X20 Random shutdowns? (not shock proof) & sound quality

[dimmy1985]

hi all

have had my x20 since sunday... 3 weeks ago i purchased a T30 only to find out that the x20 had come out, and had been released on minidisc.com.au 5 days after i got my t30! anyway i exchanged it no dramas (not from minidisc.com.au) and paid the diff for a 4gb version.

anyway, am mostly happy with it. however....

is anybody having problems with the player randomly shutting down? well not so much randomly, but after minimal shock? i.e i had to run for my bus the other day and the thing completely shut down. when turned on again, everything was in its place EXCEPT i had to go back to the track i was listening to (ie - did not resume from where it shut down). while on the bus i tested this out again, my shaking the unit up and down and tapping it - again the unit shut down. no biggie i thought, i don't use it for jogging or anything like that. although today, the player shut off three times when i placed it on a table. not too soft, not too hard, just normally placing it upon the table. happened again walking home downhill, so my stride is a little heavier. when i got home i "tested" it again by gently tapping it, and this time it was VERY sensitive and shut off immediately after the first tap. has anyone else had this problem? should i return to the manufacturer?

also with regards to sound quality - i'm a music student/muso and listen mostly to jazz and classical music (miles davis, wayne shorter, beethoven, ravel etc) and it usually soudns fine. however when listening to something like daft punk, there is some distortion in the bass around the 28+ volume mark. i am using the Jazz EQ as well. tenor saxophones and trumpets also distort a little too, although at higher volumes (due to the recordings being at a lower overall level). i am using senheiser px200 headphones and didn't notice any of these problems with my T30. has anyone had a similar experience?

it is a shame that i am having these problems as i really want to like this player! my t30 was great until i found out the x20 was out and at a very similar price (for the 2gb model). i kinda feel sad for my little t30 because i didn't experience any of these problems with it but the x20 just had so many more features (screen, video) for the same price!

anyway, your thoughts? have i got a dud?

[Step666]

It certainly sounds like you're just unlucky enough to have a faulty unit.

There's no reason it should just shut down due to minor knocks, there should be nothing in the player that is anything like that sensitive - even a HDD wouldn't be that fragile and this thing doesn't even have one of those. Also, the problems you've described, well you can see yourself from looking round the X-series forum that no-one else has reported anything similar (at least, the sensitivity thing that is, you're not the first person to question the sound quality or suggest that the player distorts when you use the EQ).

Have the player replaced or, if you don't think you'll be able to put up with the sound quality issues, change it for something else.

[eagle69]

Had mine for a couple of weeks mainly walking and the like , no such problems.

I like the sound quality

[snethsneth]

Hi!
I have no idea if this is the problem, but since it's a removeable battery it could very well be. I think :P My theory is that the battery is not placed correctly, so it loses contact with the player when you shake it. That would explain everything, I think. I do not have a x20 myself but im thinking of buying one, although the sound quality worries me a little bit.

[Step666]

That's a very good idea actually, I hadn't thought of that.

However, even if it is a problem with the battery moving around, it's still restricted to this particular player so the only sensible course of action remains to send the player back.

[dimmy1985]

yeah i theorised it may have been the battery

however, although there is some slight allowance for the battery to move, the point of contact moves with it as to ensure that it doesn't lose contact

since it's only a few days old i'm gonna stick it out for another week, see if these mytery issues magically disappear... if not it's on the phone to iriver!

[kasabian]

Basically the EQ on it are crap. And it kills Bass, I have noticed it, I redid all my rips at 320 and got some Sennheiser buds, still the same. Sooooo I ripped some CD's (I use Audiograbber) and set the .WAV normalization to 95% (it is default at 98%) and that made a huge difference. It may be worth dropping it to less that 95% for really bassy stuff. Also I use the Rock EQ - so I copied the values to the user defined one and just dropped the two at the far left a touch and it has been fine.

It needs better EQ's though.

[Sunhat]

Hello,

Last friday i received my new X20. i've had heard the critism about the control ring, but i had big expectations about the player's sound quality. I also ordered the sennheiser earplugs to improve it.

I am an iriver owner for the last 4 years since stepping over from MD. I uploaded some music and started listening. Haggis sound quality. All the music i listened to sounds like the elevator speaker. Bass is bad. I fished my iRiver igp-100 out of my drawer and started comparing (indeed with daftpunk, since is has all the frequences nice in the same track). Then i find myself listening in a nice pure blanket of sound, with warm basstones.

X20 again. I can't listen to this. I am going to send it back maybe it is a production error, but reading this thread i don't think so. Has iRiver steped over to just try to beat iPod, and did they let go soundquality? I don't hope so. If the other unit has the same terrifieing sound quality I think iRiver did it for me. Ashame, because even the controlring is getting better and better to me.

I dont hope i have to put my self conclusions on the X20 model.

Sunhat

[kasabian]

It's not so much the sound quality is crap, it is that the output is LOUD, very loud, combined with shoddy EQ's. Example, if you use Winamp, lots of MP3 have the same effect, the sound breaks up. You can get a decoder called Mad http://www.mars.org/home/rob/proj/mpeg/mad-plugin/ in the settings of that you can enable Automatic Clipping, and that stops that Bass buzz. My Zen Micro had a Volume Normalize on it (forget the name of the setting) and that did the same thing, if you left that off, the sound quality was abysmal, it had to be on. As the X20 doesn't have that you will have to do it yourself when you rip your CD's. Use Normalization in whatever ripping software you use. Audiograbber and EAC both have it. Set it to 95% or lower and you will find the sound calms down a lot. You can then crank the volume without it breaking up on Bass. Don't send it back, the replacement will have the same issue. It's not a fault, just that the output of the X20 is powerful.

Maybe it is something they should look into with the next Firmware, to attenuate the sound. I assume it is some kind of AGC that is needed on the output?

Note: I have no idea if I am right in what I am saying, but the .WAV normalization worked, and so i am just summising this is the problem.

Compared the sound of the X20 to my Zen Micro - turns out the Disco EQ I used to use sounds exactly the same as not using one on the X20 ie Normal. Seems the way to go is get some really good Earphones, leave the EQ off and let the phones do all the work.

[dimmy1985]

kasabian

yeah i know what you're on about. popular music tends to be much louder all across the record. jazz and classical music often peaks at 85% for like, half a minute over an entire record - more dynamics and subtleties to be heard through the rest of it!

and i'm definately getting it swapped over. i figured out exactly where the weakspot is - the edge around the hold button & just below the power button. i was listening yesterday and went to whack on the hold switch - my finger hit it harder than normal but like, in the overall scheme of things, not hard at all. just a harder than usual tap. and off it went. started the player again, playing a song, gave it a tap at the hold switch and off she went. turned it on, tapped it just below the power switch and off she went. taps to other parts were not so sensitive. i'm gonna send it back!!

[kasabian]

Good you spotted it. I have mine in my pocket all day, I don't abuse it, but it gets bounced about and I have no issues.

As for getting some good phones Sennheiser CX300 excellent.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-lis...5458680&sr=8-1

I used Rocco40, took 48 hours to arrive, factory sealed. It will be about a tenner with P&P for some £35+ phones. Absolute bargain.

[Sunhat]

Does this mean that i have to rip all my albums again, incl the albums my friens bought. Just to have good muzic quality? That will take me to long, with too muthc hustle. I think im goeing to listen to my mp3 discman again, and maybe MAYBE wait for the clix to have the soundquality agian iRiver claims.

Don't hang me up on this, but i think im dissapointed.

mvg
De Sunhat

[I*Love*My*Iriver]

im also very dissappointed with my x20 sound its almost so dodge for a iriver that i dont want to use it, ill be ptient and see what they do with thier next firmware release.... i have had a h120, a h340, a t10, and they all have been excellent wuality sound quality and that is what i was expecting of this new product from a company like iriver... so im abit dissapointed. and hope someone from iriver reads this thread subject. I have a Mpio M6 and it absolutely pisses over the iriver x20 it is excellent i mean brilliant sound, i use Koss the plug, Koss the Spark Plugs, and also Skullcandy, all very good bassy in earphones, but still sound crap on the iriver x20... so i dont really know what to do other that give iriver some more time on an update of sum sort.

[BBD]

Good to see you post again, ^. Hope all is well.

Back OT: sounds like a short somewhere, if not the battery. Chalk it up to bad luck...and a replacement! But if the sound Q is as bad as all that, replace it with...something else....

[Makaveli]

Never had a shutdown, skip.. sound quality is fine/great. No problems. I suspect you got a faulty unit as well.

[I*Love*My*Iriver]

good to c you 2 BBD, yeah maybe im just very picky.. but after having so many good quality sounding stuff from iriver its a bit of a let down.

[dimmy1985]

update:

called the iriver support centre here in brisbane yesterday, 2nd april. he said to send it back to them or take it back to the store, which will send it back for me.

i mailed it to them today, 3rd april.

will let u all know the results!

[nsx_23]

hmm.........I just bought a 2GB X20, and first impressions aren't too shabby, though I still think the scroll wheel is rubbish.

Sound quality wise, my H320 will easily kill it, but I don't think its as bad as what people are making it out to be (Tested with Shure E500 PTH). However, should I trade it in for a 2GB Clix instead?? I bought my X20 from JB hi-fi for AUD$150, and the staff told me that I have two weeks from Sunday to trade it in for a clix.

I would like to see them fix the EQ and add flash functionality for the next firmware update.

[kasabian]

@Sunhat, if you aren't happy with it send it back, I certainly have no intention of Hanging You Up. You bought the player to please you, not anyone else. Hell yes it is a pain in the butt re-ripping all your CD's. I was doing it on and off all week from 192 to 320 (atually there is a multi-thread version of Lame. On a dual core CPU it is FAST) - the sound works for me, doesn't mean it will work for you.

This is my first iRiver player, but as I already said, the Disco EQ on my Zen Micro is the same as having the EQ off on the iRiver, once I realised that, it has been fine. And due to adding a 2Gb card, redoing everything at 320 was worth it, as I couldn't fill it when ripped at 192. And they sound way better.

[Zydeco]

I have this on my player. Im thinking of doing a RMA just because i shouldnt have to fix it myself.

Anyway. Here's how you fix it. Its most likely the battery getting a bit loose in its cradle and losing contact. You can check if this is true for you by opening the battery deck on the back of the player, with the battery still in place, just put one or two fingers on it and press the battery to the down side of the player (the side that has the 3 golden metal contacts)

While you do this slam it against your palm and fling it around and see if it dies.
If it doesnt the battery just isnt in firm place.

You can remedy this by putting a piece of folden paper ontop of the battery to more firmly press it against the contacts.

I dont know how hot the battery can get and after what use. So be warned.