Archos 104 User manual

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ARCHOS
ARCHOS
™
™
104
104
MP3 & WMA Digital Music Player / Photo Viewer / USB 2.0 Hard Disk
English user manual
Version 1.0 - Please see the Archos web site (www.archos.com)
for the most recent manual and software updates for your Archos™ 104.
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An introductory note from ARCHOS
Dear Customer,
Archos thanks you for choosing our new ultra-smallArchos™ 104. Check out our web site www.archos.com to
find the available accessories for this product (car adapter, carrying cases, etc.).Also, while at our web site, check
for free downloads of updated and improved software for your device.
The principal function of the Archos™ 104 is, of course, to play music. Because it has a real hard disk inside
of it, you can store hundreds of songs. Using a standard audio cable, you can also play your music through a
home entertainment system. You can bring your entire CD collection with you anywhere and play it over anyone’s
sound system.
Putting music onto your Archos™ 104 is as easy as ‘drag and drop’ for your unprotected music files. And for
protected purchased music from PlaysForSure web sites, it is as easy as clicking the Sync button in Windows
Media®Player. Plus, with its USB 2 high speed port, transfers are finished before you know it. TheArchos™ 104
is also ID3 compatible. This means that the ARCLibrary will sort your music so that you can listen to it by artist,
album, title, year, or genre. Click on Shuffle, and listen to your music at random.
With your Archos™ 104 you can also view photos on the built-in OLED screen. Just transfer them from your
computer, and you’ll be able to look at them wherever you take your Archos™ 104.
Finally, you can always use theArchos™ 104 as a portable hard drive to carry your important files with you. You
can even use the Archos double-browser to rename, create, copy, move, and delete files and folders.
This manual gives youall the information you need toknow on using yourArchos™ 104. Read throughit carefully,
you just may find out it can do some neat things that you didn’t expect. If you are stuck, you can always call our
help line or e-mail support to get a friendly Archos agent to give you a hand.
Wishing you the best music listening experience,
The Archos Team
__________
As our engineers are always updating and improving the software, your device’s software may have a slightly
different appearance or modified functionality than presented in this manual.

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able of Contents
able of Contents
1 Ports, Buttons, and Connections 5
2 First Time Usage 6
2.1 Charging the Battery 6
2.2 Turning the Archos™ 104 ON and OFF 7
2.3 Changing the Interface language 7
2.4 Caring for the Archos™ 104 7
2.5 Foreign Character Sets 7
3 Playing Music 8
3.1 Playing a Music File 8
3.2 Play Screen and Button Control 9
3.3 Playback Menu Items 11
3.4 ARCLibrary Specifics 11
3.5 ARCLibrary Updating 12
3.6 Setting a Bookmark 12
3.7 The Resume Function 12
3.8 Locking the Archos™ 104 Buttons 13
4 Putting Music onto your Archos™ 104 14
4.1 Synchronizing Music from Windows Media®Player (WMP) to the Archos™ 104 14
4.2 Comparison of Windows Media Player 10 to Windows Media Player 9 15
4.3 Transferring your CD collection to the Archos™ 104 15
4.4 Installing Windows Media®Player (WMP) 9 16
4.5 Installing Windows Media®Player (WMP) 10 16
5 Playlists 17
5.1 Creating a new Playlist 17
5.2 Loading a Playlist 18
5.3 Playing a Playlist 18
5.4 Playlist Menu Options 18
6 Settings 20
6.1 Changing the Sound Settings 20
6.2 Changing the PlayMode Settings 22
6.3 Changing the time & date settings 23
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6.4 Changing the Display Settings 24
6.5 Changing the Power Settings 25
6.6 Changing the System Settings 26
7 Using the Browser 27
7.1 Inside the MUSIC Folder 27
7.2 Navigating the Directory Structure 28
7.3 File and Folder Operations in Browser Mode 29
7.3.1 Contextual Menu on a File 29
7.3.2 Contextual Menu on a Folder 29
7.3.3 Contextual Menu while in the Double Browser 30
7.4 Using the Virtual Keyboard 30
8 Viewing Photos with yourArchos™ 104 32
8.1 Using the Photo Browser 32
8.2 Photo Browser Contextual Menu 33
8.3 Transferring Photos to your Archos™ 104 34
8.3.1 Transferring Photos in Hard Disk Mode 34
8.3.2 Transferring Photos in Windows Device Mode 34
9 Connecting the Archos™ 104 to a Stereo system 35
10 Connecting the Archos™ 104 to/from your Computer 36
10.1 USB Connection Type (‘Hard Drive’ or ‘Windows Device’) 36
10.2 Connecting the Archos™ 104 36
10.3 Disconnecting the Archos™ 104 from your Computer 37
11 Using iTunes™ with your Archos™ 104 40
12 Updating the Archos™ 104 Firmware 41
12.1 Download the Update_Archos104.AOS file 41
12.2 Copy to Archos™ 104 root and Update 41
12.3 ‘Hard Drive’ or ‘Windows Device’? 42
12.4 Activate the Update 42
13 Troubleshooting 43
13.1 USB Connection issues 43
13.2 File issues, corrupted data, formatting, and partitioning. 45
13.2.1 Windows®ME Running Scan-Disk (Error Checking) - Hard Disk Mode only 46
13.2.2 Windows®XP & 2000 Running Check Disk Utility (ChkDsk) - Hard Disk Mode only 46
14 Technical Specifications 47
15 Technical Support 48
16 Legal and Safety Notices 51

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Ports, Buttons, and Connections
Ports, Buttons, and Connections
A Power jack – to connect an optionalAC adapter/charger
B USB 2.0 port – To connect to your computer to transfer files to Archos™ 104 and
to charge its battery
C Headphone Jack
D On button (hold 3 seconds) & Menu options
E Off button (hold 3 seconds) & Stop/Escape*
Navigation pad
F Move Up & increase volume
G Move Down & decrease volume
H Move Left (decrease value) or audio rewind
I Move Right (increase value) or audio fast forward
J Play/Pause/Enter
1 CHG – Battery charging indicator
2 HDD – Hard drive activity indicator
3 ON – ON/OFF indicator light
* Hardware reset: in the event that your Archos™ 104 freezes operation (due to electrostatic phenomena for example), you can
reset the Archos™ 104 by holding down on the STOP/ESC button x for 15 seconds.
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First Time Usage
First Time Usage
2.1 Charging the Battery
2.1 Charging the Battery
Before using your Archos™ 104 for the first time, completely charge the battery for two hours.
• The Archos™ 104 is charged through its USB connector. Connect the included USB cable to a running
computer and plug the other end into the Archos™ 104 while it is off. This will charge its internal battery. The
CHG indicator will also light up to show that its battery is charging.
• The battery is fully charged when the CHG indicator starts blinking.
CHG indicator is on: CHG indicator is blinking:
The battery is currently being charged. The battery is fully charged.
• You can purchase an Archos charger/adapter to charge the battery from a wall outlet. The blue CHG indicator
lights up to indicate that the external adapter is connected. The battery will charge automatically when it is
plugged in.
• After the first initial full charge, you may use theArchos™ 104 while the AC adapter is plugged in.

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2.2 Turning the Archos™ 104 ON and OFF
2.2 Turning the Archos™ 104 ON and OFF
• Press and hold the ON/Menu button until the screen comes on.
• TheArchos™ 104 will automatically shut off after a given amount of time if no buttons are pressed.To conserve
battery energy, the backlight will automatically shut off. You can change these parameters in Setup > Power.
• Press and hold the Stop/off button until theArchos™ 104 shuts off.
2.3 Changing the Interface language
2.3 Changing the Interface language
• EnglishisselectedasthedefaultlanguageforyourArchos™ 104userinterface.Youcanchooseanotherlanguage
by going to Setup > Display (press the MENU button, then the ENTER button to access the Setup menu).
2.4 Caring for the Archos™ 104
2.4 Caring for the Archos™ 104
The Archos™ 104 is an electronic product that needs to be treated with care.
• Do not subject it to unnecessary shock or vibration.
• Do not subject it to heat. Keep it ventilated (especially when connected to a computer).
• Keep the Archos™ 104 away from water and excessively humid areas.
• Keep the Archos™ 104 away from high electromagnetic fields.
2.5 Foreign Character Sets
2.5 Foreign Character Sets
You have the possibility to display your file names, folder names, and MP3 ID3 tags in various character sets
(ex: Korean, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, etc.). You can find the language files CodePage_name.4fz in the font
folder under /Data on the Archos™ 104 hard disk or on the Archos website under the heading Software.
If, for example, you would like to have the Japanese language display, you would copy the file Cp932.4fz into
the folder /system on the Archos™ 104 . Shut down and restart the Archos™ 104 . File names, folder names,
and ID3 tags written using the Microsoft®codepage for the language will now be displayed in that character set.
Only one.4fz file can be used at a time, thus you should only put one.4fz file into the /system folder. When an.4fz
language file is used, the interface language will be set to English.
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Playing Music
Playing Music
Once the Archos™ 104 has been turned on, the following screen is displayed. You can
select the major functions from this main menu.
• Music: Browse through the folder Music or use the ARCLibrary music selection system.
• Photo: Browse through and view all the pictures on your Archos™ 104.
• Browser: Browse through and manage all of the other files on yourArchos™ 104.
• Resume: Resume playing from the last place you stopped.
You can also access the Setup menu by pressing the MENU button and then the ENTER
button to set the parameters of your Archos™ 104 to your personal taste.
3.1 Playing a Music File
3.1 Playing a Music File
By clicking on the Music icon in the main menu screen, you will enter into a ‘music only’
mode. File types other than WMA, WAV, and MP3 that may be in those folders will be
filtered from view.
There are two ways to access your music, by selecting Browse hard disk or by searching
the songs’ tag information, Artist, Album, title, etc. In the case of Browse hard drive, you
will be sent directly to the Music folder of yourArchos™ 104. Here you can look at all your
music files and the folders on your Archos™ 104’s hard drive as if you were browsing
files with a computer. The other way is to browse your music by tag information, artist,
album, song name, year, or genre. The Unknown category indicates that the file has no
tag data.
To select a music file, use the navigation controls UP and DOWN to move upwards or downwards and ENTER
to enter a highlighted subfolder or tag category. Click ENTER to play the highlighted song. Use LEFT to leave a
folder and go back to the previous level.

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3.2 Play Screen and Button Control
3.2 Play Screen and Button Control
(1) Menu available
(2) Artist* or parent folder
(3) Album* or current folder
(4) Song title* or file name
(5) Status: playing
(6) Play Mode: Folder
(7) Play Order: Repeat
(8) Volume (0-99)
(9) Battery level
(10) Real time clock
(11) Song elapsed time
(12) Song remaining time
(13) Album cover (if it is available)
*If the file contains these tag data
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A Play/pause/resume song
B Increase the volume
C Click once: Play the next song in the folder or playlist.
Hold: Fast forward through the song.
D Decrease the Volume
E Click once: Play the previous song in the folder or playlist
(during first 10 seconds of song) otherwise go to the
beginning of the song.
Hold: Fast reverse through the song.
F Stop Song
Play Status Play Order
Play Status Play Order
Stopped (no icon) Play once
Playing a track Shuffle (Random) track selection
Current track is paused Repeat playing
The top status bar indicates the status and play settings that you have given. See the Settings chapter for a
description of the Playmode options.
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3.3 Playback Menu Items
3.3 Playback Menu Items
When the menu icon appears, you have certain options. During song
playback, press the MENU button for the following options.
• Setup: Enters the Setup screen (same as selecting the Setup icon in the main
menu) which allows you access to parameters such as bass and treble.
• Info: Show file information such as the file name, number of kilobytes of hard
drive space used, date created, file format, etc.
• ARCLibrary: Allows you to browse through yourARCLibrary while listening to the
current song.
• Edit Playlist: Enters the playlist editor (see below how to use Playlists).
• Set Bookmark: Set a bookmark at the current position within the audio file. See
the Bookmark section below.
3.4 ARCLibrary Specifics
3.4 ARCLibrary Specifics
TheARCLibrary is a system for choosing your music by its characteristics. It can be
turned On or Off in the settings from Setup > Playmode. As shown in this screen
capture here, you can select your music by Artist, Album, Song Title, Genre, or
Year. MP3 and WMA music files have internal data tags to hold information about
the song. For MP3 files, these are known as ID3 tags. Not all MP3 files have all
this information filled in. If you purchase a song from a music download service,
the song will have this information. If you have an MP3 or WMA file without this tag
information, then you can add or change it by going to the properties of the file in
Windows®Explorer. Once you update the ARCLibrary, you will have access to all
newly copied music via the ARCLibrary. The ARCLibrary indexes all the music and
playlists that it finds in the folders Music and Playlists by using the tag information
in each song. Thus, you should never delete the folders Music or Playlists. If a
song does not have tags, it will be put into the category <unknown>.
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3.5 ARCLibrary Updating
3.5 ARCLibrary Updating
If you paste unprotected audio files from your computer to theArchos™ 104, they go directly to theArchos™ 104
hard disk without the ARCLibrary knowing about the new song. This is why the ARCLibrary is updated when
you disconnect your Archos™ 104 from the computer. Alternatively, you can set up the ARCLibrary to update
only when you choose to, by setting it to “On”, not “automatic”. You can find the information on how to do this
in the section Playmode in the Settings chapter. You will then have to go to the Setup > Playmode screen,
highlight [UpdateARCLibrary] and press ENTER. Amessage screen will appear indicating that it is updating the
ARCLibrary contents.
3.6 Setting a Bookmark
3.6 Setting a Bookmark
If you are listening to a song, or perhaps a long recording, and would like to place a bookmark in it in order
to pick up from this point at another time, you can use the Bookmark function. While listening to the audio
recording, simply click on the MENU button, then choose Set Bookmark. This will set a bookmark in the
audio file at the current position. You can only set one bookmark per file. When you look at the file in your browser,
it will have a small mark on its icon indicating that this file has a bookmark set within it. You can have a maximum
of 16 files bookmarked. Setting more bookmarks will erase existing bookmarks, starting with the oldest. The next
time you play the audio file, you will be presented with three options:
Resume: Start playing from the bookmarked position.
Ignore: Keep the bookmark but start playing from the very beginning.
Clear: Clear the bookmark from this file and start playing from the very beginning.
3.7 The Resume Function
3.7 The Resume Function
When you turn on your Archos™ 104 you will sometimes notice that the icon which is highlighted on
the main screen is not the Browser but rather the Resume icon. This icon is highlighted when the
Archos™ 104 can resume the last played audio file.

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3.8 Locking the Archos™ 104 Buttons
3.8 Locking the Archos™ 104 Buttons
You can prevent theArchos™ 104 from executing unintended functions by
locking the buttons. To lock the buttons, hold down on the MENU button
until the “lock” icon appears in the top-left corner of the screen. Now the
buttons are disabled, but you can still use the UP and DOWN controls on
the navigation pad to change the volume. To unlock the buttons hold down
again on the Menu button until the “lock” icon disappears.
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Putting Music onto your Archos™ 104
Putting Music onto your Archos™ 104
Your Archos™ product is a certified PlaysForSure™ digital device which means that wherever
you find music for sale or for subscription on the Internet with this symbol, you can be certain that
they will ‘Play for sure’ on your Archos™ 104 *.
TheArchos™ 104 is designed to work seamlessly with Windows Media®Player (WMP) versions
9 and 10. The Windows Media®Player software is used to download digital media content from
the Internet to your computer and organize it. You will also use it to synchronize (copy) the
contents of your Windows Media®Player media library to yourArchos™ device. See the comparison chart below
for an explanation of the different features available when running Windows Media®Player 9 and 10 or check out
the Web site www.playsforsure.com.
* Subscription services require you to be running Windows Media®Player 10.
4.1 Synchronizing Music from Windows Media
4.1 Synchronizing Music from Windows Media
®
®
Player (WMP) to the Archos™ 104
Player (WMP) to the Archos™ 104
The Synchronize button in Windows Media® Player (WMP) is a one way ‘sync’ button.
That is, it will add music and photo files to your Archos™ 104 so that you have the
same digital media on yourArchos™ 104 as you have in your Windows Media® Player
media library. Of course, you can choose to sync only certain songs or photos, or
sync your entire library. On WMP10, you can click the button
Set up Sync in the Sync tab and then check the box labeled Synchronize Device
Automatically. This is the auto-sync advantage of WMP10. If this box is checked,
then each time you connect your Archos™ 104 to your PC, Windows Media® Player
will automatically start up and check to see if there is any new music or photos in your media library, and if so,
will then copy them to your Archos™ 104. On the other hand, with Windows Media® Player 9, you have to tell it
what you want to sync, WMP9 cannot synchronize automatically when you connect your Archos™ 104 to your
computer.
Note for WMP10 users: Files added to your Archos™ 104 from another computer cannot be added to the
Windows Media® Player Library when you connect yourArchos™ 104 to the computer. Songs which have been
added, will however, be listed in the device’sARCLibrary.

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4.2 Comparison of Windows Media Player 10 to Windows Media Player 9
4.2 Comparison of Windows Media Player 10 to Windows Media Player 9
Windows® Media Player 10 is only available for Windows® XP (service Pack 1) and newer operating systems. It
is worth your while to upgrade to Windows® XP (home or professional) and to Windows® Media Player 10. The
list below shows the advantages.
Functionality WMP9 WMP10
Auto-synchronize the WMP library
to Archos™ 104 on connecting to PC no* yes
Can synchronize subscription music
(‘to go’ services) to your Archos™ 104 no yes
Carefree USB disconnection
(no special green arrow unmount procedure) no yes
PlaysForSure™audio content
* Must use WMP9 manual sync function to copy purchased music to the Archos™ 104.
4.3 Transferring your CD collection to the Archos™ 104
4.3 Transferring your CD collection to the Archos™ 104
The process of transferring music from a CD into files for your Archos™ 104 is known
as ‘ripping’. It is actually a transcoding process, taking the CDA (CD Audio) format and
converting it to WMA or MP3 format which the Archos™ 104 can read. There are many
music ripping programs on the market, but the easiest thing to do is to use Windows Media®
Player to do it. In fact, when you place a music CD in your computer, Windows®will ask you
if you would like to rip it. Depending on the power of your computer, to rip a 60 minute CD, it
will take anywhere from 10 minutes to 60 minutes. Once this is done, the album will become
part of your music library. Connect your Archos™ 104 to your computer with the supplied
USB cable. Now, you go to the Sync tab and tell Windows Media®Player to synchronize
that album to yourArchos™ 104. It will then transfer that album to yourArchos™ 104.
Note: Some music CDshave a special copy protection systemthat will notallow Windows
Media®Player to make music files from them.
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4.4 Installing Windows Media
4.4 Installing Windows Media
®
®
Player (WMP) 9
Player (WMP) 9
If you have Windows®ME or 2000, you should use Windows Media®Player 9. The easiest way to install this
software is to visit the Microsoft®Website and download the very latest version.
4.5 Installing Windows Media
4.5 Installing Windows Media
®
®
Player (WMP) 10
Player (WMP) 10
You must be running Windows®XP (Service Pack 1 or higher) in order to install Windows Media®Player 10.
Please visit Microsoft’s PlaysForSure website (www.playsforsure.com) and download the very latest version
of Windows Media®Player 10.

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Playlists
Playlists
APlaylist is a list of songs that theArchos™ 104 will automatically play one after the other. TheArchos™ 104 can
handle one Playlist at a time. You can create new Playlists, add or delete songs from a Playlist, or Save a Playlist
as a file (file type.m3u) to be used another time. There is no limit to the number of Playlists you can save on the
Archos™ 104 hard drive. A Playlist can have a maximum of 1000 songs in it.
5.1 Creating a new Playlist
5.1 Creating a new Playlist
To create a Playlist, press the RIGHT button while you are in the Music browser.Asecond
panel is opened on the right side to display the Playlist contents (shown empty in the
picture). You can now start adding songs to the current Playlist.
Note: If tracks are displayed in the right panel, this means a Playlist is already open. To
create a new Playlist, close the current list first (see the Playlist Menu options) and click
RIGHT again.
In the left panel, search for the songs you would like to add to your Playlist. Once the
song is highlighted, click on the ENTER button to add it to the Playlist. The song will be
added to the Playlist and a small mark is placed next to the music note icon to indicate
that it is now in the Playlist. You can also add all the music files of a complete folder in one
operation by highlighting the desired folder and choosing ADD or INSERT on the menu.
Be careful about which panel you are in since the left panel menu has different options than the right panel menu.
Continue searching and adding songs in this manner until you are satisfied. You can jump back and forth anytime
between the two panels by clicking LEFT/RIGHT on the navigation pad.
We recommend that you save your Playlists to theArchos™ 104 hard drive (see Playlists Menu Options below)
to use it again later.After saving a new Playlist, use the menu of the left panel to update the ARCLibrary in order
for it to appear in your Playlists folder. The menu also offers you the option INSERT: The track will be added
before the track which is highlighted in the Playlist.
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5.2 Loading a Playlist
5.2 Loading a Playlist
You can load a previously saved Playlist or add the files it contains to the current Playlist.
Use the music browser to select the Playlist of your choice (Playlists are indicated by a
special list icon) and then press OK. If there were already some items in theArchos™ 104
Playlist, then the songs of the loaded Playlist will be added to the end of it. You can then
check or modify the Playlist as usual in the Playlist panel.
5.3 Playing a Playlist
5.3 Playing a Playlist
After loading a Playlist, press the RIGHT control on the navigation pad to go into
the Playlist edition panel. Then use the UP and DOWN controls to select a song.
Click on ENTER, and your Playlist will start playing from that song according to
the current PlayMode settings.
5.4 Playlist Menu Options
5.4 Playlist Menu Options
While in the Playlist screen (right side) you have the following options.
• Save: Saves the current Playlist onto theArchos™ 104 so that it can be reloaded
later. It will be saved into the directory Playlists.
• Close: Closing the list enables you to create a new Playlist by using the RIGHT
control of the navigation pad whilst in the Music folder or any of its sub-folders.
• Rename: Changes the name of the current Playlist using the Virtual Keyboard.
• Shuffle: Randomly changes the order of the items in the loaded Playlist.
• Clear: Removes ALL tracks from the loaded Playlist.

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• Move: Allows you to change the order of songs in the Playlist by moving them up
or down using the UP/DOWN buttons of the navigation pad.
• Delete: Removes the highlighted track from the playlist.
Note: To delete a Playlist, navigate to Browser > Playlists. Highlight the Playlist, the menu
button, highlight Delete and press ENTER.
(Moving a music track)
Important: Once you save a Playlist it is important that you do not move the actual files as the
Playlist searches in the original file location. If you need to move your files to a different folder,
you’ll have to recreate your Playlists.
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Settings
Settings
There are a number of parameters you can set on theArchos™ 104 to make it operate
accordingtoyour particular needs. To access theSetup menu,press the MENU button
and then the ENTER button from the main screen.
Within the menus, you will find different parameters. In order to modify a parameter,
click LEFT or RIGHT on the navigation pad. Note that once you have reached the last
option, clicking further will not normally take you back to the first item in the list.
6.1 Changing the Sound Settings
6.1 Changing the Sound Settings
If you would like to customize the sound quality, go to [Setup > Sound].