Zen X-Fi3 Lock-up problem with .ogg files?

[chex]

Hello:

I just purchased my new X-Fi3 from Amazon, and its a cute little player. I am coming from a Rockbox installed Sansa Clip, so a bit of a adjustment on the flowery interface, but its OK.

One major problem I am having, ogg files do NOT work with this player. Right when a ogg track is about to play, the player will lock up hard, and I have to hit the reset button to restart the player. This is bad for me, since I rip and listen to most of my music in Quality-1 OGG format, which is a tight, but good codec for listening on a portable device.

I assume there is a bug, and the firmware will have to get upadted to fix this, but anyone else use/listen to Ogg and run into this issue? I have a support ticket/email in with Creative support, so I'll see what they say. ( I know people don't bother with Ogg anymore as storage sizes are so huge, but I'm a annoying purist.. :P )

-- Stefan in Montreal

[skip252]

Welcome to ABi

I'd check to be sure your codec of choice is supported. Looking at the front page article I don't see Ogg Vorbis as one of the supported formats. In a quick look at the Creative site I didn't see it mentioned there either.

[chex]

Uhhhhh. Well, that's really odd because the player is having no problem playing the file-format, except for occasionally but consistently locking up right at the beginning of playing a track. I also seem to vaguely remember seeing that this player did support Ogg, which is one reason I purchased it.

Thanks for the welcome! I've lurked here for years, just created a acct today so I could post.

... wow, after looking at the creative site, and my paperwork on the player, your right that it doesnt say it supports the ogg format. Well, I guess ill see what Creative Support says. :/

-- stefan

Originally Posted by skip252

Welcome to ABi

I'd check to be sure your codec of choice is supported. Looking at the front page article I don't see Ogg Vorbis as one of the supported formats. In a quick look at the Creative site I didn't see it mentioned there either.

[skip252]

From the Creative X-Fi 3 page

Enjoy your music even more in FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) format. The player also supports non-protected AAC (.M4A) files from iTunes Plus® besides the usual MP3, WMA (DRM9), Audible Format 4 and Audible AAX formats.

It's not unheard of for a player to have undocumented features. This may be one of those times.

If the playing of vorbis files isn't documented I'm not sure how much help CS can be. They usually are reading from scripts designed to help with known or possible issues arising from the formats they support. If there's nothing in their scripts about a undocumented feature they may just tell you what you're using isn't supported and suggest you use a format that is.

I'd still contact them. I'm just saying don't raise your blood pressure if you're told they can't help. Who knows?

Best of luck with this and let us know how it works out.

[chex]

OK, Fair enough, and now that I am thinking about this more. Years ago, before I used Rockbox I remember shopping for players and Creative ones were always out of the running because they didn't support ogg, but Cowin and Sansa did.

Was just desperate for a fast player replacement since my Clip II halfway died, I haven't had time to troubleshoot it, and the BT feature on this player looked interesting and handy ( which it is... ) . I may have to sell it and get something else. more headache!

Yeah, suggest using a different format is not an option, I have a librrary of 20+ gigs of Music in Ogg, not switching just for a player wont support it.

why is it always so difficult to buck the tech trends.. *sigh*

Thanks for your advice and input.

Originally Posted by skip252

From the Creative X-Fi 3 pageIt's not unheard of for a player to have undocumented features. This may be one of those times.

If the playing of vorbis files isn't documented I'm not sure how much help CS can be. They usually are reading from scripts designed to help with known or possible issues arising from the formats they support. If there's nothing in their scripts about a undocumented feature they may just tell you what you're using isn't supported and suggest you use a format that is.

I'd still contact them. I'm just saying don't raise your blood pressure if you're told they can't help. Who knows?

Best of luck with this and let us know how it works out.