[urbanhusky]

Hi,
 
My Sansa Clip+ is worrying me. The battery has seen better days, playback skips regularly (using rockbox) and I am afraid that the memory has developed some bad sectors.
I'm therefore considering to replace it.
 
I use it mainly for listening to music in quiet or semi-quiet environments (office etc.), sometimes to drown out other people (office and sometimes on the go.
 
I need

1. FLAC support, 44.1kHz/16bit is enough, any more would be a bonus
2. Good audio quality, equivalent or better to the Clip+
3. USB connection (no proprietary connector)
4. Charging through USB
5. Folder playback ie: playback sorted by folders and filenames. eg. A/01.flac to A/02.flac to A/Sub/01.flac to B/01.flac etc.
6. Folder navigation I must be able to pick any folder or any file within (hierarchically, not just a list of files in folders) and have playback start from there - but continue outside the bounds of the folder (eg. if I start in "/A/AlbumX", I want to listen to "/B/SomethingElse" afterwards)
7. Access as USB mass storage or similar (plug and play, no synchronization - simple drag and drop in Windows Explorer)
8. > 8GB storage

 
I want

1. Physical buttons
2. Large (expandable?) storage

 
I don't care about

1. High output power/headphone amp. I'll be driving a pair of AKG k420 - they happily take whatever I throw at them and are more than sensitive enough for mobile devices.
2. Price - within reason

 
So I'm open for suggestions

 

[davidcotton]

Are you happy with the clip plus?  If yes pick up another one

 

[urbanhusky]

Quote:

Are you happy with the clip plus?  If yes pick up another one

Well, the storage is a bit limited, the navigation on the tiny screen rather painful and it constantly skips during playback (with loud and nasty noises). Without rockbox I wouldn't even be able to use folders properly :\
That's not something a new Clip+ would fix.
 
Also, an upgrade in terms of sound quality couldn't hurt either

 

[scuttle]

Quote:

Well, the storage is a bit limited, the navigation on the tiny screen rather painful and it constantly skips during playback (with loud and nasty noises). Without rockbox I wouldn't even be able to use folders properly :\
That's not something a new Clip+ would fix.
 
Also, an upgrade in terms of sound quality couldn't hurt either

 
You can put a 32GB card in the Clip+.
 
Re. sound quality, you're probably better off upgrading your output device. My Rockboxed Clip++ drives my HD25s as well as my Cowon J3, which doesn't really leave anywhere to go for more quality except  a tiny handful of very expensive players marketed as "audiophile".... at least some of which have graphable sonic flaws so large as to be hilarious, eg:
 
http://rmaa.elektrokrishna.com/Comparisons/32%20Ohm%20Multi-Armature%20-%20Cowon%20J3%2C%20Sansa%20Clip%2B%2C%20Sony%20A845%2C%20Hifiman%20HM-801.htm
 

 
In case you're not used to reading these graphs, they show how volume varies with frequency. The ideal is of course a straight line. The J3 has bass roll off at the very bottom of audibility - in reality this isn't too bad because bass rarely goes that low, you can't really hear this, especially if you use the eq. But the supposed audophile and super expensive 801 had a huge bloody hole in the upper mids-lower treble! Buying a player with significantly better sonic characteristics than the Clip+ is seriously hard, if it is possible at all - especially with with the limitations of physical buttons.
 
So instead I'd suggest a Clip+, a 32GB card, and a pair of HD25-1-ii's - see the many reviews for why, but basically they combine excellent sq with legendary *proven* toughness and first rate isolation - if you're spending a 150-200eu on portable headphones it makes sense to buy ones that you know will survive ten years of living on your head and in a messenger bag. Oh, and then fuss with the pain in the ass Sound Settings in Rockbox until the sound with the 25s is just right - it makes a big difference. You should hear an enormous jump in sq, especially once the 25s are burned and those settings are right. And isolation from sounds at work should be better too - the 25s are pro soundman gear.  As a general rule, most of your money should usually go into headphones/iems if you want sound quality and are spending in the 100-1000eu range for the total package, whether a DAP or a desktop system.

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

Well, the storage is a bit limited, the navigation on the tiny screen rather painful and it constantly skips during playback (with loud and nasty noises). Without rockbox I wouldn't even be able to use folders properly :\
That's not something a new Clip+ would fix.
 
Also, an upgrade in terms of sound quality couldn't hurt either

I've never experienced that with multiple Clip variants over the years.....

 

[scuttle]

Quote:

I've never experienced that with multiple Clip variants over the years.....

 
Yes. This sounds like a faulty Clip. With X million sold, they have to exist.

 

[urbanhusky]

I'm having these issues with rockbox. Playback skips after ~1 minute, also seems to vary on battery level. It is a bug that some users have noted - http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/12208
Perhaps I'll just try to get another 8GB one and hope for the best.
 
I do prefer to play through the internal storage because I feel that playing via SD card drains the battery even faster.
 
I already own a pair of HD25-C II, but I prefer the AKG since they have a better midrange and are much more portable. Besides, it would look a bit weird to sit in the office with large headphones such as the HD25, especially with the occasional customer on site - and I should also still be able to hear the phone. (I'm also easily startled so not hearing somebody talk to me wouldn't be that great *g*)
 
My desktop system is a Grace Design m903 with HD600 so I'm noticing a clear difference in quality there, which is why I wanted to know if there even is a better quality player than the well known Clip+.

 

[scuttle]

Looking at the bug report, this only happens with FLAC. Given that battery life for the Clip is at its worst with FLAC, by quite a high margin, and that no one can tell the difference between decent bitrate mp3s and flac, then there is an obvious solution...

 

[urbanhusky]

Quote:

Looking at the bug report, this only happens with FLAC. Given that battery life for the Clip is at its worst with FLAC, by quite a high margin, and that no one can tell the difference between decent bitrate mp3s and flac, then there is an obvious solution...

I did multiple ABX tests and scored significantly high, so at least I can hear a difference

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

Looking at the bug report, this only happens with FLAC. Given that battery life for the Clip is at its worst with FLAC, by quite a high margin, 

Actually, with Rockbox, that is not the case....in the original firmware it is though.

 

[Coop]

If you like the Clip+, pick up another one or try a Clip Zip as it has a screen that's a tiny little bit bigger. Or you could try to find a Fuze (not the Fuze+) although that does have a proprietary connector (but the good thing about that is that it gives you the option to use a LOD if you want to do so). Both Clip Zip and Fuze can be rockboxed, so you'd have the features and UI you're used to....

 

[Retrias]

You should try the new hisound nova series ,great sound as far as it goes , would prefer to have an alternate more reliable firmware though

 

[Retrias]

You should try the new hisound nova series ,great sound as far as it goes , would prefer to have an alternate more reliable firmware though

 

[brunk]

Quote:

Are you happy with the clip plus?  If yes pick up another one

+1

 

[phlashbios]

How about a Cowon C2. More expensive than the Clip, but great sound quality. Both it and Clip Zip's will take 64Gb cards btw, as long as you have formatted them as FAT32 in a PC first.