Fuze starts to die... New non-touchscreen player? SQ is a priority
Jan 19, 2010 at 7:13 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 11
ZzBOG

ZzBOG

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Hello,

Where should I go after Fuze?

I found it to be a nice player, but would like a somewhat richer sound...

I think that DAP shouldn't have touchscreen (been there, it's ok for a phone, but no good for a dap - I don't want to look at the thing every time I want to switch between the songs or change volume). And the thing should be no less than 16gb..

Also the size is vital - the thing shouldn't be much larger than Fuze..

Is Fuze still the choice for such kind of DAP?

Or are there any other options?


I am thinking about Sony, but they play no FLAC which is not critical, but not too nice as well..

How would Sonys compare with Fuze?
 
Jan 19, 2010 at 7:37 AM Post #2 of 11
Is the Fuze completely dead or are you just having issues?

I don't have my A818 anymore so I can't tell you much about Sony's sound except that the EQ is much better the Fuze. I also noticed that it had more hiss. Another option is the Cowon i9 which uses touch controls but is not a touchscreen player.
 
Jan 19, 2010 at 11:42 AM Post #4 of 11
You might consider the Cowon S9. It's a touch screen player (and I echo your comments about touch screens being less than ideal for DAPs), but it also has hardware volume and track controls on the top of the player that are pretty easy to use when the player is your pocket. Additionally it totes a great EQ with some nice sound enhancements, plays FLAC, has good SQ and sports decent battery life - I'm not getting ANYWHERE near the advertised 55 hours, probably in the vicinity of 30 but I still think that is pretty good.

I've never had a Fuze but I've taken a look at them at Best Buy and from memory the S9 and Fuze are fairly similar in size with the S9 maybe being taller and skinnier.
 
Jan 19, 2010 at 4:44 PM Post #6 of 11
I own both a fuze and a sony s639, i find the SQ to be pretty similar excpet the sony have maybe a slightly warmer sound, with also slighlty emphasised lower bass and treble (v shape), which could sound "richer" in a way i guess... Also soundstage might be a tiny little bit better. SQ aside, great DAP, much much much better UI (looks & usability) and screen, and using 320kbps mp3 vs FLAC will i think only save you some space and allow you to store more music unless you own super duper true high end headphones & amp along with golden ears. The only downside that will be a little frustrating : impossible to delete songs directly from the DAP (i just cant understand this one), no playlists on the fly, no ratings. Oh and i forgot, on the "pros" side : a good EQ (just 99999x better than he fuze, actually usable, i never use the fuze EQ), with the excellent sony "clearbass" effect.
EDIT: also MUCH better battery life
 
Jan 20, 2010 at 8:31 AM Post #9 of 11
Thanks for the advices.

Well Fuze SQ is good... but.. hmm... flat or laid back - and I've had the thing with me for 1 year. I am not fan of describing sounds with words, though (never makes sense).

I'll look into S9 and hope that it's better than D2, that (to my taste) had too cold a sound and awful interface (getting from one menu to another took ages)..

Sony is still under consideration, if I don't go for something like N900 or 3Gs (and hope, that my Triple-Fi's will have enough SQ to cover phone's weaknesses).
 
Jan 20, 2010 at 2:41 PM Post #10 of 11
How about a Clip+? Max 8GB internal flash but it has a micro SD slot so you can add another 8 or 16GB (and very probably 32GB). I've tried Wav, FLAC, Ogg, and MP3 files on it so it plays the major formats.

The Clip+ doesn't have the same detail and clarity as the original Clip, which I'm guessing has a similar sound to your Fuze, and is a bit warmer so you might prefer it.
 
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