My daughter's Creative Zen Micro 5GB has fallen prey to the headphone socket problem which seems to be common on this player. Amazingly, Amazon have offered a full refund, despite the fact that it was bought last May (so it's now 8 months old). My daughter really likes the Zen Micro, so it looks like the simplest thing is to just buy another one (from Amazon again, since their after-sales service is so good). But I'm concerned about the headphone socket going bad again. I've seen a few suggestions on the net that the headphone problem has been sorted in the later models, but nobody can say for sure. So I thought I'd ask here if anyone has any more solid info.

Yes, the headphone socket is supposedly fixed in the 2005-model 5GB Zen Micro as well as the 6GB Zen Micro and the MicroPhoto.

You can even tell the 2004 and 2005 Zen Microes apart: The 2005 model comes in a smaller box (and should have 2005 marked on it somewhere).

I have a 2005 model Zen Micro but have only owned it since Boxing Day 2005.

Thanks for the info. I've ordered a 6GB Zen Micro for her.


Well, the one that failed was bought in May 2005, but I suppose it could have been from stock of the 2004 model. I would check the box, but it's already been sent back to Amazon.

(As a general observation, it seems to me that the headphone socket on all DAPs must be the most vulnerable part, what with the continual plugging/unplugging of headphones. Seems to me that as a matter of principle there should be extra mechanical support for it to remove the strain on the solder joints holding it to the circuit board. But I bet nobody bothers to do that).