[julian67]

I've noticed no CPU noise or problems with m4a support ...

The problems with m4a can arise with big/long duration files, also mentioned at http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=68532

I think somewhere Sandisk even owned up to the limited nature of the m4a support in the zip but I can't find it right now.

I dump to disk BBC Radio 3 programmes, which are 320kbps aac and some are very long programmes - a live concert is usually a minumum of an hour and can go over 3 hours. File size of between 150MB and 200MB is normal and over 500MB is possible. The Rockboxed Clip+ could play the file but very often, actually usually, stop abruptly or skip. The Fuze+ just plays them start to finish with as much seeking back and forth as you like and no excitement except the music. Clip+ would sometimes skip on really big flac files as well. I guess that 90% of the stuff people listen to is 2 to 5 minutes long with a few exceptions so the problem might never arise. I have lots of those but also a big collection of much longer lossless tracks and quite a lot of really large lossy files so I encountered the issue a lot and it matters enough that I would not choose another Clip+ or spend money on a Zip.

I hope Sansa did fix the noise of the Clip Zip as the Clip, Clip+ and old Fuze could be pretty poor. Did they really fix it so there is even no noise on button presses like changing the volume? I've read enough times that the Clip Zip hardware is almost identical to the Clip+ (except radio and screen) and I've bought two of those older players and both were noisy, one really bad, and I preferred to risk my money on the unloved Fuze+ because it has different hardware, and I'm really pleased I did as I have a player that plays the music, no noise, no surprises and no fuss. Probably tomorrow it will eat all my data and then burst into flames in my pocket but for the moment I feel this is much the best player from Sansa (if Rockboxed) and ridiculously cheap.

 

[Achmedisdead]

The problems with m4a can arise with big/long duration files, also mentioned at http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=68532

I think somewhere Sandisk even owned up to the limited nature of the m4a support in the zip but I can't find it right now.

I dump to disk BBC Radio 3 programmes, which are 320kbps aac and some are very long programmes - a live concert is usually a minumum of an hour and can go over 3 hours. File size of between 150MB and 200MB is normal and over 500MB is possible. The Rockboxed Clip+ could play the file but very often, actually usually, stop abruptly or skip. The Fuze+ just plays them start to finish with as much seeking back and forth as you like and no excitement except the music. Clip+ would sometimes skip on really big flac files as well. I guess that 90% of the stuff people listen to is 2 to 5 minutes long with a few exceptions so the problem might never arise. I have lots of those but also a big collection of much longer lossless tracks and quite a lot of really large lossy files so I encountered the issue a lot and it matters enough that I would not choose another Clip+ or spend money on a Zip.

I hope Sansa did fix the noise of the Clip Zip as the Clip, Clip+ and old Fuze could be pretty poor. Did they really fix it so there is even no noise on button presses like changing the volume? I've read enough times that the Clip Zip hardware is almost identical to the Clip+ (except radio and screen) and I've bought two of those older players and both were noisy, one really bad, and I preferred to risk my money on the unloved Fuze+ because it has different hardware, and I'm really pleased I did as I have a player that plays the music, no noise, no surprises and no fuss. Probably tomorrow it will eat all my data and then burst into flames in my pocket but for the moment I feel this is much the best player from Sansa (if Rockboxed) and ridiculously cheap.

 
There were certainly problems with the m4a support on the Zip but that was in the SanDisk firmware, as I discovered here.... http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum/showpost.php?p=586343&postcount=372   I was strictly referring to using it with Rockbox installed when I said m4a worked fine.
 
As far as the noise issue, I've never heard it with any of my headphones....maybe it is more noticeable with IEMs, but I can't use them. I do hear the noise on on the ancient e280 v1 with Rockbox, though....enough so that I wasn't even using it with headphones, just plugged into the work stereo. But with the Fuze+ re-entering my stable, that has replaced the e280...that old thing will sit here on my desk as an emergency backup now.

 

[julian67]

As far as the noise issue, I've never heard it with any of my headphones....maybe it is more noticeable with IEMs, but I can't use them....

That is clearly significant.

I didn't find the Clip+ quite powerful enough with headphones (Koss KSC75 and Sony MDR-ZX700) unless the music was mastered loud, which is not the case with most of the stuff I like.

With my Sansa players I've been using mostly Shure SE215 and Sennheiser CX 95 which I think have normal/typical specifications in terms of sensitivity and impedance but are above average in terms of sound quality. With these and a Clip+ I not only got to listen to music but also received an unwanted and plainly audible insight into CPU load and disk activity. With IEMs on the Fuze+ the player doesn't make the slightest noise even while initializing or updating the database or moving files around, or settings being changed or volume altered. To my mind this is how a player should be because the worst fault of a playback device is to introduce sounds that are not present in the source.

The problems with large m4a files were in Rockbox on the Clip+ (Clip+ OF does not play m4a at all). I've not used a Clip Zip but people consistently say they are essentially the same hardware and sound the same as Clip+ and Fuze v2 and for me that was reason enough to look at other players.

I completely understand how Sansa's UI led to the Fuze+ getting a stinking reputation but in terms of audio playback and sound quality a Rocboxed Fuze+ is excellent, much the better player with IEMs, and enjoying music is what I buy a music player for.

 

[Gryphus0204]

Got my Clip+ a few days back, absolutely love it. Everything just sound so much better as compared to my Iphone4s--> E6. Now my E6 is virtually useless with the Clip+.... But hey they sound amazing

 

[Xaborus]

Thanks for the input guys. My girlfriend saw that i was looking at the Clip Zip online and bought it for me as a present without telling me 

 
Tried rockbox, but i actually prefer the stock firmware (01.01.20). Haven't had any problems whatsoever with "noises" "static" or anything like that.
 
As for volume, it gets loud enough for me with my KSC75's. This is using the "high" volume setting with the player set to USA though. Through experimenting i found that if you set the Clip Zip to "Europe" it limits the volume to approximately half that of "High and USA" setting.
 
I hope that makes sense. Thanks guys