X88 Volume adjustment, sound and EQ issues

[johnbydesign]

Hi, I seems to have some issues with my new X88 speaker in that;

1. The volume buttons on the top only adjust the input source and not the actual volume.

2. The EQ settings in the SongPal app make no recognisable difference to the sound (they do on my X77).

3. Overall the sound doesn't seem right, it's shallow with very little bass (very noticeable compared to my X77 and X55).

4. I cannot initialise the speaker using the Vol - key and Stands.

I had thought the sound might warm up as the speaker bedded in but there's no change as yet. It has a couple of software updates in the 2 weeks I've had it, no change to these issue though.

Any help/steer would be great. If anyone has an X88 it would good to know if these has depth and bass/took time to bed in.

Thanks

[Hanssluiman]

Firmware update 1.60.2935 for SRS-X88 is now available. I have no way of telling whether it fixes the problem discussed here, since the day before it was released I bricked my X88 by downloading what was then the latest (= faulty) firmware... My X88 is now at the Sony Service centre for repair.

[BrotherBarnabas]

Thanks for letting me know about the Firmware update. I did my using a LAN connection not trusting the WIFI connection. It works fine! I have another post regarding the X88 Fault

[BrotherBarnabas]

So I took my X88 to a local Sony Authorised Dealer as per Sony's Suppourt call centre's instruction.

When I took it in, I explained to the dealer all the issues and showed them a link to this forum.

Sony Auhtorised Dealer - Issues - Recognised Faulty Network Card

Firstly, my poor local dealer got "spanked" for accepting the repair (even though Sony told me to take it there). It took my SAD up to 4 hours to sort the issue, plus calls etc. His Sony contacts sent him an SAD instruction which states across the top "SRS X88, faulty network card issue" with instructions on how to sort a "bricked" unit with a manual USB update, which requires 4 separate USB sticks and about 2 hours of reinstalling. 

The dealer said to me "if you brick it again, please don't return it here, it is not worth the cost to us to try and repair it, we loose money..." 

My unit was returned in the state to which I originally bought it, i.e. The old firmware back on it, and it wanting to be updated to the faulty firmware. I haven't pressed the update button, but the damn SongPal (crapware) tries to automatically update, if you don't change that in settings, and the "update alert" pops up and is too easy to accidentally "press."  

I manually installed the latest firmware via LAN, which worked... no bricking, however

I seem to be having trouble maintains "multi room" connection with this unit, which I think is the faulty network card. i.e. Via WIFI. Yet, via Bluetooth standalone and airplay the unit is working fine. 

I think I may end up just sending this back to Amazon, as it is really not worth the trouble for the amount I have paid for it.

Sadly have loved Sony all my life, but this has been the worst experience trying to using Wireless. Shame.

[chandalf]

My SongPal App (iPhone) is now telling me that I have the new Firmware (it must have installed automatically) but nothing has changed; left speaker is silent, on untit controls are not functioning.

[Hanssluiman]

chandalf I would suggest sending it to a Sony Service centre. As instructed by Sony email support I sent mine to the UK SONY Central Service in Pencoed for repair (presumably at no cost as it is still under warranty).

[Hanssluiman]

My X88 was repaired at the UK Sony Service centre at no cost and came back with firmware 1.60.2935 installed. All is good now.

[chandalf]

A happy ending to my saga. Sony have fixed the issue (by reinstalling the Firmware presumably; it's running 1.60.2935/02-03-2017 correctly now) and my X88 is working as expected. It took 10 days but they paid for the return postage and have not charged me anything even although the unit was [just] out of warranty and I had no proof of purchase.

[cim97ph8]

I have recently bought the x88 and updated immediately to 1.60.2935. I have network issues and the buttons are not properly working as described by others in this thread. 

After your update to 1.60.2935, does it refer to the unit as srs x88 or srs x99 in the settings menu? 

On my unit it says x99 and I wonder if this is the root cause... 

[chandalf]

---

@cim97ph8 wrote:

I have recently bought the x88 and updated immediately to 1.60.2935. I have network issues and the buttons are not properly working as described by others in this thread. 

After your update to 1.60.2935, does it refer to the unit as srs x88 or srs x99 in the settings menu? 

On my unit it says x99 and I wonder if this is the root cause... 

---

You have exactly the issue I had when my machine updated to the older Firmware. I would have expected that a 'normal' upgrade to the new firmware would have worked properly (it didn't work going from flawed to new) but clearly hasn't. Is it possible that the unit had already upgraded to the flawed release? Or has Sony just got this whole thing unbelievably wrong…?

[Hanssluiman]

My X88 is reported correctly as a X88 by SongPal with firmware version 1.60.2935. The latter was installed by Sony after I had installed the faulty firmware previously. If I remember correctly, when the faulty firmware was installed, SongPal recognised the unit as a X99. No doubt this was a symptom of the faulty firmware. The root cause of the problem was in my view that the firmware update that was designed for the X99 (and seems to work fine on X99's since I am not aware of any reports of problems with that model) was made available by mistake to X88 units as well. 

Firmware 1.60.2935 for the SRS-X88 was released by Sony on 02.03.2017. Anyone who attempted to upgrade before that date will of course have installed the faulty firmware. After the 2nd of March I would have thought, like chandalf, that any attempt to update via the internet would have skipped the faulty version and gone straight to the latest good version which is 1.60.2935. Apparently this is not how things work, and forcing buyers of new X88's to use an upgrade mechanism that is demonstrably flawed is something one would not expect from a company like Sony.

The only option for cim97ph8 is to contact a Sony Service Centre and have 1.60.2935 reinstalled free of charge.