2 Amp Questions

[tonyfiore75]

Hey,

2 quick questions. I have an RSA Tomahawk driving a Creative Zen Vision:M (30GB).

1- At what volume do you generally keep your player at? I have mine turned all the way up (max) while I control the volume with my amp. Is this what you're "supposed" to do? what's the common practice here?

2- Every now and again I notice a sort of fuzziness to what I'm listening to. It lasts only briefly and generally goes away after I have grabbed/moved the amp. The batteries are several months old, fyi. I am presuming that this may be the issue but I was wondering if anyone has noticed something sililar with their own amps as the batteries have dwindled down. Could it be anything else?

Thanks a million.

-TF

 

[dropkickduffy]

Are you using the Zen:M line-out? If not, connect your small white dock to the player and plug your amp into the dock. Make sure you go into settings and turn off the automatic screen-off or else the screen will blank out. This will lead to much higher quality sound because it bypasses the crappy internal amp.

Plus, the line-out volume is louder than the volume maxed out through the headphone out.

Hope that helps.

 

[tonyfiore75]

I'm not using the dock that came with my Zen. I actually bought a cryo-dock from ALO for my Zen and am using that. It works well as far as I can tell. I mean, it sounds great. I was just wondering what volume level the Zen should be at? and also if anyone has experienced that fuzziness that I was talking about.

 

[jamato8]

If you are using a line out then it doesn't matter what volume you turn the source to as the internal amp is not being used. If the volume is changed by changing the volume on the source then you are still using the internal amp of the source and this will degrade the sound and you may as well just use the amp in the source. I would only use a line out if using an external amp, keeping the signal as unpoluted as possible.

 

[dropkickduffy]

Ahh, I see. Well, the line-out volume shouldn't be affected by volume setting of the Zen afaik.

However, I can't verify the same is true for the ALO dock.

 

[tonyfiore75]

This is correct- I AM using a line out (Cryo-dock) and the volume on my Zen is not a factor. So sorry.

What about the second question? When the batteries run low on an amp, is the amp's sound effected at all? Have you ever experienced any fuzziness on your amp?

 

[FallenAngel]

Batteries usually provide a steady voltage until they are almost depleted, then they go steadily down in voltage under which condition, most amps just die on you, some with a slight DC offset. Don't worry, you'll be able to tell quite easily when this happens.

If your amp has "fuzziness" until you move/grab it, I think it's a grounding issue and you have lots of interference in the area (cordless phone, monitor, etc).

 

[tonyfiore75]

Ohhhhhh. That sort of makes sense. I mean, when I listen to it I am typically mobile and I'm in I.T. so I always have a cell phone and Blackberry on me. I wonder if that's what could be causing it. Great thought, FallenAngel. Thank you.

 

[scompton]

I have an XM4 at work that didn't come with an AC adapter or rechargeable battery. After 2 weeks of listening all day at work, I noticed my headphones were sounding kind of weak and muddy. Went to Radio Shack and bought an adapter and everything's been fine since.

 

[FallenAngel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonyfiore75 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ohhhhhh. That sort of makes sense. I mean, when I listen to it I am typically mobile and I'm in I.T. so I always have a cell phone and Blackberry on me. I wonder if that's what could be causing it. Great thought, FallenAngel. Thank you.

Definitely that's it. I'm a Programmer/Analyst and my blackberry + cellphone and everybody else's blackberry + cellphone do horrid things to all my amps. It's a fact of life, just try to keep your amp as far away from these things as possible.

Just avoid it with tubes, they're usually even more affected by it.

 

[tonyfiore75]

Thank you so much- you just alleviated my worries. I just bought this amp (used) and I would have been pretty bummed if it was a lemon. Then again, I ALSO should have realized what you told me (DAMNIT!!!). ; )

 

[j24]

dropkickduffy said:

Quote:

Make sure you go into settings and turn off the automatic screen-off or else the screen will blank out

sorry, for the question outside the subject but how do you do this? I'm using the lineout with the zen and everytime I get the message "Switching Display to A/V out". Is there a way to turn this off because in the System menu I don't see a feature for automatic screen off (I'm on version 1.40.02).
Thanks

 

[j24]

never mind, found the answer on EpiZenter.net:

Quote:

The A/V out, supplied through the sync adaptor (dongle) settings are accessed through System>Photo/Video Settings>Video Out. From here the option is available to choose between NTSC or PAL display devices, by selecting Off the audio of the A/V out remains functional but the Vision:M screen operates as the display. Photo Slide Interval and Slide Transition options are also adjustable in the Photo/Video Settings menu