[sanity8me]

i was wondering if there are any Viao pocket owners who regret not dishing out the extra doh for the X5/X5L. i doubt anyone does, but i'm just curious because ...and i know this might seem dumb/funny... i had a dream that i bought the sony viao pocket and was very happy. all things aside, the X5L is still my number one consideration. i'm just curious whether i should i even consider this beauty(?) from sony.

what i'm curious about*:
-does the vaio pocket have a true line-out on the unit itself instead of just the dock? this is a huge deal to me because i do a lot of driving.
-how portable is the unit? can i put it in my pocket and just be able to use the remote?
-is the remote any good? (always loved sony's remotes)
-any UM2 owners try it out? if so, how does it sound?
-i remember reading that it has a very nice, nonfatiguing SQ which has a superb low frequency response. is this true?
-am i allowed to drag and drop? (i believe i remember reading that i can now, but is it still something to do with sonicstage?)
-for gapless playback, do the files have to be atrac?
-does the EQ only work for atrac?
-can i navigate by custimized folders?
-any hiss? (mainly a question for all the canal phone users)

*by the way, i'm really sorry for the questions because i'm sure most are already answered/discussed somewhere on head-fi, but for some strange reason it's not letting me search today. keep getting a "the page cannot be displayed" error. anybody else experiencing this problem?


also, does anyone else (not just vaio owners) regret not getting the X5? if so, please state why.

 

[SDLeMire]

Quote:

-does the vaio pocket have a true line-out on the unit itself instead of just the dock? this is a huge deal to me because i do a lot of driving.

Nope. Though the headphone out works very well in my car.


Quote:

-how portable is the unit? can i put it in my pocket and just be able to use the remote?

The unit is rather large

. If you have decent sized pockets, it wouldn't be a problem.


Quote:

-is the remote any good? (always loved sony's remotes)

It's nice looks wise. Provides all the functionality well. Navigation, however, is a mixed-bag. It's rather sluggish, though unless you have a large remote display, this will always be the case for jukebox remotes.


Quote:

-i remember reading that it has a very nice, nonfatiguing SQ which has a superb low frequency response. is this true?

Personally, I love the sound of it. Full, rich, though the EQ is limited with only a handful of presets.


Quote:

-am i allowed to drag and drop? (i believe i remember reading that i can now, but is it still something to do with sonicstage?)

There is the Vaio music transfer utility which has a drag n drop type interface for mp3s. Haven't used it myself since SS works well for me.


Quote:

-for gapless playback, do the files have to be atrac?

Yes. Though for mp3s the gap is the smallest I've heard on hard drive players.


Quote:

-does the EQ only work for atrac?

No, it works for any files since they are only bass/treble presets.


Quote:

-can i navigate by custimized folders?

ID3 tagging navigation only.

 

[LFC_SL]

if only money was no object eh?....

only then I'd have a PSP, X5 and a DS.....

 

[FenderP]

I don't regret it as I switched from a M3. The iAudio stuff is nice, just not the DAP for me. The X5 is pretty much just a souped up M3.

It really isn't that big ... it's thicker than the M3, but overall size wise, it's about the same IMHO. The build quality is much better on the Vaio.

The Vaio Pocket is ID3 tagging which is different than a folder-based player such as the iAudio ones. I tend to prefer ID3 tags. On the unit itself, you can see things by artist, album, etc. That's something you can't do on the iAudio.

The sound is much less fatiguing than the iAudio - at least the M3. As nice as the M3 sounded, the Sony just sounds "right" to my ears. After awhile on the M3, I had to turn it off. I just enjoy my music with the Vaio; I've never been sick of using it.

 

[sanity8me]

i thought about it all day and i think i rather save a grand and buy myself the Vaio Pocket instead of the iAudio X5L. i just don't think being able to play videos is that big of a deal to me and even though i did want a unit that is able to record i figure i will always still have my ihp-100 for that purpose (hardly ever do it anyways). as for the FM radio, i basically never used it on the iRiver, so why would i need it on my next DAP.

what really got me to change my mind:
1) it's price ($240 vs X5L's $350)
2) 40GB vs iAudio's 30GB
3) it's uniqueness
4) the firmware update
5) i like what i've been hearing about it's warm, nonfatiguing SQ
6) it's build quality (sony's Vaio line is considered to be very high-end)
7) gorgeous 2.2" LCD screen
8) very small gap (?)
9) album covers and the ability to browse by them
10) comes with a stylish dock and remote

what i'm still kind of worried about:
1) headphone out for car use (when i went out last night i decided to plug in the tape adapter into my ihp-100's headphone out instead of the line-out and it's a HUGE downgrade in SQ. sounds very distorted probably since it's running through the amp. i've read that it's a very clean sound for the Vaio Pocket's headphone out, but i wonder if it'll still have that distorted sound as my iRiver's headphone out did. grrr, this is really bothering me.
2) still don't know if there's a hiss problem (X5 seems to hardly have any)
3) sony's right protection BS (authorizing? only one computer use? changes the mp3 somehow? or is it just a renaming?)
4) i'm not sure how the Program Lists feature works (can anyone explain? will i be able to queue up a song similarly like my ihp-100?)
5) not sure where/how i'd be able to place it sideways in my car.

this is a weird change of plans for me. hope it's for the best..

 

[dames]

1) I've used the headphone out to plug it directly in my headunit via the aux in jack, and it doesn't feel distorted at all. Then again, this is probably one of those things where you have to do A/B listening tests to see if there's a difference. If it bothers you that much, remember that you can always bring the dock along and use the line out jack on that. Sure, it will almost double the bulk, but it'll be in a car anyway so it shouldn't matter too much.
2) I don't hear any hiss. There's definitely no "wall of static" that the NW-HD3 review here mentioned.
3) The files are renamed to .OMA on the player and just take on arbitrary names such as "100002AB.OMA" for example. Apparently, they're put into some wrapper. I've tried to rename them to MP3s but no luck. I think the way it works is that SonicStage lets you transfer MP3s back onto a computer a limited number of times, but that's it. I don't think that the Vaio is tied to any one computer, though. It should be possible to put music onto it using one computer and transfer it to another, although apparently not too many times.
4) There are five playlists (yeah, with the new firmware, they're actually called playlists) on the player, and after selecting one of the playlists you can just queue up a song or album onto it. You can also queue up whatever song is currently playing. However, you can't rename or add playlists or edit them on the computer. (edit: To queue up a song/album, you just select it and hold the button, which popus up a menu that lets you add it to the list.)
5) I just put the Vaio in the glovebox and clip the remote onto the cable that goes into the headunit. It works pretty nicely that way.

 

[Otophonus]

Ordered X5 after much thinking $315 from shop4 tech
with 10% discount coupon use code (cs10) and freeshipping . Not a bad deal .
I like the looks of x5 and the reviews are excellent.other feature such as voice recordign textviewign while listenting also the lyrics, syncs easily with mac.
Will use shure E4 ,recently bought from American techpushers, for great price .
This forum has been great in helping me in saving money.

 

[sanity8me]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dames 1) I've used the headphone out to plug it directly in my headunit via the aux in jack, and it doesn't feel distorted at all. Then again, this is probably one of those things where you have to do A/B listening tests to see if there's a difference. If it bothers you that much, remember that you can always bring the dock along and use the line out jack on that. Sure, it will almost double the bulk, but it'll be in a car anyway so it shouldn't matter too much. 2) I don't hear any hiss. There's definitely no "wall of static" that the NW-HD3 review here mentioned. 3) The files are renamed to .OMA on the player and just take on arbitrary names such as "100002AB.OMA" for example. Apparently, they're put into some wrapper. I've tried to rename them to MP3s but no luck. I think the way it works is that SonicStage lets you transfer MP3s back onto a computer a limited number of times, but that's it. I don't think that the Vaio is tied to any one computer, though. It should be possible to put music onto it using one computer and transfer it to another, although apparently not too many times. 4) There are five playlists (yeah, with the new firmware, they're actually called playlists) on the player, and after selecting one of the playlists you can just queue up a song or album onto it. You can also queue up whatever song is currently playing. However, you can't rename or add playlists or edit them on the computer. (edit: To queue up a song/album, you just select it and hold the button, which popus up a menu that lets you add it to the list.) 5) I just put the Vaio in the glovebox and clip the remote onto the cable that goes into the headunit. It works pretty nicely that way.

thanks for answering all of my questions/concerns. same goes for SDLeMire and everyone else.

i guess the remote can actually be quite handy in the car. also, how is it that the sony headphone out can sound so "clean" as opposed to a distortion-free line-out?

i just recently read this from the dapreview forum:
http://www.dapreview.net/forum_viewtopic.php?21.11108

kind of scary how the guy who posted the last message loved the player so much, but decided to return it JUST because of the sonic stage software. is it really that bad??

here's another one, but this guy seems to not let SS disturb his infatuation with his Vaio Pocket:
http://www.dapreview.net/forum_viewtopic.php?21.11660

Quote:

Originally Posted by Otophonus Ordered X5 after much thinking $315 from shop4 tech with 10% discount coupon use code (cs10) and freeshipping . Not a bad deal . I like the looks of x5 and the reviews are excellent.other feature such as voice recordign textviewign while listenting also the lyrics, syncs easily with mac. Will use shure E4 ,recently bought from American techpushers, for great price . This forum has been great in helping me in saving money. Today 05:49 PM

thanks for the nice price update. i'm sure a lot of people here would be interested in this info, but i still think the Vaio Pocket is a better deal for me.

 

[dames]

Quote:

kind of scary how the guy who posted the last message loved the player so much, but decided to return it JUST because of the sonic stage software. is it really that bad??

SonicStage feels like it tries to be elegant, but it doesn't quite pull it off. That being said, it's fairly easy to use. The main downside is that it's sluggish and a big resource hog. I'm not one who transfers music to his player often, so I don't really care too much about how good SonicStage is. If I had to do it more often, though, I think I'd be able to live with it.

Oh, and if you read a review where someone bashes SonicStage, make sure that they're using SS 3.1, which came out in April. From what I've read it's a lot better than the old one.

How about this: try installing SonicStage for yourself. It's a free download off of Sony's site. See how you like it.

 

[LFC_SL]

I'm not joking but if I took my english pounds to US I could get my above wishlist....due to favourable exchage rate + cheaper prices....

 

[sanity8me]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dames SonicStage feels like it tries to be elegant, but it doesn't quite pull it off. That being said, it's fairly easy to use. The main downside is that it's sluggish and a big resource hog. I'm not one who transfers music to his player often, so I don't really care too much about how good SonicStage is. If I had to do it more often, though, I think I'd be able to live with it. Oh, and if you read a review where someone bashes SonicStage, make sure that they're using SS 3.1, which came out in April. From what I've read it's a lot better than the old one. How about this: try installing SonicStage for yourself. It's a free download off of Sony's site. See how you like it.

good idea. hope it doesn't crash my compueter tho..



a have some more minor questions:
-where the hell is the pause button on the unit?
-how heavy/large is the dock cause i'm considering to just take it with me into the car or would that be ridiculous?
-can i make my own "groups" in the player. for example: 1990s, 1980s, oldies, etc, etc. and if so, can the songs in them be associated with the "artists and/or genre navigation options in the menu? (i'm pretty sure it can be done, but i'm just double checking cause i'm used to navigating only by folders with my iRiver)

 

[O2K]

when i was buying my mp3 player, it was between the sony vaio and the x5, i was going to get the vaio until i figured out that it doesn't have a voice recording function, and that in essence was a breaker, i needed that function for recording lectures, so i decided to buy the x5 for $250. I love the x5, or would love it if my mom wouldnt keep taking it with her on her walks.