Less than 6 hours of battery life

frankmulder · 11-06-2006, 02:56

Lately, it seemed that I had to recharge my battery very often, so I decided to do a test: after a full charge I let it run without EQ or any effects, and without skipping songs etc.

Well what was the result? I got 5 hours and 49 minutes. That seems horribly low considering the advertised battery life of 14 hours.

It must be said that all files played were Ogg Vorbis q5, so it's not exactly the same as the 'ideal' circumstances.

I followed all mentioned guidelines of batteryuniversity.com. I've only had this player for about 6 months now.

So my question is: is this normal? Will an RMA help? I mean, when they replace the battery with one that lasts equally short, that doesn't make sense.

doniago · 11-06-2006, 08:25

How long have you had your player? 6 hours isn't necessarily that unreasonable if you've owned it for a long time.

frankmulder · 11-06-2006, 10:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by doniago

How long have you had your player? 6 hours isn't necessarily that unreasonable if you've owned it for a long time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankmulder

I've only had this player for about 6 months now.

I don't think 6 months is a 'long time'.

Wolfsbane68 · 11-07-2006, 08:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankmulder

I don't think 6 months is a 'long time'.

Ogg Vorbis files are notorious for draining the battery much faster. Can you repeat your experiment with, say, 1 mp3 song encoded at 128 bps in a loop?

frankmulder · 11-07-2006, 09:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wolfsbane68

Ogg Vorbis files are notorious for draining the battery much faster. Can you repeat your experiment with, say, 1 mp3 song encoded at 128 bps in a loop?

Well I read here on these forums that what counts most is the hard disk access, so using Ogg shouldn't matter much actually.

Repeating 1 mp3 song encoded at 128 kbps will require only 1 disk access (as the entire song will fit in the buffer memory), so that's not a fair comparison (it might give more that 14 hours, actually

). But I'll try to find some more mp3s to make a fair test (or encode some of my flac files as 128 kbps mp3).
Thanks for replying.

EDIT: I encoded an entire album with "lame --preset 128". My X5 now says 'VBR', I hope that's not a problem. But maaaaaaan, my music sounds horrible at this 'quality' level.

Zeus's Uncle · 11-07-2006, 13:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankmulder

I encoded an entire album with "lame --preset 128". My X5 now says 'VBR', I hope that's not a problem. But maaaaaaan, my music sounds horrible at this 'quality' level.

Hmm, weird. When I encode with CBR that spot shows the bitrate, but my VBR mp3s it reads VBR just like yours. What'd you use to encode?

frankmulder · 11-08-2006, 02:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeus's Uncle

Hmm, weird. When I encode with CBR that spot shows the bitrate, but my VBR mp3s it reads VBR just like yours. What'd you use to encode?

Well, like I said: "lame --preset 128". Which means:

Code:

For ABR modes (high quality per given bitrate but not as high as VBR):

     "--preset <kbps>"  Using this preset will usually give you good
                             quality at a specified bitrate. Depending on the
                             bitrate entered, this preset will determine the
                             optimal settings for that particular situation.
                             While this approach works, it is not nearly as
                             flexible as VBR, and usually will not attain the
                             same level of quality as VBR at higher bitrates.

So it's been encoded with ABR. I didn't choose CBR because of this:

Code:

   "cbr"  - If you use the ABR mode (read above) with a significant
            bitrate such as 80, 96, 112, 128, 160, 192, 224, 256, 320,
            you can use the "cbr" option to force CBR mode encoding
            instead of the standard abr mode. ABR does provide higher
            quality but CBR may be useful in situations such as when
            streaming an mp3 over the internet may be important.

Should I do another test with CBR after having tried ABR (which I will do today)?

jshant · 11-08-2006, 13:52

Would it be coincidence that the other two guys at my office that have the X5 have sent theirs in for battery related repair as well as myself ? ( Mine is now in for the second time with battery issues. ) All X5s bought at different times and from different merchants ?

I dont use anyhing but low bitrate voice recording mp3s. They use music MP3s

frankmulder · 11-09-2006, 04:26

Well here is the result of my test: I started my X5 to repeat 10 tracks (MP3, 128 kbps), and let it play during ±6,25 hours. Then I wanted to sleep, so I turned it off (otherwise I wouldn't be able to see when it shut off). Today I turned my X5 on, but it immediately shut off, saying 'Low battery'.

That's just slightly more than 6 hours of battery life (and more of less confirms my claim that Ogg Vorbis doesn't use much more battery; to really test it I should do another test with Ogg Vorbis @128 kbps). Maybe it would have become 6,5 or so if I had let it play continuously instead of shutting it off and turning it on again, but I can't image that it would matter very much.

So again the question: does it sound right to send this device in for RMA (maybe not immediately, but of course before my warranty runs out)?

And jshant, I'm curious how many hours your X5 played before sending it in for RMA.

Harpy Prince · 11-11-2006, 05:14

I was about to make a new topic before I decided to browse the recent topics.

I'm having the same problem. I've had my X5 for a little over a year (My warranty expired last month...) and my battery seems to last about 2-4 hours. I charge it fully until it says 'completed' and then when I turn it on the battery bar goes from full to half in about a second. I mean I have all my sound settings low and the backlight at like 2s. Am I already needing a new battery? Anybody know how much it cost to get it replaced?

Sokudo Ningyou · 11-12-2006, 02:05

I've only had mine since February, and my battery is acting up as well. It definitely drains even when it's shut off, and I don't know how long it takes to fully charge on the USB, but I've had it going for nearly eight hours and it hasn't said "completed" yet. Really kicking myself for not buying the XL...

And I use Ogg Vorbis too. But come on. My old player didn't have this problem, and the battery life was nearly fourteen hours, just as advertised, with the same file quality.

doniago · 11-12-2006, 09:18

People have theorized it takes about 24 hours to get a full charge off USB (though that may be for the L). Really, if you can charge off AC you're much better off doing so.

frankmulder · 11-12-2006, 09:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sokudo Ningyou

And I use Ogg Vorbis too. But come on. My old player didn't have this problem, and the battery life was nearly fourteen hours, just as advertised, with the same file quality.

It's definitely a problem with the X5's battery then. So I should try to RMA it before my warranty expires...

Kiven · 11-13-2006, 17:31

I don't know about you guys but I believe my battery life shortened when I started doing the USB charging.

I've had my X5 since June 2005. Battery life was "normal" (not 14 hours but a decent 8-12 hours) for about one year. Recently (about 3 months ago) I started charging via USB and now my battery life seems less than 4 hours.

I just reformatted the hard drive and cleared up a LOT of space and now the battery life seems to be a little longer. I haven't done any tests though.

P.S. I use iAudio firmware version 2.10e.... don't mind the rockbox in my signature, I'm just too lazy to update it.

frankmulder · 11-14-2006, 03:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiven

I don't know about you guys but I believe my battery life shortened when I started doing the USB charging.

I always charge my X5 with the AC adapter, so at least in my case this wasn't the problem.

I contacted Cowon's support, and all they said was:

Quote:

Dear Frank Mulder,

Thank you for using iAUDIO X5.

The maximum playback time is 14 hours. Our company environment was like below:

No EQ
LCD off
MP3, CBR, 128kbps

Higher bit rates, VBR and MP Enhance "On" consume more power. So the playback time depends on what kind of file you were playing. If you play movie files, the playback time will be 2-3 times shorter than playing MP3 files.

If you have further questions, feel free to ask us again.
Thanks again for using the customer support at cowonglobal.com.

Regards,

COWON

I'm not ready with them.

11-06-2006, 02:56	#1
frankmulder Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Netherlands Posts: 478	Less than 6 hours of battery life Lately, it seemed that I had to recharge my battery very often, so I decided to do a test: after a full charge I let it run without EQ or any effects, and without skipping songs etc. Well what was the result? I got 5 hours and 49 minutes. That seems horribly low considering the advertised battery life of 14 hours. It must be said that all files played were Ogg Vorbis q5, so it's not exactly the same as the 'ideal' circumstances. I followed all mentioned guidelines of batteryuniversity.com. I've only had this player for about 6 months now. So my question is: is this normal? Will an RMA help? I mean, when they replace the battery with one that lasts equally short, that doesn't make sense.

11-06-2006, 08:25	#2
doniago I, Like, Do Stuff Here. Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Burlington, VT Posts: 4,652	How long have you had your player? 6 hours isn't necessarily that unreasonable if you've owned it for a long time. __________________ DonIago Iron Mod "When you do things right, people won't be sure you did anything at all."

11-08-2006, 13:52	#8
jshant Junior Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 9	Weird... Would it be coincidence that the other two guys at my office that have the X5 have sent theirs in for battery related repair as well as myself ? ( Mine is now in for the second time with battery issues. ) All X5s bought at different times and from different merchants ? I dont use anyhing but low bitrate voice recording mp3s. They use music MP3s

11-11-2006, 05:14	#10
Harpy Prince Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 1	It's a good thing I browsed the topics first. I was about to make a new topic before I decided to browse the recent topics. I'm having the same problem. I've had my X5 for a little over a year (My warranty expired last month...) and my battery seems to last about 2-4 hours. I charge it fully until it says 'completed' and then when I turn it on the battery bar goes from full to half in about a second. I mean I have all my sound settings low and the backlight at like 2s. Am I already needing a new battery? Anybody know how much it cost to get it replaced?

11-12-2006, 02:05	#11
Sokudo Ningyou This Space For Rent Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 54	I've only had mine since February, and my battery is acting up as well. It definitely drains even when it's shut off, and I don't know how long it takes to fully charge on the USB, but I've had it going for nearly eight hours and it hasn't said "completed" yet. Really kicking myself for not buying the XL... And I use Ogg Vorbis too. But come on. My old player didn't have this problem, and the battery life was nearly fourteen hours, just as advertised, with the same file quality. __________________ "I'm looking for backing for an unauthorized autobiography that I am writing. Hopefully, this will sell in such huge numbers that I will be able to sue myself for an extraordinary amount of money and finance the film version in which I will play everybody."

11-09-2006, 04:26	#9
frankmulder Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Netherlands Posts: 478	Well here is the result of my test: I started my X5 to repeat 10 tracks (MP3, 128 kbps), and let it play during ±6,25 hours. Then I wanted to sleep, so I turned it off (otherwise I wouldn't be able to see when it shut off). Today I turned my X5 on, but it immediately shut off, saying 'Low battery'. That's just slightly more than 6 hours of battery life (and more of less confirms my claim that Ogg Vorbis doesn't use much more battery; to really test it I should do another test with Ogg Vorbis @128 kbps). Maybe it would have become 6,5 or so if I had let it play continuously instead of shutting it off and turning it on again, but I can't image that it would matter very much. So again the question: does it sound right to send this device in for RMA (maybe not immediately, but of course before my warranty runs out)? And jshant, I'm curious how many hours your X5 played before sending it in for RMA.

11-12-2006, 09:18	#12
doniago I, Like, Do Stuff Here. Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Burlington, VT Posts: 4,652	People have theorized it takes about 24 hours to get a full charge off USB (though that may be for the L). Really, if you can charge off AC you're much better off doing so. __________________ DonIago Iron Mod "When you do things right, people won't be sure you did anything at all."

11-13-2006, 17:31	#14
Kiven Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Elk Grove, California, USA Posts: 222	I don't know about you guys but I believe my battery life shortened when I started doing the USB charging. I've had my X5 since June 2005. Battery life was "normal" (not 14 hours but a decent 8-12 hours) for about one year. Recently (about 3 months ago) I started charging via USB and now my battery life seems less than 4 hours. I just reformatted the hard drive and cleared up a LOT of space and now the battery life seems to be a little longer. I haven't done any tests though. P.S. I use iAudio firmware version 2.10e.... don't mind the rockbox in my signature, I'm just too lazy to update it. __________________ iAudio X5 (30 GB, Rockbox), Sony EX71SL in-ear phones (black), MisticAudio leather case. Friends don't let friends do DRM!

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