Problem: Headphone Jack Busted? Neuros II 80GB..

[ryookyn(at)hotmail.com]

I am having a problem with my Neuros II 80GB MP3 player.  When I use headphones in the headphone jack, if I have them put in very loosly (about halfway), the song sounds alrite (although I can barely hear it due to the volume), and if I have the headphones plugged in properly, I cannot hear any of the vocals in any song, and there is lots of reverb and echo (to the point where the quality of the music is horrible, and you cannot hear any vocals).  I have tried plugging them in even further as suggested in these forums, and nothing has happened; still the same problem.  Also, I got this MP3 player online about 2 weeks ago, and cannot find my sales receipt, so I don't have a way of proving my warranty is still valid.  Can anyone please suggest something?  By the way, I am certain it is the headphone jack, and not the unit itself, as when I do a NeuroCast, all of the songs play properly and clearly over the FM station.  When I plug in the computer speakers I am using into the headphones jack (the green-tipped ones), everything plays fine through the computer speakers.. Will Neuros still fix this problem for me, if so, how would I get that done, and how much do you think it would cost?  Any responses will be helpful, thank you.

[Tekkie]

While I can't fix your problem, I can explain what happened.  One of the three connections inside your headphone jack, specifically the common ground wire farthest from the tip, has broken off or is not making good contact.  When this happens, the result you hear is the difference between the left and the right channels.  Since many songs are recorded with the vocals in the middle and instruments off to the sides, you'll now hear only the instruments with very little vocals, often with some echo effects.

Radio Shack exploited this concept years ago to make a pseudo-surround sound adapter they called "Quatravox".  You can get the same effect by connecting a third "rear" speaker across the red (positive) speaker terminals on a stereo.  It's also how most karaoke voice eliminators work.

Russ.

[I Was Teenage Hand Model]

A Neuros retailer should be able to provide you with some sort of invoice or bill of sale by E-Mail or fax.  Who did you purchase from?

We may be able to help.
It is worth it to send in and let us check the extent of the damage.

[ryookyn(at)hotmail.com]

another 'internal' problem has arisen.  i have contacted customer service as well as a local electronics store that fixes neuros 2 mp3 players.  thank you for the responses.

[TheCorp]

I am having the same problem with this currently, is there any way to fix this by hand? If i put it in loosely I get fairly ok sound but if I put it in all the way I only get sound out of the left ear unless I twist it around for a while and push it around till the contacts work correctly. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

-- Prying open my third eye