Hey guys!

For all you owners of the Creative Zen Vision:M, come and drop by a line! This is some of the stuff you can do here:

*Share why you choose black instead of white!
*Did you buy it for movies or music?
*Which firmware you are using!
*How long did does it take to transfer 1GB of data!
*What cool accessories you have!
*Is yours a scratch magnet?
*How do you carry yours?
*What is your player/can combo?

And so on!

To read more about Zen Vision:M, refer to:

Hikaru's Vision:M Bulk - Comparison Writeup! Thanks Hikaru for allowing to link to your post

About the great debacle of iPod or Vision:M, read here:

The Great Debate - Creative vs Apple, Zen Vision:M or Ipod 5G/6G

Owner List!
========

1. johnliew - Black - Grado SR60, Creative EP-480, Sennheisser CX300
2. khtan2000 - color unknown - can unknown
3. creap - color unknown - Sennheisser CX300
4. supazta - Black - Philips SHP200 and SHP1000.
5. fizyboy - color unknown - can unknown
6. surferx - White - can unknown
7. Jackieboy - White - can unknown

This post has been edited by johnliew: Jul 29 2006, 10:40 AM

Here's the low down:

I got mine last night from My Gadgets, Ground Floor, Low Yat Plaza, KL @ RM1160! How I bargained was, because Creative is currently running a promotion, which bundles Vision:M with Creative's own HN-505 "Noice-Canceling" Headphones, which is, er.. crap, IMHO. The headphones "costs" RM129, and the bundle price is RM1299.

So I told the My Gadget guy (Kelvin, nice guy), that I have no need the the headphones, so give me good discount based on the value of the headphones la!

Anyway, mine is black, currently coupled with Grado Labs SR-60. Will be "inheriting" my cousin's secret headphone amp soon

Tranfer rate is outstanding so far (my current MP3 library is about 1.2GB, and took about roughly 2 mins (not scientifically calculated though). Will update all later.

I immediately flashed to firmware version 1.30.02 (as the previous released 1.40.02 was faulty, according to Creative forum @ http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board?board.id=pmc, and an interesting surprise is that, all setting and data was kept! This is my first firmware upgrade of any device that kept everything intact!

Tip: Firmware upgrade requires that the battery to be almost fully charged, as the installer will not allow it if it thinks it's to low <30%.

My only small gripe about the firmware, is maybe the touch strip is more sensative than before, even after I changed the sensativity to Low. Maybe it's my perspiring hands, maybe not

So far so good, a couple of episodes of Lost (HDTV rip), Top Gear <chuckles> and smooth sailing so far. All played without issues.

Will update all when I have more millage on it

previously no complain on my part...after having it for about a month plus now i do

firstly, my fm radio just went dead few days ago, previously not using this function usually but tried yesterday, couldnt work...it hang the whole player (when you tried autoscan or scan down etc), it got sound for first 1 sec then its muted when the bar for the radio and mono turns up(not due to the radio frequency as i could hear the radio station for 1 sec and the bar reads full or 1, then when you tried switching presets it will just give you no sound at all) ..well need to go warranty. Another thing is i tried uploading some mtv on to it, some says required to be convert, but after i convert and uploaded it, one gave me a black screen with no option to play, one totally hang my player.

btw mine comes with already presetted firmware version 1.30.02

you will get used to the touch strip after awhile

-edit-
it seems alot of ppl having these issues with radio as well...mine died after 2-3 weeks after the last usage for the radio function(previously was working flawlessly,didnt do anything with firmware or anything) ..try searching for radio problems in creative forums..will see tons of it..all diff thread..in my case..should be firmware bug cos its still working until the status bar and the mono thingy turns up in 1 sec...no point going for warranty yet..as some ppl still having the issues of radio going dead after few months despite changing to new units(got one guy change 5 times and the radio still went dead after a period of time)
http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/bo...scending&page=1

This post has been edited by khtan2000: Jun 8 2006, 11:40 AM

khtan2000: sorry to hear about that. I'll cross my finger <tight> As for the convertion, did you depend on the Creative software to do it? You might want to consider other <read:reliable> conversion software, e.g. Nero or DivX Pro.

As for the radio problem, did you try going into Recovery Mode and reload the firmware (not updating the firmware from PC, this is a Vision:M standalone function, pls refer to manual for full instruction). Failing that, reloading the firmware from PC is not a bad idea (since you don't lose data:)).

Hope this helps.

Hey guys,

Here is a scary one I went to compare do a AB auditioning of EP-480 vs Sennheiser MX500 in MediaPlex at Level 3, KLCC, and I got to eat my own words

I always insists that bundled earphones/cans are crap. But when I listened to Senn MX500, man oh man. Was I disappointed. I had to crank up the volume to level 20, repeated the track, Song 6 - Daniel Powter, and what I got was..totally no bass...nothing at all.. nadda... Mid and high were okey, and it probably did a better job in mids than the EP-480 (which came with my Vision:M), but EP-480 blow it out of the waters in terms of overall performance and bass.

So that's it folks, dun throw away the EP-480. Keep it as as spare (I got my Grado <evil grin>) and stay away from MX500... IMHO

lol..i did everything to recover but still cant including reflashing the firmware...feel there's some bug or some failure as the radio still works...until 1 sec later when the status bar and the mono word turn on (then no matter whats the status bar is 1-3 or anything, no sound will come out again)..dont know what happen as previously the radio function still works...tried yesterday to see whats on radio when i discovered this problem. probably i just wait awhile (until end of this month i hope)to see any new firmware available as i dont see any point of doing rma when the problem recurring after few weeks/months apart from getting new player(from what i see in creative forum)

yup, you are right..using the creative bundled software..but now im using other converter to convert...faster than creative's ones.

i feel the ep480 is too big for my ears...sound wise its good but sadly not comfortable. use only one time before getting myself the ep630 instead...just for ear comfort, regarding the bass and stuff...feel like average only

hey guys and gals,

Creative Zen Vision M has a line out port/function so i can bypass internal amp?

I was wondering if anyone tried to hook a portable amp to the player, if so is the lineout signal too strong/loud etc?

LittleGhost: Plenty of documented cases where people hook their portable MP3 players, especially iPods to headamps. Should not be a problem. If really needed to, you can use the Connector, the AV port as line out. You just need to disable video from the menu, and it'll become a line out port.

I just got mine today , totally disappointed with the function. The navigating button really , pissed me off . Others, i dont really want to comment , let others comment it .

Now i gave my ZVM to my sister as a gift , rather stick with my ipod 30gb . Ipod still rulez .

just got a reply from one of the forumer in creative forum...guess my bad luck then or good luck ..can constantly change new player every month until i get the good working ones or ..until the shop throws me out ..guess will go rma soon(1 more day to a month for my purchase)

my review on the player: navigating through the menu using the touch strip sure takes some effort(or patience)..sometimes tend to overshoot what you select or select the wrong thing. Another thing is only max of 16gB can be allocate to become your removable disc storage drive. Cant set more than that and also to use the drive, first need to go select the player as a drive before connecting it to usb, else the comp wont recognise it as a removable drive. Playing mp3 on this player is a hassle IMHO as somehow im not used to its play function, need to use playlist, if not your music will be jumble up together regardless of folder in one list(or you need to fill in every music file details, like author, genre etc in order to use the play mode option effectively)-also the album art not displayed correctly, if one album art is available for one song and you copy all the songs in that specific folder, the player assumes the album art is for all songs(imagine like having some album art for all the songs in the folder regardless of what author is it). Foremost, for video there is no playlist, finish one video, you need to select another one manually (probably this will be fixed in upcoming firmware update). another thing is the four buttons (back,next, menu, play ) is kinda hard to press due to the design

On the other hand, quite alot of video format is supported, quite alot of function(black light intensity,radio, mic etc). Sound output is quite satisfactory with adjustable EQ.
well, for me, im still satisfied with the creative product apart from the radio function failure

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm interesting.

Johnliew, have you tried amping the ZVM? I'm currently having a headache with line out signals being too strong, resulting very high volumes. Will the ZVM have similar issues?

mx500 is crap

who told you that the thing is 'high-end'?

Could be navigation issue over functions

While Ipod offer more ergonomics controls, Vision M has more functions. ZVM nav does not bad at all

anyway, can I be your sister for another free Vision M

perhaps this is the way creative players work...first time i use my micro i have the same feeling too, the touchpad is way too sensitive.

But now, apparently i got the hang of it

ZVM radio failure eh, no biggie for me as I almost never use that function lol ( why the heck do you need radio when you have 30gb worth of songs/movies )

LittleGhost: I will find out for you, suppose to "inherit" a pocketamp from my cousin soon. I guess the result depends on the following (in order)

1. Earphones/headphones impedance- high impedance cans are harder to drive (need more volume), therefore could be a good thing for amp-ed situations e.g. like my Grados

2. Amp gain - some amps can switch btwn low and high gain settings, so when you feel it's "over-amped" (if there is such a word ), switch it to low gain

3. Player/source volume - for amped situation, always turn off the EQ and the volume shall never be more than 50%.

If all 3 fails, just seem that it a bad combi of everything You need to get higher impedance headphones (not earphones) and low gain amp...

Good luck~

Hey guys, about the stripepad, I have learned to feather touch it, instead of like how we are so used in using the notebook touchpad, which we usually put too much pressure on it.

By feather touching it the ZVM, it gets much more easier to control Guess it's like any other sensative (read:delicate) stuff huh?

David: Hey, sorry to hear that ZVM did not work for you It's all based on personal preference.

IMHO, ZVM is definately NOT for those who just listen to MP3 using default earphones (eek, especially the default iPod ones), in another words, for people that just want to listen to a lot of music, but not reaching audiophile levels.

ZVM is definately for the following group of people (IMHO anyway )
1. Audiophiles - it has way better Signal to Noice ratio than iPods (any model), plus it has adjustable EQ

2. TV series junkies - this is your's truely... I need to download and run to a train. It supports the mass majority of downloads ...oops, i mean "acquirable sources from the Internet...". iPod needs the dreaded Quicktime conversion, which even highend PCs will take some time.

3. Value for money people - aka me again! - It has microphone, comes with wall charger, (btw, USB charging kills batts), FM radio (yeah, I know, there are reports of the radio hanging)

Ok, my 20 cents worth (no longer 2 cent due to the inflation...)

Ah, i was looking for an informative reply like this. Thank you.

Line outs do not have volume control (refer to bolded quoted sentence). They simply bypass internal amp. So i'm not sure if the way you guys use the amps are correct or not. I thought we should use line outs instead of headphone out? However, i emailed Gary (electric avenues) about the situation and he said there are cases where people prefer headphones out -> amp than line out -> amp because it sounds much better and the latter signal output being too strong and loud.

Anyway, if i lower the gain will it affect the purposes of the amplifier? Otherwise should i make an inline attenuator?

eh, johnliew...is it true the usb charging could kill the battery ? i have been charging my player via usb almost everytime, while using as a external storage disc and uploading songs..

probably now cannot as i heard the firmware currently(although the same number as mine) its different from my original which can charge from any usb connection, the current firmware only allows computer with creative software installed to charge via usb(this is what i heard, not yet tested), also the current one now enables me to use my player while still connected to the usb cable(when no reading or uploading)

LittleGhost: Glad to help. Although unfortunately, this discussion is beyond ZVM discussion, sorry May I suggest the DIY Amp Club instead? (which I am hoping to join soon:))

The dai-kors and tai-kar-ches there can help you with the inline attenuator question...

DIY Amp Club

This post has been edited by johnliew: Jun 9 2006, 11:19 AM