Sansa Clip+ on Sale Again

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by KentE

I probably sounded too negative about the Fuse+. If your audiobooks are mostly (or entirely) Audible format, I think you'll be fine. There's still the clunky menu system, but it seems to come up where last used in the menu if you shut it down the right way-- so if your habit is to listen to an Audible audiobook all the way through without intermittently switching to different playback material (music, non-Audible audiobooks, etc.), you can avoid the clunky menu navigating and the file name/metadata problem.
For my sister-in-law project, most of her audiobooks are not from Audible, and a number will be transfers from CD-- this is where the Fuse+ becomes a real pain. As I remember, the core of the problem is that the Fuse+ has real problems integrating multiple files (chapters, tracks, etc) into a cohesive book. The exact format of naming the tracks is critical, and sometimes I had to go deeper and edit the metadata information. The Audible format isn't a problem, since it's basically 1 track, and plays on Audible software.
I think it'll also be okay if primarily used for music playback, too-- I didn't try that, and think I remember reading their were a couple of menu quirks for large music libraries, but don't remember any details.
At $20, it's a bargain IF you don't listen to non-Audible audiobooks, or if you have another player available if the Fuse+ can't handle the files properly.
KentE

Hi, KentE,

Thanks for all your input.

My Fuze+ arrived today, but I haven't had a chance to play with it yet--it's charging right now. My initial reaction was a little bit negative--it came without a manual and I couldn't figure out the controls--but now I've downloaded a manual and actually read some of it, so after the Fuze+ is fully charged I'll have another go at it.

I convert all my audiobooks to mp3 format, by chapters, so it sounds as if I might be better off leaving them on the Clip Zip. We'll see.

The screen size on the Fuze+ looks decent enough that I think I'll be happy loading it up with videos and photos, if nothing else.

I wish it had a clip on the back!

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I wish it had a clip on the back!

Easily done. All you need is

[Catlady]

Hmm. A safety pin might work even better!

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by joehunt

Thanks for the recommendation! I do want it for audiobooks, so I purchased a Clip

Based on my vast 5 minutes of experience, I'd say you made the right choice.

I popped in the microSDHC card that I had been using in the Clip Zip, which has only audiobooks on it. The Fuze+ has kindly sorted my audiobook folders into a an alphabetical list, such that all the chapter 1s are listed, followed by all the chapter 10s, then all the chapter 11s, etc. This would make for quite an interesting reading experience.

Also, I can't seem to access the folders on the microSDHC card directly--all the sections under the card (artists, videos, photos, books) show as empty. Maybe I should go back to the manual?

Later I will try loading audiobooks directly to the Fuze+, and/or a fresh card, and see if the results are acceptable, 'cause just switching out the card sure isn't!

[silverraven]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Based on my vast 5 minutes of experience, I'd say you made the right choice.

I popped in the microSDHC card that I had been using in the Clip Zip, which has only audiobooks on it. The Fuze+ has kindly sorted my audiobook folders into a an alphabetical list, such that all the chapter 1s are listed, followed by all the chapter 10s, then all the chapter 11s, etc. This would make for quite an interesting reading experience.

Also, I can't seem to access the folders on the microSDHC card directly--all the sections under the card (artists, videos, photos, books) show as empty. Maybe I should go back to the manual?

Later I will try loading audiobooks directly to the Fuze+, and/or a fresh card, and see if the results are acceptable, 'cause just switching out the card sure isn't!

http://www.audiograbber.org/
I use that free program for ripping audio book CDs. It will allow you to rip each CD as one track. Yes, it is an older program, but I use it on Win7 64bit no problem.
http://www.mp3tag.de/en/ Then I use this to tag them properly.
I find that tagging them properly makes them 'work' better even on the Clip Zip. The Clip plus is my favorite for audio books. I love the ability to just drop them into folders. I wish they had included this ability on the Zip.
S

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by silverraven

http://www.audiograbber.org/
I use that free program for ripping audio book CDs. It will allow you to rip each CD as one track. Yes, it is an older program, but I use it on Win7 64bit no problem.
http://www.mp3tag.de/en/ Then I use this to tag them properly.
I find that tagging them properly makes them 'work' better even on the Clip Zip. The Clip plus is my favorite for audio books. I love the ability to just drop them into folders. I wish they had included this ability on the Zip.
S

Audiograbber would have come in handy a few weeks ago when I had a set of old audiobook CDs; each one came out with 99 mp3 tracks on it!

Mp3tag is what I've been using for tagging.

I think I only used the Clip+ for audiobooks a few times, as I've only become audiobook-crazy recently, with the Clip Zip. So I'm not sure what you mean about the folders. For the Clip Zip now I have my micro SDHC card set up with author folders, with subfolders for book titles. The Zip's display in the audiobooks section shows the titles alphabetically. It would be nice if I could also sort audiobooks by authors and/or narrators, but I'm OK with it just listing titles.

I tried loading the Fuze+ with the book I'm currently reading, and under books it shows the chapters in wrong order (chapter 1, chapter 10, chapters 11-19, chapter 2, etc.) However, when I moved it under podcasts, it paid attention to the file number, where I've included leading zeros, so the order is correct. But it thinks I have 35 podcasts, rather than one book with 35 files. This device is plenty quirky!

I'm thinking maybe I should call each book a music album, and see if that works ...

[Catlady]

I think I'm throwing in the towel on getting audiobooks onto the Fuze+. I suspect if I retagged the files as "music," I could have the Fuze+ treat each book as an album, but since they are all tagged as "audiobooks," that's what the Fuze+ considers them, no matter what folder I put them in. Also, the Fuze+ is trying to convert some of my mp3 book files, and when it does (to a lower resolution), it loses the image.

So it's back to the Clip Zip for audiobooks.

However, I've tried a few videos, and those look pretty good. So all is well.

[silverraven]

I think I only used the Clip+ for audiobooks a few times, as I've only become audiobook-crazy recently, with the Clip Zip.

I actually had this big long convoluted post typed out on how to load books onto the Clip+ to make them show up with series numbers in front of them, and contained in their own folders using nestled folders. Then it kind of dawned on me, unless you do more than a couple books from a series at a time I don't guess it is worth the effort. And, it won't work on the Zip, so I erased the whole post and started over!
If you ever do want to know, let me know, I'll PM the instructions to ya!!
S

[KentE]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I think I'm throwing in the towel on getting audiobooks onto the Fuze+. I suspect if I retagged the files as "music," I could have the Fuze+ treat each book as an album, but since they are all tagged as "audiobooks," that's what the Fuze+ considers them, no matter what folder I put them in.

If you're already familiar with using MP3Tag, I can offer a few suggestions. If you change the 'genre' in MP3Tag from "Audiobook" to ether "speech" or "podcast", and load the books into the "PODCASTS" folder on the Fuse+, you might have success in getting the Fuse+ to recognize a complete audiobook instead of individual chapters showing up as different books.
I used BonkEnc (Fre:AC) to rip and convert CD audiobooks to mp3 files. I wanted to keep some chapters so that I could split some books intentionally into "Part 1", "Part 2", etc. I had to play with the "Title" tag (not just the file name) to get my conversions and some commercial audiobooks to work properly on the Fuse+, without the problems you've experienced (even after the genre change and loading as a podcast). Apparently the Fuse+ looks at both the (computer) file name (where you might typically name chapters Xbook001, Xbook002, etc), plus the "Title" tag that can only be seen/edited when you originally encode, or via a program like MP3Tag. I've seen it reported that the chapter sorting works better if the tag/"title" is blank, or if it's incremented like the PC filename. I remember for sure that after experimenting (and failing) with several tag re-naming schemes, I basically copied the tag naming scheme used on a Tantor-produced audiobook that played well with the Fuse+.
Basically, it's a lot of work to go to if you've got other options for listening.
The most frustrating thing is that it surely seems that Sansa knows better, since their other players don't seem to be this difficult.
KentE

[hwlester]

Originally Posted by silverraven

http://www.audiograbber.org/
I use that free program for ripping audio book CDs. It will allow you to rip each CD as one track. Yes, it is an older program, but I use it on Win7 64bit no problem.
http://www.mp3tag.de/en/ Then I use this to tag them properly.
I find that tagging them properly makes them 'work' better even on the Clip Zip. The Clip plus is my favorite for audio books. I love the ability to just drop them into folders. I wish they had included this ability on the Zip.
S

I second the recommendation for MP3Tag. I use dbPowerAmp (older paid version with the MP3 Plus Pack) which also allows for ripping a CD as one continuous track. It also supports conversion to/from many formats.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

SanDisk Sansa Clip+ 8 GB MP3 Player with Expandable Memory for $21.99 and Free Shipping

The Clip + is back for the same price (original link is still good).

The 4 GB Clip Zip is up for $21.99. Just bought one for my Dad.

[Fluribus]

Using MP3Tag will also allow you to highlight the entire list, change the genre, click the save icon, and sit back while the magic sweeps through.

[hwlester]

Originally Posted by Fluribus

Using MP3Tag will also allow you to highlight the entire list, change the genre, click the save icon, and sit back while the magic sweeps through.

And batch renames and macros and many other cool things.

[Laurablue]

I bought a Clip Zip and a Fuze+ after reading this thread. The Clip Zip is awesome for listening to audiobooks while walking and commuting, and the sound is at least as good as my iPhone, probably better. The controls are easy to navigate even when I'm not looking at them. I've been able to transfer library books (using Overdrive Media Console), Audible and other purchased books, and books on my hard drive (ripped from CD).

I got the Fuze+ specifically for videos, because I read that it was challenging to use for audiobooks. The touch pad took a bit of learning. I can see why people would get frustrated with it. I decided to test it as a podcast and audiobook reader anyway. I loaded it with a podcast of about 90 episodes (48 hours of audio). I used an mp3 tag editor to tag the genre as podcast and to set the track numbers. They showed up on the player, but in the wrong order. The only way to get them to list and play in the correct order was to rename the track titles using nested numbers (001, 002, etc). Apparently the Fuze+ does not use track numbers to sort podcast files. I have also used Overdrive Media Console to transfer an mp3 book to the Fuze+. The chapters showed up in the correct order. If put in the audiobooks folder, they show up as 13 separate tracks, but I moved them to the podcasts folder and there they are organized into a separate folder for that book. So, the podcasts folder is the place to put books, if you don't want to have one long list of all the audiobook tracks on your player. You can use the advanced options in Overdrive Media Console to choose the destination folder.

I also transferred my Audible books to the Fuze+, using Audible Download Manager to activate the Fuze+ and Windows Media Player to sync the files from my computer to the Fuze+. The Audible books are organized into their own folders, with chapters in the correct order.

The Fuze+ sound is fine, I don't think it's any better than the Clip Zip.

If I could only have one device for audiobooks and podcasts I'd choose the Clip Zip because of the seamless transfers and the controls. I listen mostly while walking or commuting on transit, and the Fuze+ touch pad is quite sensitive and so the device has to be locked or unlocked each time it's handled or put away. Changing tracks, rewinding etc. can be finicky and requires looking at the screen and not letting anything brush against the touch pad. The clip zip can be paused with one press (two if it was in locked mode) and I can rewind or fast forward without even looking at it. On the other hand, the Fuze+ does give you the option of watching short videos, but I can also see why a lot of people gave up on the touch pad and wrote angry reviews about it.

[TallMomof2]

Woot.com has 3 Sansa MP3 players on sale through July 1, 2013. Link

8GB Sansa Fuse $39.99
8GB Sansa Clip+ $29.99
4GB Sansa Clip+ $19.99

Shipping is $5.00 no matter whether you order one item or 50.