Touchy headphone jack

MP3 players All other MP3 players
1

I’m having problems with the headphone jack on my Clip Zip.  If I press the jack all the way in, the music drops out periodically.  I have to pull it part way out to get audio without interruption.  I don’t want to have to play with the jack everytime I use this thing.  

Anyone else having this problem?  

2

Sounds like a defective jack. I’d return it or call SanDisk about a warranty replacement.

And no, it’s not a common issue with this player.

3

When Sandisk players are new, the headphone jack is very tight. It may take a bit of force to get the plug in all the way the first few times.

4

Apparently, NOT that uncommon of a problem!  Experiencing identical symptoms to that of seank on my brand new sansa Zip Clip 4GB. I tried three different sets of headphones, all had the music dropping off until I pulled them partially out of the jack.  Don’t think this Zip Clip is going to make through a session at the gym.

6

I’ve had the same problem.  I could only hear in both earphones when the jack was partially plugged in.  When the jack was fully inserted, the left earphone could only pick up sound every other second and none in the right.  I am starting to question whether this was a wise investment or not.

8

I am having a similar problem with my Sansa Clip Zip 8

I bought it a couple of months ago on amazon. It gives excellent quality of sound and has huge amounts of space, but I’ve recently discovered something that stops me from falling in love with it completely… the sound randomly drops out or only comes through one channel or something - so basically you’ll be listening to a song and then for no apparent reason or due to the slightest movement the sound all but disappears as if there is a loose connection within the player between it and the headphones. The headphones are all the way in, so this isn’t the problem. When this happens i have to very delicately twist the headphone jack until the sound comes back and then very carefully put the player down again.

I listen to it mostly at work  (sitting at a desk)and when the problem started happening (and i had taken great care of it and definitely not dropped it or anything like that) I initially thought it was the headphones i was using so didn’t do anything about it to start with. But then i tried to listen to it walking down the street (which being a sports player for the gym I would expect it to be able to handle a gentle stroll!) using my own headphones (not the ones at work) and it was constantly cutting out and was absolutely impossible to listen to.  I’m really annoyed by this because as I say it’s a great little player otherwise, and I’ve had problems with players in the past so I wanted to get this because it came highly recommended.

Is this a common problem with this player? I’d be very surpirsed if a player like this, advertised for use at the gym were so delicate.

Can I/should I get it replaced - or are there people out there who have found this to be a typical issue, in which case should i just get my money back…?

Thanks in advance,

Rich

9

No, it is not common. If you can return it and get another through Amazon, do it. If not, contact SanDisk directly for a warranty replacement.

10

@tapeworm wrote:

No, it is not common. If you can return it and get another through Amazon, do it. If not, contact SanDisk directly for a warranty replacement.

You’re assuming that is isn’t used. If so, unless it came with a vendor warranty (not likely), you’re probably out of luck. On the other hand, if you got it new, Sandisk’s warranty should be 100% valid.

11

halonachos117 wrote

:

You’re assuming that is isn’t used.

Yes, I am assuming that given the OP said he bought it from Amazon. They (or their partners) typically don’t deal in _ used _ electronics, unless you’re considering “refurbished” as such.

12

One thing I’ve not seen mentioned in this discussion…

I’ve found this with my Clip Zip (as well as my previous E280).   If I have the volume turned up too high, especially loud sections of the playback will cause the audio to be blanked, resulting in what sounds like an intermittent earphone connection.  Reducing the volume eliminates the problem.

13

@makaiguy wrote:

One thing I’ve not seen mentioned in this discussion…

 

I’ve found this with my Clip Zip (as well as my previous E280).   If I have the volume turned up too high, especially loud sections of the playback will cause the audio to be blanked, resulting in what sounds like an intermittent earphone connection.  Reducing the volume eliminates the problem.

You may be referring to what is known as clipping.

14

Possibly, although I normally think of clipping as producing audio distortion rather than blanking the output completely…

15

The sansa clip zip I bought for my son is doing the samething. When the plug is all the way in no sound.  Is there a fix for this?

16

Push and twist it in further, It is likely not fully seated. The headphone jack is very tight when new.

17

Yes, the jack is tight to begin with but this is a common problem.  It’s happened to 2 of mine.

The metal that is suppose to contact the headphone jack is too easily fatiqued & looses its spring.

You have to hold the jack at an angle to get contact - I use a piece of tape on the headphone cord to hold it in tension.

This slowly will stop working as well, then you have to take it apart and bend the metal.

I am a mechanical engineer, a design engineer & I own a automotive repair shop so yes, I know what I’m doing.

19

I just bought my SanDisk Sansa Clip Zip, and from the beginning of use the earphone jack has caused me problems.  I researched this issue and for many, simply inserting the earphones further into the jack seems to have solve this problem for others, but not for me.  I definitely have to pull it back out a bit to hear sound.  :cry: This makes for a precarious connection which frequently moves causing the unit to produce sound interruptions.  This is so frustrating.  Is it the jack or the the earbuds?  Anyone else with this problem?  As I’ve said, “inserting it all the way into the jack” is definitely NOT the problem.

Thanking you (who has a reply) in advance.  :smiley:

20

Believe it or not Sharon7 , I don’t think your plug is yet inserted all the way. Try twisting while pushing to make sure it is fully seated.

21

Tapeworm,  though I tried that several times without success and found it only worked with (unstable position of partially out) . . . I tried it one more time and admit I pushed it in as far as I could.  Wooo Hooo!  You are right.  Problem solved.  Thanks for the reply before I spent money at Radio Shack for an adapter or another set of earbuds.  Thanks for being here!  :smileyvery-happy:

22

Good! Preserverance paid off! :smiley:

I know people are afraid to push really hard on the plug for fear of breaking the jack or the player, but I have yet to hear of that happening. It usually helps to twist while pushing, and it will loosen up a bit after a few times.

23

Hi,

My Clip Zip had a touchy audio out jack, but only when I tried to jack it to another stereo/player using a 3.5 mm male to male cable.  I noticed the headphone jack has 3 rings/contacts on it but the cable jack only has 2, and that the thrid ring on the headphone jack is farther from the tip of the jack than the other two.  I found a cable at Target made by Monster, called “Monstor Headphone Replacement Cable ControlTalk Universal Mini-to-Mini” that also has this third contact, and this cable works perfectly (I do not have to pull it 2 mm out of the jack like the “normal” cable to get it to work).  This is great, since I had bought another Clip Zip for my husband, thinking I could also see if the jack problem was on all their players, and the new player was the same as my original one.

Karen