iAUDIO 7 Vorbis distortion

[Rotareneg]

I got my iAUDIO 7 on Tuesday and, after updating the firmware to 1.15, had loaded it up with Ogg Vorbis files (-q2.0, ~96 kbps.) When listening to certain tracks I noticed a strange high-pitched distortion accompanying deep bass. I have all EQ and other JetEffect settings turned off. I then tried both an MP3 and a FLAC sample of the same track and they sounded fine, it's just Vorbis files that have problems, even at higher bitrates. I recorded the output with my computer, here's four spectrograms showing the output from the player and the Vorbis file itself:



You can see the additional distortion in the Vorbis playback compared to the orignal Vorbis file, it looks and sounds a lot like aliasing.

I tried to attach a 3 meg zip containing the recorded output from the player and the original Vorbis file, but it failed every time...

[Rotareneg]

Did a little research and perhaps they're using a buggy/older version of Tremor, the fixed-point Vorbis decoder.

[GSV3MiaC]

What program did you use to get the spectrogram? .. maybe I can try it on my unit to see if it is a common problem, or just a problem with your particular I7 (unlikely, but not impossible).

Also what particular sort of music .. Oh, and at the risk of completing an infinite loop, there is a discussion about it over at:

http://www.iaudiophile.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=16680

[Rotareneg]

I used Spectrum Lab. The music was the begining of the "Ending titles" track of the TRON soundtrack.

I've read the threads linked in the other thread at iAudiophile.net, and since the D2 uses pretty much the same CPU as the i7 (and most of their other DAPs for that matter) hopefully COWON or Telechip will fix it.

I switched to MP3 for the time being.

[GSV3MiaC]

Ok, I turned it in as a Q&A & forum item over at Cowonglobal, so there is a faint chance it'll get on the list with the other I7 firmware issues. Of course they don't even admit to having release 1.15 yet, so who knows when we'll see a fixed version over here ..

[Kalkas]

Originally Posted by Rotareneg

I got my iAUDIO 7 on Tuesday and, after updating the firmware to 1.15, had loaded it up with Ogg Vorbis files (-q2.0, ~96 kbps.)

My ogg-files sounds great in iAudio 7. What kind of encoder do you use for ripping to ogg? I am using CDex 1.70 (Beta 2).

Kind regards,
Kalkas

[sprockkets]

The U3 also sounds good, but still has the problem mentioned here. Most of your songs will not exhibit the issue, but for one that does it pisses you off, since this is a player marketed for audiophiles.

[pellgarlic]

i know this is a relatively old post, but i came across it myself when looking for info about this problem, so thought it would be a good place to put an update...

i just wanted to share some new info with anyone who already owns, or is thinking about getting an iaudio 7 - there is a new firmware release - 1.18 (go here: http://www.cowonglobal.com/ to get it) - which fixes this particular problem (the vorbis distortion).

it was a significant problem for me (as my music collection is predominantly in ogg-vorbis format), but i didnt find out until after i had purchased the player. to be honest, i couldn't find another player which ticked all the boxes for me that the i7 does, so i was pretty peeved, and loathe to start the hunt for an alternative, so i emailed cowon support (as many other people have probably done too) and got a few replies, the last one being a few days ago, saying they were releasing a fix

i have now downloaded it and tested it, and can confirm that it has resolved the distortion-caused-by-low-frequency problem. may i say... "woohoo!"

(any eagle-eyes out there may spot that i pasted the exact same message in a couple of other places... didn't think it was worth re-typing it in different words, but did think it was info worthy of mass dissemination... )

[Lamar44]

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[kenneth659]

I listened to everything on an iAudio 7 with the equalizer set to flat and all the sound effects turned off. Sound Quality(6.8/10).bass is nice and deep, slightly exaggerated, but still pleasant to listen to. I Know You Are(7/10) – bass, as expected, is nice and vivid. Distortion was too high near the beginning of the song, but gradually leveled off. Highs were nice and crisp, but mid tones were lacking. Instrument separation.
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