Meizu *killing* one channel of any headphones connected?

bobbobm

The other evening I was listening to a little Talking heads on my heretofore trust M6 (had it about six months) on about volume level 20 (not high, that is to say) when the right channel went out. I figured, ok, well it's those cheapo pack-in earbuds, they've just died. To test it out, I plugged them into my laptop--and sure enough, no sound from the right channel.

So I bought another pair of relatively inexpensive, $30 JVC "Air Cushion" canal-phones. And tonight I plugged them in for the first time--sound out of both channels as expected. . . for about 3 seconds, and suddenly no right channel.

So I think--ok, maybe it is the player, which sucks. But I try the headphones out on a laptop--and no sound in the right channel! These are brand-new, never-used headphones.

So what's going on? Is the right channel on my Meizu not only inoperable itself, but determined to kill the right channel of any headphones connected to it? Is that even possible--can a headphone jack fry connected headphones, on low volume? I've owned probably 40 devices with headphone jacks in my life, and I've never had something as weird as this happen. Am I out a player *and* unreturnable headphones?

Thanks in advance for any advice. . .

mbarry

Hello and Welcome to Meizu Me. No, I do not think it is possible to fry headphones with a player. Even if it was possible, both sides would go out, not one. To fix this, I would suggest to update to the latest firmware, S2.004.3. The FAQ has info on how to upgrade. Hope this helps.

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bobbobm

Could you explain to me how upgrading the firmware would fix a problem that hasn't occurred with the firmware I have (2.004.2, I think) for six months?

I'm also unsure of how the problem could leap from the firmware to my headphones, once they're no longer connected to the Meizu. The right channels of two pairs of headphones are now ruined, after being plugged into the M6. . .

Pytak

Your battery is starting to die (... at six months of usage? hm) and delivers too much voltage to the audio jack
or
something on the mainboard near the jack (or the jack itself) is shorted (was the player exposed to rain or high humidity?).

mbarry

The firmware could be corrupted, or Pytak is also right about a possible main board short. I'm not so sure about a low battery though.

Pytak

Not exactly low, but malfunctioning (over-voltage).

IMHO the firmware can't simply get angry and destroy headphones from time to time, I'm nearly sure it's a hardware problem.

Th3_uN1Qu3

My M6SL killed the right channels of the bundled PT-850 earbuds too, but at first the right one started ringing a lot, i was listening to rap at pretty high volume and it was raining, probably the right phone died coz it got wet.

I use some Sony earbuds now that i had lying around, they've been working nicely for almost a week but i'm gonna get some Creatives soon as my Sonys are old and have that "ringing" on bass due to heavy usage over time.

bobbobm

Thanks for the feedback, all. I can't imagine the battery would be dying--I've had it six months, but averaging probably less than 30 min. use per day.

I would doubt it was exposed to rain, though I do live in Portland, OR so it's possible--I always keep it in my pocket when I'm outside. If something did get at all wet/shorted--I assume this is permanent? I don't want to kill any more headphones with the player. . . but the fact that it has worked momentarily (as well as the "killed" headphones) is tantalizing.

I'll try updating the firmware, but I concur with Pytak--seems unlikely firmware would become a headphone murderer. It's definitely a physical problem, if it's affecting other devices, no?

Th3_uN1Qu3

Try hooking it up to a pair of cheapo computer speakers and letting it play all day long. Those can't be fried easily so you won't have to worry about them anyway. :P

If the right speaker starts sounding bad after a while or makes a buzzing noise instead of playing music, then the problem lies in the player. If they exhibit no issues, then you just had two bad pairs of earphones.

Pytak

Or get a line-in cable, plug it to the M6 and measure output of the left and right channel.
You can plug it to your PC, play some white noise on your M6 (you can find some on findsounds.com) and use some sound recording program like GoldWave to see waveforms of each channel. If the waveform of the right channel is bigger than the left one, this means that your player's jack is malfunctioning.

Remember,

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