V1 and V2 Differences- PICS Added!

[Mp3NuTcAsE]

Pictures are finally up--see page 2 of this thread.

Hello All!--Post edited as per suggested below and more experience on my part.

This is my first post here, hopefully it will answer some of your questions about the difference between the Fuze V1 and V2.

From what I have noticed, having had 4 of these now, there are a couple major differences, other than the well-known hardware changes.

The early V1(Rev. 1.13) has some rather unwanted problems/qualities in my book. It is very LOUD(not necessarily a bad thing), BUT this kills the Bass quality, and causes the unit to "skip"-sound cuts out- at higher volumes. I believe this is due to a higher current drain on the battery, since this happens all the time except on a full charge. EDIT: This seems to be fixed in later V1 models(Rev 1.41)..there are different revisions of the V1 circuit boards.

The V2 on the other hand, while not quite as loud at higher volumes, has much better Bass, and does not suffer from the high-volume "skip" that the early V1 does. Battery life seems to be improved noticeably also. EDIT: The V2 still handles Bass noticeably better than the V1 models, early or no.

So, if you are a stickler for high volumes and earsplitting midrange tones, get the V1. If you prefer stable high volume operation while maintaining awesome Bass response plus better battery life, grab a V2.

I will have pics of the PC boards up ASAP, as I have transplanted my 4gb V2 electronics into my V1 blue case. EDIT: Well now it's a 8gb V1 Rev 1.41 Blue Fuze

Of course I should mention if RockBox is your plan for the Fuze, stick with the V1 for now..

Also a tip to anyone splitting these open.. I don't remember if this is mentioned in the excellent guide stickied above. Start at the bottom by the jacks, and carefully split the case as you work up(a utility knife blade works excellent here). This will prevent breakage of the top 2 cliplocks above the screen.

Pics coming soon!

P.S. If I am wrong about anything here, please let me know, as I am only speaking from my personal experience.

[CrowdAds]

[Marvin the Martian]

Just curious....you've had 4 of them? How come so many? My first one is still going strong. I have a Rev. 1 .

The V1 has some rather unwanted problems/qualities in my book. It is very LOUD(not necessarily a bad thing), BUT this kills the Bass quality, and causes the unit to "skip"-sound cuts out- at higher volumes. I believe this is due to a higher current drain on the battery, since this happens all the time except on a full charge.

OK, this is usually known as "clipping" from the internal amp being pushed too hard. Are you using lots of EQ? Did you go nuts with MP3Gain? Because I get none of this with my Fuze, full charge or not.

So, if you are a stickler for high volumes and earsplitting midrange tones, get the V1(square box). If you prefer stable high volume operation while maintaining awesome Bass response plus better battery life, grab a V2(rounded package).

The developers have said that both revisions should perform identically(so that people wouldn't want refunds if they got a Rev.1 after they heard about Rev.2) , and you are the first I've heard mention any noticeable differences.


The newer packaging is rounded, yes, but the only way to know for sure which one you just bought is to turn it on and look at the "Info" in settings. There have been examples of both Fuze and Clip where the version in the box was the opposite of what you would expect. I myself just bought a Rev. 2 Clip in the old-style square box, same as my Rev.1 Fuze and Rev. 1 Clip came in.

Soon I will be grabbing an 8gb, which SHOULD be a V2 from what I know of these, and will have an 8gb blue lol.

They had 8GB Rev.1 Fuzes too...in silver and black only, just like Rev.2

Of course I should mention if RockBox is your plan for the Fuze, stick with the V1 for now..

You are correct sir! (or ma'am...I've never seen you )

Pics coming soon!

There will be a lot of people interested to see a Rev. 2 opened up

P.S. If I am wrong about anything here, please let me know, as I am only speaking from my personal experience.

I'm not saying you are wrong about anything, just comparing my own observations

And oh yeah....welcome to ABI!

[ClieOS]

Given that both use the same SoC, I doubt the amp section performs better on one vs the other, at least they shouldn't be on hardware level.

[Mp3NuTcAsE]

First post edited for content..

I have since acquired two 8gb V1 Fuze models(first one was DOA unfortunately), and both were in the newer rounded package.

Upon opening them up, I noticed the newer V1 boards, with noticeable changes compared to the first V1 board I looked at(besides the 8gb memory chip of course), so obviously Sandisk has been improving these as they go. the V2 is WAY different, in that there are only 2 chips on the board, as opposed to 3 on the V1.

The V2 does indeed still handle Bass better than any of the V1's I have, and does not overdo the midrange tones. Only the early V1's have the clipping problem.

My reason for having so many? Well one for me, one for my gf, and then there are the kids...lol. I guess I am the picky one though, since I now have an 8gb blue. It's all good though, since my nephew likes the silver.

I am still working on the pics.. when I get them posted on Photobucket, I will post a link.

[Marvin the Martian]

The blue is indeed very nice....my Fuze is blue. My Clips are red and black, although I wanted the red to be blue, red was all I could get at the time.

[williamtsims]

I think the Fuze only looks good in Red, Blue, and Silver.

Yeah.

[Nikolaus]

So there is a chance to get a 8gb V1 Fuze if I am ordering now?

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by Nikolaus

So there is a chance to get a 8gb V1 Fuze if I am ordering now?

You won't know until you get it and check the Settings menu's info screen. Are you asking because you want Rockbox, or are you worried about things mentioned in the first post in this thread? I have to ask because my Rev. 1 Fuze has none of the issues the OP has with his....mine works fine, and gets used several hours a day. Also, contrary to what the OP thinks, you can still buy a blue Fuze, in the 4GB capacity....just like always

[Chili]

I just looked at mine, and discovered that my Fuze calls itself V.02, and it came in the really square packaging that seems to be the V1 box. That means that if I ever want Rockbox on the Fuze I won't be able to, right...?

[Mp3NuTcAsE]

I have not seen an 8gb with the clipping issue yet. A couple of my friends have them and they don't experience the same problems as the 4gb V1 my daughter has. The 8gb I have transplanted works just fine, but has the differences in Bass, Midrange, and Volume mentioned above compared to the V2. These can be corrected via the equalizer by turning the Bass up a little and the Midrange down a little. Of course this does run the battery down a bit faster.

The clipping issue has to be something to do with the PCB revisions themselves, since the only one we have now that has that problem has and older(rev 1.13) PCB, along with one that got returned to Walmart(2gb black V1) because of the same problem.

My 8gb, and the other I opened when it was DOA(hoping for a bad connection or something) have Rev 1.41 PCB's. I think you'll be fine with your 8gb.. as far as the DOA.. happens once in a while with electronics..

I read somewhere and was told by a rep. at Radioshack(I know don't trust them lol) that the blue had been discontinued.. maybe call SanDisk themselves?

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by Chili

I just looked at mine, and discovered that my Fuze calls itself V.02, and it came in the really square packaging that seems to be the V1 box. That means that if I ever want Rockbox on the Fuze I won't be able to, right...?

Well, I don't know how far the Rockbox guys have made it on the original Fuzes, but the 2nd version came out about a year and a half later....But I don't know just how different they are. Maybe one of the Rockbox guys that posts here could venture a guess.

[Mp3NuTcAsE]

As MTM stated, and I found out after I made the first post, unfortunately either a V1 or a V2 could be in either style packaging.

For now, it seems that Rockbox is being ported to the V1 only.. maybe in time to the V2 also. EDIT: MTM beat me to it lol..

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by Mp3NuTcAsE

I read somewhere and was told by a rep. at Radioshack(I know don't trust them lol) that the blue had been discontinued.. maybe call SanDisk themselves?

The blue is still on the Sansa website, FWIW....but also on Amazon.com.

[Mp3NuTcAsE]

First post edited

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by Mp3NuTcAsE

First post edited

I'm still wondering how you are getting clipping...are you MP3Gaining the bejeezus out of your files, or using massive EQ boosting Because I have one inefficient pair of headphones where I can , for short periods, bear full volume on the Fuze, and it has never clipped.

[Mp3NuTcAsE]

Wish I knew for sure.. just taking my best guess. I am fairly familiar with building and repairing electronics.. but not an expert.

The clipping on both units I mentioned happens with any of my MP3 files, without any EQ, and on every set of headphones we have, even a couple sets of multimedia speakers. I tried everything thinking the same thing. This leads me to think it is a problem with the older PCB's, as both had them. We also have a couple more V1's without the clipping problem.

If there are any members out there with an older Fuze with the clipping problem, please post here. If there's one thing I do NOt want to do, it's to post false information, hence all the editing lol

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by Mp3NuTcAsE

Wish I knew for sure.. just taking my best guess. I am fairly familiar with building and repairing electronics.. but not an expert.

The clipping on both units I mentioned happens with any of my MP3 files, without any EQ, and on every set of headphones we have, even a couple sets of multimedia speakers. I tried everything thinking the same thing. This leads me to think it is a problem with the older PCB's, as both had them. We also have a couple more V1's without the clipping problem.

If there are any members out there with an older Fuze with the clipping problem, please post here. If there's one thing I do NOt want to do, it's to post false information, hence all the editing lol

Another thing to try, if you haven't yet....I have run mine into my home receiver using a 3.5mm-RCA jack cable, and run it for hours with the volume maxed, on Normal for EQ....it never clipped in that situation, maybe try that with one of yours, just to see?

I have no idea which PCB I might have, asides from knowing it is V1 and not V2. I bought it in September at a Best Buy, but who knows how long it was physically in the store before I bought it?

[Mp3NuTcAsE]

I can try later tonight, and will post the results

[sansaguy]

Originally Posted by Marvin the Martian

Well, I don't know how far the Rockbox guys have made it on the original Fuzes, but the 2nd version came out about a year and a half later....But I don't know just how different they are. Maybe one of the Rockbox guys that posts here could venture a guess.

I'm sure both Llorean or Saratoga would have more info on this. I could be wrong but the last news I've heard was that RB development has slowed due to a lack of dev's and hardware (players).

[saratoga]

I don't think anyone has looked at the Fuze V2 hardware, so its not known what it is.