Folks, I’m just about wit’s end with this albatross of a problem… and I need some input/advice.
[Problem summary:]
Three Teclast T51 DAPs, purchased (taken delivery of) between late July and end of Dec. 2010.
#1. S:Flo2 purchased (ordered) new from MP4Nation mid July 2010. Failed mid-late Sept. 2010. Returned to MP4Nation for warranty service (still have not rec’d as of 28 Feb 2011)
#2. S:Flo2 purchased used from eBay (August 2010). Failed late October 2010. Don’t know what can be done as far as RA as I bought it used (and they still have #1!!) (any ideas?).
#3. Teclast T51 purchased new from HoD (ordered beg. of Nov. 2010; delivered end of Dec 2010). Buggy from day one (see below). Became progressively more buggy. Failed altogether Feb 26, 2011. RA in progress.
I purchased #1 based on all the positive “reviews”, both here and other forums/sites. It worked well (but with some bugs). The Wife wanted her own, so I purchased #2 from eBay. Both units failed catastrophically (see below) within one month! I thought it may have been some sort of issue with SFlo2s only, so I read posts on this forum and discovered an alternate source for the same (hopefully more reliable) DAP: HoD. So I ordered #3.
[Description of “failures”:]
How they failed:
Both S:Flo2s failed catastrophically (= all-of-sudden). No warning signs (increasing software glitches, lock-ups, more-pin-resettings-than usual, etc.). The HoD-purchased T51 was, as noted earlier, buggy from day one. The main bug being an inability to enter the Music Directory w/o the device being USB-powered. Once in the Music Directory, I could unplug and go portable. About three weeks ago, it began to OFF itself after about 1/2hr use. When the HoD T51 “went” (two days ago), it died after going extremely buggy (and not catastrophically like the MP4Nation SFlo2s): it refused to stay on and after about a 1/2hr of launch attempts (which resulted in “auto-offs”), the unit finally failed catastrophically upon plugging into a USB port.
State of devices after failure:
Dead. Won’t turn on. No main-button LED response. USB port plug unresponsive to PC plug-in (i.e., PC does not acknowledge a device is plugged in). I can hear a slight electrical pop in the HO/LO lines when (un)plugging from USB. But that’s it.
[Some usage notes and (un)original observations:]
Used almost every day (1-2 hours, each day, continuous on for that use-time). Play mostly FLACs; some mp3s.
I don’t jog or otherwise engage in high-acceleration/deceleration (i.e. shock) activities (with or w/o audio gear!). I do bike on dedicated bike paths and walk / do light, household errands with audio gear (all while wearing the REI fanny (gear) pack in the images below).
I live in SW U.S., so the climate is stable and low-humidity year-round. I do not take audio gear into extreme environments (mountains, desert, near water, etc.).
AS FAR AS I KNOW, there are no unusual electromagnetic (EMI, EMF) or electrostatic (ESD) emissions in my area or in the immediate vicinity of my gear.
I always power (recharge) USB DAPs via a late-model mid-line Dell laptop. This source has the highest-quality 5V (regulated) power of any USB device I own. The supplied AC/USB adapter should never be trusted (and I never use them).
All units ran very warm (as noted in forum myriad posts)! I was always concerned about this, so I never purchased the dedicated leather protective bag.
I used the REI fanny pack, with the T51, a headphone amp, QA350 Dap and Cowon/iAudio U3, all Velcro’d in the conglomerative “structure” you see in the pics. I have used this bag/“arrangement” for years with myriad portable-audio devices and found it best for physical-shock protection, heat ventilation, and use/handling/ergonomics (the QA350’s remote makes handling a non issue!).
[Comparison to other, similar devices:]
Reliability/durability:
I have owned several DAPs from Apple (iPod), Cowon (iAudio X5, U3) and Samsung. The two iAudio X5s I have owned had some issues after about four heavy-use years. Surprisingly, their HDs never failed; what failed were: battery, pwr supply components, and some semiconductor ICs (the best I assess from reading forum posts dedicated to this unit). The solid-state iAudio U3 and Samsung units –- the only true comparatives to the T51 I own -- continue to chug along w/o issues. Not bad for 5-6-year-old devices.
The QA350 is going strong, but I have had that less than 6mos and haven’t used it all that much in that time, IAC.
Sound Quality:
Believe it or not, I prefer the SQ of the S:Flo2/T51 to the QA350, but only after the T51 has been “broken in” (no pun intended!) for about 100-150hrs. The sound achieves a level of focus and image stability and smoothness that the QA350 (detailed and dynamic as it is) ultimately lacks.
The high SQ is one reason I am bothering to post this detailed message on a device that has cost me much $$ and frustration. Now if only I could get one to stay working!
[Images:]
In the images below, the Velcro’d gear-“stack” -- all contained in the REI fanny pack -- noted in the text appears as: (top) T51 is on; (mid) Pimeta2 headphone amp; (bottom) QA350. Also in images are iAudio U3 (hard to see) and IE-8 IEMs.
