[Davie]

I got the iriver 799 a few hours ago. It seems like a great little player, except for the frequent tendency to shut down spontaneously in the middle of a track, reboot, and pick up with the following track. Seems like a couple of other people on this site have had similar experiences. So back goes the iriver tomorrow. Still haven't decided whether to get a replacment unit or a store credit.

Just a few days ago my Rio Karma's HD went out on me. Are there any good, reliable mp3 players out there?

 

[AuroraProject]

I had an ihp-120 for awhile and it was reliable, I sold it and they guy who bought it says it's still going strong. The ipod seems to be reliable also.

 

[zombietycho]

Sounds a bit like my experience with a Samsung Yepp MP3 CD player.

Every once in a while it just didn't play an entire track. If I wanted to hear the end, I'd have to rewind to the part I left off at. Dodgey bussiness Mp3 firmware no?

 

[Davie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zombietycho Sounds a bit like my experience with a Samsung Yepp MP3 CD player. Every once in a while it just didn't play an entire track. If I wanted to hear the end, I'd have to rewind to the part I left off at. Dodgey bussiness Mp3 firmware no?

Dodgey indeed. This is happening often enough -- I'd say at least once during every hour of use so far -- that I'd return the player rather than live with it.

 

[quke]

Have you flashed the firmware to the latest version? There's version 1.25 from Sep 18th so I doubt the player had it installed. That might fix it though it sounds reasonable to return it. This sounds like a defective unit and I don't think it's the customers job to fix his purchase.

 

[Davie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by quke Have you flashed the firmware to the latest version? There's version 1.25 from Sep 18th so I doubt the player had it installed. That might fix it though it sounds reasonable to return it. This sounds like a defective unit and I don't think it's the customers job to fix his purchase.

This sounds like it's worth a try. It would be less hassle than doing a return.

 

[Davie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by quke Have you flashed the firmware to the latest version? There's version 1.25 from Sep 18th so I doubt the player had it installed. That might fix it though it sounds reasonable to return it. This sounds like a defective unit and I don't think it's the customers job to fix his purchase.

I updated the firmware and reloaded my files. The player shutdown and rebooted on the very first track I played!! I'm going to try a couple of other things, including seeing whether the problem is limited to the vbr mp3's I've been playing, as well as pank2002's suggestion that equalization settings other than "normal" have a positive effect.

 

[stigweard]

I've read that vbr mp3s can cause problems if they were not properly encoded. Vorbis files only work within 96kbit to 224kbit and if your encoded file goes outside that range, it will stop and start the next song. I ended up returning mine because it had a serious white noise problem.

 

[Davie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stigweard I've read that vbr mp3s can cause problems if they were not properly encoded. Vorbis files only work within 96kbit to 224kbit and if your encoded file goes outside that range, it will stop and start the next song. I ended up returning mine because it had a serious white noise problem.

I've read a lot of white noise complaints, but haven't noticed that problem. Is there a good way to test for this -- I tried turning the volume down to zero and didn't hear anything.

 

[stigweard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davie I've read a lot of white noise complaints, but haven't noticed that problem. Is there a good way to test for this -- I tried turning the volume down to zero and didn't hear anything.

It depends on your sensitivty to white noise and the headphones you are using. With the stock buds, I couldn't hear it at all. With my px100s, if it was night and I was laying in bed, i could hear a distinct but faint white noise, over and above the minor tinnitus I suffer from from abusing my ears. It sounded almost like a dirty power signal (white noise at high volume). On some classical guitar tracks, it sounded as if I was listening to an FM station. White noise, and some minor crackling could be heard between tracks, even when walking outside in a light wind. It was an acceptable level for use in noisy areas like the gym, or on the bus.

The real distinction came when I plugged in my westone UM-2s. They are in ear monitors (very similar to the e5cs), and they made the white noise unbearable. All tracks now sounded as if I was listening to an AM station that was out of range. It was as distracting as having a vacuum cleaner running while trying to listen to music. These are very sensitive headphones ~119dB SPL and they bring out detail in music that I never knew existed. I don't have much to compare to, but the only thing I have heard that produced more detail were a pair of martin logan electrostatic speakers.

I would say, if you don't notice it, or it doesn't bother you, don't worry about it. I got spoiled when I got my UM-2s. I love the isolation and sound they produce. They are perfect for the gym where I need isolation to concentrate (as well is to help drown out the horrible noise from the pa speakers that blast crappy music), and in the end were the reason I ended up returning my ifp. I still need a suitable flash player to replace it.

 

[Davie]

The FM Tuner on this thing is surprisingly good. I'm pulling in stations in my office that I've never gotten with any other portable radio. All the more reason to get the other problems resolved.

 

[MuzlL0dr]

Man, and I read this JUST after I made my own post about the same problem with my IFP-790. It's definitely an IRiver thing, not limited to one or two of their products. I DO have the latest firmware (which hasn't fixed it) and have tried various mp3s. Additionally, I've tried an EQ setting other than "Normal" with the same effect. I'm kind of inclined to believe it's something to do with the VBR encoding. I really don't want to get rid of this thing, but I'm sure as heck not going to re-encode my library of high-bitrate VBRs. Plus, I'm not into the whole "exchange 100 times until you get one that works" thing. Oh well, we'll see what happens.

EDIT/UPDATE: After more experimenting, it definitely seems to be limited to my high quality VBRs. ie Alt-Preset-Standard. I'm very bummed by this. There is NO WAY I'm going to re-encode all my music just so I can have a "portable" version. Looks like my 790 will be going back. I just hope Creative products don't have a similar problem.

 

[Davie]

Well, I hope I'm not jinxing myself by posting this but since I tried pank2002's suggestion (turn EQ on) I haven't had any problems. I use the user defined, ummm I mean "Extreme"

, EQ with all levels flat, so it should sound the same as EQ off. I'm debating whether to exchange for a new one. This seems very likely to be a software problem so I doubt if a new unit would be any better (and maybe I'd end up with the white noise problem which, based on what I've read, does seem to be a hardware problem that Iriver corrected in later production runs).

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 with other software/players, I get the impression that vbr encodings vary somewhat and firmware support is somewhat spotty -- i.e., manufacterers don't seem to make the effort to ensure support for all encoding variants, or even all popular ones (my Rio Karms had problems with files encoded with Musicmatch).

 

[poorimpulsectrl]

check iriver's forum, apparently one workaround for the reboot problem has to do with what EQ settings you use. it's obviously not something you should need to work around but see if it helps in the interim.

Regarding the white noise problem, apparently it's a problem with the amp in the player and Iriver has said that they've corrected it in current batches of their players. Who knows what percentage of players on retailer's shelves and stockrooms have the older, problematic amp.

a question, where did you buy your player from? Iriver themselves?

 

[Davie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by poorimpulsectrl check iriver's forum, apparently one workaround for the reboot problem has to do with what EQ settings you use. it's obviously not something you should need to work around but see if it helps in the interim. Regarding the white noise problem, apparently it's a problem with the amp in the player and Iriver has said that they've corrected it in current batches of their players. Who knows what percentage of players on retailer's shelves and stockrooms have the older, problematic amp. a question, where did you buy your player from? Iriver themselves?

I bought it from J&R, which is convenient for me since I live in NYC.