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MP3 and Portable
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Wednesday, 02 September 2009 05:47 |
 We were expecting good things from this updated version of SanDisk’s popular Clip and the Sansa Clip+ delivers. The Sansa Clip has been one of the most popular MP3 players on the planet. It sounds great, is easy to use and is very gym friendly due to its small size and built in clip.
Now the Clip+ comes along and is a subtle yet worthy successor to the original for one simple reason, a microSD slot. The Clip already offers ridiculous value in a small player. It supports FLAC, various MP3 codecs including Vorbis, Audible Files, Rhapsody and other services and is the first Windows 7 certified MP3 player, not that we really care since dragging and dropping to this player is about as simple as it gets.
Now, with the microSD slot the Clip+ has it all. Users can purchase complete catalogs of music with slotRadio cards or load up a blank card with all their favorites. No other portable MP3 player offers so much in such a small footprint. Into ripping your CD collection in FLAC for the best possible sound? Done. Dig subscriptions services like Rhapsody? No problem. Need your Audible fix? Cool. Low on time and want to load 1000 songs Billboard charting songs instantly? Do it.
The Clip+ has a few updates that are worth mentioning. First the clip itself is a better design and could not be forcibly removed without breaking it. Secondly, the button layout is cleaner and the hold switch is no longer a switch. Simply press and hold the home button and the device locks or unlocks. The power button is a simple button as well. The updated design is also a bit lighter than the original. At first it almost feels too light. But take it jogging a few times and you quickly appreciate the weightlessness. 
To appreciate the sound of the Clip+ it’s important to use decent headphones. We recommend the Philips behind the neck sports headphones as a good starting point. Even at $15 from Target these are a big improvement over what comes in the box. The Clip+ can also drive more expensive Bose and Sony phones with aplomb. MP3 files at 256 or 320kbps really show off the sound capabilities of this little wonder. Pumping FLAC files through quality cans is simply astounding on the Clip+. We’re pumping “I Got a Feeling” from the Black Eyed Peas as we're writing this review.
We got a feeling the new Clip+ from SanDisk starting at $39 is going to make a lot of people happy. It’s a feel good player with all the right features and a price to make anyone smile.
Visit SanDisk for more information. |
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MP3 and Portable
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Tuesday, 18 August 2009 15:31 |
 If you need headphones for the kids this fall you may want to consider a style with volume limiting. This way the little tikes won't be able to blow their eardrums out no matter how high they crank the volume.
These Sony headphones for kids don't sound that good but are sized to fit smaller noggins and are fine for plugging into a PC for computer class. We haven't seen many options when it comes to basic headphones for kids with volume limiting so these are worth considering if you can find them. Best Buy usually stocks them for about $15.
Visit Sony for more information. |
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MP3 and Portable
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Sunday, 29 March 2009 09:26 |
 Many of the folks who write for funkyfresh work in the technology industry. Occasionally we like to give you an insider’s look at the development of new and innovative products.
SanDisk just launched its new slotRadio player that comes preloaded with 1000 songs in multiple genres of music. This thing is an unbelievable value. We know this because we actually worked on the product. So full disclosure, this is not meant to be a third party review. However, this product is so cool and so much fun to use we wanted to give you the straight dope because we’ve seen some inaccurate information circulating about slotRadio. This truly is a product you have to experience to appreciate. Look for promotional deals.
We found this deal on SlickDeals. Not sure how long it's going to last. But check it out and save yourself $30 on the slotRadio bundle.
Let’s start with the music. Every slotRadio card comes with 1000 pre-loaded songs in playlists ready to go right out of the box. Imagine 40 cassettes stacked on top one another or 50 CDs all packed into a microSD card that’s paper thin about the size of your pinky finger. It’s truly like science fiction. Pop the card in the player and you’re playing music in about 5 seconds. There is no setup, computers, subscriptions, fees…none of that.
So is the music any good? Yes, it’s actually incredible. Anyone who buys a slotRadio player or card will simply be blown away by the quality of the music. SanDisk worked with Billboard to identify the top selling artists of the last 50 years and worked with music experts to design the playlists on the slotRadio cards. Funkyfresh worked extensively on many of the slotRadio playlists and we can assure you SanDisk is committed to making slotRadio cards that music freaks and the masses will both enjoy.
The sound quality of the slotRadio player is very good, especially with headphones that showcase just how good the sound is. We’ve been using our Sony MDR-7500s and are very impressed with what this little die cast aluminum wonder can dish out.
The way SanDisk locks the music to the card allows the cards to be played in any compatible slotRadio player. The music is not locked to the device. This means friends and family can freely share cards without the need to synchronize devices or use computers in any way. If you’ve ever been frustrated by a music service that requires synchronizing your music player once a month with the service you’ll certainly appreciate how freeing this can be.
My niece recently formatted her MP3 player by accident, erasing about 2 gigs worth of music I loaded for her. My sister and her husband love music but just can’t be bothered with downloading and transferring music. I can’t wait to get my niece a slotRadio player because I no longer have to be her personal curator of music and tech support guy. I’m sure a lot of music geeks will appreciate this. And if they still want to make mixes or whatever they can do that on a blank microSD card and just mail that out. No need to have the device in order to load it.
By they way, if you already have a Sansa Fuze from Sandisk you can upgrade the firmware to play slotRadio cards. You don't need to buy the slotRadio player. Plus, the Fuze will display the album art of every track. Pretty cool. Sandisk has been talking of replicating the slotRadio experience on cell phones too. Here's the link to the support page to download the updater.
So how do they do it? Well, SanDisk is probably the only company that could pull it off. The company has a ridiculous number of patents related to Flash memory technology, some 1500 plus in the US alone, and has packed quite a bit of that IP into slotRadio. The beauty is all of this technology is completely transparent to the end user. Just turn it on and go. There are no menus, no scroll wheels and no superfluous features with slotRadio. There are dedicated buttons for changing channels, skipping songs, adjusting the volume and switching between FM radio and the slotRadio card. Yes, slotRadio has a built in tuner with RDS. It couldn’t be easier. It's all about music made simple. It's fun and it works.
Visit SanDisk for more information about slotRadio. |
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MP3 and Portable
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Saturday, 07 February 2009 07:38 |
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 This MP3 player wireless FM transmitter combo gadget allows you to listen to MP3s on an SD card or USB adapter. The chipset supports up to 320 kbps and is compatible with slotMusic cards using the adapter that comes with the cards or a microSD to SD converter.
There are a variety of these little gadgets available, mostly from online outlets. We like this one. It couldn’t be easier to use and the sound was very good with no interference on the lower end of the FM dial. It’s a bare bones unit that’s cheap but still works.
If you don’t have an auxiliary input on your stereo head unit in your vehicle than this is a good option. It’s much better than using a cassette adapter with a cord. Not to mention this adapter has the MP3 player built in. This is truly all you need to access fast libraries of MP3 music in your vehicle.
The unit plugs into the cigarette lighter socket and plays your music through the car's FM stereo. The unit accepts both SD and SD HC, high capacity, memory cards. We used it with slotMusic cards from SanDisk and it worked seamlessly. You can also connect a portable player you have with the audio-in jack. However, we think that kind of defeats the purpose of have an all-in-one unit like this.
Let’s say you pick this unit up for $15 and buy an SD HC card for another $10. You’re talking about at least a 4GB MP3 player for $25. It’s easy to take this for granted but that’s really incredible.
Anyway, if you’ve been looking for a really simple and cheap way to play MP3s in your car these little gadgets are worth a look. We were really impressed at how good this little sucker sounded. You do have to adjust the volume and tweak the settings for the best sound but it’s no big deal and at this price well worth the effort.
Features include: Blue backlit LCD screen, SD and SDHC ready, audio in jack, used 12V cigarette lighter, 206 selectable stations, included remote (very cheap but works), Swivel design makes it easier to read.
Visit Amazon for more information about wireless MP3 accessories. This is an OEM unit so we don’t have a brand name but you'll recognize this unit by the buttons and swivel base.
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MP3 and Portable
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Friday, 12 December 2008 04:38 |
 The Orbit MP3 from Altec Lansing is one of the best sounding compact speakers you can buy for under $40. It’s much, much better than the previous Orbit design in both sound quality and ease of use. Anyone looking for an ultra-compact design that doesn’t want to sacrifice too much sonic goodness will be very happy with the Orbit MP3.
Altec Lansing made a very important design change to the power button. Previously it was easy to accidentally leave the speaker on and run down the batteries. Now the power is a push button that illuminates. It’s mush easier to use and won’t waste batteries like the old design. We forgave the previous approach because the previous Orbit was still a decent value but we wouldn’t even consider the old design at half the price of the latest iteration.
The sound quality of the new Orbit MP3 benefits from increased frequency response, dynamics and overall db level. It’s plenty for a kid’s party at the park, music at the office or tunes in the garage. Altec Lansing is using a much better transducer in this Orbit than the previous unit. It’s certainly worth the slight bump in price at retail.
Visit Altec Lansing for more information about the Orbit MP3. |
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MP3 and Portable
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Thursday, 13 November 2008 18:42 |
 The Sansa Clip from SanDisk is one of the best sounding MP3 players you can buy and the 8GB model is a flat out bargain. The player is very light, includes a handy clip and is very easy to use. The Clip features support for MP3, WMA, Audible, FLAC and even DRM files if you’re still messing around with those.
The included headphones are okay but simply don’t do the Clip justice. We used both Sony MDR-7506 cans and Philips behind the ear workout phones. The Clip was able to drive both of these loud and clear. FLAC sounds amazing on this player and with 8GBs of space it’s more reasonable to use this lossless codec which takes up roughly half the space of a PCM WAV file.
FM reception is okay if you’re outside and line of sight is good. It’s also dependant on the length of the headphone cable attached to the Clip. Nice in a pinch but why use a player that sounds this good with mediocre radio broadcast?
Loading the Clip is simple, just drag and drop to the any folder on the device. It can also be synched if you have a Rhapsody subscription. Files can easily be deleted on the go. This is cool if you get sick of a song and simply want it off your player. With 8GBs of space you can hold 2000 songs at 128kbps. However, with this player we’d recommend going with at least 256kbps encoding. Better yet, treat yourself with roughly 22 CDs worth of space and encode in FLAC!
SanDisk has been making the Clip for a while now and we hope they don’t have any plans to phase it out any time soon. It’s an incredible value with just the right features and great sound. Falling memory prices while not good for SanDisk are great for the consumer. Getting an 8GB player that sounds this good for under $100 is an easy decision.
Visit Sansa for more information on the Clip. |
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MP3 and Portable
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Wednesday, 22 October 2008 04:58 |
 Every now and then you can find a decent set of headphones bundled with an MP3 player for special promotions but most of the time the units that come in the package are of poor quality. Companies feel compelled to include the headphones in the package but anyone who cares about quality quickly goes out and buys a new set.
The Philips behind the ear sports headphones are a really great set of headphones for running and working out. They’re lightweight, comfortable and sound great. We like the behind the ear design and found we could wear these phones for extended periods of time without discomfort. We used both an iPod and a Sansa Clip with these headphones with good results. When pushed, the headphones produced loud, clean, near full frequency response with minimal distortion.
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MP3 and Portable
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Wednesday, 22 October 2008 03:01 |
 The Sony Wireless Digital Music Streamer model VGF-WA1/W is a nice looking unit that we had big expectations for. Sorry to say this is one of the least consumer friendly devices we have ever encountered.
Our funkyfresh reviewer works at a major Silicon Valley company in product design. He loved the unit out of the box but quickly lost his patience after an hour of fiddling with settings and trying to get it to work.
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MP3 and Portable
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Thursday, 16 October 2008 02:21 |
 SanDisk released its slotMusic Player under the Sansa brand. It’s a $20 MP3 / WMA player that plays slotMusic cards or basically any microSD card loaded with music. With 8GB microSD cards selling for under $20 this could be the best value on the market for an 8GB player. Bundles by music artists will also sell with a full release included with the player for $35.
Made from die cast aluminum, the slotMusic player feels more expensive than it is. It has a two piece design that makes it very easy to change the battery, a standard AAA. The buttons are big and cover the basics; play, pause, forward, backward, volume up and down. That’s it. No display.
Sound quality is actually quite good. We hooked it up to a Mackie Mixer and played it through a Hafler amp and some JBL studio monitors. We thought it was pretty impressive for a $20 player.
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MP3 and Portable
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Friday, 07 March 2008 00:00 |
 The Fuze is a great little iPod nano killer from SanDisk's Sansa brand. It's small but feels substantial in the hand with a portable form factor that's nearly perfect. It's a music player first but pretty decent MPEG 4 player as well. The colors and contrast are actually pretty good on its small QCIF screen and more than adequate in a pinch. However, the Fuze is primarity a music player.
The Fuze features a 1.9-inch display, FM tuner, built-in microphone for voice recording, 24 hour battery life and microSD slot. The 4GB model is very competitively priced at $99. We expect to see these in a variety of colors.
The sound quality is excellent on the Fuze. Of course, you'll need a decent set of headphones. SanDisk, like everyone else, bundles basic in ear headphones with the Fuze. We plugged in our Sony 7506s and were very impressed with the quality of the sound.
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