NWZ-S545 volume IS TOO LOW

[colorrit]

I have just bought a NWZ-S545 and upgraded to firmware 1.01.

The volume is too low, probably because of the EU volume directives. So I wonder is it possible to replace the european version 1.01 with the US firmware 1.01

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu...=5493&os_id=44

Filename :

NWZ-S540_V1_01.exe

Version :

1.01

Last Modified :

02/01/2010



Note on the web site: This utility is only for use with the products identified and sold in United States, Latin America, or Canada. Not all models are sold in all countries.

Can it damage the player to use the US version instead of the eu version?

[colorrit]

The player is updated with the US firmware, no damage but same volume level.

[Marvin the Martian]

No volume issues here!

[Stagg]

Has anyone the solution? i have the same problem, i'm from Spain, and the volume is really looooooooooooooooow!!!

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by Stagg

Has anyone the solution? i have the same problem, i'm from Spain, and the volume is really looooooooooooooooow!!!

Only idea I can give you is find some different earphones....sorry.

[creative]

lol i have same problem to i think every 1 has i even changed my headphones same problem

[Stagg]

Originally Posted by Marvin the Martian

Only idea I can give you is find some different earphones....sorry.

Nope, I have others earphones (Sennheiser CX 3000-II) in other MP3 is excelent but the problem is in the 545 ARGGGG!!

When i'm traveling in subway i'm very sad to waste my money in this, seriously, the sound is great but only when i'm in a close site, when i walk in tto a city or in the subway...bufff...

[Marvin the Martian]

It must be that meddlesome EU.....because my USA S545 is very loud.

[Ascariss]

hmm I thought that the EU walkmans were not capped anymore? my X series is louder than my 818.

[Stagg]

Yes, i think is for EU directives, has anyone test with USA firmware? in others players this will fix this problem.

[Dreamnine]

It seems to be some Sonys - my X is the loudest player I've ever had and I've never had a player that's volume-capped whether it's Sony (X, S639), Cowon (i9, E2) or Samsung (P3, T10).

[Amar89]

Dude, you are just plain wrong. It must have something to do with EU Electronics Legislation because I do not have that problem and I know of 3 other people with S545's who don't either.

I have an Australian NWZ-S545 and the volume beyond levels 13 or 14 blows my ears off.
I haven't even attempted to bump it up beyond 15, even if I'm on a crowded train in the morning.

This is one of the loudest Mp3 players I've ever had. Especially with the supplied earphones.

[Steve Vee]

Does your unit have AVLS turned on (should be under Common Settings)?

The AVLS (Automatic Volume Limiter System) which is the function to limit the maximum volume to prevent auditory disturbance or distraction may be enabled.

[schattenmann]

Originally Posted by Amar89

Dude, you are just plain wrong. It must have something to do with EU Electronics Legislation because I do not have that problem and I know of 3 other people with S545's who don't either.

I have an Australian NWZ-S545 and the volume beyond levels 13 or 14 blows my ears off.
I haven't even attempted to bump it up beyond 15, even if I'm on a crowded train in the morning.

This is one of the loudest Mp3 players I've ever had. Especially with the supplied earphones.

Hello Amar89...

My Name is Stephan. I´m from Germany and I have bought the NWZ S545 with the European Firmware. The volume is disappointing low and I´ve made desperate efforts to get the original US Firmware (1.00) or any alterative Firmware but I found nothing. Could you please do me a favour and Upload your Firmware?
You are my last hope...
Thank you for reading this.
Best wishes

Stephan

[lestatar]

Stephan: Welcome to ABi...

I am not sure this would work in any event. Reports seem to indicate that the HW/FW relationship on EU Sony devices is quite rigid and I believe it makes it nigh impossible to "trick" a device in the manner you are attempting.

I am not 100% sure of this so do wait for confirmation.

I know that many folks have tried to bypass this silly EU thing and have failed on Sony devices AFAIK.

Indeed, other manufacturers [e.g. Sandisk, Cowon, etc] do allow for this sort of simple bypass of the EU volume restrictions.

sorry...
-les

[vegetaleb]

I had a A805 from France and I tried to update it with US FW then in the service menu select US too but it didn't change a thing
I think the hardware is limited, I remember that I have read somewhere that EU version have weaker audio chip frequency output.
That's a reason why I took samsung P2 and P3 instead

[siha]

Thought I'd register to share a bit of news. After reading another thread where they give a key sequence to a service menu (which doesn't work on the S545) I tried something similar and viola - a service menu:

Switch on.
Press and hold the back button to get to the main menu.
Switch 'Hold' on
Press and hold 'Option', whilst it is held down press 'Back', U, R, D, L, U, R, D, L, 'Play'
You should now have a service menu.

Go down to 'Audio', then Right and down to 'MAXOUT', this will drive a 1Khz tone out of the Headphones at max volume With the AVLS FULLY OFF. Press 'Option' to toggle the AVLS on/off. Pressing the vol+/- will switch the sound between headphones, speakers and lineout (WMPORT).

Anyway. Make sure it says 'AVLS OFF', then scroll over and down to 'Shutdown', then right to 'Sure?' to shutdown. Switch 'Hold' off, turn on and play something loud. You should find (if you already had AVLS turned off in the settings) that it is considerably louder than before. Note, that if AVLS is turned on in the settings, this will have no effect, it needs to be off before going into the service menu.

I don't think this removes the limitation completely, as US / Aus owners report that >15 is too loud, but it does seem to remove any firmware limit.

Test
After doing this, go in to the Menu and turn AVLS on - it get's quiet, right?
Now turn it back off - it's still quiet.
Now go back to the service menu and and do it again. Turning AVLS on in the settings will mean you have to do this again.

The EU versions obviously have a different hardware build to reduce the volume, but it seems that there is still a firmware limit that reduces the volume slightly even with AVLS off in the settings. Running the Audio test in the service menu seems to remove the limit and set it to the proper 'Maximum' for the hardware.

Anyway, I hope this info proves useful to someone. A combination of turning the equalization to 'None' and doing the above means I now have a Walkman that is (just about) loud enough.

Cheers,
Simon

[Ascariss]

can you check to see if your radio goes above 90Mhz now

[siha]

Originally Posted by Ascariss

can you check to see if your radio goes above 90Mhz now

Yes it does, but it always has done.

[Ascariss]

Originally Posted by siha

Yes it does, but it always has done.

uhm it shouldn't, all none japanese units have their fm radio go all the way up to 108Mhz, not 90Mhz.