Rio Karma Hard Drive Spin Sound

[refault]

When using my Etymotics and my Karma, everytime the harddrive spins up I hear the annoying sound of it click and spin back and forth. This really bugs me when I listen to classical pieces before going to sleep (all in FLAC) because the hard drive spins up almost every 1-2 minutes. Any tips to alleviate this problem?

 

[gratner]

Sounds like a faulty unit... I never hear anything related to the hard drive through the headphones when using my Karma.

 

[refault]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gratner Sounds like a faulty unit... I never hear anything related to the hard drive through the headphones when using my Karma.

With my PX200's, Eggo's, and other less-sensitive headphones I never hear anything hard drive related through it when using my Karma.

 

[remilard]

I never hear any hard drive noise but I do hear hum when the backlight is on with the ER-4P, anyway, if you have the ER-4P get the p to s cable, I think the S sounds better on the karma anyway and it should substantially reduce that noise.

 

[terrymx]

yeah i think these methods will help:
ipod=>amp=>ety
ipod=>er4p-s coverter/ohms adaptor=>ety

 

[refault]

Nevermind, I hear the hard drive spin up with my Eggo's too, but not with the PX200 or the SR-225/60's.

This started happening about the 5th month of my ownership of the Karma with my ER-6 (well, that's about the time I noticed it.) I'm currently on my 9.5 month of ownership. Is it normal? I always thought the HDD spinning sound was something that all HDD based players had.

 

[lild]

Quote:

Originally Posted by refault Nevermind, I hear the hard drive spin up with my Eggo's too, but not with the PX200 or the SR-225/60's. This started happening about the 5th month of my ownership of the Karma with my ER-6 (well, that's about the time I noticed it.) I'm currently on my 9.5 month of ownership. Is it normal? I always thought the HDD spinning sound was something that all HDD based players had.

i hear it with my e3cs, and if it's quiet enough with my pp2s....i'm pretty sure that it's normal--i think that's the conclusion on the riovolution boards

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Simply a matter of sensitivity of the phones -- with E2's or E3's plugged into the headphone jack, I get not only the hard drive noise but the hum of the screen backlight when it's on. A900's don't pick it up, though, and it all disappears when I'm running through an amp. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[linuxjunkie]

I also heard this (and it bugged me GREATLY) when listening to classical with my Karma and ER-4p. The remedy is to add the resistor ER-4p/s adaptor in series with your Etys- the Karma has plenty of amp power for the less sensitive 'S' flavor, and it knocks the noise down into inaudibility-land. As a bonus, your music will sound better anyway...

 

[Publius]

I've noticed this with A900s (and needless to say the ER-4S too), and I can also hear the backlight with the 4P in a quiet room. I'm pretty sure it's normal and there's no way around it.

Hard disks take a boatload of current to spin up, you know...

 

[Super-Gonzo]

I had a similar problem with ER-4P's on an old solid-state mp3 player, building a 4p-4s adapter solved it for me.

Another possible culprit might be vibrational noise. Since the ER-4 is an in-canal type earphone, it's quite susceptible to microphonic effects, as you've undoubtedly noticed every time the cord rubs your shirt

Could it be that some of the hard drive spinup noise is being transferred mechanically? Perhaps setting the player on a softer surface to dampen the vibrations from the hdd spinup, and keeping the cord as seperate as possible might help?

 

[refault]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Super-Gonzo I had a similar problem with ER-4P's on an old solid-state mp3 player, building a 4p-4s adapter solved it for me. Another possible culprit might be vibrational noise. Since the ER-4 is an in-canal type earphone, it's quite susceptible to microphonic effects, as you've undoubtedly noticed every time the cord rubs your shirt Could it be that some of the hard drive spinup noise is being transferred mechanically? Perhaps setting the player on a softer surface to dampen the vibrations from the hdd spinup, and keeping the cord as seperate as possible might help?

I leave my Karma on my bed at night, a fairly soft and cushiony surface without any of the "hard drive occulsion" being dampened.

 

[Super-Gonzo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by refault ..."hard drive occulsion" being dampened.

occulsion?

 

[refault]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Super-Gonzo occulsion?

microphonics.

 

[linuxjunkie]

Nope, it's not microphonics or vibration transferred up the cable- it's definitely in the electronic signal.

The noise is quite easily heard without the ER4 P/S adapter, and is GONE with it in place. It appears to be noise induced into the amplifier's power supply by the HD spinning up (it's quite power-hungry at that point, and hits the battery pretty hard).

I did find that several of my tracks were causing the drive to spin up much more often than they should- some (rare) VBR MP3 files cause the drive to spin up about once every 20-30 seconds or so, when it should only spin up about once every 5-6 minutes to cache more track data (with FLAC files needing about twice that rate).

The affected tracks will show up with a bit rate of 0 in the information screen.

In all cases, deleting and retransferring the bad files with the most current RMM or RMMlite fixed the problem of spinning the drive too often.