Post by solderdude on Aug 14, 2014 18:31:06 GMT
Sansa Clip Sport versus the few years older Sansa Fuze.
First lets compare the generated RMAA data, Left = Clip Sport, Right = Fuze
So.... it's official... the clip sport measures better than the Fuze .... in RMAA numbers
What does the FR look like ?
Ahhh.... the Sport is slightly 'flatter' and is filtered steeper after 20kHz.
The Fuze shows a slight 'lift' in FR between 10kHz and 20kHz... < +0.1dB where the Sport is very flat and the X3 shows a slight decrease there.
Again +0.1dB is inaudible.
For those that noticed all 3 players show the exact same amount of gentle roll-off in the lows.... this is caused by the used soundcard for these tests (SB1240) and it is very safe to say all 3 players are completely flat from 20Hz upwards.
The Sansa Fuze and Clip Sport actually can even reproduce DC thus extend to 0Hz !, the line out of the X3 reaches way below 1Hz but the headphone out doesn't go that low but reaches low enough to reproduce subbass rumbles.
Now the Harmonic distortion plots...
Something interesting to notice.
A: The Fuze has higher 2nd harmonics, the Sport higher 3rd harmonics. The harmonics spread and higher harmonics is better in the Fuze. The Fuze spectrum is 'nicer' to the ears but also very low in level (below what most consider inaudible)
B: The 'spread' at the base is better in the Fuze and more similar to the X3 albeit much higher in levels. This shows the Sport has higher jitter than the Fuze.
As the noise floor of the SB1240 is too high it is impossible to say how much better the Fuze and X3 are in this jitter aspect.
SOME of the higher frequency spikes MAY not even be present but could also be caused by the used SB1240 soundcard and is difficult to say for sure.
As a comparison Sport vs X3 as a reference.
Sound comparison:
As I noticed earlier the Sport doesn't sound as 'real' in the treble as the X3.
I own the Fuze for much longer and was always impressed by its sound quality.
I had compared it before to the X3 and said they sounded very similar to me.
Having performed the listening test with the Sport vs the X3 I made the same 'recording' from the Fuze and compared these 3.
The Sport was again easy to pick as the 'tambourine bells' in the test file gave the Sport away each and every time reliably in a blind AB test.
Going from the specs one would think that SQ of the Sport would be better than the Fuze.
Well... it isn't.
Perhaps the most important give away is the broad base in the THD plot of the Sport which isn't seen in both other players and shows a higher amount of jitter.
In fact I wasn't able to tell the Fuze apart from the X3.
I had noticed this before though.
The X3, however, has a bigger display, is capable of more formats/sampling rates, has SPDIF out, can be used as a DAC and can play a LOT louder and effortlessly drive 600 Ohm headphones.
Sonically (at the same undistorted SPL) they are impossible to tell apart.
Does this mean the SQ from the X3 is mediocre ? Is the Fuze simply that good ?
Well.. the differences start to show at higher impedances and on higher levels where the Fuze runs out of voltage while the X3 goes on and on and sounding lovely.
At lower levels both players simply reached the 'border' of my hearing capabilities and are equally 'transparent'.
When used with a portable amp even the max SPL problem is solved.
For completeness the RMAA results of the Sansa Fuze
You can compare them to the RMAA results of the Clip Sport and FiiO X3
verdict Sansa Clip Sport:
Nice player but the SQ is slightly less than its worse measuring but better sounding predecessors (Fuze and Clip).
First lets compare the generated RMAA data, Left = Clip Sport, Right = Fuze
So.... it's official... the clip sport measures better than the Fuze .... in RMAA numbers
What does the FR look like ?
Ahhh.... the Sport is slightly 'flatter' and is filtered steeper after 20kHz.
The Fuze shows a slight 'lift' in FR between 10kHz and 20kHz... < +0.1dB where the Sport is very flat and the X3 shows a slight decrease there.
Again +0.1dB is inaudible.
For those that noticed all 3 players show the exact same amount of gentle roll-off in the lows.... this is caused by the used soundcard for these tests (SB1240) and it is very safe to say all 3 players are completely flat from 20Hz upwards.
The Sansa Fuze and Clip Sport actually can even reproduce DC thus extend to 0Hz !, the line out of the X3 reaches way below 1Hz but the headphone out doesn't go that low but reaches low enough to reproduce subbass rumbles.
Now the Harmonic distortion plots...
Something interesting to notice.
A: The Fuze has higher 2nd harmonics, the Sport higher 3rd harmonics. The harmonics spread and higher harmonics is better in the Fuze. The Fuze spectrum is 'nicer' to the ears but also very low in level (below what most consider inaudible)
B: The 'spread' at the base is better in the Fuze and more similar to the X3 albeit much higher in levels. This shows the Sport has higher jitter than the Fuze.
As the noise floor of the SB1240 is too high it is impossible to say how much better the Fuze and X3 are in this jitter aspect.
SOME of the higher frequency spikes MAY not even be present but could also be caused by the used SB1240 soundcard and is difficult to say for sure.
As a comparison Sport vs X3 as a reference.
Sound comparison:
As I noticed earlier the Sport doesn't sound as 'real' in the treble as the X3.
I own the Fuze for much longer and was always impressed by its sound quality.
I had compared it before to the X3 and said they sounded very similar to me.
Having performed the listening test with the Sport vs the X3 I made the same 'recording' from the Fuze and compared these 3.
The Sport was again easy to pick as the 'tambourine bells' in the test file gave the Sport away each and every time reliably in a blind AB test.
Going from the specs one would think that SQ of the Sport would be better than the Fuze.
Well... it isn't.
Perhaps the most important give away is the broad base in the THD plot of the Sport which isn't seen in both other players and shows a higher amount of jitter.
In fact I wasn't able to tell the Fuze apart from the X3.
I had noticed this before though.
The X3, however, has a bigger display, is capable of more formats/sampling rates, has SPDIF out, can be used as a DAC and can play a LOT louder and effortlessly drive 600 Ohm headphones.
Sonically (at the same undistorted SPL) they are impossible to tell apart.
Does this mean the SQ from the X3 is mediocre ? Is the Fuze simply that good ?
Well.. the differences start to show at higher impedances and on higher levels where the Fuze runs out of voltage while the X3 goes on and on and sounding lovely.
At lower levels both players simply reached the 'border' of my hearing capabilities and are equally 'transparent'.
When used with a portable amp even the max SPL problem is solved.
For completeness the RMAA results of the Sansa Fuze
You can compare them to the RMAA results of the Clip Sport and FiiO X3
verdict Sansa Clip Sport:
Nice player but the SQ is slightly less than its worse measuring but better sounding predecessors (Fuze and Clip).