Speaking more regarding my MP3 player/voice recorder/toy in general.
Update: The software listed here doesn’t appear to be working for newer hardware. There is updated software available in a more recent post, here.
I’ve been wondering if it’s possible to do a direct digital transfer of voice recordings made on my little MP3 player thing. Turns out it is. This applies not only to my Pavo PM-505, but also to BenQ’s Joybee range (obviously only those capable of voice recording), and any other player which saves files with an .act extension. The utility I’ve found also handles .rcd and .rec files, however I’m uncertain as to what players save files with these extensions by default… I know I could set mine up to save with different extensions if I fiddled with configuration files, but I haven’t, as I see no point in this.
As you may have imagined, I’ve come across some software which is capable of converting these formats into something rather less obscure, namely WAV or MP3 file formats. The software, named “Sound Convert Tool 2.0″, is available freely for Windows systems from a Geocities website, at http://www.geocities.com/sound_converter/. In the interests of longevity, and given the ability of Geocities to come and go faster than Cities and Thrones and Powers according to Rudyard Kipling, I’ve mirrored the application here. (418.4 KB ZIP archive)
If you’re the rights holder to this application, and would prefer this utility wasn’t hosted here, I’d request you contact me and I’ll take it down. There is a notable absence of any and all attribution on the Geocities page, so not only did I have no-one to contact, I also don’t even know for sure that the Geocities page was the original place this software was published. Dubious ground, and if you know any better, please, get in touch to clear things up.
The readme is fairly self explanatory, and it converted a recording slightly over an hour long (one hour and three minutes twenty-five seconds, to be exact) to MP3 format (which involves converting to WAV, then encoding an MP3) in probably around five minutes… I wasn’t clocking it, though. Tis nifty.
Other manufacturers who may have branded this equipment: JP’s, JNC, Acer, BenQ, Pavo, iRiver, EFX, .BXCUTE, Digital, DX, Speed, Datum and probably others. Yes, that was blatant Search Engine suckery, but there’s a distinct lack of clear information out there regarding this conversion, and these MP3 recorder type things are popping up everywhere. If your player/recorder isn’t there, and records ACT, REC or RCD files, let me know and I’ll add it to the list.
I recently got a Pavo pm-505. Not a bad gizmao for the price. Something that is disturbing me though is there seems no way to navigate folders (albums) of music. and the ‘set directory’ function in system settings doesn’t let you choose other folders either. Do you have the same problem, or know if it can be resolved? Maybe there is a system update, but I can’t find any…
You can change the set directory for music — I think it’s under “Settings”, “Directory” and then there are a few options… “music” and “voice”, from memory. I haven’t got it with me, though, so that’s probably blatantly wrong. I remember that the “Directory” option is in a set of 10 options, if that helps…
As for firmware, I think it’s safe to say that “Pavo” doesn’t exist under that name, at least not online. I don’t know whether other firmware is available; I thought that the Benq website may have something, but I couldn’t see it… *shrug*
Here are links to programs and firmware for the PM-505
Convertor for Voice Recording to convert ACT files to WAV/MP3 files
LRC Editor 4 (Lyric Editor) create lyric for MP3 musics (WinAMP required)
Firmware for 512MB MP3 Player
Firmware for 128MB/256MB MP3 Player
Cool, thanks for the links. Do you know what version that firmware is? Obviously there’s not much point in DOWN grading firmware ;) There doesn’t appear to be any insightful information in the archive itself, either (I only downloaded the one relevant to me — I’ve got a 256MB version).
The firmware is dated 22/03/2004.
If you have bought your PM-505 after this date I wouldn’t update it.
Thanks for that. That was quite a lot of pain to find a reasonable converter. Hope it will run under wine in linux
How do I downlaod music onto my Pavo 505 pm-505? I just bought it and when i synchronise my music in windows media player it fails to work in my pavo?
I don’t know how to use it from Windows Media Player… the easiest way is to go into My Documents and then your music folder (normally My Music) and select the files you want, and then copy them to whatever drive your Pavo has installed as — that probably means your E: or F: drive.
hi just wondering what supose to come in the box when u buy it and if anyone can tell me plz how to turn it on. the power button dosent work and when u plug it in the usb port it see nothin.
please help
thank you
There’s a switch on the side, next to the mic… at first glance I thought that was a switch for the mic, but it’s not. Ignore the power “button”, it doesn’t do much useful, but slide the switch on the side into the “on” position and all should be good. Mind you, the fact that it does nothing when you plug it into the USB port doesn’t sound too good — normally, it’ll light up for a second, then show a “Charging…” message. Good luck!
i was wondering how to charge my PAVO PM-505 MP3 Player becuase when i plug it into the usb port i do not get a “charging” mesage. if i hold down the menu/on button it will show the connection to the computer but this does not seem to charge it. Please help me
I tried to open an ACT file it said it couldn’t find the file and that I should copy it to %s. What is this supposed to mean in english?
Ben, if it’s showing a connection to the computer then it’s charging. It draws power via the USB interface, so it should be fine.
Wally, I presume you’re trying to open the ACT file with the sound converter program mentioned above? Did you launch the program first and try and open the ACT file from inside the program? Or did you click on the ACT file and then chose the Sound Convert program to open it with?
If all else fails, try copying the ACT file to your desktop and opening it from there. The Sound Convert Tool website is still up (yay!), and they have fairly good instructions… probably worth a look.
Hi
I tried to open an ACT file it said it couldn’t find the file and that I should copy it to %s.
I tried every thing josh suggested but it still has the same problem.
Could you plese help.
THANK YOU
Okay, Joe links to another converter program in his comment, but it seems the link has gone down. Has anyone still got a copy of that other program? I’ll host it here if someone can get a copy to me — if that’s you, head over to the contact page here and drop me a line.
EDIT: It’s not gone, just moved. You can get a copy of the other ACT to MP3/WAV converter program from the 128star website here.
Their support page has links to a few goodies, worth looking at if you’re not having any luck with Sound Convert Tool.
Thanx 4 the advice josh but this does not seem to work. Is there a recomended charge time and can i get a charger for a normal power socket? The player charges slightly and will play for 15 mins max but will not do anything more than that… I need help
Ah. I’d imagine that it’s something to do with the unit itself, then. How long have you had it? Can you try and flatten the battery as much as possible (i.e. if it says low battery and turns off, turn it back on until it can’t even turn on anymore) and then recharge it? I’d say the battery itself is probably just dying… and, being integrated, it probably isn’t amazingly replacable. :(
man that sux… i got it charging at the moment better just hope 4 da best… if u got ne ideas just reply to this po\st… cheers mate
hey for some reason my pm-505 512mb does not play any
songs and does not turn on unless plugged into the computer
on the screen it has a lil picture of a usb plug and then
underneath that is says music disk i can put files and music on
it but i just cant turn it on plz help me i think i need to change
the settings or something
Have you turned it on using the slide-switch on the side? It sounds as though you’ve been trying to use the on BUTTON, rather than sliding switch. Even if it’s “off”, it’ll light up and show as being “on” when you plug it into your computer, and hence you can copy files and music onto it.
Sounds like a stupid mistake, but personally I’d just put it down to poor design!
No i have tried turning it on by the side aswell i aint stupid but
i have had it for about 6 months now and then 2 months ago it
just stopped workin i can only use it as a flash drive for some
reason and it is pissin me off i think i need to change the settings
but im not sure wat to change.
I have also tried using the on button on top of it but that doesnt do anything
it is annoying me plz help me i want to fix this and i am pretty
sure it is because of the settings
Well… I’m pretty sure it’s not the settings. Maybe there’s something wrong with the hardware, but there aren’t any settings that could do that: and, even if there were, there’s no way you can change them seeing as the device doesn’t turn on independently, is there? If you’ve only had it for six months, that means it’s probably still in warranty, right?
Yeh it is still in warranty yeh i cant turn it on independtly it only turns on when
it is plugged into the computer and i can see the settings when its plugged in.
when i have it plugged into the computer it comes up with a little usb plug picture
and underneath that it says music disk is that the same for everyone else?
hi i have a 8Mbyte act file, 2 hours of record. i couldn’t
convert the file to wav the process stuck ,
with small file the convert work fine.
is there any workaround for this issue?
Thanks a lot,
Yossi.
Yossi, did you copy the file off your MP3 player before trying to convert? This will mean that you don’t have potential space limitations causing problems (2hrs as a WAV file is substantially larger), and probably also faster read/write speeds.
Hi Josh, i copy the file to my computer , it still didn’t work.
i couldn’t to convert the act file, I try it with computers.
Thanks, Yossi.
Hi,
I tried to convert my act files (recorded in a Britania Mp3 pla
yer) with both program act2wav.exe (0 bytes converted) and
Sound Convert Tool 2.0 (this don´t recognizes the file act). So
there is no solution to convert some types of act files yet.
hello there can anybody help me i have given my old mp3 player to my daughter as i have upgraded
but i have lost the user guide can anybody out there tell me where i can find it to download
thanks for any help the player is a pavo 256mb player it has the model number pm 505 on the back
Hi,
i tried to convert my ACT files with program
Smartaudioconverter. files converted successful,
but i can’t hear anything. is there any solution to
convert the act file to WAV or MP3.
and tell me where i can find it to download.
thanks for help,
Hi!
I got the same act to wav/mp3 problem that many people here had. I tried everything, ACT2WAV, “Sound Convert Tool 2.0″, SmartAudioConverter, Switch, but none of them works for me.
Any new progress or suggestion?
thanks for help.
I have a small USB MP3 player with recorder functions. The .act files could be listened on the player but not on the computer. All converters have been tried and for nothing. Did any body find better solutions. The .act file have “Riff format” in their header.
I had the same problems with all three programs as everyone here, but finally I have a copy of Sound Convert 2.0 that works for me.
If someone offers to host it, I’ll forward it on. 8MB zip
Phil
Wow. 8MB, hey? I’ll tentatively host it here, and if it’s too popular then… we’ll see. Might shift it to some other space, but we’ll figure out a way to have it available. Phil, you’ve got mail.
Hi,
The Sound Convert Tool does not work for me too.… I hope
someone help with a new software.…
If you don´t mind, I´ve got another problem with the
telephone book software for the player …
I´ve found two telbook.exe software to use as a
telephone book manager, but just one of them worked fine
with my Starex 512MB:
http://www.deividps.com/s1mp3/tools/telbook/Telbook2.exe
The problem is that this sofware does not provide a
feature to sort the database in order to export the
appropriate file telbook.bin.
So, I´d like to know if anyone know where to find
other type of Telbook software that allow the user to sort
the information.
Thanks,
Marcos.
P.S.: Firmware version — 3.0.43.0001 — 2005/03/17.
SoundConvert 2.0
I posted several months ago on converting ACT files recorded on an MP3 player to something readable on a computer. It’s probably without competition the…
Hey, this is quite late, but I was reading through the earlier messages and I have the same
problem. In August, pezza posted messages about an mp3 player not working, about how it won’t turn
on and how it will if plugged into the computer but otherwise it won’t. It won’t charge or
anything. I have an mp3 player, model PM-505 and I was wondering if there is any solution?
If it needs a new battery and if it is possible to get a new battery for this mp3 player or if it has to be
thrown out. Thankyou for you time, Michelle
Yeah, I’d say it needs a new battery. If you contact the place you bought it from they may be able to help you… but the battery isn’t removable, so you’d need to send it in for a service (because they need to physically resolder a battery for you). If there’s a good electrical service shop near you it’s possible they’d be able to help, too.
Thankyou
licence of the actual dos decoder seems to be from actions (usb mp3 player chip factory)
C:\Program Files\MP3\MP3 Player>dir
Het volume in station C heeft geen naam.
Het volumenummer is 1086-3B3D
Map van C:\Program Files\MP3\MP3 Player
07-10-2005 03:16 .
07-10-2005 03:16 ..
10-09-2003 14:02 53.248 AG4_Dec.exe
29-05-2003 15:17 49.152 AG8_Dec.exe
19-06-2003 10:51 36.864 APX_Dec.exe
10-10-2003 09:34 2.756 Fmt.ini
18-09-2003 14:04 1.333 helpch.htm
18-09-2003 14:05 1.133 helpen.htm
18-09-2003 14:53 1.341 helpfan.htm
06-10-2003 14:39 274.432 MDBoot.exe
14-10-2003 14:43 262.144 PlaySnd.exe
19-09-2003 10:29 3.685 playsnd.ini
07-10-2005 03:16 sys
10 bestand(en) 686.088 bytes
3 map(pen) 1.143.377.920 bytes beschikbaar
C:\Program Files\MP3\MP3 Player>apx_dec
*********************************
* Recoder To Wav Tools *
* Version 1.5 *
* http://www.actions.com.cn *
*********************************
Actions Recoder Data To Wav Transform Tools
Version 1.5
CopyRight(A) Department of Algorithm, Actions Semiconductor Co., Ltd
2002-10-30 Add Support FF/REV data(.ACT)
Input Format : Da2Wav input.ad/act output.wav
Message: input format wrong=====>Da2Wav inputfile.ad outputfile.wav
C:\Program Files\MP3\MP3 Player>
hi all
im new to this stuff and am having the same prob as message 14
“I tried to open an ACT file it said it couldn’t find the file and that I should copy it to %s.“
i dont know what to do. can anyone walk me through it
i open the converter, place file in it which i have held in my docs, then click convert.
all i get is the message above
thanks
rg
rg
rg
dont bother responding gang– got it going
thanks rg
HI,
I NEED HELP
I am looking a firmaware for my mp3 starex 1024mb. If you know something or you have this firmaware please send it to feder1452@ciudad.com.ar
thanks
HELLO, IM GONZALO FROM ARGENTIA. I don’t speak english very well but i’ll try…
Yesterday I buy (?) a starex mp3 player, it’ve the telbook, but in the driver’s cd, it wasn’t the file telbook.exe.
can you give me the url where (?) you found it????
Thaks ( a lot ?)
a lot of thanks…wrong, no? jajajaj
byes
gonzalo
Thx.
“Sound Convert Tool 2.0″ worked great. I tried for over one and a half years to find a converter that will do the work before I found your web site.
Thx!
Hi,
I am in Pakistan and this mp3 player i bought has FM radio but it has the auto tune firmware.I’d like to get anohter firmware version so i can tune it cause it doesn’t catch the frequency sometimes.…can u help me???? my version is 3.0.43.0001 173\2005.….….….…..any1 who findz it tell me at 1982gonzo@gmail.com and plz send me an image of it too.
Hello, i need some help, i am tired looking for the drivers for my starex mp3 player (512 MB). Please help me because i can use it at all.
I know Gonzalo from Argentina has the same problem, please help me.
bye
Hey i just thought i would come back here to see wat problems ppl r having and if any1 could think of wat had happened to my mp3. Well Michelle i solved my problem i was lookin at my mp3 1 day tryin to think wat might have happened to it. I picked it up and tried pressin a few buttons and “starting..” came up on the screen and i was like holy crap it works. after a few more times of trying to figure out how i did it i figured it out. I found that u hav to hold down the on button for a while then slide the switch up to on while still holding the on button. I was so happy because i didnt need to pay for postage and handling to send it bak to get it fixed.
There is 1 more thing that im not sure about, that is playing .WMA files on it i put some on there and all that it does is detect them but not play them does or did anybody hav this same problem if so can u please help me
Thank you,
Pezza
hi just brought a Pavo pm-505 , how long do you charge it for before you can use it without being pluged in? it shows that the battery’s full when pluged in but still wont turn on after you unplug it after an hour of charge.
any help will be great!
thanks
Jonz
You need to use the silver switch on the side, next to the microphone. The “power” button doesn’t actually have much to do with power (it kind of does, but not if the switch isn’t turned on first).
thanks but how can you tell it’s really is charging? all i get on the screen is a battery indecator that reads full when the usb cable is pluged in and the picture of the mp3 player and the computer both in sleep mode. after unpluging the cable the player will not start even after turning it on with the side swicth.
how long should it charge for till you can use it with the usb cable?
jonz.
Well, when you plug the MP3 player into your USB port, its screen will probably glow blue. So obviously (at that stage) it’s being powered by the computer. You shouldn’t have to charge it for too long… don’t really remember, I’ve since lost mine :P
Hi Josh, I bought a 1GB USB MP3 player (possibly a Starex, but there’s no name on it anywhere). For almost a year it’s worked perfectly, however the other day I think I may have deleted the music file on the MP3 player and now when I download music from my cmputer onto the MP3 the files go straight to the recording file and don’t play as music or even appear in the Music file. When I open the music file on the player it says NO FILES ! and yet when I plug it in to the computer the files I have tried to dowload are there. I didn’t get a CD when I bought it.….Is it possible that I have somehow deleted the music file from the MP3 and that now it won’t play or store any music ??
Hello all,
I have been having issues with songs playing out of order on a 512MB Pavo mp3 player.I don’t have any random/repeat modes on and I have tried both the standard and directory modes but the tracks allways seem to play out of order, and this incorrect order is always the same rather than totally random.Could this be a issue with the method of copying files onto the player? I use linux and either mount the device with the vfat file system or I use vmware with usb support and total commander to copy the files.I have not tried windows explorer to copy files yet although I don’t see why this would be needed.
Is there anyway I can reset the device to factory settings in case there is some option I have missed that would cause this behaviour?
Thanks
Thanks for the zip file, I really appreciate your effort on bringing the file online. All my friends and many more, are now able to mess with their recorded ACT files ;>
Thanks again.
Regards.
hi Im estefi from rosario argentina, Ive gonzalos same problem, I bought mi Starex mp3 player and I dont know where to find the telephone book software… please help me!!
hi its me, estefi again… i forgot to put my email so you can help me… estepi88@hotmail.com… thanksss!!!
Hi,
This might well be the dumbest pm-505 questions yet posted: how do you alter the volume? I just can’t remember how and I’ve lost the booklet the information doesn’t seem to be available anywhere. In actuality I’ve probably just disqualified myself from voting in most democracies by demonstrating such huge stupidity.
This is a long shot, but could anyone be bothered scanning the instruction booklet and emailing it to me @ azamazza@gmail.com
Forgot to say thanks. See ya
Az
need firmware starex 512mb please helpme..
alguien conoce la pagina para descargar firmware starex, download starex firmware+mp3+512mb+telbook+fm+txt.….
Hi,
I have the same .act problem. My problem is that I´m using a mac with os x and I didn´t find any converter for .act files.
HELP ME …PLEASE!!!
I can¨t listen an archive .ACT that I put in my pc. I need change the name .act to wav or mp3 file. How i do it???? Please someone help me???
hello, i´m franco to Arg. i need your help please, the Firmware version to mp3 player Starex, the board number is MP-XSJ1.1 V1.2 Its 512mb, fm tuner, etc. Because I updated the player, its dead, i didn´t found the firmware in over web also in S1MP3. Please, I´m really need your help, Thank You. My mail is francocayetano@argentina.com. Congratulations!! your website is cool!!
hi
this software is great. does the purpose
hi, again; Please someone can help me. I really need your help, i need the firmware Starex 512mb, please. I m waiting an answer. Bye. Por favor alguien que me entienda y pueda realmente ayudarme, desde ya se lo agradezco. Chau.… Franco ARG
Hi,
I’m having the same problem as a couple of other people when trying to convert ACT to WAV. I’ve downloaded the sound converter, but it’s saying that it can’t find the file and I need to copy it to %s. I noticed that Rick said not to bother replying to his comment as he’d managed to get it working. I don’t suppose you know what I need to do?
Thanks
Nicola
Hello, all,
Same problem than the one above. Could someone who resolved already that kind of problem come and say where to look for a solution? Appreciate help. Otherwise this is a really nice forum. It is a pity that can’t be found easily but after a lot of googling (or just wrong keywords who knows…)
Hi there. I have a little problem with converting my .act file to a .wav or .mp3. I push open, I take the .act file from a pc file and then I hit the convert button, but instead of converting it this message appears: Can’t find above file, please copy it to %s. Why? I really don’t get it. Please can u help me? Thank u.
I found this address
http://www.orbitronics.com
In the support area, selecting audio /flash mp3 player/ reflex II
You wil download a zip file
drivers.zip.zip (Yes, two zip´s)
Unzip and install and you will have and act to wav working converter.
Hope its useful to you
we have just got mp4 players from ebay, we cant put music on them. it says that it needs to be an act, rcd or rec format but we cant change our music in to that or anything else.
we are relly strugling, please help!!!!
Having a problem with a pavo pm 505 mp3 player. Used to work great. Now when I plug it in to the usb port screen shows “starting” then it changes to the file tranfer/ charging screen for a couple of seconds. the computer then says “usb device not recognized” and the screen changes back to “starting“
It means I can’t acces the mp3’s memory to change files etc. Running windows XP. Anybody had same problem?? driver problem?? went looking for firmware upgrade on pavo site but had no luck!!
i have the same problem as you guys when using the converter. a message comes up saying that i should copy my file to “%s”. what on earth does that mean? please help!!!!!! thx
just a little note to say thanks to SapoCero! you finally solved my converting problem.…i’m so grateful. thanks a million :)
I have the same problems! Try many converters but — nothing.
But i find “Sound Converter 2.0″ with the same version but looks litle diferent
and it‘s working (convert my 20Mb act file to 320Mb wav format, length 6 hours)
If you want to try
Link is Case Sensitive !!!
ftp://82.207.78.138/incoming/SoundConvert122.zip
Camnex cm300 mp3 players also record in ACT format. No converter or software player is provided. Thanks to you I’ll be able to use the ACT feature after all.
well — there is apacer Audio Steno AU822 which also records ACT files — and also its impossible to play on pc — and none of previosly mentioned convertors works with it. If any idea — help.
Hi…
I have the same problem at post number 69.
when I tried to convert a act file to mp3, I got the message
“Can’t find above file, please copy it to %s”.
Could you give some advice to correct this?
tks.
Where can I find a new version of Sound Convert tool and also the telbook2.exe, I have searched all over the internet and all I have found are broken links.
Thanks to all.
“Can’t find above file, please copy it to %s”.
as we say in France: “s****erie de pu**** de m**** de fichier !!!!” !!!!! (“ d’e****** de f*** de s* m***!!!!”) (“de b***** de t*** du c**fichier!!!!!”)
I have the same problem that at post number 78 and 69.
If someone has an idea… “je lui serais très reconnaissant!!!!!”
If you are having problems with this software please try http://www.joahua.com/blog/2005/09/30/soundconvert-20 instead.
Thanks :)
I HAVE A MP3 ITS FRIMWARE VERSION IS 3.0.43 i need a copy of this imag file that exetion is bin so plz send this version so kindly
bueno la verdad es q no entiendo muy bn de esto pero es que tengo un mp3 de 125 mbg y ps
con 25 conciones ya se llena pero antes tenia 98 canciones pero en forma de rec y ps quiero
saber como hago para convertilaas o si hay un archivo para q tenga mas capacidad de canciones
o como hago para q suenen bueno agradesco de antemano du colaboracion
I purchased one of your products as a gift. In two months time with no wear or tear it did not work. It supply froze. HELP!!!!!
Hi all,
Please ‚can you send firmware version for s1 mp3 player version 3.0.43.0001.
I need it bcoz my player is dead,please help me guys.I have serched internet.no result.
Please,send me.
Thanks in Advance
Venki
I’m having the same problem as a of other people when trying to convert ACT to WAV. I’ve downloaded the sound converter, but it’s saying that it can’t find the file and I need to copy it to %s.ss
With the link you provide in 81 i could finally convert my .act file to wav with the SoundConvert it’s easy.
thank you very much.
“I tried to open an ACT file it said it couldn’t find the file and that I should copy it to %s.”
plz help me
thanx
I have a 1G pavo pm505 player as well.
For some reason it doesn’t play mp3 anymore. it says error:SDFS
I think i have accidentally deleted the firmware.
Anyone can send me a copyof the firmware??
Thanks in advance.
Hi all
Please.…… can anyone help me to convert .ACT files in to audible format. Most of the links which are mentioned above, are not working. So can anyone?
very thanks full to share .act file conver tool2 . i realy need this to change my .act file in a audible file
.mp3. very thanks josh.st to share this information ng this one good software.
Dil
be_smile18@yahoo.copm
hi, i have an MP3 player (carina) and i dont know how to listen to music. when i choose the music sign, it writes “loading…” and then nothing happens. do u think it has a problem? i have tested its mic. it works and i could listen the recorded voice. thank you for your help!
I’ve got the program that opens act files easy. If you want it email me at davarunee@gmail.com.
Thank you sooooo much Josh. I was doing interviews for my dissertation and was having trouble converting my .act files to a format I could open on my PC. This forum has literally saved my behind :D Many, many thanks!