Just Received My Clip+

[C-Sharp]

Yes, I just received my clip+. Can't tell you guys how happy I am to see it. I just opened the the box and the freaking clear box inside is sealed up. I thought you can just open it easily. Anyway, I turned it on and the first thing I did was to check out the fw which is v01.01.05A. Should I go ahead and upgrade the fw or just stick with this one?

I haven't put music on it so I can't tell about its sound quality just yet.
Although I can tell you guys that I'm glad I bought this player for 2 reasons.
First, the player is very small (which is something I've been looking for) and well built. Even though it was made of plastic but it doesn't look or feel cheap when you hold it. Also, the plastic doesn't make any creaky noise, very well built. As you guys already read the review of the clip+ and many of you actually own one, I guess you already know the build quality and everything.
Second are the tactile buttons. I love the tactile buttons, it makes me feel like I'm actually pressing something and it's there instead of having to fiddle with the touchscreen like my freaking Cowon D2. I just realized that I'm more of a tactile buttons person than touch screen when it comes to mp3 players. Which means the Sony A847 is going to be my next main player instead of the Cowon S9.

I'm going to charge it for a little bit and test out its sq. I'm going to order the Hippo VB right after all that.

I have a questions regarding the rhapsody CDrom that comes with this. Do you have to use that to get all the features of the clip+? Also, between rhapsody and emusic which is a better site for music?

[WalkGood]

Congrats and enjoy I don't use music services and rip all my own, so I'll take a pass on your question

[skip252]

Congratulations on receiving your Clip+. You don't say what capacity it is, what size did you get? I haven't had any glitches with the newer firmware so I would say go for it.

Just remember you don't have to install the buggy Sansa Updater. Just download a copy of the firmware from the Sansa site. Make sure your battery is as least 50% charged and that you're in MSC mode and drop the .bin file into the root of the player. Safely disconnect and a minute later you're all set.

The CD is a nice drink coaster. That's all you need it for. There aren't any drivers or other needed software on it. You can safely disregard that. I can't help you with the music service questions. Andreas did extensive reviews of the Rhapsody and eMusic services and caused me to conclude that I still need to stick with buying CDs and ripping them for my tunes.

Can't stand the concept of paying infinity dollars and still not having a legitimate copy of a file when you rent the music. If you buy a file outright you're still counting on someone else s idea of what's a proper encode. No thanks.

BTW if you are listening to your new player with the stock earbuds there is no way you can actually judge the SQ. You can establish that's putting out a sound signal but you simply can't judge the quality with the earbuds. I don't have the Hippo VB but going by dfkt's review you'll hear a whole new level that just isn't there now. Wait until then to pass judgment.

[Marvin the Martian]

Skip252 is right, and I'll piggyback what he said.....don't pass judgment with those stock earbuds, don't bother with Rhapsody, stay away from the Sansa Updater and the new firmware is fine, especially if you plan to use the ReplayGain.( which works like a charm for me)

[C-Sharp]

Originally Posted by skip252

Congratulations on receiving your Clip+. You don't say what capacity it is, what size did you get? I haven't had any glitches with the newer firmware so I would say go for it.

Just remember you don't have to install the buggy Sansa Updater. Just download a copy of the firmware from the Sansa site. Make sure your battery is as least 50% charged and that you're in MSC mode and drop the .bin file into the root of the player. Safely disconnect and a minute later you're all set.

The CD is a nice drink coaster. That's all you need it for. There aren't any drivers or other needed software on it. You can safely disregard that. I can't help you with the music service questions. Andreas did extensive reviews of the Rhapsody and eMusic services and caused me to conclude that I still need to stick with buying CDs and ripping them for my tunes.

Can't stand the concept of paying infinity dollars and still not having a legitimate copy of a file when you rent the music. If you buy a file outright you're still counting on someone else s idea of what's a proper encode. No thanks.

BTW if you are listening to your new player with the stock earbuds there is no way you can actually judge the SQ. You can establish that's putting out a sound signal but you simply can't judge the quality with the earbuds. I don't have the Hippo VB but going by dfkt's review you'll hear a whole new level that just isn't there now. Wait until then to pass judgment.

Thanks for all the information. Sorry I forgot to mention the capacity. I got the 8gb clip+ from Amazon. I charged it to 100% and then upgraded to the newest fw using the drag and drop method.

Before I talk about the SQ, I just went and ordered the Hippo VB .

Ok here is what I think about the SQ of the clip+. I went and ripped one song with 3 different types of format (FLAC, CBR 320kbps mp3 and VBR 192kbps). I have to say that FLAC sounds very good and then comes 320kbps CBR next and then 192kbps VBR. The truth is I couldn't tell the difference between 320kbps CBR and 192kbps VBR. So I guess I'll go with 192kbps VBR since the size is smaller. Next is the EQ, I just realized what everyone said about the EQ being uselss is so true. Since I listen to Trance, I went and select Dance Preset EQ right away and I can tell you that the the normal EQ setting sounds way better.

Ok here is what I find strange, the volume. I don't know if you guys have to go all the way up to like 3/4 of the volume bar to be able to hear loud enough. Cuz I was having my volume probably half way but it sounds small to my ear. I wonder if it's just me.

I think the stock headphone of the clip+ is way better than the Cowon D2's stock headphone. On my Cowon D2, I remember I had all sort of sound enhancements on (especially the Mach2Bass something maxed out) with EQ trying to get a good sound and bass but no good. On the other hand, since there's no sound enhancement on the clip+ and I listened to the songs on normal EQ, the sound is so much better and the bass is decent too.

I don't know how the D2 sounds with better headphones since I never had a chance to try but I know the clip+ beat the D2 on stock headphone without any sound enhancement and EQ hands down.

I'm sure dfkt would know better than any of us how the clip+ would sounds with the Hippo VB since he's currently having this setup right now.

Now is the wait for the Hippo VB .

[sunami88]

Ugh... brings back memories of when I had to extradite my Clip+ from the packaging. Shot the damn thing across the room!

Hey, least I know it's durable now. Anyways, welcome to the Clip+ family? (Yes, we're a family now).

[C-Sharp]

Originally Posted by sunami88

Ugh... brings back memories of when I had to extradite my Clip+ from the packaging. Shot the damn thing across the room!

Hey, least I know it's durable now. Anyways, welcome to the Clip+ family? (Yes, we're a family now).

lol, yes the packaging is quite a pain in the butt to get open. I never though I would own a sansa player myself. Ever since I owned the Cowon D2, I thought that Cowon was for me but I guess not. I think Sansa and Sony are for me. See how they both starts with S? Coincident?

[defaultluser]

Originally Posted by C-Sharp

The truth is I couldn't tell the difference between 320kbps CBR and 192kbps VBR. So I guess I'll go with 192kbps VBR since the size is smaller.

Yup, this has been my experience. preset standard fast is plenty or encoding music transparently, no need to waste any more bits than that!

Ok here is what I find strange, the volume. I don't know if you guys have to go all the way up to like 3/4 of the volume bar to be able to hear loud enough. Cuz I was having my volume probably half way but it sounds small to my ear. I wonder if it's just me.

It's not just you. The Clip is designed for the absolute lowest-power consumption possible - it's the only way they can squeeze 10-15 hours play time out of such a tiny player. So the maximum volume is lower than any other mp3 player I've owned.

You won't get distortion or anything turning the volume up higher

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by C-Sharp

lol, yes the packaging is quite a pain in the butt to get open. I never though I would own a sansa player myself. Ever since I owned the Cowon D2, I thought that Cowon was for me but I guess not. I think Sansa and Sony are for me. See how they both starts with S? Coincident?

I own a Samsung, a Sansa, and a Sony.

[C-Sharp]

Originally Posted by Marvin the Martian

I own a Samsung, a Sansa, and a Sony.

LOL, oh yeah I forgot about Samsung too. I never owned a Samsung player so I don't know much about it. I know their TVs are good but for some reason I don't like Samsung in general. When it comes to electronic like TV, dvd, etc, I prefer Sony. I guess you can call me a Sony fanboy?

[boechat]

i ordered one. 8 gig version, maybe i review it!

[skip252]

Make sure you select USA as your region after the firmware update. There may be a volume limiter in place to comply with the EU restrictions. Also check under Settings> volume whether you are on Normal or High. Earbuds are normally quieter than IEM's in my experience but you should still get sufficient volume. On the high settings when I turn mine up to about 3/4 the earbuds turn into earspeakers. Different players show the volume to various scales but the Clip+ shouldn't distort even at near full volume.

What you've found about 320 CBR vs 192 VBR is what almost everyone else experiences. The -V setting is transparent for just about everyone. I won't say no one can hear a difference but listening tests under controlled conditions have shown that those that think they can hear a difference can't really. (To the gathering audiophiles: No, I will not argue or contest with you as to what YOU hear.) Since you have the capability to rip to FLAC, which is lossless, you can always transcode to higher or lower bitrates as your headphones and storage space dictate. I had to spend a bit of time doing that myself when a headphone upgrade showed the lower bitrate files I had used for years just weren't up to snuff.

Let us know your impressions when the VB's get there. Enjoy your Clip+, I'm having a ball with mine.

[C-Sharp]

I did select USA as my region after the fw update. Although I didn't know about the Volume setting on normal and high. I'm going to check that out now.

One more thing I forgot to mention is fingerprints, fingerprints and fingerprints. This thing is a fingerprint magnet man. Since I love this player so much, I think I'm going to buy a case for it or something. Any of you guys know any good case for the clip+? I check Amazon and they have these silicon case for it but I don't know. Also, I want to get a small pouch for the clip+ and the headphone, any recommendation?

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by C-Sharp

LOL, oh yeah I forgot about Samsung too. I never owned a Samsung player so I don't know much about it. I know their TVs are good but for some reason I don't like Samsung in general. When it comes to electronic like TV, dvd, etc, I prefer Sony. I guess you can call me a Sony fanboy?

After some experimenting with the EQ and sound enhancements, my Samsung player definitely sounds better than my other ones.....so mine would go Samsung > Sony > Sansa. But really they all sound pretty good.

[C-Sharp]

Originally Posted by Marvin the Martian

After some experimenting with the EQ and sound enhancements, my Samsung player definitely sounds better than my other ones.....so mine would go Samsung > Sony > Sansa. But really they all sound pretty good.

you mean the samsung Q2 sounds better than your sony s545?

anyway, I'm really enjoying this player. I just went out to eat and brought it with me too. The thing is so freaking small I put it in my pocket and wouldn't even feel anything. this is great. lol

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by C-Sharp

you mean the samsung Q2 sounds better than your sony s545?

If I set all the assorted EQ and enhancement features on both of them, then yes, it does....on every pair of headphones I have, I can get a little bit better sound with the Q2. But really, like I said before, they both sound very good.

I use the Sony more often though, because the Q2's touchpad is a little awkward, unless you're just chilling about.

[C-Sharp]

Originally Posted by Marvin the Martian

If I set all the assorted EQ and enhancement features on both of them, then yes, it does....on every pair of headphones I have, I can get a little bit better sound with the Q2. But really, like I said before, they both sound very good.

I use the Sony more often though, because the Q2's touchpad is a little awkward, unless you're just chilling about.

Wow, so if you were to compare the Sony X, Cowon S9 and Samsung P3, do you think the Samsung P3 would have better sq out of the 3?

Anyway, I just saw that the Hippo VB made it to the editor choice. I just love to see the stuff I buy make it to the editor choice list.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by C-Sharp

Wow, so if you were to compare the Sony X, Cowon S9 and Samsung P3, do you think the Samsung P3 would have better sq out of the 3?

I couldn't make that comparison. According to lebellium, our Samsung moderator, the Q2 sounds identical to the P3....but from what I've heard, the Sony X sounds better than the other Sony players. Dreamnine has an X and a P3...he could give you an idea of that comparison.

I will say, it takes more time to get that sound out of the Samsung, because there are a lot of ways to tweak the sound on it. The Sony you can get configured right in a matter of minutes.

[C-Sharp]

Originally Posted by Marvin the Martian

Dreamnine has an X and a P3...he could give you an idea of that comparison.

I will say, it takes more time to get that sound out of the Samsung, because there are a lot of ways to tweak the sound on it. The Sony you can get configured right in a matter of minutes.

I think Dreamnine told me that the Sony X and Samsung P3 both sound good though he never told me which one is better than which. If the sounds of the Sony X is better than the other Sony players which means as you go with a higher end of Sony player the better the sounds? I guess the Sony A847's sq is the same the Sony X or maybe better.

Wonder when the Sony A847 will ever be released in the states. If not, I'll take a trip to Japan to get one lol.

[Marvin the Martian]

I believe the A847 and the X will sound the same, as they both have the "S-master" digital amp hardware inside them. But I haven't heard either one myself, so I can't be 100% sure.