Tecsun PL-880 Audio problem

Click here to learn how to display your PL-880’s firmware version.

It seems that there are some important differences emerging between PL-880 firmware versions.

You may have noted that the PL-880 I reviewed yesterday has a firmware version of 8820. I purchased my PL-880 through eBay seller, Anon-Co. As far as I can tell, most, if not all of the units Anon-Co has sold have the same (i.e. latest) firmware version: 8820.

Several readers have contacted me with concern about units they’ve purchased from Kaito Electronics and from their Amazon.com vendor account Electronnix which have firmware version 8819. (Not sure what firmware version you have? Click here to discover.)

It seems that firmware version 8819 lacks a few features that I mentioned in the review I posted yesterday:

The muting threshold cannot be properly adjusted as I describe in this post. To be clear, this would lead to a very annoying and constant shift in audio level while listening to all but the strongest of AM/SW signals. I would recommend returning your PL-880 if the muting threshold cannot be adjusted.
Bandwidth cannot be adjusted using the tuning or fine tuning controls. You can only cycle through filters by continuously press the AM BW button.

It also seems that Kaito’s PL-880s are not shipping with the same carrying case Anon-Co ships.

On a side note, I don’t think Kaito is to blame for this as they probably had no idea there were different versions of the PL-880 firmware. I’m sure they will work with their customers to correct this.

If we found that the PL-880 firmware could be updated by users it would eliminate this problem. So far, I have not heard that this is the case.

Please comment if you notice other differences in firmware versions and I will amend the list above.

You can follow all Tecsun PL-880 updates by bookmarking/checking this link.

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As more and more people are beginning to receive their Tecsun PL-880s, I’m receiving emails and noticing comments regarding an “audio level problem.”

Here’s the symptom: when you tune your brand new PL-880 to a relatively weak station on AM or shortwave, the audio level jumps from low to high in what seems like a random pattern. It’s very annoying. Like me, many assume they have received a faulty unit–some have even sent their new PL-880 back for refund.

In reality, the PL-880 is simply following a default muting threshold level and the audio is responding accordingly. Fortunately, there’s an easy fix for this–you won’t find it in your owner’s manual, but you will find it in one of the first PL-880 posts I published:

Hidden feature: Adjusting the Tecsun PL-880 muting threshold

I hope Tecsun will start shipping their PL-880s with the threshold set to “00” or off. It would certainly lead to less confusion and frustration.

You can follow all Tecsun PL-880 updates by bookmarking/checking this link.

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