SansaClip+ Rockbox Impressions thread
Oct 25, 2014 at 2:09 PM Post #961 of 1,093

 
 
  all of the above!
 
most modern batteries suffer the most from being full or completely empty. so don't try to make it last by thinking number of charges. if you're really about battery life, I would suggest you buy 2 clips ^_^(or a DAP with more battery, but you usually have to give up something else). it's a lot more efficient than try looking for tricks. for me 13h of battery is my real comfort zone and 2 clips assure me that at all times. I have 3 but that's kind of a waste TBH, I really do great with just 2, and end up using the last one for audiobooks ^_^.

 
Thanx to H20Fidelity  and  castleofargh.
 
You both explained things that I had not known at all.
 
Although  this thread is about rockboxing Sansa DAPs: Clip+, Zip, ... I think that the batteries-related stuff is relevant here for the following reason.
I have read on this site - and perhaps it was mentioned in this thread - that 'rcokboxed" Sansa Clip+, Zip, ... drain  batteries faster.
In other words, the batteries last shorter when a Sansa unit is rockboxed  (than without rockboxing).
Has anyone of you measured the difference? Is it, say, a two-hour difference or more?
(The above crossed out text is not
tongue_smile.gif
true! See the P.S. below.)
 
[Obviously - as we all experienced it - playing music from the external (Sansa, ...) micro cards drains batteries faster.]
 
 
 
Regarding the  Sansa Clip+ hooked up to the 2.1A wall charger.
Assume the following:
1. Batteries are 100% full
2. Sansa Clip+ is hooked up to the 2.1 A wall charger
(As you both explained above, in such a case, the batteries are  not being OVERcharged because the shut-off mechanism does NOT allow overcharging.)
3. I am playing the music (from Sansa Clip+'s internal memory or from the external Sansa micro card)
 
Where does the Clip+'s playback circuitry take the electric power from?
Bypassing the batteries and directly from  the 2.1A wall charger?
Or bypassing  the  the 2.1A wall charger  and directly  from the batteries?
Does this case have to do anything with so called Trickle charging/float-charging, see  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trickle_charging?
 
 
JJ
 
P.S.
Sorry,
deadhorse.gif
 but my memory played a trick me and therefore I've edited this post:
Battery Life: zip
 
.... Many users claim longer battery life with Rockbox installed.

From http://www.head-fi.org/t/737065/review-sansa-clip-vs-clip-zip
 
Oct 25, 2014 at 2:37 PM Post #962 of 1,093
I can't say I have kept a clip without rockboxing it after a day at max. a good deal of why I love the clips is rockbox.
I also don't know about the use while keeping it charged, but keep in mind it's a cheap small DAP, so I doubt they even bothered to have a double circuitry. I would guess the power from usb goes to the battery that delivers whatever is asked of it without any kind of control except from the battery security system itself stopping the charge when full.
you seem to value the idea of having it plugged for a long time, and I have to say again, I do not think it's what a sansa was made for. now you could just count killing the battery within a few months as collateral, and be ok with it. or if you have any talent for soldering, it should be possible to remove the battery completely.
 
Oct 25, 2014 at 3:26 PM Post #963 of 1,093
  I can't say I have kept a clip without rockboxing it after a day at max. a good deal of why I love the clips is rockbox.
I also don't know about the use while keeping it charged, but keep in mind it's a cheap small DAP, so I doubt they even bothered to have a double circuitry. I would guess the power from usb goes to the battery that delivers whatever is asked of it without any kind of control except from the battery security system itself stopping the charge when full.
you seem to value the idea of having it plugged for a long time, and I have to say again, I do not think it's what a sansa was made for. now you could just count killing the battery within a few months as collateral, and be ok with it. or if you have any talent for soldering, it should be possible to remove the battery completely.

 
Thanx a lot for your comments.
 
By the way, I've edited  my previous post because of this:
 
Battery Life: zip
 
.... Many users claim longer battery life
beerchug.gif
 with Rockbox installed.

 
From http://www.head-fi.org/t/737065/review-sansa-clip-vs-clip-zip
 
Oct 27, 2014 at 3:00 PM Post #964 of 1,093
Guys, anyone has the same problem like me?
So I just realized, if I plug my rockbox'd Sansa Clip+ into my PC when its battery is around 10-20%, it will freeze at the USB plug display screen. I need to hold down the power+home button for 20 secs to restart it.
I then charged it with my phone adapter until it reaches 40% and plug it into PC again, and it goes without problem.
Although I've got the work around for it, it's still rather annoying. Any fix on this?
 
Oct 27, 2014 at 10:28 PM Post #965 of 1,093
  Guys, anyone has the same problem like me?
So I just realized, if I plug my rockbox'd Sansa Clip+ into my PC when its battery is around 10-20%, it will freeze at the USB plug display screen. I need to hold down the power+home button for 20 secs to restart it.
I then charged it with my phone adapter until it reaches 40% and plug it into PC again, and it goes without problem.
Although I've got the work around for it, it's still rather annoying. Any fix on this?



I can tell you - you only need to hold the power button for 10-20 seconds to make life a little easier.

I'm not sure about your problem though. Possibly try another cable, USB port and card to test the issue. If you want to take it further try reinstalling rockbox after if the above don't help.
 
Oct 28, 2014 at 3:28 AM Post #966 of 1,093
  Guys, anyone has the same problem like me?
So I just realized, if I plug my rockbox'd Sansa Clip+ into my PC when its battery is around 10-20%, it will freeze at the USB plug display screen. I need to hold down the power+home button for 20 secs to restart it.
I then charged it with my phone adapter until it reaches 40% and plug it into PC again, and it goes without problem.
Although I've got the work around for it, it's still rather annoying. Any fix on this?
 

 
 

I can tell you - you only need to hold the power button for 10-20 seconds to make life a little easier.

I'm not sure about your problem though. Possibly try another cable, USB port and card to test the issue. If you want to take it further try reinstalling rockbox after if the above don't help.

 
What about if you boot into the stock firmware (hold left button and power on), then try plug into the PC?
 
I have a similar problem but it's a known issue which the rockbox devs do not know how to solve but applies to Linux.  9 times out of 10 my Clip+ cannot be recognized by my Linux PC (regardless of battery status), but it works 100% when I boot into the stock firmware.  Hopefully, that will work out for you.
 
Oct 28, 2014 at 5:58 AM Post #967 of 1,093
 

I can tell you - you only need to hold the power button for 10-20 seconds to make life a little easier.

I'm not sure about your problem though. Possibly try another cable, USB port and card to test the issue. If you want to take it further try reinstalling rockbox after if the above don't help.

Oh yeah it is... I was following the instruction on youtube vid when my Sansa froze for the first time.
 
It's not the problem with cable, port or card since they work just fine.
 
   
 
What about if you boot into the stock firmware (hold left button and power on), then try plug into the PC?
 
I have a similar problem but it's a known issue which the rockbox devs do not know how to solve but applies to Linux.  9 times out of 10 my Clip+ cannot be recognized by my Linux PC (regardless of battery status), but it works 100% when I boot into the stock firmware.  Hopefully, that will work out for you.

 
Oh right, I take back what I said about it working fine at around 30% charge.
Problem persisted again just now and battery is at 95%. Booting to stock firmware resolved it. Thanks!
 
Nov 11, 2014 at 2:19 PM Post #968 of 1,093
Ok, I've been lurking on these forums for a while, but signed up just to say this: Golly.
 
I went through an audiophile phase many years ago. I started out slowly, progressed to building my own gear (BurrBrown DAC, tube amp, etc) and ended up dabbling in nonsense territory (special cables, special wooden blocks, etc) before having a violent reaction to the craziness and getting rid of most of it.
 
For many years now my listening has almost all been done on earphones from an iPod Classic, but I was never entirely satisfied with the sound. I blamed the earphones (currently a set of Auruvana Airs I got on sale) and so started lurking here looking for a decent replacement. Along the way I noticed people mentioning the problems with the iPod Classic and talking about something called a 'ClipZip'. At first I ignored this - speakers are tricky to get right (I thought of building my own at one point and read a lot about it, though never got round to tackling the woodwork), but electronics is well defined and Apple surely (surely!) would have produced a decent implementation - any fault with the sound I was getting must come from the earphones.
 
Well, after a couple of weeks dithering between different 'phones I did some reading about the Sansa Clip, mostly because I was worried about the high output impedance of the iPod, which would have problems with something like the Dunu DN1000. I looked on eBay and there was someone selling refurbished ClipZips for £19, so thought, 'What the Hell,' and bought one.
 
While I was sceptical about the difference between source components, in my heart-of-hearts I was hoping it would sound good - you don't want to think you've wasted money, even if it's not that much - so I can't pretend I'm impartial, and obviously any comparisons weren't done blind. But after going through a few tracks it became clear there's a significant difference using the same earphones. I started off with the lovely Tra le Fiamme from the first volume of La Risonanza's set of Handel Cantate - on the iPod the recorders had always sounded splashy and ill-defined, more a like a wash of synthesised sound than actual instruments. Well, that was all gone with the ClipZip and they sprang into life. I decided to try something else, and turned to Lorde's Pure Heroine, which I found enjoyable but disconnected on the iPod - you could listen to specific parts of the mix, but it never seemed to hang together, leaving a feeling of listening to something that's been chopped up in bits and sewn back together like a Frankenstein's monster. On the ClipZip the everything was there as a coherent whole.
 
I did a bit of back-and-forth comparison, and despite the fact that the max volume on the ClipZip is a lot less than the iPod can manage* these impressions remained intact - I was turning the volume up on my iPod in an attempt to make the music more involving, but even at much louder volumes it still sounded worse (and of course, cranking the volume up really isn't a good idea anyway). So the iPod couldn't win even with an unfair advantage.
 
So ... I'm converted. I'm still replacing the earphones and have ordered a pair of Havi B3 Pro Is (the measurements certainly scare me, but given the reviews they're worth a chance at £40) and a Topping NX1, but right now I'm working out how to organise my music onto SDcards (the one advantage of the iPod was that yes, I do really need that 160GB of space for everything). The next step will be Rockbox (which will probably mean I waste time tinkering with templates, lol).
 
*That was on stock FW. Just applied Rockbox and found that with the cap lifted this thing can go very loud indeed!
 
Nov 11, 2014 at 3:29 PM Post #969 of 1,093
and wait for when you start getting your hands around the EQ possibilities of the clip once rockboxed.
 
here is what obviously is a song about using EQ on a rockboxed DAP:
biggrin.gif

 
 
Dec 9, 2014 at 8:09 AM Post #971 of 1,093
I know this is an old ongoing thread but I've been using my sansa clip+ now for about 3 months. Great little unit delivering plenty of power to my iem's (RE-400).  The battery life was TERRIBLE, so I came to this thread and did some researching and found that rockboxing it helps with the codec and doesnt drain the battery as much.  Not only does it not drain it as much, but my battery life has honestly extended from 5-6 hours to 10-11 hours. I only play FLAC files, so this was heaven sent.  Thanks to everyone who has given their impressions and experience with this unit and rockbox!  It's been a HUGE help!
 
Dec 9, 2014 at 8:56 AM Post #972 of 1,093
I experienced the same thing. Another tip for you. Try the LCARS theme. :)
 
I am currently doing some serious thinking about a possible replacement for my clip+. Not sure yet if I should go for an X1 or splurge on an X3. If I do get one I'll put a review comparing the two online.
 
Dec 9, 2014 at 10:31 AM Post #973 of 1,093
Wow wijnands, I am a newbie here and I was actually thinking about the fiio x1/x3.  Right now leaning toward the x3 only because there's is 8GB ash memory and I know closer to Christmas it will drop in price again (Lowest I saw was 139.99 w/ free 32 gb microsd).  The wolfson amp as well as capability of connecting it to my laptop makes it a winner.  The fiio x1 is rave reviews but 99.00 plus cost of a microsd becuase it doesnt have internal memory, I will be right back to the cost of a x3 but with less power and missing the capability of using as a DAC. Well anyways this is about the rockboxed clip+, again, a huge fan of it's improvements!  Not an EQ guy, but the battery life alone has me sold!
 
Dec 9, 2014 at 11:35 AM Post #975 of 1,093
  I experienced the same thing. Another tip for you. Try the LCARS theme. :)
 
I am currently doing some serious thinking about a possible replacement for my clip+. Not sure yet if I should go for an X1 or splurge on an X3. If I do get one I'll put a review comparing the two online.

 
I might be stating the obvious, but carrying a X3 or even a X1 is nothing like carrying a clip.
 

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