[NLNH]

  someone convince me to get the alien

 

[BruceBanner]

Clean they are.no metadata on wav. There's something weird about its selectivity

 
We've kinda been over this with the original Alien. It is best to think of WAV and FLAC as containers, and that the codecs/methods used to make those files differs quite a fair bit. For example, if I used winamps MP3 > FLAC conversion I would get no joy, whereas using Foobars there wasn't an issue. It boils down to not all FLAC and WAV are the same as each other, you may well have to reencode your files all over again with a different software. Some say it was a metadata issue, I don't think that's right (at least from my experience), tho it could be, it might be purely album art causing the issue. Try doing a search of this thread for FLAC and see what others did to get things playing smoothly.

 

[ExpatinJapan]

Got the Gold yesterday. It doesn't play flac under any circumstances and wav only some...

see the back of the box for the FLAC the Alien plays.

Alien supports up to 24/41.1 playback. a common mistake is to put 16/44 on it. mostly I have 16/41.1 FLAC on mine. Also each folder can only hold up to 99 songs, any extra and they won`t appear. I have more details in my review on Head Pie If its any help.

 

[soundblast75]

We've kinda been over this with the original Alien. It is best to think of WAV and FLAC as containers, and that the codecs/methods used to make those files differs quite a fair bit. For example, if I used winamps MP3 > FLAC conversion I would get no joy, whereas using Foobars there wasn't an issue. It boils down to not all FLAC and WAV are the same as each other, you may well have to reencode your files all over again with a different software. Some say it was a metadata issue, I don't think that's right (at least from my experience), tho it could be, it might be purely album art causing the issue. Try doing a search of this thread for FLAC and see what others did to get things playing smoothly.

Thanks for the clear explanation Bruce, im kinda figuring it out. Im on Linux and the best way it seems(and quickest) is to convert via Terminal.
Puzzled to hows poss to invent something so badly softwarewise with such a divine sound

 

[soundblast75]

see the back of the box for the FLAC the Alien plays.


Alien supports up to 24/41.1 playback. a common mistake is to put 16/44 on it. mostly I have 16/41.1 FLAC on mine. Also each folder can only hold up to 99 songs, any extra and they won`t appear. I have more details in my review on Head Pie If its any help.

Your review is great, but unfortunately it doesn't help with this. It just likes some ways of converting and other software just doesn't seem to cut it..

 

[ExpatinJapan]

Yeah the review mainly has advice on the buttons etc.

What I wrote above rings true though. No FLAC over 41.1, and get rid of any album art etc, just add the music.

I hope it works out for you.

 

[redkop]

Hi,
Just ordered an Alien Gold,just wondered if there have been any issues with certain cards,I am planning to get 3 or 4 different makes of 32GB cards for different genres,for easy identification.
Was going to get Sandisk,Kingston,Lexar and Samsung as they all have contrasting colours 

Thanks

 

[BruceBanner]

Thanks for the clear explanation Bruce, im kinda figuring it out. Im on Linux and the best way it seems(and quickest) is to convert via Terminal.
Puzzled to hows poss to invent something so badly softwarewise with such a divine sound

 
I actually didn't have much issue with FLAC and WAV for the Alien unlike others. It was the Hippo Biscuit that I got weird quirky bugs (liek a second long extrememly loud burst of static noise at the end or between every track), it was this that put me on a path to figure out what the goings on with those containers were all about. Sometimes it matters not the bit rates per se, just the software used.
 
Tried Foobnix?

 

[soundblast75]

I actually didn't have much issue with FLAC and WAV for the Alien unlike others. It was the Hippo Biscuit that I got weird quirky bugs (liek a second long extrememly loud burst of static noise at the end or between every track), it was this that put me on a path to figure out what the goings on with those containers were all about. Sometimes it matters not the bit rates per se, just the software used.

Tried Foobnix?

No,if its Windows or Mac i can't, but i found a linux software that converts high 24 bits to 16bit. Most of my 16 bit 44 flacs are now working fine even with the tags and artwork not cleared, so i think i won't bother converting much, just get normal flacs under 1000k,if it's more than 1000k it will start but soon go into static and noise.

 

[BruceBanner]

No,if its Windows or Mac i can't, but i found a linux software that converts high 24 bits to 16bit. Most of my 16 bit 44 flacs are now working fine even with the tags and artwork not cleared, so i think i won't bother converting much, just get normal flacs under 1000k,if it's more than 1000k it will start but soon go into static and noise.

 
Foobnix is Linux's version of Foobar2000 I think...

 

[soundblast75]

Guys,im sorry if already discussed,butplsexplain shuffle on and iff. Many thanks
What an amazing dap,cant put it off..
Also i got these incredible Penon iems with it,jeez the value in these two items...it could have saved me £1000s

 

[ExpatinJapan]

From my review, I collated some general info for a quick guide.
 
Handy UI hints
The Shozy Alien Gold does not come with a users manual so I went in search of reviews of the earlier original Shozy Alien in search of answers.
There are many more reviews within Head-fi that talk about how to organize files etc that I recommend our readers to also look into.

The ones I have added below were useful to me initially as they concern the basic UI.

-I have read that each Folder can hold 99 songs, as to the layout of multi folders please see the reviews/guides on Head-fi.

*As I am lazy and think simple is best I opted for one folder of my favorite 99 songs. Easy peasy.

*via member BruceBanner on head-fi (with permission).
http://www.head-fi.org/products/shozy-alien-dap/reviews/12415

EDIT: A member on headfi (Jaker782) discovered that the Shozy can indeed Shuffle! Long pressing the volume down mode puts the player into a different playback mode.

First long press: Album repeat mode (folder repeat)
Second long press: Default mode
Third long press: Song shuffle mode
Fourth long press: Default mode

The Shuffle mode plays everything on the SD Card and not just within a folder, so it is a true 'Shuffle All'.

*via member Avitron142 on head-fi (with permission).
http://www.head-fi.org/products/shozy-alien-dap/reviews/12349

 
Middle: On/Off. Done.
 
Up: Raises volume, when held pauses the song.
 
Right: skips to next song, when held skips to the next folder.
 
Left: Same as the Right, just backwards.
 
Down: Now this is a big one, because for a while, everyone thought it just decreases volume. But it has a few more uses too; here we go:
 
First long press: Album repeat mode (folder repeat)
Second long press: Default mode
Third long press: Shuffle mode
Fourth long press: Default mode
 
The general playback is straight, not shuffle, so this was a pretty big breakthrough. 

Here’s my understanding of the light on the Alien and what it means (per color):
Playing: blue/green
Pause: blue
Battery empty: green
Charging while off: red
Finished charging while off: no light

*Thank you both for letting Head Pie quote from your reviews.

 

[soundblast75]

Thank you for this full info Expatin, its everything i needed

 
Shuffle works!!
 
Also good news, my 128Gb Lexar Pro 1800x works, can't believe it, i just got rid of any album above 1000kbps and left quite a few already on it and its all working like a charm.
 
What a great player, sounds closest to my CD Walkman D250 which no super duper dap has been able to even come close to and thats including Tera, its output quality into my home system was nowhere near the Q of the walkman, i understand its not meant for that, but there was a pretty  disappointing flat sound coming out..i'll just leave it there tho , wrong thread

 
The Alien's ability to drive anything, especially all of my iems to perfection is remarkable, tho ive left at least 5 totl in the drawer for now since the Penon iem is a top pairing with Shozy, what a treat!!!

 

[redkop]

Since the Alien does not support gapless,what is a good PC software program to convert an album of FLAC/WAV files to a single WAV file ? 

 

[HardHeadFi]

My bet is on MediaMonkey although I'm not 100% it has this feature.