[Ingo]

So, I was searching for a cheap-o mp3 player to give to my girlfriend for her B-day and I just happen to walk in to a Radio Shack while they were having a sale on the 4gb Fuze ($59.99). I had no idea the reputation of this player when I bought it, but it looked pretty good for the price.

After I loaded her music onto it and briefly listened to it with my Shure E4s I charged it and gave it back to her. Didn't really notice anything too extraordinary off-the-bat, but it was pleasant enough.

Now, I haven't been in the "loop" for quite a while when it comes to portable audio so I did a seach on the Fuze to see what we (head-fi) collectively thought of it. Imagine my surprise when I found out that this little fella has been exalted on high as a top-notch music player!

It proved to be a little too much temptation for me. For the last two weeks I've been looking for deals on the Fuze so I could pick another one up. Coscto, my employer, just started carrying the 2gb Fuze (initially at full MSRP). I found out that it is going on sale next week for $49.99 and paired with my annual rebate check from Costco, the discount would put the price of the Fuze down to around $25 tax included. Well, I couldn't wait until next Monday to buy the player, so I just went ahead an bought it hoping I'll be able to talk a manager into a coupon adjustment when the coupon starts.

Today is the first day that I've actually spent some time with the player and I liked the sound quite a bit with my E4s. The only negative thing I noticed was that the bass was a bit light, but the E4s are not bass monsters to start with. When I got home today I updated the firmware and now I'm listening to Nickel Creek's This Side with my SR-225s. That album is one I'm extremely familiar with and it sounds great. The opening track (an instrumental) impressed me right away. It was very well done by the little Fuze with a bright and exciting presentation.

The second track opened my eyes to something, though. The player is really bright. My home digital source (E-MU 1212m->Corda Headfive) is very neutral (perhaps a bit on the cold side) and I was struck by how much brighter the Fuze was in comparison. I've never heard a lot of sssssibilance in that recording, but Thile's voice was hissing all over the place. Just to be sure it wasn't the LAME v0 .mp3's fault I loaded the FLAC onto the Fuze and got the same results.

Oh, well...

It's not like I'm going to be using the Gray-Doughs with it very often and the warmer E4 seems to be a good match for the sound sig. I'd love to get a fancy new pair of IEMs (perhaps a Triple.fi or something in that range) to try out with the Fuze. I haven't used the E4s for a long time because I didn't have much need for a portable rig until recently. As I'm getting used to them again I find myself missing the sound and comfort that I had with my old Super.Fi 5 Pros. Anyhow...

Conclusion: This player sounds really nice and is very cleanly implemented. It's too bright with Grados, but I don't care about that. It's good enough for me. Nuff said.

 

[ericj]

There are two versions of the fuze. Starting in december 08, most new fuzes are the 2nd version, which has an updated cpu core and a very different board design.

You know which one you have based on the firmware version. Original fuze is 1.x firmware, new fuze is 2.x firmware.

Major components are still the same - even the cpu core is almost the same - but the board layout could have changed things.

 

[Ingo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif There are two versions of the fuze. Starting in december 08, most new fuzes are the 2nd version, which has an updated cpu core and a very different board design. You know which one you have based on the firmware version. Original fuze is 1.x firmware, new fuze is 2.x firmware. Major components are still the same - even the cpu core is almost the same - but the board layout could have changed things.

Ah, yes.

I haven't had a look at an older Fuze. Did I hear that the screen is different? My girlfriend's Fuze and my Fuze are both the second revision models. Our store, at one time, sold the first gen. Fuze in 8gb. Our inventory says that we have 1 of those left in stock and it's discounted to $49.97 but, convieniently, it cannot be found.

 

[ericj]

Nah, the screens are all the same, near as i can tell from the big pile of broken fuze screens i have. the lcd is unusually fragile on all of them.

fuze v1.2: SanDisk Sansa Fuze Disassembly
fuze v1.3: sansa Fuze - a set on Flickr

v1.47 seems to be the most common, don't see pictures - but i can't tell the difference between 1.x boards anyway, aside from the silkscreen.

v2.6 is the only fuze v2 revision i've seen in the wild:

http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/vie...fuzev2_top.JPG
http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/vie...ev2_bottom.JPG

oh, fwiw, I'm not down on the thing at all. If anything i just haven't listened to my fuze or fuze v2 enough to form an opinion yet. So far they both seem pretty good to me but no real critical listening yet.

 

[Ingo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nah, the screens are all the same, near as i can tell from the big pile of broken fuze screens i have. the lcd is unusually fragile on all of them. fuze v1.2: SanDisk Sansa Fuze Disassembly fuze v1.3: sansa Fuze - a set on Flickr v1.47 seems to be the most common, don't see pictures - but i can't tell the difference between 1.x boards anyway, aside from the silkscreen. v2.6 is the only fuze v2 revision i've seen in the wild: http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/vie...fuzev2_top.JPG http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/vie...ev2_bottom.JPG oh, fwiw, I'm not down on the thing at all. If anything i just haven't listened to my fuze or fuze v2 enough to form an opinion yet. So far they both seem pretty good to me but no real critical listening yet.

What are the hardware differences between the v1.xx Fuze and the v2.xx?

 

[ericj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ingo /img/forum/go_quote.gif What are the hardware differences between the v1.xx Fuze and the v2.xx?

The Fuze (and all curent sansas really) is based on a sandisk-branded system-on-chip, or SOC.

The SOC contains an arm9 core - that is to say, an integrated CPU - licensed from Austria Microsystems. It includes a lot of other stuff too, like the codec. Which is also from AMS i think.

Near as i can tell, the Fuze v2 contains a newer version of the AMS arm9 core. The original fuse is an as3525 core, the fuze v2 is believed to have an as3531 core. AMS has not been forthcoming with a datasheet for the as3531 so rockbox support has not started on the v2.

They also changed the board layout, so the big chips are on the opposite side of the board - facing the metal case back instead of the scroll wheel.

I can compare the bare boards later - I have multiple completely fried fuze boards - but i think the components are largely the same. I can say for sure that the lcd and scrollwheel are 100% interchangeable between all fuze versions.

 

[ericj]

Just looking at the product whitepapers for the AMS chips - if the fuze v2 is indeed as3531 based, it may well be that the v1.x fuze is the superior headphone driver, but the fuze v2 may be the superior source for an amped portable solution.

Basically, the as3525 is rated to drive 60mW into 16 ohms - 60mW per each channel. This is unusually beefy as DAPs go. Most are rated for maybe 40mW, many much less. The DAC is 18-bit with a 94db SNR - which is pretty average for good gear.

The AS3531 has a 40mW headphone amp - which is average but they go on to specify that into 16 ohms with a 2.9v power supply the THD is -77db, which is perhaps below average.

But the as3531 has a DAC rated at 100db, which is above average.

If anyone wants to help me figure out how to configure my EMU 0404 so that RMAA works again, I'd be glad to measure both versions.