Question about volume levels

[Koska]

I bought my Clip (in Europe) few days ago (Dec. 28th) and, after reading reviews and forum comments, expected great sound quality and high volume.
I am not yet able to comment on sound quality as I have limited to no experience in this area but I am pretty sure I am not getting the "really loud" sound out of it. Tried it both with buds you get with player and Shure e4c. I did notice Normal and High sound settings and it does give more volume levels when you select high but its not even close to "going deaf" levels i was reading about.
I of course upgraded firmware to 1.01.18, tried both American and Europe version, and it stayed the same.
So i was just wondering if its some new series or all the European version have such sound.

[CrowdAds]

[WalkGood]

Koska, Welcome to abi >> we hope you enjoy the site!

I think you may have missed the point with the clip. The player is not supposed to produce "going deaf" levels, it’s all about producing great sound quality, nice detail with a sweet warm sound, very good mids and a pleasant bass response. All this with a good sound stage and that’s why the Clip is so talked about

[dfkt]

Here are my observations about the volume levels (American FW): http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...ad.php?t=22169

First of all, insane volume levels doesn't mean sound quality. Secondly, my Clip can drive my 300 Ohm (!) Sennheiser HD650 to rather high levels. If I'd listen to the Clip/HD650 for more than a minute on full volume, I would probably become deaf. (It doesn't drive the HD's "good", but loud enough for a cerebral aneurysm.)

With high-efficiency, low-sensitivity IEMs (anything over 100dB/mW and under 30 Ohms) I can turn up the Clip only to about a quarter of the maximum volume before I have to jerk the IEMs screaming from my skull.

On volume level 1, the lowest possible, the Clip is too loud for me to use in bed at night. Volume 1 on the Clip corresponds to volume 7-8 on my Cowon D2.

Maybe there is something wrong with your Clip? Mine certainly can go far too loud, and then some...

[Mikerman]

Do I recall correctly that EU DAPs generally incorporate volume limitations, due to EU restrictions? I assume that this is done via the firmware.

[kukrapok]

Anyway the 1.01.18A and 1.01.18E firmware binaries are exactly identical.

[Koska]

Thanks for warm welcomes, I do enjoy the site

I do understand what you mean WalkGood, I did take the clip because i wanted a "cheep ticket" to good SQ. I am not complaining here, I am just wondering why is it so.

I did read your post dfkt and thats what inspired me to write this. I saw a lot of people complain about low level volumes (as in too loud) and few saying how its impossible to listen to clip at full volume. And of course I understand that there is difference between sq and volume just that I am new in all this and I cant judge quality but I think I can volume levels.

As noted before I tried it with Shure e4c IEMs that should have 29 and 109 dB SPL/mW and could easily listen to it at full volume with high setting. One other thing is that I bought 2 Clips, one for me and one for friend, and they both sounded the same.

I did also note that i tried clip with both American and Europe firmware but it was the same. You are right that binaries are the same but different letter at the end (m300a.bin, m300e.bin) does make it install differently on the player, you get different settings.

[kukrapok]

Originally Posted by Koska

Thanks for warm welcomes, I do enjoy the site
I did also note that i tried clip with both American and Europe firmware but it was the same. You are right that binaries are the same but different letter at the end (m300a.bin, m300e.bin) does make it install differently on the player, you get different settings.

Strange, once I've installed m300e.bin, radio features were no longer available. With m300a.bin and radio is back. The original firmware on my device was 1.01.11F.

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by kukrapok

Strange, once I've installed m300e.bin, radio features were no longer available. With m300a.bin and radio is back. The original firmware on my device was 1.01.11F.

kukrapok, Interesting observation about the radio, although that is a European tax issue for SanDisk which passes the added cost to the consumer, thus no radio on the e firmware. Question, do you hear the lack in volume as Koska has stated? Is it possible he has a defective unit?

[kukrapok]

Volume level is fine here. A bit too high even at minimum, even. Of course, sound volume differs according to the earbuds I use. I can confirm there's no audible difference between that "Normal" and "High" settings, though. My Clip (M350), 2GB feat. radio, was bought in December in France.

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by kukrapok

Volume level is fine here. A bit too high even at minimum, even. Of course, sound volume differs according to the earbuds I use. I can confirm there's no audible difference between that "Normal" and "High" settings, though. My Clip (M350), 2GB feat. radio, was bought in December in France.

Agreed, I have no issues with volume either, in fact imo it’s too loud at the lowest setting for iem’s. Was only asking, cause it is possible that Koska's unit is defective.

[kukrapok]

Yes that's possible. Could be the headset/iem too. I only tried w/ Beyerdynamics DT770 (32ohms), Sennheiser MX450 and the model that came w/ the Sansa Clip.

[kukrapok]

BTW, if several Clip sound the same to Koska, wouldn't it be Koska's ears that are damaged? Koska: does listening to a Clip show the same too-low volume at bass/medium and treble?

[dacher]

You can further fine-tune, boost or reduce volume levels using the equalizer.

[kukrapok]

Volume set to "normal", minimal volume level, and custom EQ enable w/ all ranges set to the lowest values -> mp3 volume is OK, but radio sound is still something like a 6/10 volume level, IOW no way to fall asleep while listening to radio.

[Koska]

Since i don't like quoting i will put some answers together here and I hope no one will mind.
About firmware, yes it is true that if you install m300e.bin you will loose Radio thats why you need to install m300f.bin (you can do that by simply renaming the file) and you will have it. That firmware is also for Europe but it has Radio enabled.

One other thing to say, I don't think my Clip has too low volume, I would say its decent and could fit most needs.High volume setting in options does not change current volume it only adds few more steps at max volume so you can "crank it up" even more. About the IEMs I used and question that my hearing could be damaged, I guess it could be but I could say i lead normal life and that hearing never presented problem for me before and I am sure having such high tolerance for high volumes would come up sooner or later. I also had a friend listen to it too (mind you he has no experience) and i played it to him at full volume and he didn't complain. I also tried phones you get with Clip, some Altec Lansing closed phones and its all the same just that sound on larger Altecs is a bit low even on highest volume.

[johnnyz86]

wow e4c's at full volume?

either you don't have a good seal (most likely.. do you have enough bass?) or you will go deaf.