Does Connect use e200 Chip?

[frankmcma]

Does the Sansa Connect have the same chip as the e200 player (Rhapsody player, etc)?

The e200 series has excellent sound and I am trying to figure out if the internal audio chip is the same in the new connect unit.

Any links to specs?

Thanks!

Frank

[CrowdAds]

[EnzoTen]

No... the Connect uses a TI SOC. The connect sounds better than the e200 but with a bit less power.

[frankmcma]

TI SOC? So that is the audio chip?

And the connect has better sound? Wow! Thats very cool..as the e200 sounds better and has a wider frequency range than any player I have (iPod, nano, Zune)

What is the chip in the e200? Are there specs, chip info, or any links to figure out what players have what audio chips?

I also wonder why they switched chips..

Thanks

Frank

[kratonator]

It's a Portal Player PP5024 chip. You can get more information here. Linky

[EnzoTen]

Texas Instrument (System On a Chip)

e200 uses a portal player chip.

Check www.rockbox.org for details on the e200's chip. There are also pictures of the insides in the e200 review on the front page of ABi.

[Ace12]

Plus an external speaker, wow!

[matts great5]

Originally Posted by Ace12

Plus an external speaker, wow!

you mean internal

[frankmcma]

Is there any way to compare the sound quality of the TI SOC vs. Portal Player PP5024 chip? Any websites that compare frequency response, etc. I have iPods, Zunes, etc and the Sansa e200 series have the absolute best sound of them all (with quality headphones) but I have yet to find a website that lists tech audio specs for players. Was looking at the Sansa Connect..and now knowing it had a different chip..wondering if its a step in quality up or down from the sound quality of the e200's

[dfkt]

Originally Posted by frankmcma

TI SOC? So that is the audio chip?

Texas Instruments, System-on-a-Chip.

[frankmcma]

yes..wondering how they compare.

[PromisedPlanet]

Revealing my hardware ignorance ... are these the audio chips, and do they differ from (um) CPU chips? What I'm wondering is whether the Sansa Connect might be able to handle a firmware upgrade that would allow it to communicate with the Rhapsody service instead of the Yahoo/Zing service.

[a12ctic]

Originally Posted by PromisedPlanet

Revealing my hardware ignorance ... are these the audio chips, and do they differ from (um) CPU chips? What I'm wondering is whether the Sansa Connect might be able to handle a firmware upgrade that would allow it to communicate with the Rhapsody service instead of the Yahoo/Zing service.

That could happen, but it wont. I wish someone would crack this player and open it up some. There are so many possibitities that aren't exploited with the default firmwire. Id love UPnP, wireless library sync, and RSS feeds on here. I tried the yahoo music unlimited but most of the stuff i listen to isn't on there. Also, they need to help the libmtp project so this works on linux/macs, Ive been using my sisters computer to sync it. what a pain.

[PromisedPlanet]

Originally Posted by a12ctic

That could happen, but it wont.

Even if Yahoo Music goes under? The Connect will just become another MP3 player, with no streaming music capability? That'd be pretty sad.

[a12ctic]

Originally Posted by PromisedPlanet

Even if Yahoo Music goes under? The Connect will just become another MP3 player, with no streaming music capability? That'd be pretty sad.

Sandisk pretty much dropped the connect already. They havent realeased a firmwire in a bit and dell bought out the company that developed the software/hardware or something along those lines.

[PromisedPlanet]

Originally Posted by a12ctic

Sandisk pretty much dropped the connect already. They havent realeased a firmwire in a bit and dell bought out the company that developed the software/hardware or something along those lines.

So? Why can't Dell release a firmware update?

Also ... haven't released a firmware in a bit? The last release was two months ago, and added freakin' video support. That's not too shabby.

[a12ctic]

I don't know about the deal, or what happened, but the connect wasnt even at CES and sandisks seems to have abandoned efforts to improve it.

[PromisedPlanet]

Originally Posted by a12ctic

I don't know about the deal, or what happened, but the connect wasnt even at CES and sandisks seems to have abandoned efforts to improve it.

Isn't the CES mostly for showing only new products?

And why do you believe that Sandisk has abandoned efforts to improve it? It's not like the Connect is full of bugs. Like I said, the last firmware update was only two months ago, and adding video support couldn't have been a minor effort.

[a12ctic]

Exactly, its stable, but if yahoo dies, i doubt theyll put a lot of effort into porting it to use something else.

[Jethro]

Dell-Zing has already teamed up with Sirius and when the Y! contract expires, I believe they’ll hook up with Rhapsody. Since Dell is a huge retailer for Sandisk, the Connect is no where near dead, just in a holding pattern. Maybe someone should move this discussion to it's own thread.
BTW Dell just dropped the price of the 16GB View to $149.

[a12ctic]

maybe dell should get it to work with linux, they do support ubuntu. this players mtp support is flakey even in windows =/