Yes, you solved your own problem. This is a known issue with the v1 e200 series. Using custom eq settings with boosted levels seems to overload the headphone amp, causing it to cut out and back in on one side. Used to drive me nuts. The problem was rectified in the v2 models.
I've had an e250r for over a year now. A couple months back, I started running into problems with the sound cutting out in one earbud. I figured it was just the cheap earbuds that came with it so I replaced them with a better set only to have the problem still occur. In troubleshooting the issue, I've found that this happens with specific MP3s at exactly the same spot in the song. In some of the songs, the sound will be completely cut out only to fizzle back in, starting with lots of static and eventually returning to normal. Some songs the sound stays completely out but as soon as the next track plays, it is back to normal.
Anyone else experience this issue? I'm thinking it's something in the MP3, perhaps the bit rate or something. I'm thinking I may re-encode the problem tracks to see if this corrects it but I'd like to hear if anyone else has experienced this. Thanks.
Solution to sound cutting out in Custom EQ - set all your sliders to numbers that add up to ZERO. For example first slider 2, the next slider -1, then -3, then -1, and the last slider 3. So, your Custom EQ settings should look like this:
2, -1, -3, -1, 3
This will fix the problem, and still sound good. You can change these numbers up however you want too, as long as all of the numbers, when added up, equal ZERO. :)
This fix comes from the following post: http://forums.sandisk.com/sansa/board/message?board.id=e200&thread.id=3157&vi...
Thanks for posting this! This has been happening to my e280...it's been a minor annoyance.
RSS
Nevermind as I believe I have pinpointed the problem. It appears to be related to the Custom EQ settings I was using. When the sound would cut out, I could go to the EQ, change to a different setting and it would come back. When I set it on a different EQ setting, the sound doesn't cut out any more.