Arcam Solo Mini - cd shuffle mode - fault?

[admin_exported]

Hello, I've just bought an Arcam Solo Mini, and have been very pleased with it. However, I've noticed something a bit strange and rather annoying. On CD shuffle mode, it only ever plays seven of the tracks available. However many there are on the cd, it just plays seven of them randomly, then stops as if it has played the whole cd. It would be useful if another Arcam solo mini owner could tell me if theirs plays the whole cd randomly, or does the same as mine, so I can determine whether I have a faulty unit. If any of the whathifi editors reads this and knows what the problem is, I would be grateful for their reply. The manual says that all the tracks are played in shuffle mode, so I suspect it is a fault.

Many thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Just tried mine on shuffle and it seems ok - I didn't play the whole tracks but skipped to the next after a few seconds and it was carrying on past 7. If you've tried it a few times, switched it off and tried again etc. then I'd check back with the retailer.

Worth persisting with it as it's a good little unit!

 

[manicm]

On this note, don't you find the CD player a bit noisy or should I have my Mini checked?

 

[Anonymous]

Many thanks, I am becoming convinced it's a fault. This evening it refused to play more than 6 tracks of Sade, and I tried twice. It seemed to prefer the Temptations - 11 out of a possible 20 tracks played. I am so disappointed as I love the sound quality - it sounds gorgeous with my Kef cresta 10s.

I did try skipping through all the tracks myself though, and then there is no problem, it does go through every one randomly. It's just when I leave it to play on shuffle for most of the time without skipping that the problem arises. For example I might skip a couple of tracks, but it will still only play 7, including the tracks I have skipped. If I play without skipping any of them it behaves in exactly the same way, just playing 7.

Re: noise of the cd player, it was the quietest I heard when testing - I find if the volume level is below about 25 I can hear the whirring, but it's not annoying to me, and I am well known for my hypersensitive hearing!

 

[manicm]

pix:

Many thanks, I am becoming convinced it's a fault. This evening it refused to play more than 6 tracks of Sade, and I tried twice. It seemed to prefer the Temptations - 11 out of a possible 20 tracks played. I am so disappointed as I love the sound quality - it sounds gorgeous with my Kef cresta 10s.

I did try skipping through all the tracks myself though, and then there is no problem, it does go through every one randomly. It's just when I leave it to play on shuffle for most of the time without skipping that the problem arises. For example I might skip a couple of tracks, but it will still only play 7, including the tracks I have skipped. If I play without skipping any of them it behaves in exactly the same way, just playing 7.

Re: noise of the cd player, it was the quietest I heard when testing - I find if the volume level is below about 25 I can hear the whirring, but it's not annoying to me, and I am well known for my hypersensitive hearing!

Mine doesn't so much whir as it does creak. I'm worried although playback is fine.

 

[Anonymous]

I just contacted Arcam direct, and they told me that it is a recognised fault, affecting all the units made so far. They are currently working on the software to correct it. The minis already purchased can then be corrected via the usb port and a pen drive. He said the software would 'probably' take two or three more weeks to be created. However, he would not say for definite, so I wouldn't be surprised if it took rather longer than that.

 

[Anonymous]

Hmmm . . . worth knowing. Will they let us know when the software is available??! I'll try mine out on shuffle and just let it run to see what happens. It's not a huge problem as I would very rarely use the shuffle mode anyway, but, it might as well be fixed.

As for noise - no seems very quiet in operation apart from a slight whirring at the very end of the CD.