Hiss from Archos 504 into car radio aux input

[turf]

I use a 504 to play music through the aux input of a car stereo. Sometimes, there is a good deal of hiss such that I have to turn down the aux input gain on the stereo to minimum (-8dB). Other times it is fine at a gain of 0dB or even +4dB. It is not the music since I have heard this, or not, on the same tracks. I have tried three different aux cables and the intermittent problem has occurred on them all so it is not the cable. It could be a coincidence but it appears to be worse when the battery of the 504 is less than half charged. I have never heard this hiss when using the 504 with headphones.

Could it be the player building up a charge (although it does not lessen the problem to touch the unit)? Are there any other reasons it would do this?

turf

[Phong]

I was auditioning a set of Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 3 headphones last week, and heard quite a bit of hiss on the 504 (I've never noticed the hiss while using my Etymotic ER6i's). I read recently on a review of the 605 that the x04 line has a history of hiss, so I guess it's something that's always been there and is just more noticeable under certain circumstances.

In the car, I usually have the Archos volume at 3/4 max and adjust the car stereo volume to a comfortable listening level. I haven't noticed much hiss (though my exhaust line has a hole, so it's hardly a quiet environment in which to hear anything )

-phong

[dfkt]

If you look around the net, it's the general consensus that the x04 series has bad sound quality... noone ever said anything good about it.

[turf]

I am thinking now that the problem is not with the 504, but with the head unit of the stereo. When I turn down the volume of the 504, the hissing is constant. If I turn down the 504 volume to 1/2 or 3/4 and turn up the volume of the head unit, the hissing is much louder, actually unbearable, so I would guess that this means that it is not the 504.

Soooo, is there any mode I can put the 504 in, without reformatting it, that it would appear as a USB stick file system to the head unit, which also has a USB input? The head unit does not recognize the 504 as a USB input, saying "no support". I know this is a long shot, but it would be ideal for this purpose if it could be done.

turf

[szap]

Don't know what experience you have had with other players and the aux on your car stereo, but we travel a good deal and drive rental cars and have found that hiss in the aux input on car stereos seems to be the norm regardless of what player we are using. We have used the Archos 504, a Creative Zen Micro, a Creative Zen V + and a portable DVD player on car aux inputs in different make cars and have experienced a great deal of hiss with all of them.