Discussion about
Why I Have This Player
I have this player for FLAC. That's it. It's the best player on the market that does FLAC. I wish the other major players would get on the bandwagon and give me freaking FLAC and Ogg. The damned codecs are free.
flac and ogg are for the 1% audiophile ... 256k mp3 is for the other 99% ... people don't care about sound quality ... the popularity of the iPod proves that ... most other mp3 players have much better sound quality ... zune specifically.
i work with a guy who is always talking about his home "hi-fi" system and i have to control my laughter every time :)
the last 2 generations are digital music listeners ... quality is a mute point to them/us.
i work with a guy who is always talking about his home "hi-fi" system and i have to control my laughter every time :)
the last 2 generations are digital music listeners ... quality is a mute point to them/us.
Yeah. I know. Well, I don't think it's a completely moot point. The whole "this sounds the best" advertising campaigns still work.
And my complaint about FLAC and Ogg is that, even though they cater to that 1%, the codecs are free to implement. There's no reason to NOT install them, except that Apple and Microsoft are trying to push their own, proprietary lossless formats. Hell, if MP3 wasn't so omnipresent, they wouldn't even include that. Sony has no excuse, though.
So if I'm in the minority, so be it. Sandisk has guaranteed sales to me in aeternum.
And my complaint about FLAC and Ogg is that, even though they cater to that 1%, the codecs are free to implement. There's no reason to NOT install them, except that Apple and Microsoft are trying to push their own, proprietary lossless formats. Hell, if MP3 wasn't so omnipresent, they wouldn't even include that. Sony has no excuse, though.
So if I'm in the minority, so be it. Sandisk has guaranteed sales to me in aeternum.
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I also got this player for the flac and ogg vorbis codecs. Audio quality (flac being the best) is important to me. I can remember tapes and even 8 tracks. Yes this makes me old. I will not pay for MP3's, if I am paying for music I want the lossless file. MP3's and ogg vorbis are great for podcast and audiobooks.
I agree this puts me in the minority, I still think it would not be a big deal for Microsoft and Apple to include flac and ogg vorbis. I think Microsoft may do this before Apple. IMO Apple will never add support for these codecs.
I would love to see Sandisk come out with a wifi player that had a browser (web kit or firefox). I would buy that in a heartbeat.
I also will be buying Sansa's (my family has fuzes or clips) for the foreseeable future.
I agree this puts me in the minority, I still think it would not be a big deal for Microsoft and Apple to include flac and ogg vorbis. I think Microsoft may do this before Apple. IMO Apple will never add support for these codecs.
I would love to see Sandisk come out with a wifi player that had a browser (web kit or firefox). I would buy that in a heartbeat.
I also will be buying Sansa's (my family has fuzes or clips) for the foreseeable future.
Well not to go off topic but since you are talking about FLAC support i currently have it on my rooted G1 android phone. I haven't actually used it but the codecs are there. I have a feeling the new Creative Zii once it gets the Android OS installed will have the ability to download codecs, especially since android is linux based I am hoping they add OGG and FLAC in offical updates. Especially if they can use Cyanogens Roms
Off topic? Ha! I've been thinking the same thing! With the advent of smartphones, who cares what the companies refuse to give us. Soon, our phones will be genuine pocket computers and we'll just install our own damned support. Fuck the manufacturers.
But then we have to worry about the hardware. Lots of players, regardless of the format, sound pretty bad.
But then we have to worry about the hardware. Lots of players, regardless of the format, sound pretty bad.
I have this player because I'm a Woot addict :-)
I use my iPhone for listening to music most of the time. I have pretty refined hearing, but honestly, I'm usually listening more to my music/content than to my sound quality.
I also have an iPod Classic 160 GB, a Sandisk Sansa C240, and a Sansa Clip. I keep the iPod because I like having a device that contains my entire music library. I got the Sansas because Woot offers great prices on them, and I like getting new gadgets :- )
Plus, it's come in handy a few times -- I've often found myself in the position of needing a media player that I could connect to the audio system a a party, or at a bar/club where my band is playing, and I'm hesitant to leave my iPod (or my iPhone!) unattended. Woot was selling 4GB Sansa Fuze players for only $30 the other day -- at that price, it's no big loss if it breaks or goes missing, but it's still a nice, useful, decent-quality player.
I use my iPhone for listening to music most of the time. I have pretty refined hearing, but honestly, I'm usually listening more to my music/content than to my sound quality.
I also have an iPod Classic 160 GB, a Sandisk Sansa C240, and a Sansa Clip. I keep the iPod because I like having a device that contains my entire music library. I got the Sansas because Woot offers great prices on them, and I like getting new gadgets :- )
Plus, it's come in handy a few times -- I've often found myself in the position of needing a media player that I could connect to the audio system a a party, or at a bar/club where my band is playing, and I'm hesitant to leave my iPod (or my iPhone!) unattended. Woot was selling 4GB Sansa Fuze players for only $30 the other day -- at that price, it's no big loss if it breaks or goes missing, but it's still a nice, useful, decent-quality player.
I appreciate that. The problem for me is that I have a wide variety of formats for my music, and I hate having to convert them from player to player.
It actually doesn't have too much to do with being a snooty audiophile, but merely someone who wants my expensive things to also be convenient. And when they're not, that pisses me off.
It actually doesn't have too much to do with being a snooty audiophile, but merely someone who wants my expensive things to also be convenient. And when they're not, that pisses me off.
I love this player. And yes, I bought it for FLAC and OGG support.
Also, it's NOT AN IPOD. I've owned them before, and I can't control an iPod in my pocket the way I can the FUZE. I can even pause, FF, and rewind while it's in my blue jeans pocket. Can't do that with an iPod.
I also listen to a lot of Podcasts, which the FUZE handles very nicely.
BTW, MediaMonkey is an excellent iTunes replacement for managing your audio files. You can customize it to an incredible extent, and it will automatically convert your audio files to whatever format you want on-the-fly, as it syncs music to your FUZE or any other audio player.
I could care less about watching videos on a postage stamp sized device, although I believe the FUZE does that as well.
Also, it's NOT AN IPOD. I've owned them before, and I can't control an iPod in my pocket the way I can the FUZE. I can even pause, FF, and rewind while it's in my blue jeans pocket. Can't do that with an iPod.
I also listen to a lot of Podcasts, which the FUZE handles very nicely.
BTW, MediaMonkey is an excellent iTunes replacement for managing your audio files. You can customize it to an incredible extent, and it will automatically convert your audio files to whatever format you want on-the-fly, as it syncs music to your FUZE or any other audio player.
I could care less about watching videos on a postage stamp sized device, although I believe the FUZE does that as well.
I, too, own this device not just for the FLAC and OGG support but for the cheap price and expandable memory through the SD card slot. It is great in doing pretty much everything a much more expensive mp3 player can and does it well. I actually use Fuze to record a lot of my lectures and it does it great with its very good quality mic and the memory on my SD card is enough to record for hours. The only thing about recording is that it records in a .wav format (lossless I guess) which takes up considerable space and I just wish Sandisk provided us with the option to record in a lower quality .mp3 format or something similar.
My only other gripe about the Fuze is the propriety slot which makes it impossible for me to use it on docks and in the car. I wish Sandisk actually bothered to release this device with a usb variant slot rather than their own port.
Other than that a great player and for the price it does exactly what I want it to do and more.
My only other gripe about the Fuze is the propriety slot which makes it impossible for me to use it on docks and in the car. I wish Sandisk actually bothered to release this device with a usb variant slot rather than their own port.
Other than that a great player and for the price it does exactly what I want it to do and more.
