Wow! Sansa Fuze- color me impressed- Fuze appreciation thread - Page 13

Ihatepopupads,

I just picked up the s639 recently but I've been really wondering if the Fuze with its expandability and FLAC support wouldn't be a more future proof player. Any chance you could give your impression of how the sound signature of the Sonys and Fuze differ? Generally speaking I go for detail and soundstage as I listen to a lot of classical and trance/ambient type of music.

Much appreciated,

-justaguy

Thanks for the reply. Sounds like a lot of it will come down to how the laid back sound of the Fuze compares to the in-your-face that I'm more accustomed to after owning the a816 for awhile.

Maybe I'll load some mp3 files on to the mini-SD card I have for my phone and take my earbuds into Best Buy and do a direct comparison right there in the store just to see how the different sounds compare.

Thanks again for the info!

-justaguy

I sort of had the same initial reaction -- not so much that somethings missing, but a lack of boldness and/or aggression to the sound. But I was wrong. There's just a soft, full richness throughout the sound range, with the bass solid and forceful while allowing the mids and highs their full breathing room. Perhaps the bass is a tad analytical, rather than driving/overpowering, but it is solid at all volume levels.

The fuze is flat, completely neutral. Compared to other daps, It may sound at times as though the highs are veiled because the bass does not rolloff and the highs are not accentuated. A lot of daps will have some bass rolloff or the highs are 'spiked'. I prefer the fuze over than my rio karma, cowon d2, and s639.

my ipod classic (4th G) sounds worse than $10 Sansa express.

Does using a memory card that expands the Fuze beyond 8GB use up the battery runtime faster?

you are finally coming around from saying that the fuze was missing something. I've always resented that comment from a couple of folks.

I admit, when I first got my fuze, I was not thrilled with the sound. I guess, the fuze never sounded like anything I had owned up to that point.

It is perhaps the best dap I have ever heard. Some may disagree with me, but after extensive listening, I keep going back to the fuze + 75 ohm resistor.

So my s639...it is still as good as brand new.

For me the Fuze is definitely the best Dap I have ever heard. I loved the sound from the moment I plugged in my ES7.

The soundstage is incredible, as for the sound in general, I wouldn't say it's flat because that somehow has negative connotations for some people but I would say it is incredibly well balanced. Everything is present in just the right amount: bass, mids, highs, soundstage, dynamics. Nothing jumps out at you yet nothing is missing. It's a great little player!

Because of how flat the Fuze is, it is great to amp out of the headphone out.

Would you guys recommend the Fuze 2 someone (me) that has a a829 with clear bass at +3. I listen mainly if not exclusively to house and trance?

Well no luck with display models, they were just the dummy units that aren't functional. So I had to buy a unit to try out, they were on sale..$90 for 8 gig. Not the best deal but local so I can give it a go and easily return it if it's not my thing.

I won't have time to seriously compare the Sony and the Fuze until tomorrow, but my first impression is that the Fuze is very interesting. I don't know if there is anything particular that stands out so far about it's sound so far. It just seems to be very laid back and pleasant to listen to. I'm not sure at this point if the Sony has more detail or if it just pushes more details to the front. I'll write more tomorrow.

Quick observations:
I prefer the Sony navigation.
I would miss the dynamic normalizer.
Fuze - Ability to delete songs in the player? Why doesn't every player have this??

I finally listened to Sansa Fuze 8GB that I just bought from Newegg with Denon C700.

I initially thought the Fuze is sound somewhat muffled either from overpowering low or lack of high. This is weird, but as I pay more attention, the Fuze is not lacking any high, its just that the low is more than what I am used to in Sony A818. The Sony A818 sounds more upfront/in your face with more stand out high while the Fuze has more energy on the low. At this point I still like the sound of Sony better just because I am used to this sound. I also find the Sony easier to navigate but the Fuze has more features. I don't normally use EQ, so the supposedly lousy EQ in Fuze doesn't bother me.

Now, to my questions:
1. Does anyone have problem with popping noise when changing the volume on the Fuze? I can hear popping noise when I change the volume on certain songs only.

2. What is the purpose of volume setting in the system settings? I don't notice any difference setting it to normal or high.

Edit:
I also found my Sony A818 is better built than my Fuze.
Other than that, as I listen more to Fuze, I am more accustomed to the sound and I like it. At this point I like both of them equally, if I listen to Fuze, I won't miss the Sony sound anymore and vice versa.

I'm going to have to agree with you completely here. I've been spending all morning going back and forth between the Fuze and my s639. They each sound fantastic and excel in their own ways, so it's a really tough call on which one to keep. I'd say the sony is a bit more fun to listen to, with the Fuze being more relaxing to listen to. I could probably listen to the Fuze longer without fatigue, but I don't know that it's going to wow me with any songs the way the Sony seems able to with some music.

At this point I'm completely torn, which I guess is fantastic that there are two affordable players that are this good on the market right now.

SQ being a toss up depending on preference, here's how I compare the two:

Sony
+Interface/navigation
+Screen
+Video playback
+Build quality
+Battery life

Sansa
+Expandable (my 8gig mp3 player today, my 40gb FLAC player next year?)
+Lossless compression support
+Cheaper - bang for buck value
+Delete songs in player (maybe a minor feature, but huge for how I organize my music).