Topic: Archos Gmini 120

[timP]

I've made some good tapes with my SP mini mics with the sliding levels, and got no real pops or click at all..
def still getting way to many via spdif.

not to scare anyone, but mine is now on the fritz.
my girll has been using it daily for music, but I was running it as a backup the othernight via line in and the screen went crazy.. Now when it is charging there are 2 screwy batteries and while on everything is jumbled..
taking it back to Circuit City.....

[Sean Gallemore]

I'll be completing this budget rig with a battery-box and mic set.  I see a lot of info here about the SP setups... anybody got advice on the equipment from Giant-Squid or Dynamic Audio ?  SP offers volume controls on the battery-box... but I'm wary of sliders and pots becoming scratchy and noisy?  Are my concerns valid?

You can get the GS Omnis for $90, the DA omnis for $120, , the CS omnis for ~$230, and a SP cardiod battery box setup for $200.  I've had a chance to listen to all, and I find that the SP setup provides the best results, although perhaps not the most realistic representation.  The SP-CMC-2 mics (fixed cards) & the SP-SPSB-1 battery box w/ bass roll-off runs $200.  Upgrade to CMC-4s for $50 more, which offers interchangeable caps.

With my Sharp MD-MT770, I was fine running the SP battery box straight into it with no sliders.  However, one might run into problems at large festivals and acoustic shows, fme.

[timP]

Circuit City replaced mine no problem with the plan I had...
Figured I use mine for 6 weeks at maybe 25hrs a week and it went nuts on me...
the screen was jumbled and nothing would work..
luckily I was able to plug it in the USB and get all my tunes off it...
funny how the unit has no reset hole..
prob would have solved my problems......

[Riley]

I had that same exact problem a couple of weeks ago.  When charging, the thing would show multiple jumbled batteries and the screen was all screwed up and backward while I tried to use it.  I thought it was because it got too close to a welder at work or something.  I guess not.  I replaced it too, but that's definitely odd that both of ours did the same thing.

Also, I am doing a little work right now to build my own stealth mics and battery box.  This little unit is just too small to not make a killer stealth rig.  I'm going to build panasonic capsules into headphones, so it looks like I just have an MP3 player and some headphones.

I have to include an op-amp in the battery box in order to get the voltage up high enough for the Gmini's line in.  The whole thing runs off of just two AA batteries, so I can use the same rechargable ones I use in my DAT.  Looks like I should be able to get the whole thing done for about $20 or so.  From the specs on the caps and amp that I'm using it should sound really good.  From initial tests on the proto board it sounds good and works fine.  I'll post plans, results, etc. if anyone is interested.

Riley

[skua]

Riley... sounds cool! Sure would be interested in your battery box project... and your stealth headphones/microphone rig! :-)

[JasonSobel]

just got this not very promising email from archos:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Mr. Sobel,

This functionality which was added in version 1.4 of the OS updates, does have some "click" problems as you stated. It is for this reason that we never advertised the product as being able to do wav recordings (neither on the box nor on our web site). For some users this function does work fine (depending on the contents of their HD). Depending on the technical constraints, in a future version of the OS it may be fixed or just deleted.

-Curtis Broderick

Quality Engineer
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

this does not seem too promising  

[skua]

Well I'll be responding to that... I just got my unit... so far so good. The ONLY reason I bought it is because it CAN do WAV recording.  They better not remove that functionality!

I thought the problems were:
1. clicks and digi-pops when recording through SPDIF
2. clicks between WAV files on playback (playback is not seamless)

Sheeesh.

[phisherman2002]

I sent an email to Archos several days ago and got the EXACT same email reply as Jason Sobel. It doesnt seem like they are too concerned with our problem.

[JasonSobel]

Well I'll be responding to that... I just got my unit... so far so good. The ONLY reason I bought it is because it CAN do WAV recording.  They better not remove that functionality!

I thought the problems were:
1. clicks and digi-pops when recording through SPDIF
2. clicks between WAV files on playback (playback is not seamless)

those are the problems, although, the problem with SPDIF recording is a much bigger problem, IMO.  in all the emails I have sent to archos, I haven't even mentioned the clicks between wav files on playback.

It doesnt seem like they are too concerned with our problem.

unfortunately, it seems this way.

[skua]

My email to Tech Support... just expressing concern over the possible loss of a MAJOR feature... I'll let you guys know what response I get.

----------
"I'm a brand new Archos Gmini 120 customer... I bought my unit about 5 days ago.  One of the reasons I purchased this unit was because it has the capability to record to .WAV  in addition to .MP3 .

I did quite a bit of research prior to making my decision to go with the Archos unit, and although there are certain problems(*) with the Gmini 120 .WAV features I decided that the unit had the right combination of features for me.

*Known Problems
1) When recording to .WAV through the SPDIF input there can be audible digital imperfections in the recording
2) When playing back .WAV files there is an audible click or pop between tracks, playback is not seamless

My main interest is in recording live through the analog line-in.  The 2 limitations listed above are not of major concern to me. It is my understanding that recordings made through the analog line-in do not suffer from any problems whatsoever.

The statements made my Mr. Curtis Broderick (Archos Quality Engineer) indicate that future OS versions may eliminate the possibility of recording to .WAV entirely!  Just because the feature was never 'advertised' does not mean that Archos has no responsibility to their customers in regards to that feature.

I'd just like to say that so far I'm happy with my purchase. However, if the feature that I purchased this for is eliminated by a future 'upgrade' I will not be a happy customer.  Archos decided to release the feature to their customers... it would be completely inappropriate to suddenly remove a major part of the devices functionality in the name of an OS Update.  I understand that Archos may be having trouble working out the digital recording problems (or that Archos does not wish to allocate resources to deal with these issues), however to remove the
feature just because there have been some problems would be a disservice to your customers. I know that I speak for a number of folks who have purchased the Gmini 120 specifically for it's .WAV recording abilities."
----------

[Brian Skalinder]

Skua - I understand your take, but just remember: you can always just not upgrade your firmware.

[JasonSobel]

you can always just not upgrade your firmware

true, but that leaves us without a clean digital input for recording  

[Brian Skalinder]

you can always just not upgrade your firmware

true, but that leaves us without a clean digital input for recording  

Understood, my comment was directed to Skua's situation specifically.

[skua]

Understand that I'm not excusing them from NOT trying to fix the faulty digital recording... I believe that they should. They introduced the feature... they should make it work. However... it's sounding like Archos isn't very interested in fixing that feature. In any case... I don't think it's right to 'take value away' from the consumer by removing or defeating features that are already present in a device... especially when those features are a major part of the devices functionality.

Sure... I could always forego upgrading my OS... and be forced into missing out on new features or improvements in performance... but I shouldn't have to.  

Personally I think that they should make an effort to fix the faulty digital WAV recording ... but if they are unable or don't want to commit the resources... why should they also destroy the ability to record WAV via the analog line-in?

[twatts (pants are so over-rated...)]

Understand that I'm not excusing them from NOT trying to fix the faulty digital recording... I believe that they should. They introduced the feature... they should make it work. However... it's sounding like Archos isn't very interested in fixing that feature. In any case... I don't think it's right to 'take value away' from the consumer by removing or defeating features that are already present in a device... especially when those features are a major part of the devices functionality.

Sure... I could always forego upgrading my OS... and be forced into missing out on new features or improvements in performance... but I shouldn't have to.  

Personally I think that they should make an effort to fix the faulty digital WAV recording ... but if they are unable or don't want to commit the resources... why should they also destroy the ability to record WAV via the analog line-in?

The easy answer:  MONEY.

It costs money to fix all the faulty units and replace all the bad units.  It is more cost effective to just get rid of it.  Most users will never know the difference.

And really, my paranioz tells me that RIAA wasn't too happy with NJB3 and GMINI being able to pirate CDs digitally, so there might be pressure there...

Nomad has already (kinda) replaced the NJB3 with the (inferior) Muvo.

Terry



Terry