Page 1 of Whafedale 750s - CD audio hiccups

Help! I`ve just got a 750s which I am generally happy with. (And can confirm that the new region hack works - though the old one doesn`t! - and the R1 plays well when the unit is set to PAL-60)

However, I have a new problem which I`m suspicious is a design defect.

When I play audio CDs, the player "stalls" for about 3 seconds between audio tracks. In other words, if I play classical music, or Pink Floyd, where the music is continuous, but with multiple index points, the music just stops for about three seconds at each index point! THIS IS VERY ANNOYING and sounds like a firmware bug.....

Has anyone experienced else experienced this? Tesco`s local support representative suggests the machine is faulty, but, since I am a hardware engineer, I am deeply suspicious this is just how the firmware is - and I don`t want to go through the hassle of changing it only to find that the next one is just the same......

Any ideas?

Thanx

Mark

i`m guessing, but it sounds like it is adhering to the ISO standard of 2second pregaps before every audio track, AFAIK discs with no pregaps arent 100% standard discs (altho they are accepted).

Presumably that "requirement" is not a part of the original CD audio standard? And, it is diametrically opposite to what an Audio CD should do. i.e. many pieces of music play continuosly through the track index. I wouldn`t expect to go to a concert and have brief pauses at those points!

Can anyone confirm that this is how other 750s behave? Is there a number I can call at Wharfedale to check?

Is the 750s capable of firmware field upgrades? I am worried that this is a firmware bug, and it would be nice to be able to fix it. (I otherwise like this Wharfedale - the Mico is nicer in many ways, but the lack of a Standby function was a showstopper for me).

Thanx

Mark

AFAIK this is the case with the Wharfey. There was a post on uk.media.dvd from a guy burning his own Garage mix CDs who was very annoyed at the pauses.

So it is not a bug, but as Microsoft would say,

"This behavior is by design."

Thanks for the info. I was suspicious that this was the case.

I`d still appreciate confirmation from any 750s owners as I can`t believe that Wharfedale can have intended this behaviour. It`s crazy - and a pretty basic mistake.

If anyone wants to check this on another 750s machines, you don`t actually need a CD with continuous music - just any old CD Audio disk will do. If you watch the time counter carefully at the point where one track ends and the next starts, the machine will stall for a couple of seconds at the point just before the end of a track. The next track will start after this stall (which is a break of about 2-3seconds). My time counter just stalls at this point.......

If this happens with all 750s, I am not sure how Wharfedale can legitimately put the CDAudio decal on the front panel. This cannot be CD Audio standard. I recall that the CD Audio standard length of around 74mins was defined by the head of Sony because he had a favourite Beethoven symphony which was this length! I can`t imagine that this guy would be happy listening to his favourite symphony with periodic 3 second gaps! Doh!

Does anyone have any further confirmation? This sucks!

If this is "how it is" then it`ll be going back. OK, so that`ll be a Mico and a Wharfedale crossed off the list. I *might* try the Scan next...... gulp! (Either that or go crazy and buy the new Arcam!)

Mark

I have the 750s and tried the audio out on a live CD (with audience applause between songs) and sure enough, there was a pause between tracks. Bad news, eh?

Matthew

Mathew - Thanks for the independent confirmation.

I called Wharfedale, and even managed to get past their "call Tesco" defences! The guy I spoke to confirmed that this was "normal" for the 750s, but that the machine was "good value" so I shouldn`t be upset(!)

I did point out that the machine had the CDAudio logo on the front, and that it would therefore be reasonable to expect it to obey the CDAudio standard (which certainly DOES NOT expect you to pause at track index points!) He said that he`d pass the feedback to their product folks, but there was nothing that they could do.

So, my Wharfey went back to Tescos, and I am now the proud owner of a Pioneer DV-535. (Third time lucky - Mico, Wharfey, Pioneer).

The Pioneer cost me £240 and is multi-region. The picture is superb and the machine is really quick. So far I`ve had absolutely no problems with R1 or R2, and it even plays Audio CDs without pauses! So I consider this a result. It`ll be interesting to see how the machine reviews in the mags (I couldn`t find any when I bought). However, all the shops I spoke to rated it highly on picture quality, and I agree.

So it`s a shame about the Wharfey coz I otherwise liked it as a machine. It`s a bit slow and doesn`t feel as well made as some other budget decks, but otherwise seemed like a capable performer with good features.

Mark