for me being used to the Fuze at that time.

[skip252]

My first Sansa was a E250 V1. Just put a fresh battery in it and hope to have it for another couple of years. The transition from that to a Fuze wasn't too bad for me. For me the the Fuze wheel was a nice step up. Not as functional as the Clip+ D-pad but much better.

The revelation was how much cleaner the sound is in the AMS series vs. the Portal Player based e250. The V1 e250 isn't unbearable but it's got a lot of grumbling, buzzing and hissing that goes on in the background. That just about vanishes for me with higher impedance, less sensitive 'phones. Makes a good match for my Portapros.

[Adub]

There definitely has to be a problem with your fuze, i've used my M50 on a rockboxed fuze before and i could listen at around the same volume as my rb clip+.