MP3/4 issues and problems
 

First of all, I apologize if I post anything (i.e. any issue) that can be found in another post. It's just that my ipod nano clone has several issues and I don't have time to search for them all (although, I will be searching later for any additional info).

These are a few of the issues that is causing confusion or that I would like to solve ASAP:
1) The player arrived today. It came with a 'mini' disc (aka 'portable disk?'). HUH? This is typical? I was expecting the standard size. I have no player for this disc. I am hoping I can use the MP3 Utilities provided by this site instead. Is this possible?
2) When I opened the packaging, the player came on for a few seconds and then shut off. I am assuming the battery is too low and the player needs to be recharged. Would this be the reason? I notice there is a 'dead player' category on the forum. I am hoping there is no problem here with my player. I plugged it in with the recharger and there is, currently, a red and green light.

3) I read the procedures for 'examining the player hack' and I'm hoping to try this very soon (as soon as it's recharged or I find out what's going on).

Btw, additional info:
* 4GB player, black, came with skin that doesn't cover the screen...

4) I would like to replace the skin. Do ipod skins fit on these players and the would like it to cover the screen or are all of them cut in this way?

5) I assume I need an adapter for the headphones. Is this a pita for anybody? Will this annoy me at all? I didn't know about this before buying the player. I'm asking this because I will probably upgrade the headphones.

Re: MP3/4 issues and problems
 

Hi:
1) The mini disk should actually work fine in a normal cd drive, as long as you position it in the middle of the tray (in the circular indent), but the mp3 utilities on this site should work similiarly to the ones on the disk.
2) It's probably not dead, just needs to be recharged. If you've got a red and green light on the charger that's usually a good sign (at least on mine it was)

As for the headphones, I'd say don't bother, just upgrade. The headphones are generally pretty bad, but then again, the adapter is pretty cheap.

Podder , GODVer3 would have answered most of your questions. However, do avoid charging your player via the AC adaptor for prolonged period of time. The adaptors are kind of dodgy, and might fry your player if it is overcharged. Use the computer's USB port as far as possible.

i would be wary of 4GB, do give it a format and verify your actual capacity.

As for the skins, ipod nano skins would fit snuggly, however the position of the buttons would be out. Also, as well the screen (nanos are 1.2", clones are 1.5" & 1.8"), and earphone socket (some clones have them on the side).

Get the 2.5mm to 3.5mm adaptor. You would be glad you did, as the supplied earphones are usually crappy. i bought mine from this seller in ebay http://stores.ebay.com.au/cheapiz88
The prices are cheap and adaptor/earphones are also of good quality.

Podder, if it ain't a Teclast or a Meizu (brandnames) you have bought a player with hacked memory, pretending to have more memory than actually there. Can you give us the link to the advertisement or the seller?

GODVer3, thanks! I didn't realize the mini disk might work in the regular burner so I used the mp3 utilities from this site. I followed the instructions and everything was okay as far as I know. I didn't have to format to FAT as per the instructions which stated I didn't have to follow the step (#4) since my memory % was '0%.' Yep, it's a 2GB player. I guess I will be requesting my money back. Yeah, good luck to me.

Thank you, lattesurf! Unforuntately, I left the adapter plugged in for a while so I hope I didn't do any damage. I didn't know it could be potentially hazardous. I was even concerned at first but I thought it would stop recharging and just sit there. How long does it take to charge for a clone?

Also, I thought the red and green light didn't mean it was charged. Shouldn't the red light change to a green? The player shuts off really quickly if I'm not doing anything on it. It's really difficult to read the battery status. I don't like that about the player most of all, I think. I don't think it should be turning off and going dark. Something is wrong and I don't think it's recharging properly. It's really annoying.

One other annoyance is it's a bit confusing to navigate. But, the battery thing is bothering me the most.

Edit: sorry, almost forgot... FYI, ebay seller's id name is 'ultromall.'

Podder , a normal charge time via a computer's USB would take about 2 hours, and would give you at least 3-4hours of music playtime with power-saving features.
An AC adaptor would charge it faster, due to higher ratings, but generally not recommended.

podder you will get used to the navigation system in mp4 players.

also charging takes 2-3 hours and i would recommend you to charge using the ac adapter. the ac adapter has various ways to indicate that it has finished charging - the common one is that one of the light will switch off.
if your player still switches off, make sure that in settings - the power off and sleep mode are set to 0. also the light on the screen goes off to save the battery life, which you can modify too in the settings (lcd - darken/black)

You can also buy the headphone adapter at RadioShack for about $5 if that is easier for you.
Edit: I forgot that this one is just a straight adapter. I would be worried that you could hit it and damage the player jack. Jack info

Re: MP3/4 issues and problems
 

Thanks, guys! I haven't bought earphones yet. Should I search and/or post a new msg for this? I was hoping someone could recommend quality earphones. I read there are some Koss ones that are good.

In reply to some followup posts:
I went to the power save options and I have two settings, sleep time and power off. Edit: I went to admin's post for the 'how to' on set time and power off time. I think I might have solved this issue. I hope so. I made the changes according to the instructions in the post so hopefully this will prevent the player turning off all the time. Thanks, admin!

I didn't buy an adapter yet. I will be looking into this.

Finally, my main concern currently is the quality of my recordings or should I say, the quality of the sound of the mp3s loaded onto the player. I am thinking that, perhaps, this should be a separate post. It might already be an issue with these ipod clones and maybe I will find other posts on this?

My problem is that I have some songs that 'crackle' or have distorted sounds. There is crackling on some songs while others sound clear. In addition, some songs have the bit rate constantly changing. The mp3s are from various downloads. When I play these same songs in WMP or VLC, for e.g., they sound fine.

Can anyone comment on this, specifically? How would an ipod fare with mp3s not bought from iTunes in comparison to these clones?

Podder , those music files with the bitrate changing are the VBR-encoded mp3 files. While these will play fine on any computer or brand-name mp3 players, they are not recommended on the current player you have.

These files require extra processing power to decode as compared to fixed bitrate files. The nano-clones do not have as much processing power as the computers or brand-name players. Thus, some sounds distorted.

So basically, try to re-encode these VBR files to a fixed rate like 128 or 192kbps.