Upgrade Creative Zen to Sansa Fuze?

[seamoon]

I have Creative Zen (not x-fi) I'm not happy with it's sound quality. I heard Sansa Fuze has very good sound. I consider only sound quality, will Sansa give me a far better sound quality than my current Zen?

[CrowdAds]

[lestatar]

IMO, yes.

I recently bought a Fuze 8GB. I was looking for a decent capacity flash player with microsdhc support. I was able to audition both devices.

I am not a CreativeLabs basher - see my signature: I have owned more CreativeLabs players than any other manufacturer and in fact, all my players still work and I love em all.

However I was horrified with the Creative Zen in the store...granted, using store music on the device but the major problem for me was that turning on any of the "sound enhancements" on the Zen resulted in immediate distortion. "Sound Crystalizer" = Sound Distortionizer.

If the Zen is any indication of Creative's current quality, then they have sadly fallen quite far.

Go for the Fuze - I am liking mine a lot. Some ideosyncracies [proprietary cable, love it or leave it default UI], but overall a fine sounding player. Also, do not forget: RockBox-ability for Fuze!

For even better sound enhancements and a slightly more pleasing sound signature [and standard USB mini cable in a taller, but flatter/slimmer form factor], I feel the Sony E is the best value for the money right now. 16GB for $70USD is a steal! No microsdhc support though.

cheers and good luck!
-lestatar

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by lestatar

IMO, yes.

However I was horrified with the Creative Zen in the store...granted, using store music on the device but the major problem for me was that turning on any of the "sound enhancements" on the Zen resulted in immediate distortion. "Sound Crystalizer" = Sound Distortionizer.

If the Zen is any indication of Creative's current quality, then they have sadly fallen quite far.
-lestatar

It is worth mentioning, for the OP's sake, that you tried a Zen X-Fi in the store, not the basic Zen which the OP has. I'm sure the Fuze still sounds much better, but the devil is in the details.

[lestatar]

Really? I thought is was the Zen...my bad!

Sorry OP!

[seamoon]

I thought is was the Zen

It's Zen too only difference is two useless (regarding reviews) sound enhancements.

I had Sony E series player before, sq was good but the max volume is definitely not satisfying (even with USA firmware) But between fuze and zen is there a really big sq difference (about %50 or more) In my country there's no maintenance service nor distributor for Sansa, I'll buy it from Turkish online store (no warranty probably and far expensive than Amazon.com) So after all these risks and rip off I don't want hit my head to wall if there's a slight sq difference.

(If Sony E series has better sq than Fuze then sticking Zen for one more year would be wiser maybe)