Zen Micro FM Reception Improved by CMoy

[Icy006]

OK, so it might just be the extra 5-foot patch cable in the loop, but my FM reception on a Zen Micro gets significantly better when I have a CMoy hooked up!

IIRC, FM reception on portables uses the headphone's wire as the antenna, basically. Does anyone know if the amp circuitry could possibly have anything to do with this?

 

[Guust-Fi]

I recently found out about this: http://www.fixup.net/tips/srfs83/srfs83.htm

It mentions inserting a thin wire as extra antenna between the mini jack and the connection of your portable audio player. Like you said the ground wire from your headphones functions as antenna. So, different headphones should make a difference in FM reception.
Some people say the zen micro has bad FM reception but did they use the stock earphones to review it? I thought antenna length and size matters. I assume the wire length of your replacement headphones for your DAP would make a big difference, no?

I am looking forward to buying one myself (still can't decide about the color though

) so I would like to know your experiences with the FM radio. Is there a way to get much better reception, comparable to a normal radio for example? Perhaps a powered car antenna would even work. Not that it would be very portable though. What about a small specialized circuit between the jack and your headphones. If it works with a C'moy it could be made even better. And yes, I know you guys think like: "Why do you need a radio with 5GB of music" There are just some radio programs I like to listen to even though the quality sucks. Recording song samples from to radio with intention to download the songs later looks like a nice feature too.

 

[Icy006]

The built-in FM of the Zen Micro was one of the biggest selling points to me. I like to listen to morning shows while at work. Also, when that awesome song comes on when you aren't expecting it, that is really cool. Besides, a little variety chosen by someone else can be refreshing.

I never tried with the stock earbuds - I use Sennheiser PX-100s. Their cord is quite short. When I was testing with the CMoy, there was an extra 5 or 6' patch cord in the loop. This more than doubled the length of the ground wire, so the CMoy probably had nothing to do with it.

One thing I've noticed with FM reception, it really matters where the cables are resting. I sit there in the morning moving stuff around until it sounds just right.

I am no RF engineer, so I can't comment intelligently on antenna theory. Some of my ham friends talk about quarter and half-wave antennas and such for lower frequency bands. I think the megahertz stuff gets kinda voodoo - the length of our headphone cable might not be as important as material, or coiling it up a certain way, or who knows what.

 

[Cyclone]

let me try and set the record staight here, the micro has great quality reception if your within a good range of a couple hundred miles or so of the station, but if its outside of that it has a lot of trouble picking it up. so if you life in a metropolis or in a suburb of a metropolis you will get great reception. if your out in the boonies some where then your reception will be pretty crappy.

 

[cgdef]

I thought that was the case with most radios without an amplified antena.

 

[buffpants24]

Is there any kind of way I can make a powered (by a 9v batt.) portable antenna for my Micro?

 

[Cyclone]

rule number one, powered antenas are not portable by any means. rule number two, dont bother having a powered anything attatched to a portable device that sounds good anyways cause you just defeat the purpose of having a portable device. i dont get the whole amping a portable device thing,

ya its nice to have great sounding music but if you have to amp a tiny portable device then dont bother getting it cause its no longer portable.

 

[Icy006]

Are you saying you don't understand amplifying music playback on portable devices, Cyclone (as opposed to amplifying FM signals)?

Well, it comes down to people's priorities. In my case, I listen all day at work. My only portability requirements are that I can lug my equipment to work and back each day with minimal trouble. I have a tiny Zen Micro. Why not add a little portable amp and up my sound quality?

On the other hand, I'm nut lugging some bulky box around (and not leaving stuff at work either, for fear of theft).

If I want to go jogging or something I'll leave the amp at home. Not focusing on the music then anyway, and I'm also using crappy earbuds instead of nicer cans.