The Sovereign USB Player

The Sovereign USB† flash drive player is given * to listeners who do not already have facilities for playing audio files on USB flash drives.

For the benefit of partially sighted listeners we have produced an anotated photograph and some large print diagrams showing the controls and main components of the Sovereign player. These can be downloaded as PDF files using the following links:

• Annotated photograph showing front and top controls.
• Line drawing of the front of the player, showing the off/on/volume control and headphone socket.
• Line drawing of the top of the player, showing the controls and USB slot
• Line drawing of the back of the player, showing the battery compartment and power socket for the mains adapter.

Main Controls

Front Panel

The large knob is a combined on/off switch and volume control. Turn the knob fully anticlockwise until it clicks to switch the machine off.

To the bottom left of the panel you will find the headphone socket which accepts a standard 3.5mm stereo jack plug.

Top Panel

At the front there are three buttons which are, left to right: back, pause/play and forward. Pressing the back or forward buttons takes you to the start of the previous or next track respectively. To go to the start of the track that’s playing press one button then the other. The player will cycle round from the last track to the first.

The pause/play button will pause and resume playing, as you would expect. If the player is paused pressing any button will restart it.

Behind the forward button (i.e. back right) is the reset button. Press this to start playing the flash drive from the first track. Always press reset after you insert a new flash drive, otherwise the player will restart from where it was when you last switched off or removed the flash drive. Later versions of the player can remember where you were on a number of different flash drives.

To the left of the reset button and behind the back and pause buttons is the USB port. Before inserting a USB flash drive please swivel the guard around to expose the USB plug. The USB flash drive will ony go in one way round so don’t force it. To assist you we have stuck tactile orange orange bump-ons on the front of our flash drives (facing you) and just in front of the USB port on the player. Flash drives from other organisations may be different.

Please swivel the guard back over the USB plug when returning the flash drive in the postal wallet.

Immediately to the left of the USB port is a small window through which you may be able to see two LEDs (light emitting diodes). The red one indicates that the battery is charging and the blue one that the player is switched on. The red LED may remain on after you switch off the player until the battery is fully recharged.

Back Panel

In the middle of the back of the player is the battery compartment. The battery is rechargeable so you will not need to replace it for several years (or at all if you always use the player on the mains). With the back of the player facing you, half way down the right hand side of the battery compartment is a small round socket for the power lead. The lead from the mains adapter should be plugged in here. The other end should be plugged into a mains socket.

Important Points to Note

The battery is a rechargeable lithium-ion battery as used in some mobile phones. It allows the player to be used away from the mains supply but it must always be recharged after use. It is safe to leave the player permanently connected to the mains via the mains adapter. However if the adapter is removed from the mains socket or the socket is turned off the lead from the adapter should be removed from the player to prevent discharging. This is due to is a fault which has been fixed in later versions of the player.

If the player cuts out while playing it is likely that the battery is running down and the player is not connected to the mains. Please make sure that the mains adapter is plugged in at both ends (to the mains socket and the player) and that the socket is switched on.

When using a computer or USB hub the bump-on is normally underneath. The guard pivots at one end and the opposite end of the flash drive must be pushed out to expose the USB plug.

* The players are donated to users who are responsible for looking after them. However if a player turns out to be faulty we will issue a replacement. If at any time a player is no longer required by the listener it can be given back to the Association for further use. Please make sure that the mains adapter is returned with the player.

† USB stands for Universal Serial Bus. It is a widely used interface between computers and peripheral devices such as mice, keyboards, printers, scanners and storage devices.