[Leckel1996]

Does anyone else find the Sansa clip+ and clip zip to be a lot warmer and more detailed than the sound from any of apples products (apple products sound muddy and lifeless in comparison)? I have a first generation nano, an iPad 2, clip+ and clip zip. I find this to also be true on my sisters iPod touch. Why is it that such a huge company that is largely accepted to be the standard by the general consumer when there are products for an eighth of the price that have better quality and cool features like expandable memory and flac support. Any thoughts as to why the iPod is the standard when it comes mp3 players and not cheaper better quality mp3 player? How did apple come to be so famous for their mp3 players, I just don't get the logic behind this nonsense.

 

[jorich]

I have an Ipod touch and a sansa fuse and there is definitely a difference.... I just like the smoother interface on the Ipod and the apps and "easiness" of itunes ... I have yet to find an mp3 with better sound quality than the sansa though

 

[Leckel1996]

I have an Ipod touch and a sansa fuse and there is definitely a difference.... I just like the smoother interface on the Ipod and the apps and "easiness" of itunes ... I have yet to find an mp3 with better sound quality than the sansa though

ITunes is far from easy to use. And I see that as a fair point for apple, their interface is far more intuitive, but I personally prefer sound quality over ease of use, and I don't find the clip's THAT hard to understand.

 

[Artmuzz]

Quote:

Does anyone else find the Sansa clip+ and clip zip to be a lot warmer and more detailed than the sound from any of apples products (apple products sound muddy and lifeless in comparison)? I have a first generation nano, an iPad 2, clip+ and clip zip. I find this to also be true on my sisters iPod touch. Why is it that such a huge company that is largely accepted to be the standard by the general consumer when there are products for an eighth of the price that have better quality and cool features like expandable memory and flac support. Any thoughts as to why the iPod is the standard when it comes mp3 players and not cheaper better quality mp3 player? How did apple come to be so famous for their mp3 players, I just don't get the logic behind this nonsense.

Hmm..."muddy and lifeless in comparison" did you copy that sentence from one of my posts about the Clip+ and Cowon D2. Hmm.
 
Quote:
 
Originally posted by Artmuzz
 
The Sansa Clip+ has better SQ. The Cowon D2 sounds muddy and lifeless in comparison. I really wanted to like my Cowon D2 because it has everything on it including DAB radio but the SQ is a let down.

 

[Youngblood]

I have owned and iPod touch 2nd generation and am now the proud owner of a Clip Zip. I choose the Clip over the iPod for several reasons:
 

1. Better audio (To me music sound more refined with better bass control, more detail)
2. Open file transfer (I hate using iTunes!)
3. Small and super portable yet loud and proud
4. Rockbox (This is a MUST)
5. Support for more file types
6. AM/FM radio

 
The iPod has it's pros, but not in the audio department, the Clip blows it away. Apple is famous for there MP3 players because they appeal to the average customer. Most of us here on Head-fi will not fit that category . 

 

[a_tumiwa]

i prefer Sansa Clip Zip  over Apple product for some reasons; 
- more portable  
- affordable
- i prefer the sound signature
- easy transfer file (yes i hate itunes too)
- support memory card

 

[Youngblood]

Good point A_tumiwa, I completely forgot about memory card support and price. 

 

[Leckel1996]

Hmm..."muddy and lifeless in comparison" did you copy that sentence from one of my posts about the Clip+ and Cowon D2. Hmm.

Quote:

Originally posted by Artmuzz

The Sansa Clip+ has better SQ. The Cowon D2 sounds muddy and lifeless in comparison. I really wanted to like my Cowon D2 because it has everything on it including DAB radio but the SQ is a let down.

No, I hadn't opened that thread until you mentioned it, funny indeed. I personally find cowons sound awful with all the settings turned off, but with them all on the sound becomes too colored and I could never find a happy medium, that is why I get rid of my j3 that everyone praised so much. The clip, on the other hand, sounds so detailed and lively and sounds even better when paired with a nice amp

 

[ZMan2k2]

I've actually been thinking about this lately.  I purchased my first Sansa product a week ago and was totally blown away.  I was used to listening to my iPhone 3gs with my Atrio M5 headphones, and everywhere I read, people were praising the bass output.  With the iPhone, I didn't see it.  Now with the Sansa clip+, the M5's have come alive, and I can see where they get their bass performace rep from.  The Sansa player just seems more alive, and exciting than my iPhone.  And it's not just the iPhone.  I had an iPod 7g classic, my wife's nano, and my phone all had the same basic sound signature, which really isn't to my liking.  And now that I've experienced what else is out there, I'll never look back.
 

 

[psun786]

I owned Sansa Clip+ briefly and is impressed by its sound quality especially when you consider how inexpensive they are

 
Personally, I felt iPod classic and iPod video have the best sound quality (much better than my iphone 4 & 4s) among all Apple products that I owned. Since I didn't own them simultaneously therefore can't AB test. But I am pretty sure that iPod has more detail & accurate representation while Sansa is on warmer side.
 
What headphones are you using? Could it be the problem?

 

[Artmuzz]

Quote:

No, I hadn't opened that thread until you mentioned it, funny indeed. I personally find cowons sound awful with all the settings turned off, but with them all on the sound becomes too colored and I could never find a happy medium, that is why I get rid of my j3 that everyone praised so much. The clip, on the other hand, sounds so detailed and lively and sounds even better when paired with a nice amp

Haha. We must be both telepathically connected LOL
 
Anyway going back on topic, The Cowon's EQ and BBE are not bad but nothing to shout about. The 3D surround effect is awful though and makes the sound muddy. I personally feel that the Virtualizer stereo effect on the Android players are a lot superior to Cowons 3D surround BBE because they manage to breath life and atmosphere into music which the BBE 3D sourround fails to do.
 
The Sansa's can be better sounding than the Apple iPods though to be fair the iPod Video 5G and new iPod Nano 6G are great sounding DAPs. The iPod Touch 4G is rather lifeless sounding even with the EQ apps installed. My favourite sound DAPs that I own are the Samsung Galaxy S player 4.0 with Voodoo Sound Plus, my Sansa Clip+ and my Sony DAPs (with the exception of the newer EU volume capped models the A845 and S754)

 

[Leckel1996]

Sansa's products are definately warmer than apples's. I also found the Sansa's to reveal a lot more detail than apple's. Maybe it's because I am biased against apple and don't care for their overpriced, easy to use products. I always have and will be a windows guy and that holds true for phones and mp3 players too. I just don't care for their products.

 

[ostewart]

Apple for build quality ease of use and flat detailed sound. Ever heard a rockboxed 7g classic? Try one, amazing. Clip+ headphone jack came loose after 2 months. Also apple has more storage. And supports flac with rockbox or apps

 

[Dreamnine]

I got rid of my Sansas..I just prefer Apple.
 
Certainly on the iPod Touch you have the choice of music EQ apps - some are much better than others.

 

[jorich]

"
ITunes is far from easy to use. And I see that as a fair point for apple, their interface is far more intuitive, but I personally prefer sound quality over ease of use, and I don't find the clip's THAT hard to understand.

I never said I had a sansa clip.... I have a sansa fuse and it is a touch device with not a confusing interface... but a very slow and almost painful to use interface. Itunes is not hard to use, it may be hard if you don't know how to use it. It is not hard at all for me to stick a CD in my computer, hit import, and let it find the album artwork and such. Which is a pet peeve of mine, some albums having artwork while the others don't. Also there is a program called lyric snapper that finds the lyrics to songs when you play them and allows me to quickly find lyrics for my songs and put them into itunes. Great if you don't know the words and wanna sing along. Now im not saying that my sansa was terrible... but I would rather have given that tiny bit of sound quality up if it meant it wasn't annoying for me to sit and listen to music, as well as upgrade my storage space, and have the ability to do more things with my mp3 player. I figured the "plusses" outweighed the sounds quality, which wasn't enough of a difference for me to hate listening to music. A noticable difference, but not catastrophic.