Yet another defective mp3 player - iriver 799

[MuzlL0dr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davie MuzlL0dr, Sorry you're still having problems. How did you encode your vbrs? I used dBPowerAmp with LAME set to alt-preset-standard. Based on experience

Actually, all mine are encoded with just the lame executable. (Not using any other software.) It's all done with the command line. As far as the EQ settings, I've never used the Normal mode, and I'm still getting the crashes. So, (at least for my unit) that eliminates the hope of using a different EQ setting as a temporary cure.

I looked through quite a few posts at IRiver's forums, and a LOT of people are having the problems, and NOBODY has found a solid solution. (Unfortunately.) I actually found a solution, though. I ordered a Zen Xtra today. haha The 790 will probably go to my girlfriend who is less particular about sound quality than I am. (ie, she can stand to re-encode her mp3s, I cannot.)

 

[dura]

I had an 799. It seemed to reboot when VBR-borders (on M3, WMA, Ogg) were crossed, often in the middle of a song.

 

[Davie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dura I had an 799. It seemed to reboot when VBR-borders (on M3, WMA, Ogg) were crossed, often in the middle of a song.

Does VBR-border mean change in bit rate? Strangely, mine doesn't crash consistently. If it crashes on a song and I try the same song again usually it will get through.

 

[MuzlL0dr]

While I'm glad they at least addressed my issue honestly, I'm still disappointed that there would appear to be no fix in sight. A sad day.

iRiver Response: (10/04/2004 08:26)
Thank you for the response.

192VBR based files tend to cause this issue in particular. We have yet to understand why a 256 will not perform this way, but 192 tends to cause skipping most often.

I do not have any quick fixes for you at this point. I can only recommend that you re-encode your files at a different bit-rate, or try performing a Firmware upgrade.

We are currently at: 1.25 which can be downloaded from our Support site.

Tech Support

 

[Alexhifi]

Hate to bring this thread from the dead, but the solution to this problem is quite interesting. I'm still using firmware 1.25 and had issues with VBR MP3s I had encoded at alt-preset standard/extreme using EAC. The fix is actually to turn off ID3 tag v2! I tested two exact files - one with ID3 v1 and one with ID3V1 and V2 - the V2 file would glitch about 80% of the time, the other would run perfect. I think you can use lame or some other software to strip the V2 tags from your MP3s and you'll be good to go! If you don't like the idea of stripping your MP3's of the V2 tag, copy them somewhere else, strip them, then copy to the device. God help you if you are USB 1.1...

My i799 has no issue playing "--alt-preset extreme" (VBR ~256kbs) MP3s and sounds quite good. Now I'm just waiting for my Xin Super Macro so I can drive these silly 590s.

-Alex

 

[Davie]

Alexhifi,

Welcome to head-fi and sorry 'bout your wallet (customary greeting for first-time posters, as you probably already know).

I think that this problem only happens with the equalizer off and that another workaround was already mentioned, which is simply to switch to the custom equalizer and set all the levels to flat (or however you want to set them). This would save you the trouble of messing with you ID3 tags.

 

[Alexhifi]

Thanks for the greeting...I think I remember mention of playing with the EQ. I just found it easier to not use ID3 v2....too late now, already re-ripped entire collection ID3 V1 only. Oh well.

Waiting for my Grado 225s and Xin Super Micro....so, wallet already in pain.

-Alex