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Neo Freerunner Audio Quality Enhancement Service

A known problem of the Neo Freerunner design is that the headset output lacks some low frequency signals (bass). Thererfore music played through the headsets does not sound as expected and compared to other digital music players. There is an improvement rework by adding larger coupling capacitors to the output amplifier. This became known as the Bass Rework. Although there is a description of a rework solution: http://people.openmoko.org/andy/additional-headset-audio-caps.pdf we do not expect that you can do it yourself and not in the required quality. Therefore, we have worked on a professional approach. With the help of a local SMD specialist company in Munich, we can now offer a rework service to those who want to improve audio quality. Finally a note of caution: acoustic quality is very subjective so that we can't guarantee that the result is good enough for your expectations. We can only guarantee that there is a technical improvement as shown in the oscilloscope pictures below.

Conditions

• This service is for the EU harmonized market only (sorry for Norway, Switzerland)
• Customer will send in, get rework and gets the device sent back within two weeks.
• The 2 way shipping cost will be covered by the customer.
• When choosing a parcel service, please choose one that allows you to track your parcel since we are not responsible for incoming parcels. For German customers we recommend Hermes-Versand.
• The price of this service is to cover our cost and shipping back and payment processing.
• Please pack carefully, but just the Neo Freerunner (without battery, battery cover, headset, pouch, stylus, SIM card, SD card etc.). We are not responsible for lost accessories - only for the device. We strongly recommend to use the original black box.
• In the rare case that we damage your device, you will get a fresh Neo Freerunner (but your data is lost).
• You can pay in advance by IBAN bank transfer or Credit Card. If you don't send us the device, you get a full refund of the payment.
• If you have several Freerunners to rework, please add as many Reworks to the shopping cart. This will reduce shipment cost compared to single shipment. And, we offer a volume discount to encourage group buys. They are automatically shown in the shopping cart.

Important notes

• After payment is done, please follow the Rework Instructions
• Rework is running in batches so you can send us your device any time.
• Please note that we can handle this service only for customers in the EU harmonized market because temporary import/export is too complicated if we want to avoid that you (or we) have to pay again the import tax for your original Freerunner.
• There is also a Buzz-Rework Service that can be combined to reduce handling and shipment cost.
• There is also a 1024-Rework Service that can be combined to reduce handling and shipment cost.

How to test if my devices needs a rework

sox -n -t wav file.wav synth 10 sine 10-100 

Here are samples of the output signals of an original and a Bass-reworked unit. The total time-scale is 12 seconds. The signal starts with 10 Hz after 1 second and ends at the 11th second.