Forums/Pioneer Gear/MEP / SEP Player
New firmware
DJ-Phil
posted this on June 29, 2011 02:46
Français:
Bonjour je voudrais savoir quand pioneer va sortir un nouveau firmware pour le MEP7000 car il developpe les autre machines et délaisse celui ci. Alors que plein de problemes avec.
Anglais:
Hello I want to know when Pioneer will release a new firmware for MEP7000 as it develops the other machines and leaves this one. While a lot of problems with.
A+ DJ Phil
Comments
@Phil > For future, you only need to type in French; we have a new translation tool at the side that can automatically perform the translations (that and I can read French.) ;)
We've asked for an update on the status of pending changes for the MEP but haven't received a clear response yet. I hope to get a solid answer in a couple of weeks when I'm in Japan.
Salut
Ok pour la reponse en esperant qu'il vont penser a nous.
Hello Pulse,
We are about a month further since your last message. Is there any information available ?
When the update is coming or what the engineers are working on ?
If you can give us anything, that would be great!
Eagerly waiting for some updates or enhanced features.
<SNIP>
@Ramon > Why did you post a link to parcel delivery?
@jammiejammie > Sorry to say but it seems the project is dormant at this time as there is no anticipated update release. I asked for them to reconsider it as the MEP is still widely used and there are several functions and features that the users would like to see improved or added.
Well this is a BIG BUMMER!
All the pioneer gear I owned worked like a charm! Without a firmware update, the MEP7000 will always be a "just an other mp3 player" for me.
Bonjour
Pioneer me déçois de plus en plus!! Nous sommes trés nombreux a avoir un MEP7000 et nous sommes délaiser alors que l'on a été les premiers a acheter les MEP7000 qui allait permetre a Pioneer de se relancer dans les lecteurs MP3 car franchement il etait en retard a l'epoque par rapport a la concurence. Maintenant il on sortie d'autre machine et la on developpe pour les nouvelles machines. C'est sur pour Pioneer le MEP700 et un entré de gamme et préfere le laisser en sommeil pour vendre d'autre machines plus chere. JE DIT MERCI PIONEER pour votre marketing.... Comme toujours l'argent domine au détriment du consommateur..
@Phil > Pioneer released a great player in the MEP-7000 and they did update the firmware to correct issues. What was left outstanding from those updates were a few "likes" (feature requests), but very few bugs were left behind. The MEP is still a very capable unit but because the cost of development for firmware / drivers, it may be that they're opting not to allocate the resources to a product that is making very low sales numbers or could be near end-of-life. I understand the business angle, but as a user of the MEP, I also understand your frustration with the lack of further updates to address your concerns or other lingering issues. As I said, I'm doing my best to try and convince them that the users of this product, regardless of its age or the cost of development, should see one last update. If I hear anything else, I'll be sure to post it.
Thanks for looking into this Pulse. It is bad news for the users that enjoy using the MEP.
Do you think there will be a new 19" rack mount to replace the MEP?
Iain
Not sure, but given the track record, there was quite a gap between the CMX-3000 and the MEP-7000, so even if there is something coming, I wouldn't guess it would arrive any time soon (based only on that information).
Salut
Pourquoi voulez vous que Pioneer sorte un nouvel appareil en 19'. Le MEP et trés bien il suffit juste de la faire evoluer et je pense que cela et possible. Mais Pioneer ne l'entent pas de cette maniere. Il vont le laisser dans l'etat car d'apres se qui et dit plus haut le developpement coute trop chere ?? Et oui le client paye et Pioneer sans mais plein les poche. Pour eux le produit et stable donc pourquoi s'enbetter a developper No coment !!!!!!!!
Any new update for the Mep would be Great!
@ Jerry Laskin --> Seriously... You had to put this in 4 threads...?
@Jerry > Yes, you can create a new thread in any forum.
I haven't heard anything to the contrary about support for Lion for the MEP, but as always, users who upgrade before the manufacturer has given a green-light are at risk of things not functioning.
I'm sorry you feel frustrated but we're all waiting for updates to the drivers for Lion.
hi Pulse. I've been the proud owner of a CMX 5000 and DJM600 for the last 11 years. I've just purchased a new? MEP 7000 that I was told would control my ipod (ipod yes... iTouch no) and that it would be plug and play with Traktor Pro 2... Hardly. So I sympathise with the users on here that still feel that in the interest of good will, Pioneer would consider a final update of this product. We're not all CDJ and DJM 2000 or nexus users. I would think that there has been good revenue from these products would help finance a firmware upgrade. Love your product still, a DJM 5000 is arriving this week too, can't wait.
Kindest regards
Phil
Oh BTW i'm windows 7, 16 gig ram i7 2.66 processor 64-bit
Hello, in Germany, some users wait for new updates. Bad behavior by Pioneer for a professional unit.
Is there a contact in Germany for our problems can also help. At German trade shows are not professionals
Sorry for my bad English
I would like to ask native pioneer instruments to finally correct the detection MEP700 in HID mode. Now only works HID in Traktor separately SEP-C1 :(
@Azu > Sorry, that was not Pioneer's decision.
Why Pioneer has requested fixes in Native Instruments?
FYI: The MEP drivers for OS X 10.7 (Lion) will be available in November, no word yet on any firmware updates.
I see that the MAC OSX Lion pages says that the software is planned end of January 2012... Any update on this and is this only a driver update or is a firmware update planned as well??? Hoping this may also help fix some bugs that this controller still has with Serato, like impropper names/artists being show on the MEP display and also freezing with the play pause buttons... Any updates are appreciated...
@Jason > I'm not entirely sure, at this point we can only assume they're releasing an updated driver for OS X Lion support at this time.
FWIW, the biggest problem with freezing on individual tracks has to do with embedded album artwork.
Thank You for the quick response and update... Is it all on Serato or is Pioneer helping as well? And is it just serato that is aware of the improper artists/song titles being displayed on the MEP or is pioneer aware as well?? Don't mean to be a pest, just frustrated... when the MEP works is great, I like it a lot more than my denon HD-4500, BUT with that said, my 4500 is a lot more stable with no issues...
Again, I'm not sure whose shoulders that falls upon, maybe one or the other but could be both, although I'm not sure what kind of rush either of them would be in to fix it. Just glancing at the Serato forums will give you an idea of how busy they are with ALL the products they support.
Pulse, for the first time I can recall it mentioned, you suggest that album art (generally in the ID3 tag) on a specific track can be the cause of the MEP having problems or freezing. Please clarify this a little more. Is it the size of the art? The art with specific file types? The way the MEP tries to scale the art for the display? I am very, very curious to hear more.
It's known that album art can cause problems, regardless of the size. As an example, we found early on that Beatport's MP3s had problems with the album art with the CDJs. Removing (and re-adding it, or simply leaving it off) resulted in the exact same file causing no problems.
Bonjour.
Pour les images je vous conseilles de ne pas depasser les 400 X 400 car au desus celle ci ne s'affiche pas toujours et bloque le MEP 7000
Update page still states planned end of January for the MEP driver updates... Any Idea if it's coming??? LOL
@Jason.
Do you have a link to the update site?
I belive that it will stil be a couple of weeks before the new update is ready.
Its only been 14 days, since i told/showed Pioneer what causes freezing problem, and what users can do to solve the problem.
Right now they should be working franticly, to make a new software that ignores the problem, that makes the MEP-7000 freeze.
I just tried going to the same page that i have been on pioneers forums for months and it now says page not found...
I was click here -> first http://forums.pioneerdj.com/entries/20539428-mac-os-x-lion-compatib... and then clicking visit the support site
P.S. this freezing issue happens in both OSX 10.6.8 and 10.7.3... So I am guessing that pioneer is working on both a Firmware update and Software/driver update??? it would be a miracle if both the freezing issue we are all having as well as the improper song/artists title be showing up on the MEP/SEP display... Instead of serato and pioneer blaming each other for the issues, it would be fantastic if they just worked together and got it fixed once and for all...
But what has the freezing issue to do with the soundcard driver for lion?
I just bought 5 Pioneer MEP 7000's and discovered some huge disappointments after unpacking one of them. I really hope that they will ever come up with new firmware, but i have little hope, because the latest firmware was realeased in March 2009. I strongly consider to return all 5 devices.
First of all, the sound of the master tempo is very, very disappointing. I am stunned that Pioneer never updated the firmware with improvements for mastertempo.
Second I'm amazed how to handle USB switching between file browsing and search modus. We always used Numark DDS before. File browsing and search are both possible on this device. Looks like a simple update to build to me for Pioneer. It's absolutely impossible to eject the harddrive on the back of the device while live on a show with a build-in unit. I read on another place in this forum that the "solution" is to use two identical harddrive, one with and one without library. With this "solution" we lose the possibilty to use a harddrive for the general music collection and a USB-stick with the latest hits or with requests from a custumor.
Other than this 2 huge issues for us i have these smaller issues which could be improved.
- The firmware is not supporting NTFS (could be read only)
- There is no "search all" mode
- BPM info in the tag is not used. BPMs are calculated on the MEP, but this takes minimum of 5 seconds. Instant mixing based on BPM is not possible.
- The total of playlists is resticted to 20 (why?)
- Search on BPM is missing
- Search on year is missing
- Sub sorting is handled on a strange way. Why not after search on artist, titles in alphebetic order as second sort priority?
I hope that someone can respond if there is a good chance that (mainly) the first two issues will of will not be taken care of in the nearby future.
So we are all waiting for a OSX lion driver update as well as device firmware update... Now what do we do with Mountain Lion 10.8 coming out?? LOL
Pioneer never replied to my e-mail last week. I have one week to decide to keep the 5 units or ship them back. Hope that someone of Pioneer can respond here to my last post??
The engineers have been made aware of your comments and we hope they will consider releasing another firmware update for the MEP to address some of your concerns however there is no guarantee of an update nor an anticipated release date at this time. If we receive any other information we will be sure to post it on the forums for all.
@Addie > I'm not sure who you emailed, but we don't get their email and they don't read the forums.
To answer your previous questions:
- There haven't been many complaints about the Master Tempo on the MEP, so it has never been investigated.
- The software of the unit and the physical specifications were designed with an either/or function in mind for the device library. As you can see with the newer units (CDJ2000, CDJ900, CDJ850, CDJ350), that function is available but I don't believe that they can simply update the software of the MEP to allow for that ability.
- NTFS requires a license from Microsoft and the cost is prohibitive, hence no NTFS support on any of Pioneer's products.
- What is the "all" you're wanting to search? There is a search within the unit.
- No, the BPM is not used. A limited library is created. If you know your track BPM or mix by ear, you can mix relatively quickly. If it's a concern, you could always retag your tracks with the BPM in one of the name fields.
- The playlist limitation is based on the unit's memory maximum as the playlist is not stored on the device but on the player itself. If you'd like to use larger playlists, you can actually use a PLS file on your memory stick.
- There is no search on BPM or YEAR as they are not indexed in the library.
- I'm not sure about the search / sort, I haven't used it in a while but I remember there being a couple of options for that.
@Jason > I've reminded the engineers that we're still waiting for a driver for 10.7 for the MEP.
Pulse, thanks for the email. I had a few comments on your specific points (and Addie van den Berg's posting):
1. Master Tempo on the MEP has been mentioned a few times, actually, both in the forums and in the direct communication Pioneer had with a number of active members of the forum. Simply put, Master Tempo warbles and distorts certain songs when the tempo is changed more than about 3-4%. This is not just slow songs. Try it with the Black Eyed Peas "I Gotta Feeling." It is very noticeable, and it sounds pretty bad. That said, for about half of the music we play (or more), it works okay, as long as you don't go beyond about 7-8%. As a previous owner of multiple CMX-3000s, I know that Pioneer can do Master Tempo better than the implementation in the MEP. It's not a show stopper, but it certainly isn't great.
2. The MEP supports plenty of format options, and FAT32 or HFS+ both work fine. I don't see the need to support NTFS, especially when there are other much more pressing concerns.
3. The search functionality is sufficient, in my opinion (and good with a keyboard).
4. We tag all of our songs with their respective BPMs. This ID3 tag for BPM does appear in the display of the MEP, even though you can't sort by it (like Addie would like). Certainly sorting by BPM would be more useful than sorting by "Album" (a useless field in our opinion). We think the MEP does a very good job calculating the BPM, actually (better than other manufacturers). And it's pretty fast, too. If there is a gripe, it's that the BPM doesn't go out to a decimal. The MEP shows "128 BPM" for a song that is 128.1 BPM as well as a song that is 128.9 BPM. These are certainly not mixable, however. We train our DJs to adjust Master Tempo for the playing and cued songs so that the BPM is right at the point where 128 BPM switches to 129 BPM on the display (for example). This actually works well, although it is not elegant. The competition does go out to the tenths decimal place… and Pioneer should consider this.
5. PLS files actually work very well… except they only work with MP3s (as far as I can tell). We have tried this with AIF (uncompressed) files, and they are simply not compatible with the PLS files on the MEP. Bummer.
Addie, I am not convinced that Pioneer will ever release another firmware revision for this unit, which is sad. Even if they couldn't fix some of the issues (the fixed display design and memory limitations can't be solved with firmware), they really could step up to the plate to support their current base of users by fixing some of the other problems. I don't think Pioneer sells enough MEP-7000s to care about this unit anymore, which is a terrible shame. It's such a cool product for mobile implementations. And they would sell more if we in the forums started discussing how a new firmware revision addressed our concerns.
Woodster
Going outside 7-8% on any system is already stretching it and no matter how good, you'll notice the artefacting from the algorythm, even in software. What I meant was there were fewer complaints about the MEP per units in the wild vs. other products.
Given that the MEP is now 4 years old (which by turntable standards, is young, but by computer software standards is ancient), and Pioneer's first real "media player" (yes, you could argue the CDJ-400 was out a bit before it, but it was a simple USB player), there were plenty of growing pains and learning to be done. While the "competition" may do things different, they may have added those features after Pioneer's unit was released or they simply don't do it as well (or it won't last as long).
Pioneer does care about the customers and we are pushing them hard to address the concerns that they are able to.
Bonjour
Désole de contredire ce que vous dite mais avant de prendre un MEP 7000 j'ai eu un cortex. Ok qualité inférieur au Pionner mais beaucoup plus développer. Ex on pouvais passer en mode Bibliothèque ou mode recherche s'en éteindre l'appareil. Personnellement je n'ai jamais aucun bug avec que avec le Pionner il m'arrive souvent qu'il plante. Ex encore samedi sur un titre que je joue toutes les semaine donc sa ne viens pas du titre et bien en plein milieux de la chanson E8.... comme d'habitude gros moment de solitude obliger de meubler au micro tous en redémarrant le Pionner. Dernier problème que je constate au bout de 2 ans d'utilisation la molette principale pour le défilement des titres et devenue très aléatoire elle saute défois de 3 a 4 lignes d'un coup. Et je pense que si Pionner voulait faire des modifications il le pourrai. Mais c'est sur que pour eux le MEP est un entré de gamme sa ne leur rapporte pas assez par rapport au 2000 voila toujours la même histoire le profit et l'argent le client on s'en fou..
We are now 1 month later and there is still no working driver for mac os x lion.
When will this released??
@Rogier > We will post here and on Twitter when it is available.
Hello Pulse,
After the very interesting topic "Freezing problem found" I got my hopes up again for a frimware update of my MEP7000.
Can you confirm that engineers are/will be going to work on implementing a solution/work around based on the information given in that topic?
This topic started halfway last year by asking if there will be an update for the MEP7000.
On the old forum there wehere a lot more questions regarding this topic.
Can you please get us an official statement for us on what will happen?
Even if this means that there will be no update, people (like me) can move on and not keeping our hopes up....
If Pioneed decides not to build an update, that it would only be fair to get some sort of manual how to work around the major freezing problem. (if the work around in the other topic does work).
please Pulse, don't leave is hanging in the dark ....
Not leaving you hanging, the engineers are testing the firmware and we should see an update at some point in the not too distant future!
Pulse, this is hugely fantastic news! We will update our many MEP-7000 units in operation with our company. I am really, really glad to hear this. Due to demand, we are expanding this year, and more MEPs are in our future, too.
Thanks for the update.
Woodster
Salut
En voila une bonne nouvelle.
Reste plus que a esperer que sa sera pas dans trop longtemps !!!!!!
This has just made my day...
Great news pulse !, I also may buy another one too now :)
From an aussie with a limited budget, the news of a firmware ugrade soon is a welcomed result. Pioneer continue to be industry/market leaders and I am sure that they will endeavour to rectify the issues mentioned above. I don't think that anyone expects a model to be continually updated, however when a model such as the MEP7000 is still being advertised, promoted and sold that due diligence to provide what is being paid for is not an unreasonable request.
Finally thank you to all those involved in keeping the pioneer dream alive to make the MEP 7000 a Denon killer
Play fair now
Ever get that moment when you "mindblock" & can not remember which folder that new tune is in & you need to find it asap ?
Yes I can get lazy ... or Sometimes we dont have time or simply forget to update our back up drive & its library or lets call it "usb2 drive" with ...new chart music, new downloads & the remixes(duplicate of main drive"usb1 drive")
Thats where I think having "Artist/track name Search" within Folder search (usb1) as well as its own library search (usb2) would be Handy.
Just so you guys are aware and don't get your balloon burst when the release comes out, this update will be a pure bug-fix; there will not be any new or updated features, it will only address playback-stoppage issues.
The engineers have noted that the firmware and OS X 10.7 drivers will be available at the end of the month.
Thanks again for your patience.
Pulse, I think I speak for most of the MEP-7000 owning forum members in saying that addressing the playback-stoppage issue is THE critical issue. I am, for one, happy that Pioneer is investing some engineering resources to this end.
Woodster
i was advised from rane to purchase sertao 3.0 with and older version of software not happy i will not buy anything else for this unit until there is a solid firmware update i was told this is EOL product from pioneer and rane
I agree with woodster... the most important issue to fix, is the play/pause button freezing or becoming inop. until the platter is touched or moved... Though, fixing the improper song titles / artists on display would be a great fix as well!
Hello Pulse,
I don't want to be pushy, but....
Tomorrow it is the last day of the month.
Any word on the update ?
@jammiejammie > I'm glad your calendar is working. :D
I have great news - the update was released yesterday but I wasn't able to get online to post it! Details coming in mere moments!!
In the MEP-7000 & SEP-C1 Firmware & Drivers forum, The link to the new Frimware 2012-03-30, Links to the old vV2.02.
I noticed that too... You can download both the new Audio Driver and Firmware update here... http://pioneerdj.com/support/product.php?lang=en&p=MEP-7000&...
BUT...... Those of you hoping that this took care of the play/pause button freezing issue, Guess What.... I just did a 4 hour gig on my way to the next one, I was excited to test out the new firmware update... It updated successfully, BUT the problem is still there! Load a track and either press play and pause and cue to that spot OR just use the platter to get to a spot you want and cue it... Press Play, same issue is still there, maybe its happening less frequently but it is still there, if you touch the platter the song will play again fine with pause and play, until you set another or a new cue point... COME ON PIONEER! What is up with this, we wait forever for this update and the main issue is still there... I have actually become accustomed to using the platter to play a song... Also, the improper song/artist names on display are still wrong 75% of the time... Very Frustrating... Everyone else, please post your findings as well... Later
Jason
Same here Jason. I'm feeling a bit deflated. let's forget the mobile and 19" devotees, there's more money to be made of of installs and clubbers. It's great to see exciting new products on your website and international celebrities using them. minority products always get less attention. iguess that I expected the same almost faultless performance that I've had from my CMX -5000 and then the CMX-3000 ( I didn't discard the 5000 I added the 3000).
My biggest grief is that the MEP 7000 is still being bragged on some retailer websites, a product conceived in 2009. It's now 2012 and some of the most claimed features of the MEP/SEP fall short of their expectations.
My next purchase I have to say will not be as automatic as in the past. Stanton, Denon, Numark you're in the running for my future additions ( I can't believe that I have to say that).
Pioneer I have luved your products, but as your name suggests, pioneering is great, but without the backup of your loyal followers, even pioneers of great ideas fail to create a stable futurewithout structure.
HAPPY EASTER every bunny
First addressing Jason's point, we do NOT experience the problem you are having with any of the MEP units we use (we have more than ten MEP-7000s deployed now). Jason, you either have a flawed controller that needs service OR you are using audio files, hard drives, or formatting that falls outside of what the MEP can reliably handle.
Try this: Take your song file and drag it into Quicktime 7 (um… on a Mac) or into your favorite audio waveform editor on a PC. Save the file as a AIF or WAV. Copy the song file onto a USB flash drive (NOT a hard drive). Ideally, the flash drive has been formatted with the HP USB Disc Storage Format Tool v2.2.3 using FAT32. I do this via Parallels on a Mac, as this is a Windows utility.). If you want to encode the ID3 tags onto the file, pick from your favorite player/encoder (I just use iTunes to do this). Plug the flash drive into the MEP, load the song file, and play from that. I can almost assure you that you will not be able to freeze the player (even with the old firmware). We have literally played thousands of mobile gigs with this configuration (yes, we use very large, expensive USB flash drives and uncompressed music), and the MEP simply does not fail. Ever.
I am not saying that the MEP-7000 shouldn't be more reliable using different external hard drives, iffy MP3s, different formatting tools, etc. It should be. But if you stick with flash media and uncompressed audio files (we use AIFs), the controller doesn't freeze. It took us a LONG time to figure out a solution to this, but it really does work.
Phil, I don't think as a club owner I would use the MEP, since in that case, lots of different DJs will be using the equipment with different sources and file types. I think the MEP is too finicky. You don't need the 19" form factor anyway. By the way, I agree with you that the CMX-3000 was a workhorse and rock solid. We used a lot of those back in the day when we were burning CDs. But it's a new era. Media files are the only way to go. There is simply NOT a superior rack-mountable controller by any of the other manufacturers. Trust me, we have looked at ALL of them, and the MEP is the best. We currently use Numark mixers due to their price, small form factor, and five channel board EQ, but they suck. These things cannot handle more than about 100 gigs before they start failing in one way or another. Numark makes cheap stuff. Honestly, I think you would be happier to tweak your workflow and song preparation to bypass the bugs with the MEP-7000 than to try to use a lesser controller from one of the other manufacturers. The grass always seems greener, but we've spent money on the other side of the fence, and we came back to the MEP (or Serato… but that's a story for another day).
Woodster
As Woodster says, and I hate to sound like a broken record (no pun intended); the majority of problems with the Pioneer players comes back to the source media, not the player itself. Proper media handling on both the device and the files therein is critical for flawless playback. You can sit and tell me until the cows come home how well your songs play on another brand's player or a media player on your computer but the fact remains that the MEP is none of those and chances are very good it's superior to all you're comparing it to in almost every way. But then the argument is "Well if it's so much better, how come it won't play my songs?" Does a high performance race car run on the same cheap fuel at the Shell station? Nope. It requires a premium fuel, just as the MEP requires clean and error-free songs and drives.
While yes, I will agree, there were other issues that could have been sewn-up in this firmware update, I stated earlier that the engineering resources were not available for this EOL product and while it would be nice to be supported as a user, this is better than nothing.
Your comments and feedback are still appreciated and you never know if we may see another update for the MEP.
Thanks again for your patience and I hope you find the update fixes the major issue at hand.
Woodster... I don't have a flawed controller, corrupt files, hard drives, etc. I have spoken to other people that have the SAME issue as I, using the controller with Serato, though this problem is not present in Serato 2.2.... Serato will say its pioneer, pioneer will say its Serato, at least Serato does respond quickly. I am a very computer Savvy person and would know about and fix file issues if there were any. You state above; "If you stick with uncompressed audio files, the controller doesn't freeze." You also state that you do thousands of gigs with flash media and everything works flawlessly... Ok, that may be, but then the controller shouldn't be called a media controller, it should be a USB controller... The fact is, all of these controllers have their issues, the denon HC4500 has never froze but the pitch control is not as accurate as the MEP because it has slider that is not capable of doing such small increments, The MEP is not perfect with Serato, and so on... At this point there is NOTHING perfect out there so we'll just make do with what we have. For the Price the MEP sells for, it should not be so finicky about file type, as long as it is NOT corrupt and is an audio "media file" then it should have NO problems playing on a "media player". Nascar vehicles are designed to burn roughly 110 Octane leaded fuel, Indy cars are designed to burn Methane... Media controllers are designed to play Media, its not called an AIF controller... Anyway, we can all go on and on and back and forth with each other for years on this topic. Time to sleep and get ready for a gigs tomorrow... Goodnight Forum...
Pulse... thanks for updating us on stuff when you can and trying to help....
Hi Pulse, Many thanks for pushing for the new update my friend ....well Done !
(This update includes: - Fixed a freeze issue while a specific music track is played.)
Can you explain a little further what this update fixes, what specific track does this mean ? Is this update mainly for Controller user's serato, traktor etc or has it solved VBR file playback ?
The reason I ask this - The only time my Mep freezed in the past was due to VBR mp3 files or tried to unload a drive during operation - Both Freeze up the Player.
Thanks Graeme.
After reading other comments above my last post I realise my unit is not as flawed as others, I've been LUCKY to have less problems than others.
Again, it's not that certain units are flawed, it's the source media going into them.