| Portable Source Gear Discussion of portable audio source gear, like iPods, other digital audio players (DAPs), MD players, portable CD players. |
11-25-2007, 03:56 PM
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100+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: New York City
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The new Zune software (Version 2.X) thread
On November 13 they released new Version 2.X software for the Zune.
Since many of you own Zunes, I figure it'd be helpful to have a thread for people to post comments, questions, tips, etc. on the new software.
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11-25-2007, 04:54 PM
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100+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Aug 2007
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Software sucks but the firmware is awesome.
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11-25-2007, 06:17 PM
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Tallahassee, Florida
Posts: 425
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Like the firmware alot other than the smaller fonts on the now playing screen. Also the Sound Quality appears to be differnt. Not sure if that is possible though.
Software is much faster which is good for me. Since i never really used the old software for anything other than syncing, i can't say that I miss the old software at all - it was very slow and clunky. However, I can see how people are pissed that they lost their rating system and the dynamic playlists.
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11-25-2007, 07:13 PM
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100+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Jun 2007
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The new firmware is nice but it's retarded how the new software doesn't display percentage converted for individual files/videos. Also, if you delete something from your collection it will be deleted from your zune which is extremely illogical. If i converted some FLACs to 320kbps MP3s , import them, send them to my zune, and delete the 320kbps MP3s off my computer, the software will automatically delete the MP3s off my zune.
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ipod.5g.60gb :: ksc75 :: ep630 :: super.fi5pro :: q40
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11-25-2007, 07:17 PM
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100+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Hawaii
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Sucks Ive had to mass edit the id tag in some albums so that the software wouldn't separate the songs by artist. Cant attest to how the new software converts video, I used a 3rd party app for that.
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Current: Zune 30 + Maximo 490S.
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11-25-2007, 07:58 PM
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Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 72
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I like the firmware....ALOT...But the software jumbled up random songs, doubled a few, changed artist, or albums...messed up cover art. Its horrible.
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11-25-2007, 08:04 PM
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Headphoneus Supremus
Moderator
Resistorous Conflagorous
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Seacoast, NH
Posts: 6,658
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Sounds to me like an update not worth updating to...
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11-25-2007, 11:19 PM
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Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 49
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On my Zune 30:
Firmware pros:
I agree that the sq seems a bit better in general, more open. I'm not sure if the bass is diminished.
The volume on my player is definitely louder.
The battery lasts longer between charges.
The GUI is faster.
Firmware cons:
Can't control the font size.
In album view, you have to highlight the album to see the artist's name, otherwise you just see the album title.
Removed support for some video encoders (not formats). The videos I encoded to .wmv (Zune specs) using DVD catalyst no longer work, although they worked perfectly with the former firmware. Some people have had the same problem with videos encoded using other third party programs. However letting the Zune software do the conversion takes hours.
Software pros:
Faster!
Support for podcasts.
Software cons:
Metadata disaster - many people are finding that the database that the software builds from tag info is mixing up albums and artists and album art. In most cases only the database is wrong, not the actual tags. In some cases the software is altering the tags themselves (even without "automatically update" ticked). I had a few albums messed up, some had hundreds.
No support for changing video metadata.
Audio tag editing is unreliable and limited. Currently, the changes we make often don't "stick".
There is no online "update album art" feature.
The navigation is not intuitive.
MS removed auto-playlists.
MS replaced the rating system with the heart/broken heart (meaning like/don't like) system. Why would anyone put a song on their unit that they didn't like?
Drag and drop doesn't work well.
For some people, the software is unable to find all of their music.
For some people, the software creates multiple copies of tunes in their library.
There seems to be something broken with the way the software deletes music.
The podcast subcription settings allow the user to specify how many podcasts to keep, but it never deletes listened to podcasts from my Zune. I have to do it manually.
Overall, if someone hasn't upgraded I would say wait until they next release. There is an unofficial downgrade path, but I decided to wait it out.
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11-25-2007, 11:30 PM
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500+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Jan 2005
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I'm probably the exception to the rule here, but I really love the new Zune software.
My one suggestion is to turn off "automatically update album art and media information."
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11-25-2007, 11:44 PM
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The firmware is nice, maybe a bit smoother and more responsive. However, if you fully shut down the Zune it appears to erase any settings you made, such as backlight time and wireless. Though this may just be me doing something wrong. Software is great. It didn't screw up any of my tags and is much quicker and less of a RAM hog.
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11-26-2007, 01:13 AM
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Headphoneus Supremus
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Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: LongIsland,NY...USA
Posts: 2,512
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Id love to try the new software and firmware...but i get a 0x80070643 ERROR code, cant load microsoft.net framework 2.0
So i am totally softwareless. Its a common problem,and microsoft cant help,,and many people on the zune.net and zunescene.com forums have it.
So i have 2 Zune 30's that i cant add music to right now,and i cant get my old software back either. Zune support told me to delete it and redownload..............BIG MISTAKE!!!! i shoulda left well enough the freek alone!!!! No Portable Christmas music this year on my Zune,so ill have to use one of my other players for that. Grrrrrrrrrr!!!
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11-26-2007, 03:56 AM
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Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 37
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The Software is pretty crappy especially since they removed the ability to manually find album art and it deletes when you delete from your library.
Zune Team better fix up the software.
Software: Pain.
However, the podcasts are a great addition.
On the Other Side.
The Firmware is Golden. The new UI runs fast and smooth.
Best Improvement: Battery life
I've had my player for 1 year now and my battery would drench quickly.
With the new UI it is lasting much longer.
Im confused, but i also think it sounds a bit better. (I am unsure because i don't have another zune 30 to test it)
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11-26-2007, 07:26 AM
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500+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Reno for now, Hawaii during the summer months.
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I love the extra speed that came with the update. Podcasts are pretty fun as well. On the other hand the software has been dumbed down so much that it's actually much harder for me to use. It is a BIT faster though.
I understand that they are dumbing down the software to appeal to the mass of users who generally couldn't care less about the sorting of their music collection but I have issues with stuff being moved around and album art replaced. I still haven't fully recovered everything from the update.
If you're using a Zune Pass the marketplace is substantially more organized. There seems to be a better variety as well. Yet just the same it feels... unfinished and rough. I'm not sure how else to describe it.
Overall I have mixed feelings about the upgrade. If they had given me the option of just updating the firmware on my player I would've been fine with that. Sadly I'll just have to take the good with the bad. However, I wouldn't have tried to avoid the upgrade... as the good does (barely) outweigh the bad.
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11-26-2007, 07:38 AM
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500+ Head-Fi'er
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 741
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everything i love and hate about the upgrade was posted already. I'd like to add that i like how when you don't have an album art, it shows you the background instead of the weird default albumarts of random colors. nothing significant, but a nicely detailed touch here.
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11-26-2007, 02:06 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: North of Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 95
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My update of the software and firmware went pretty much without a hitch, but I do miss some of the functionality lost from the old PC software. Such as the old way to add album art. It's better than the new way, at least a couple of steps fewer. The podcast functionality is cool, but they need to add the ability to cut and paste a link into the manual "add a podcast" function. I have to type the often cryptic address into the software manually.
I'd like to be able to sync my Zune between two PC's, but the new software won't allow it. Only as "guest" on alternate PC's.
The firmware upgrade is excellent. My 30gb feels like a much zippier little fella now. It's a simple thing, but I love that they replaced the default "no album art" graphic with simply your background graphic, not some hideous pink or blue squiggly thing.
I'd love to see a feature added that allows you to turn off your screen, mainly to be used with any video. I'd like to listen to some of my video podcasts and concert vids I've ripped, without the battery drain of the screen being on.
I do wish they'd added a user-customizable EQ though, however I do believe the "new" EQ presets offer a greater difference in sound between them than the "old", even though they are the same name.
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