Having a problem with my mp3 player and my earphones.

[9560Cavalier]

Model of Mp3 Player: PMP288C-8 (Polaroid brand device) It's a cheap $10-20'ish device I picked up from a store

Earphones I use: ifrogz Luxe (has a microphone)

The problem: When I use the earphones with my computer, there is no problem, the sound comes in clearly and nicely. But plugging it into my music player, I get a problem. The sound comes in weird; the sound is... Putting it into words best described as "distant" sounding.

But when I press the mic (it's one of those mics that also features as a button to answer calls/pause+play music with one click, skip forward to the next song with 2 clicks, skip backward with 3) the sound comes in clearly as if it were plugged into the computer.

Now, my Mp3 player does have a microphone built in also. I thought it might be part of the problem, with my Mp3 player and earphones both having mics, there might be interference there, I don't know.

Any suggestions on what to do? Other than getting rid of the piece of crud that is. If I have to I will, but at the moment I don't have the means of getting a new Mp3 player. Might be able to in the future.

 

[9560Cavalier]

It's not a problem with my computer. It's a problem with the Mp3 player. That's the only one having the sound issues with my earphones.

 

[carnageX]

Have you tested with another set of earphones? Do you have your current earphones securely inserted into the jack on the player?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using TechForums

 

[9560Cavalier]

Yes, I just tested with a borrowed set of earphones. They work perfectly with the Mp3 player, the sound comes in just fine. And yes, the jack on my own set of earphones was securely plugged in when I was using it.

 

[carnageX]

Yes, I just tested with a borrowed set of earphones. They work perfectly with the Mp3 player, the sound comes in just fine. And yes, the jack on my own set of earphones was securely plugged in when I was using it.

Reason I was saying make sure it's plugged securely in, is because the earphone/mic combo headphones have 3 grounded bands on the plug (left/right/mic), and if those aren't properly making contact with the prongs in the jack, interference can occur.

It's possible the jack on the MP3 player is poorly designed that it is having interference with the 3 bands; possibly overlapping the mic and either the L or R channel of the headphones.

Do the headphones work properly in another device that has a mic input jack? If you have access to one, try a smartphone or something similar as they should have the 3-banded jacks to test if its actually the player (most likely) or the headphones.

 

[9560Cavalier]

Oh I know, it's fine, sorry if I came off as harsh, I've been a tad tired lately... And yes; the earphones work properly in any other device I've tried. My friends smartphone, my own computer, my friends IPod, they all work just fine with the earphones. So it's most likely a device issue in this case?

 

[carnageX]

I didn't take it as harsh . Just explaining further what my reasoning for my assumptions.

And yeah, sounds like it's a device issue. Since it was a cheap, $20 player it doesn't surprise me that it has shoddy audio connections, IMO.

 

[9560Cavalier]

Ahhh ok gotcha. And yea... Not too surprising to me either. In this case, I'm just going to assume there's no real easy fix for this, and start looking around for a better Mp3 player.

 

[carnageX]

Ahhh ok gotcha. And yea... Not too surprising to me either. In this case, I'm just going to assume there's no real easy fix for this, and start looking around for a better Mp3 player.

Could find a used, slightly-older smartphone and use that. I have a couple Anrdroid phones that I still have after upgrading that are used as either dedicated MP3 players or cameras now.

You can usually find some fairly cheap on Craigslist, or even check here: www.swappa.com

 

[9560Cavalier]

Nice, thanks for the site. If I don't have something lying around already I'll definitely check it out. Thanks for the help