Creative NOMAD Zen XTRA User Manual

User’s Guide

Creative NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra

Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Creative Technology Ltd. No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, for any purpose without the written permission of Creative Technology Ltd. The software described in this document is furnished under a license agreement and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of the license agreement. It is against the law to copy the software on any other medium except as specifically allowed in the license agreement. The licensee may make one copy of the software for backup purposes.

The Software License Agreement is found in a separate folder on the installation CD.

Copyright © 2003 Creative Technology Ltd. All rights reserved.

Version 1.0

September 2003

Sound Blaster, Sound Blaster Live!, EAX, the Sound Blaster logo, and the Creative logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Creative Technology Ltd. in the United States and/or other countries.

NOMAD is a registered trademark of Aonix and is used by Creative Technology Ltd. and/or its affiliates under license. Microsoft, MS-DOS, and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Intel and Pentium are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. CDDB is a trademark of CDDB, Inc.

SmartMedia is a trademark of Toshiba Corp.

MP3.com and the MP3.com logo are trademarks of MP3.com, Inc.

All other products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Contents

Contents

Safety and Handling Instructions

Caring For Your Player ..............................................................	xiii
Battery Usage Precautions .......................................................	xiv
Introduction
Before You Begin
Package Contents ....................................................................	xviii
Hardware ...............................................................................	xviii
Software .................................................................................	xviii
Creative MediaSource Player ........................................	xix
Creative MediaSource Organizer ..................................	xix
Creative NOMAD Explorer .............................................	xx
Adobe Acrobat Reader ...................................................	xx
Minimum System Requirements ..............................................	xxi
Document Conventions .................................................................	xxii
Web Information ............................................................................	xxiii
Optional Player Accessories ........................................................	xxiv
Online Registration ...................................................................	xxv
1 A Tour of Your Player
Your Player at a Glance ..............................................................	1-1
Using the Scroller ........................................................................	1-2
Scroll Select ..............................................................................	1-2
Selecting menu options .............................................................	1-3

vii

Selecting list and confirmation box options .....................

1-3

2 Getting Started

Inserting the battery .....................................................................	2-1
Charging the Battery ........................................................................	2-3
Power Source and Level Indicators ..........................................	2-4
Installing Software ............................................................................	2-5
Connecting your Player to your Computer ..................................	2-6
Transferring Music .......................................................................	2-7
Downloading from the internet ..................................................	2-8
Ripping from a CD ....................................................................	2-8

3 Playing and Managing Your Music

Playing Music ..............................................................................	3-1
Music Playback .........................................................................	3-1
Playing the Selected Music List .......................................	3-1
Playing all tracks in your player .......................................	3-2
Play Modes ......................................................................................	3-3
Repeating music .......................................................................	3-3
Shuffling music ..........................................................................	3-4
Playing a track once ..................................................................	3-5
Normal mode ............................................................................	3-6
Bookmarking a track ........................................................................	3-7
Organizing your Music .....................................................................	3-9
Using the Music Library ............................................................	3-9
Finding a Music Track in the Music Library .............................	3-10
Adding Music Tracks to the Selected Music List .....................	3-11
Viewing Track Information in the Music Library ......................	3-13

viii

Deleting Music Tracks from the Music Library ........................	3-14
Using the Selected Music List ........................................................	3-16
Viewing music tracks in the Selected Music List .....................	3-16
Viewing track information in the Selected Music List ..............	3-18
Removing music tracks from the Selected Music List .............	3-19
Rearranging the Selected Music List ......................................	3-21
Saving the Selected Music List as a playlist ...........................	3-23
Enhancing Your Music ..............................................................	3-25
Using EAX ...............................................................................	3-25
Customizing EQ Settings in EAX ............................................	3-27

4 Software Applications

About Creative MediaSource and NOMAD Explorer	...................4-1
Using Creative MediaSource ....................................................	4-2
Ripping Audio CD Tracks ................................................	4-2
Transferring tracks ...........................................................	4-3
Using Media Sniffer ...................................................................	4-3
Editing audio track information ........................................	4-4
Creating a playlist ............................................................	4-5
Adding audio tracks to a playlist ......................................	4-6
Changing the playback order in a playlist ........................	4-6
Deleting a playlist ............................................................	4-6
Using NOMAD Explorer ............................................................	4-7
Creating a folder ..............................................................	4-7
Opening a folder ..............................................................	4-7
Deleting a file or folder .....................................................	4-8
Changing the name of a file or folder ..............................	4-8

ix

A Technical Specifications
Size .................................................................................................	A-1
Weight ............................................................................................	A-1
Memory ...........................................................................................	A-1
Capacity ..........................................................................................	A-1
Battery type ....................................................................................	A-1
Battery Life (playback time) ............................................................	A-1
Interface ..........................................................................................	A-1
Playback Formats ...........................................................................	A-2
Signal to Noise Ratio ......................................................................	A-2
Channel Separation ........................................................................	A-2
THD ................................................................................................	A-2
Frequency Response .....................................................................	A-2
Harmonic Distortion ........................................................................	A-2
Operating System/Firmware ...........................................................	A-2
Headphone Out ..............................................................................	A-2
LCD Display ....................................................................................	A-2
Data Connector ..............................................................................	A-3
EAX ................................................................................................	A-3
Playback Speed ..............................................................................	A-3

B Onscreen Diagram and Icon Guide

Information Diagrams	..................................................................B-1
Playback Icons .................................................................................	B-2
Selected Music List Icons .................................................................	B-3
Play Mode Icons ...............................................................................	B-4
Navigational Icons ............................................................................	B-5

x

C Frequently Asked Questions and Error Diagrams
AutoPlay .......................................................................................	C-1
Features .......................................................................................	C-2
General .........................................................................................	C-2
Maintenance ......................................................................................	C-5
Usage ...........................................................................................	C-5
Error Diagrams ..................................................................................	C-7

D User Preferences

Setting User Preferences .............................................................	D-1
Changing Settings .....................................................................	D-1
Profiles .......................................................................................	D-2
Setting Sleep Timer ..........................................................	D-3
Contrast .....................................................................................	D-3
Language Settings .....................................................................	D-3
Menu Language ................................................................	D-4
Input Language ................................................................	D-4
Time and Date ...........................................................................	D-4
Setting time and date ........................................................	D-4
Setting Wake-To-Music ....................................................	D-5
Accessing the Information Screen .............................................	D-5
Resetting your Player’s Settings ................................................	D-6
Resetting your Player .................................................................	D-6
Locking and unlocking your Player ............................................	D-7
To lock your player ...........................................................	D-7
To unlock your player .......................................................	D-7

xi

Safety and Handling Instructions

Safety and Handling Instructions

Caring For

Your Player

While your player is quite robust, observing these handling procedures will prolong its life.

Do not store or	Do not subject to
use in areas	excessive force or
exceeding 45ºC	impact.
or 113ºF.
Do not expose to	Keep away from
heat or incinerate.	excessive
	moisture.
Keep away from	Do not dismantle.
strong magnetic
fields.

Safety and Handling Instructions xiii

Battery Usage

Precautions

Never modify or disassemble the battery. If there is leakage, stench, discoloration or deformation during charging or use, remove the battery and do not use it again. Clean your hands well before handling food or touching sensitive areas of your body, for example, your eyes.

When charging or handling your player’s battery, take note of these precautions:

Do not expose to	Avoid contact with
heat or fire.	metal objects like
	keys or
	necklaces.
Do not pierce or	Store away from
crush.	direct sunlight.

Avoid contact with	Do not store or
moisture.	use in areas
	exceeding 45ºC
	or 113ºF.

Safety and Handling Instructions xiv

Introduction

Introduction

The product name may vary from country to country.

Congratulations on making an excellent decision in purchasing the Creative NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra!

Your new multi-format portable player is extremely lightweight, just about 8.0 ounces (226 grams). Even though it is no bigger than a normal portable cassette player, you can store thousands of songs in the player’s music library. Your player also comes equipped with an USB 2.0™ connector, so you can transfer audio tracks and data quickly and easily.

Unlike other hardware-based players, the NOMAD Zen Xtra features an onboard real-time digital signal processor (DSP) and a real-time effects processor for superior audio playback and customization. Your player also supports EAX™ so that you can enhance your audio with Advanced EQ presets, headphone spatialization, environments and effects. Your portable digital audio player supports multiple audio file formats, including MP3, WMA and WAV.

Introduction xvi

Before You Begin

Before You Begin

Package

Contents

Hardware

Software

NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra Player (with removable battery)

AC Power Adapter

Installation CD incorporating PDF User’s Guide

Quick Start leaflet

Stereo headphones

USB cable

Protective pouch

Lithium-ion rechargeable battery

Creative MediaSource Player

Creative MediaSource Organizer

Creative NOMAD Explorer

Adobe Acrobat Reader

Before You Begin xviii

	Creative	Creative MediaSource Player is the only software you will need for music
	MediaSource	and multimedia entertainment. Unlike other media players, Creative
	Player	MediaSource Player is specially designed to access the power of NOMAD
		Jukebox Zen Xtra’s hardware. With it, you can:
			play back music and multimedia files: MP3, WAV, WMA, WMV, NVF,
			VideoCD, etc*
			enhance playback of ordinary music with surround effects using EAX
			vary the speed of audio playback without affecting the pitch (Time
			Scaling)*
			use Smart Volume Management to play back a list of songs at a similar
			volume level even if they were originally recorded at different loudness
			levels*
			switch between Creative MediaSource Organizer and Creative
			MediaSource Player with just a click of the mouse
	Creative	Managing a huge collection of audio CDs and MP3 files can be a headache.
	MediaSource	With Creative MediaSource Organizer, you can find any track easily, no
	Organizer	matter where it is stored on your hard disk or external storage devices.

*To enjoy this feature, you must have a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 audio card installed in your system.

Before You Begin xix

Creative NOMAD

Explorer

Adobe Acrobat

Reader

Creative NOMAD Explorer helps you manage your player’s audio tracks and data files within Windows® Explorer.

With Creative NOMAD Explorer, you can conveniently organize and transfer files between your computer and your NOMAD Jukebox, or between different NOMAD Jukeboxes, using familiar Windows methods, such as Drag-and- Drop and Cut-and-Paste.

As Creative NOMAD Explorer has been integrated with Microsoft Windows Explorer, you can easily copy or move data files to and from your player, just like a portable storage device.

Creative NOMAD Explorer also lets you copy audio tracks to your player's Music Library. However, you will not be able to view your player's Music Library with Creative NOMAD Explorer. For more audio track management options for your player, it is recommend that you use Creative MediaSource instead.

Adobe Acrobat Reader is a software that lets you view and print Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files on all major computer platforms.

Before You Begin xx

Minimum

System

Requirements

The software applications on the installation CD may have higher requirements for basic functionality. Refer to each application’s documentation for details

Microsoft® Windows® 98 Second Edition (SE), Windows 2000, Windows Millennium Edition (Me) or Windows XP

Intel® Pentium® II 233 MHz, AMD®-K6-2® 266 MHz or better processor (Pentium III 450 MHz or higher recommended for MP3 encoding)

Sound Blaster Live!™, Sound Blaster Audigy™ or Sound Blaster Extigy™ for EAX enhanced MP3 encoding

CD-ROM drive with digital audio extraction support

USB 1.1 or 2.0 port

64 MB RAM (128 Megabytes recommended)

30 MB free hard disk space (more needed for storing audio)

Internet connection for Internet content downloading and CDDB2™ support (any charges incurred are the responsibility of the user)

Installed mouse

SVGA graphics adapter (256 colors, 800 x 600 resolution or better)

Before You Begin xxi

Document

Conventions

We use icons to highlight useful or urgent information for you:

Tip. This tells you about shortcuts or hints relating to a feature.

Note. This highlights additional or important information about a feature.

Caution! This highlights proper usage of your player. Use this information to avoid situations involving risk.

Warning! This warns you of possible hazards to yourself or your player, which may result in injury or damage.

Before You Begin xxii

Web

Information

Visit www.NOMADworld.com regularly for information on:

firmware updates

NOMAD accessories

tips and tricks

FAQs

troubleshooting

documentation updates

software updates or purchases

technologies used in your player

an online glossary

Before You Begin xxiii

Optional Player

Accessories

Car Kit

The Car Kit comes with a Cassette Adapter that connects your player to a car cassette player.

Removable battery

You can get an additional removable Lithium-Ion battery for your battery.

Visit www.NOMADworld.com to learn more about these accessories.

Before You Begin xxiv

Online

Registration

To register online, your player must be connected to the computer.

Enjoy a host of benefits by registering your products during installation, or at www.creative.com/register.

Benefits include:

Service and Product support from Creative.

Exclusive updates on promotions and events!

Before You Begin xxv

1 A Tour of Your Player

A Tour of Your Player

Your Player at

a Glance

Power button

Back button

Volume

button Resetbutton

Forward/Reverse

button

Play/Pause button

Scroller

Menu button

Open switch

To change or insert the battery, push the switch to the right to open your player’s cover.

LCD screen

USB connector connects a USB cable from your player to your computer to transfer data or audio

Power adapter connector

Headphones connector connects to your headphones.

A Tour of Your Player 1-1

Using the

Scroller

Scroll Select

To "Scroll Select", use the Scroller to scroll to the option you want, and select the option by pressing the Scroller.

The Scroller is one of the most important features of your NOMAD Jukebox Zen Xtra. In this document, we will use a new term, “Scroll Select”, to indicate that you should use the Scroller to scroll through options and then select the option by pressing the Scroller.

The Scroller	Use the Scroller to scroll	Press the Scroller to select an
(side view)	through options	option

Depending on the screen you are in, you can have different menu options. You can also choose options from a list or a confirmation box.

A Tour of Your Player 1-2

Selecting menu	You can use the Scroller to make selections in menus. For example, if you
options	are looking at the Menu screen:

From the Menu screen to the Settings screen

1.Use the Scroller to scroll up and down in the menu.

2.Press the Scroller to select the menu item.

Selecting list and You can also use the Scroller to select confirmation boxes or options in a list. confirmation box

options

			Scroller options
	Constructing a title from a list			Unlocking the player

1.Move the Scroller to scroll through the options.

2.Press the Scroller to select the option.

A Tour of Your Player 1-3

Button	What It Does	Usage Tips
POWER		press and hold until player turns
		on or off
turns the player on and off		when the player is turned on,
disables all buttons except for the scroller		press this button. The Lock
	activates LCD backlight	player? window appears. Use

the scroller and select the check mark icon.

MENU

accesses most of your player’s features

FORWARD/

REVERSE

skips to the next track

skips forward to portions of a track when you press and hold the button

skips to the beginning of the current track, or to the previous track

skips to previous portions of a track when you press and hold the button

to skip forward or go back to another track, press the Menu button, and then Scroll Select

Selected Music to get to the Selected Music screen. Use the scroller and select the track you want to skip to.

PLAY/PAUSE

to play a track from the Musicstarts, pauses, or continues playback Library screens, press and hold

this button.

A Tour of Your Player 1-4

Button		What It Does		Usage Tips
VOLUME				press and hold the	end of
				the button to increase the
		increases the volume
				volume quickly
		decreases the volume		press and hold the	end of
				the button to decrease the
				volume quickly
			turn the Scroller to scroll through
SCROLLER				menu options and press the
				Scroller to select them. This
	scrolls up and down menus			action is also referred to as
		selects menu options		"Scroll Select".
				To Scroll tracks continuously,
				hold the Scroller until you reach
				the track that you want.
BACK
	goes to previously accessed screens
RESET				insert the end of a thin object,
	resets your player if it stops reponding
				like a paper clip, into the button
OPEN SWITCH		To change or insert the battery, push the
		switch to the right to open your player’s
		cover.

A Tour of Your Player 1-5

2 Getting Started

Getting Started

Inserting the battery

1.Push the Open switch to the right as shown in Figure 2-1. The cover pops open.

Open switch

Figure 2-1: Opening the cover.

2.Insert the battery into your player.

3.Position the hooks of cover over the openings as shown in Figure 2-2.

Hook

Opening

Figure 2-2: Positioning hooks of cover.

Getting Started 2-1