Creative Zen Micro FAQ
General
When will the Creative Zen Micro begin shipping? The Creative Zen Micro will begin shipping end Oct 2004. Details will be posted at www.creative.com What capacities are available? The Creative Zen Micro is available in 5GB capacity, using a micro-drive hard disk. What colours are available? The following colours are available • • • • • • • • • • Black White Silver Dark blue Light blue Red Purple Orange Green Pink
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How do I set the sensitivity of the Touch Pad? Go to the main menu, under system, you would see Player Settings, and see under Touch Pad. From there, you can choose a low, medium or high sensitivity touch control What are the 8 equalizer presets that are bundled with Creative Zen Micro? The following equalizer presets are available • • • • • • • • Acoustic Classical Disco Jazz New Age Pop Rock Vocal
How do you activate the equalizer presets in Creative Zen Micro? Simply tab to the main menu, look under System, Audio settings, and choose EQ ON. The EQ selections may be chosen from there. What’s included in the package? • • • • • • • • • • • Creative Zen Micro Player A Pair of High Quality Earphones Wired Remote control (for Asia region only) Rechargeable Li-ion Battery Universal Power Adapter USB2.0 cable Belt-clip/Stand/Cradle Pouch Neck Strap (for Asia region only) Quick Start Guide Installation CD (includes Creative MediaSource™ software for CD ripping and digital music library management)
Can I listen to radio with the Creative Zen Micro? Yes, the Creative Zen Micro has a built-in FM tuner and recorder. What format does the Creative Zen Micro record in? The Creative Zen Micro records in IMA ADPCM voice recording (mono) at WAV/16kHz or FM recording at WAV/22kHz (stereo). This is an acceptable quality for performing voice recording as it strikes a good balance between quality and file size. The recorded file is saved as a .WAV format, and can be transferred to the PC and played back with Creative MediaSource or edited with Wave editing software. What is the recording duration? With 5GB, you can record FM and voice for approximately 10 hours each.
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What is IMA ADPCM? ADPCM (Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation) is a lossy compression mechanism. There are various types of ADPCM. The International Multimedia Association (IMA) suggested this particular algorithm. IMA ADPCM compresses data recorded at various sampling rates. Sound is encoded as a succession of 4-bit or 3-bit data packets. Each data packet represents the difference between the current sampled signal value and the previous value. The compression ratio obtained is relatively modest. As an example: 16-bit data samples encoded as 4-bit differences results in a 4:1 compression format. IMA ADPCM is directly supported on most Windows implementations as a native format. Although the quality of IMA ADPCM voice files is not great, the files are portable. There is a real advantage in having compact files that can be played on most Windows PCs. Windows supports IMA ADPCM ".wav" files in 4-bit format only and at sample rates between 8 and 41KHz.
Technical
What music file compression formats do the Creative Zen Micro support? The Creative Zen Micro plays back MP3, WMA, WAV, IMA ADPCM formats; however, any PC data file can be placed on it for storage or transfer purposes. Does it support WMA/DRM? Yes, it does. Does it support MP3Pro? MP3Pro is not supported in the Creative Zen Micro. WMA offers the same, if not better, fidelity and compression rates as MP3Pro. How many audio tracks can the Creative Zen Micro store? The estimated storage capacities are shown in the table below. Calculations are based on an estimated average length of 4 minutes for each track. WMA/64kbps 160hrs / 2500 songs MP3/128kbps 80 hrs / 1250 songs
5GB
Can adding memory increase the storage capacity of the Creative Zen Micro? No. Are there any anti-skip mechanisms in the players? The Creative Zen Micro has an anti-skip buffer of approximately 2 minutes. However, the shock buffer time is subjected to certain variables such as the number of directories and files stored, the filename lengths on the hard drive, and the firmware version and feature set. In most cases, however, your player should be able to provide about 2 minutes of anti-skip buffer (based on 128kbps MP3).
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What information does the LCD show? The LCD displays the following: • Track details (ID3 tags) • Playback Status (Play, FF, REW, etc) • Equalizer preset modes / Custom 5 band Equaliser • Menu selection Can I use the Creative Zen Micro for data storage? Yes – in fact, you can use store any type of PC file on the Creative Zen Micro up to 2GB storage. Enable Removable Disk Mode under Extras setting. The Creative Zen Micro will then be displayed in Windows Explorer/My Computer window as a removable storage device and assigned a drive letter (e.g. “f:\”) when you plug in the player into the PC. To transfer any files, you can simply drag-and-drop your files into the device, as you would with any storage device. No drivers for file transfer are required unless you’re running Windows 98SE. What type of battery does the Creative Zen Micro use? Are batteries bundled with the player? A removable, rechargeable Li-Ion battery powers the Creative Zen Micro, which is included with the player. You may also wish to purchase additional battery pack that is available separately as an accessory pack. What is the continuous playtime of the Creative Zen Micro FM? The Creative Zen Micro features up to 12 hours of continuous playtime*.
Measurements are based on continuous playback of 128kbps MP3 files with the included Lithium-Ion battery fully charged and a mid volume setting. Actual playback time may vary depending upon usage conditions
How do I charge the batteries? The Creative Zen Micro may be charged using the included power adapter or by using an active USB connection from a desktop computer or notebook system. To avoid draining your notebook system when charging the battery, make sure that it is connected to a wall power outlet. Why does battery playtime drop when playing WMA files? Due to the higher compression rate of WMA files and the increased power required to decompress the files, lower continuous run time should be anticipated when playing WMA files exclusively.
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How do I lock the player? The lock feature is located at the same switch as the ON button. Slide it to the right side and the player would be locked. Is there an idle-shutdown feature in the Creative Zen Micro? If yes, can this be adjusted? Yes, there is an idle-shutdown feature in the Creative Zen Micro that helps to conserve battery life. You can choose from idle shutdown times of 5, 15, or 30 minutes. Will my EQ settings be lost when I turn off the player? The Creative Zen Micro remembers your EQ settings and volume levels after it has been turned off by you or by the auto-shutdown feature. Why is it that my EQ settings are sometimes different when I turn on the player? Your previous settings will be lost if you did not shut down your player properly (eg. If you remove the battery while the player is still turned on.) Can I playback MP3 or WMA files in the player according to albums, singers or genres? Yes, under Music Library, you would see albums, genres or artists in line for convenient access. Why does battery life vary on different occasions? Playtime depends on many factors, including way the player is used. The following factors will reduce playtime: • Frequent usage of the Skip Forwards and Skip Backwards • Playing files at higher bitrate settings • Playback at higher volume levels • Playing WMA files with a high bass level • Excessive use of LCD backlight
Software
Which Operating Systems are supported? The Creative Zen Micro may be used with Windows® 98SE, 2000, Me and XP. What software is bundled in the CD? The • • • • • CD contains Creative MediaSource (for CD ripping, file transfer and music library management) Zen Media Explorer Drivers for Windows 98SE (Drivers are not required for Windows Me/2000/XP) User Guide Technical Support Information
Is any additional software required to use the Creative Zen Micro? You will not need additional software - all necessary software is already included.
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Creative MediaSource enables you to rip CDs to MP3s, manage your music, and transfer files. Transferring of files can be also be done with the included Zen Media Explorer, or any other file transfer program. What is Creative MediaSource? Creative MediaSource is an application that enables you to rip CDs into MP3 or WMA files (up to 320kbps/160kbps respectively), play and organize all media files (wav, mp3, wma, avi, midi) on the PC and transfer songs to your player. A powerful and intuitive music search engine locates the music you want – all you have to do is type in the search string of the title or artist that you want to find. How do I use Creative MediaSource with Creative Zen Micro? After installing Creative MediaSource from the CD, plug in the Creative Zen Micro and go to Creative MediaSource’s Organizer view. Click the Zen Micro icon in the Source panel. The contents of the Zen Micro will be shown on the main panel. For easier transfer between your PC and Zen Micro, you should display the PC music in the center panel, and the Zen Micro contents on the right transfer panel. This way, you’ll be able to view both sources (PC & Zen Micro) simultaneously & simply drag-and-drop the track across from PC to Zen Micro. If you do not have any MP3s on your PC, you can create them from audio CDs with the ripping feature in Creative MediaSource Organizer. If you already have MP3s on your PC, import them into Creative MediaSource PC Music Library. Once you’ve imported your music into the PC Music Library, you will be able to enjoy useful features such as music search engine, AudioSync, Media Sniffer Alternatively, you can use Windows Explorer to transfer tracks and data, to the drive letter that is assigned to the Creative Zen Micro device (i.e. drag and drop). Do I need to use Creative MediaSource to transfer tracks between the player and my PC? You can also use Windows Explorer or any file transfer program. Can I arrange the playback sequence of my MP3 tracks in the Creative Zen Micro? Playback sequence follows the alphanumeric order of the file names (or more specifically ASCII sequence). To arrange your own sequence, add a numerical prefix (eg. 01 Track A, 02 Track B, and so on) Why can’t I transfer additional tracks into the Creative Zen Micro even when I still have free space available? The file structure of the root directory limits the number of entries to 255 files or folders. If you have transferred all of your tracks to the root level directory, you will not be able to store more than 255 tracks. Use directories (aka Folders) for better organization and to fully utilize the capacity of your player. Try to move data files and/or audio files to a sub directory and try again. There is no limit to the number of files in any sub directory.
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Why were my files corrupted after I transferred them into the Creative Zen Micro? You may have unintentionally unplugged the Creative Zen Micro before the file transfer was completed or while deleting files. Make sure the LCD screen is NOT displaying the “transfer in progress” icon before you unplug it. With Windows 98SE, right click the removable disk icon in Windows Explorer and select the Eject option. For other supported Windows versions, click on the Safely Remove Hardware icon on the Taskbar and stop the Creative Zen Micro listed as a USB Mass Storage Device.
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