Asked for a V1, got a V2. Should I keep it or should I insist for a V1?

[San_Discolo]

Hi to everybody!
I bought a Fuze. I am quite happy with it. But I had asked for a V1 because of Rockbox support and few things more I had read on forums and which made me think that V2 was not as good as V1.
Seller told me he had a V1, but he gave me a V2 (I realized at home).
He now says they may have a V1 in stock, so, I can chose, and I need your help to do it well.
My simple question is: why should I prefer V2 and why V1?
In what is better the V1 over the V2, and in what the V2 over the V1?
I cannot believe they are the same exact sounding and overall quality and everything else, as they have different hardware, something must have changed.
Someone here told that V2 is more bassy. Mine has got indeed lot of basses. He also said battery life is better on V2, good.
And he said that the older V1 may clip. Bad. Especially because I have no idea how to know which kind of V1 I will get. How can I know it?
I do not know what could I gain with Rockbox in SQ. Maybe some good EQ settings?
In V2 I have to switch all the time between Normal and Jazz, the first is warm and vibrant but "closed", the second is bright and open but sometimes too "cold".
Does V1 (with or without Rockbox) have a solution to this?
Well, all what you can tell me in order to help me taking the better decision for my needs, I would appreciate it! I will keep this and only this player until it breaks or someone stoles it: I am planning a long term trip around the world as a backpacker, mostly third world, so I will not have money and opportunities to get another player.
I need to choose now the most reliable and better sonding and complete one.
Help!

edit: I must add that I have a Kingston 8gb microsdhc. I do not remember well, but somewhere I think I've read that Fuze V1 does not support 8gb cards unless rockboxed?

[CrowdAds]

[FreeZ5]

The only difference between V1 and V2 Fuzes is hardware and thus availability of Rockbox.

Fuzes (both versions) are not known to have good EQ, so most people advise that you leave it alone. Rockbox apparently fixes this.

AFAIK, both versions accept all microSDHC cards. I've never heard otherwise.

If you wanted a Rockbox-able player, I suspect you won't be happy unless you have one. So swap it.

Steve

[San_Discolo]

Mmm. Yes, this is what I have read on all posts, but all posts are from 2009, I thought that maybe with more people having the opportunity to compare both versions, some other differences would have been noticed.
SO, V1 vs V2 only offers better EQ with Rockbox?
ANd with V1 I don´t lose anything that V2 offers?

[oobergeek]

Originally Posted by San_Discolo

Mmm. Yes, this is what I have read on all posts, but all posts are from 2009, I thought that maybe with more people having the opportunity to compare both versions, some other differences would have been noticed.
SO, V1 vs V2 only offers better EQ with Rockbox?
ANd with V1 I don´t lose anything that V2 offers?

Unless your a real Audiophile with a trained ear your not really going to notice the difference in sound quality between the v1 and v2 Fuzes they are that close. If you want Rockboxability NOW then get the v1. I have Rockbox on my Fuze now and it more than makes up for the deficiencies in the official firmware.

[San_Discolo]

Well, someone here was able to clearly distinguish more basses on the V2.
And a better battery life.
If this is true and if in the while V2 has not lost anything over V1, I may wait hoping that RB guys will make RB available for V2 too...
But I cannot understand why SanDisk took the time effort and money to make a V2 if nothing is improved over V1, and I am fearing (reading some comments about a simplier hardware) that they made it cheaper. Cheaper does not necessarily mean worse at all. This is why I am asking.
But I inmediately thought that something shall have got lost in V2 over V1...
If this is not the case, if V2 does not lose anything of V1 quality and reliability, nor it improves anything, I just have to understand if with Rockbox I can get the sound I am looking for: a sound between the warmt and vibrance of V2 EQ Normal setting and the bright open sound of V2 Jazz setting; A sound which I cannot get with any combination of personalized EQ...

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by San_Discolo

I just have to understand if with Rockbox I can get the sound I am looking for: a sound between the warmt and vibrance of V2 EQ Normal setting and the bright open sound of V2 Jazz setting; A sound which I cannot get with any combination of personalized EQ...

That's because the customizable EQ on Sansas doesn't work very well. Supposedly the EQ on Rockbox works very well.

[dfkt]

The Rockbox EQ is definitely the best sounding and most sophisticated one on portable players I've tried so far. It actually makes the sound better, not worse... which not a lot of MP3 player EQs do.

[skip252]

I've been reading your posts here and in the Sansa Forums and you really need to wrap your head around the concept that the sound processing hardware in both the V1 and V2 versions of the Fuze is exactly the same. Therefore they produce exactly the same sound signal. Sansa found a cheaper way to get the same results and went with that. Once again...exactly equal.

In virtually every audio discussion that involves subjective listening there will be differences of opinion as to the quality of the what is being heard. One person will say it's warmer, one will say it's more clinical. One will say it's too bright, one will say it's too dark. Different ears, different brains, different perceptions and different expectations all play into how various individuals judge the exact same audio signal.

Since you seem to have come to conclusion that the V1 is somehow superior you should follow FreeZ5's advice and swap your V2 for the V1 you contracted to receive. If not you will probably never be at peace believing you are dealing with a somehow inferior product.

One question...If the selller didn't get it right after specifically saying they were shipping a V1 the first time why would you think they would get it right this time? BTW, a V1 would be older and therefore it's battery would be closer to the end of it's expected life. Just a thought.

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by Marvin the Martian

... Supposedly the EQ on Rockbox works very well.

No supposedly about rockbox, it’s great! Even improves my old e260

[m_k]

If you will anticipate playing videos -- under the original firmware -- and want to store your videos on the MicroSD (rather than load into the finite internal memory over the SLOW synch cable), then I would suggest sticking with the V2 (unless the inability to run Rockbox is a deal-breaker for you -- but keep in mind that much of what drives people to Rockbox has been fixed in the Fuze, which in my opinion is the only video-capable Sansa that is usable WITHOUT Rockbox).

My V1 Fuzes can NOT reliably play videos from the MicroSD card (with ONE exception -- a particular make/model card, which got lost in the shuffle of all my other cards before I could record what the make/model was). My V2 Fuze however gladly accepts videos from any of my cards without hiccuping.

BTW my e200 players are also worthless at playing videos via the card (in the case of the V1 players, it's simply not possible -- and with the V2 players, it's the same as the Fuze V1 players -- I'll get a few seconds of playback before the system locks up tight as a drum).

However, with my V1 player (e200) under Rockbox, there are NO problems playing videos via the card. I do NOT know from personal experience whether or not this ability is also present on the Fuze or e200 V2 ports (of Rockbox) -- I have a surplus of "adventure" in my life, and avoid running pre-production code whenever possible. I have not budgeted for brickage.

But, I'd be surprised if Rockbox (once it is out of beta, at least) won't satisfy in that department. From my observation of the different models and firmwares, my opinion is that the problem is that the Sansa firmware is too damn picky about arcane card timing issues, whereas Rockbox is more robust and reliable.

[San_Discolo]

Originally Posted by skip252

One will say it's too bright, one will say it's too dark. Different ears, different brains, different perceptions;;;
One question...If the selller didn't get it right after specifically saying they were shipping a V1 the first time why would you think they would get it right this time? BTW, a V1 would be older and therefore it's battery would be closer to the end of it's expected life. Just a thought.

Interesting.
About the first assumption I do not agree; or better, I agree if you say it like that, I do agree. But I am asking for something different and which is more easy to objectivize: if you listen to same song (even better, same exact file) with same earbuds, same EQ, same volume, you can surely say if one device produce a brigher sound than the other one. This is not a subjective opinion. A subjective opinion is if that sound is too bright or too warm, etc... But if it is brighter than the other one, it is just observation...
Anyway, I guess that I will have to manage to discover it by myself...

I agree that if you can get same quality with less costs and effort you should do it. If this is what Sansa did, I agree with them.

About seller, they have devices out of blister. Possibly gray market. Cheaper price. 88US dollars against 110 of the other shop which sells it in the blister.
This means that they can turn device on and look at the firmware...
I told them that I will return the device ang ask for a refund if they do not give me a V1, so I am sure they will look well in their stock...

Very very very interesting point about battery life indeed. But, if device is new, how much should the battery life be shortened? I know that batteries has got expiring date, but, any prevision?

A question which I made to the right person on another thread but without answer: how can I know which version of V1 I am getting? A guy said he had two versions; one was older type and was clipping. How do I know that?

[San_Discolo]

m_k, I will use only as a MP3 player...

[FreeZ5]

Originally Posted by San_Discolo

A question which I made to the right person on another thread but without answer: how can I know which version of V1 I am getting? A guy said he had two versions; one was older type and was clipping. How do I know that?

There are several versions of V1 firmware. These are user updatable. If that guy is having probs with one version of firmware, then he/she should update the player to the preferred version.

The screen that shows V1 or V2 also shows the complete firmware version. For example, the Clip+ in front of me is V01.01.05A. If I wanted to, I could update that to V01.02.09A. The Fuze works the same.

Steve

[San_Discolo]

Originally Posted by FreeZ5

There are several versions of V1 firmware.

Ok, I make it simplier: http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...ad.php?t=41147
In this thread Mp3NuTcAsE says that he's got a Fuze V1 revision 1.13 and a Fuze V2 revision 1.41...:

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.

On my understanding, these numbers are not firmware revisions, he talks of hardware "circuit board" revision/version...
SO, I guess he disassembled the two V1 he'got, as I do not see any reference to the kind of hardware revision in system info in my fuze, and considering that I will have no way to see if the V1 I will receive is 1.13 or later rev., now I am worried that if I will receive a 1.13 rev. it will clip, and unfortunately only someone who is sure that he also got a 1.13 rev and his one does not clip can calm my troubled mind (nah, just exagerating now).