[DeeLuxx]

Hi to all!!
 
finally decided after a very long time of lurking that i should probably join the forum haha... anyway,
 
an opportunity came up for me to buy a used (but great condition) hd5 for around $80 and i'm really keen to get one because of the line out mainly and the changable battery, and i dont like ipods.
 
so my question was: is the hd5 still any good even though its so old??? it must be what like 5 years old now...
 
also, how is the lineout feature on it?
 

 
this is the pic of the actual unit (its off trademe which is like New Zealand ebay) - pretty good condition and a screen protector by the looks of it

 

[LegendaryLvl1]

I've heard of new zealand before.

 

[DeeLuxx]

heard of old zealand?
 
haha but seriously... anyone know about this player?

 

[Synergy Sound]

Sorry, can't say I'm familiar with it. But I love how old school it is!

 

[LegendaryLvl1]

Quote:

Sorry, can't say I'm familiar with it. But I love how old school it is!

Talking about new zealand or the DAP?

 

[Danneq]

I'd say that it sounds like a pretty good price. Are you talking about US$80 or NZ$80? If it's NZ$80 it's a really good price.
 
If you do not need fancy stuff such as a color screen or gapless playback, the HD5 is great. When I bought my second hand HD5 earlier this year, I was surprised at how small it is for a 20GB HDD player. It also has got a 100% user replacable battery. A very wise choice by Sony.
 
It does have a line out option in the menu. I have never used it, but I've seen it. If you set line out on, the volume will be mxed out, so remember to turn the line out off before going back to headphone listening...
 
Here's a thread about the line out:
http://forums.sonyinsider.com/topic/4325-nw-hd5-line-out-question/
 
 
A thing that can be negative to some is that you have to use Sony's Sonicstage software when you transfer music. If you use some other software the player's database will not update properly. I do not find Sonicstage that terrible. It might have been bad in the beginning, but the last version released isn't that bad.
 
What else is there...
 
Ah, most of the HD5 sold in Europe have volume restriction. You need to enter the service menu to remove this. If the HD5 you are looking at first was sold in New Zealand , it might not have that volume restriction.
 
Here's some info on how to remove the volume restriction and make the HD5 louder (remember to not fiddle around too much in the service menu.):
http://www.avforums.com/forums/portable-music-mp3/215671-sony-nw-hd5-volume.html
 
 
If you do not mind not having gapless playback, and being forced to use Sonicstage to transfer music, the HD5 is a great choice. Soundwise is is still a good choice.

 

[boogsy]

ive just posted about the same player,  ( HD1 and HD5 are the same internally )
 
see;
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/565202/sansa-fuze-v-sony-nw-hd1-sony-has-much-better-sound-quality#post_7646715
 
 
yes,  the HD5 is still unbeatable for sound quality, and can drive full size headphones like the HD600s

 

[boogsy]

forgot to add,
 
the HD5 does do gapless  ,   at least with CD rips,    might not do it with MP3 but i dont use MP3s anyway
 
also sonicstage is NOT that bad,   I used to think it was awful,  but having recently purchased a Sansa Fuze,  Ive now realised you need to have ID TAGs with FLACs ( etc  )  so thats another process ,  and in the end with sonicstage it uses gracenotes to find all the album data
 
so swings and roundabouts really -   seems sonicstage is not as bad a process as I used to think,  the ID tags can be a right hassle also
 
as mentioned you can bypass the EU vol restrictions,  so thats not a problem,  newer sony flash players can not be bypassed, now that would be a major problem
 
you will find that in terms of  SQ it will be extremely hard to beat,  I personally dont know of a better sounding player yet

 

[Danneq]

Oh yeah. The HD5 does gapless with ATRAC. But with MP3 it's not gapless...

 

[david1978jp]

I love mine, both HD1 and HD5. I tried to change hard drive to CF card, it did not work. Their original hard drives are still working.

 

[noisyriver]

In case somebody is interested: I was able to upgrade the NW-HD 5 to a 80 GB disk. If you have more questions just post me.
Together with the JSymphonic tool (which I copied direct to the Sonys disk) and a pair of UE 10s it is for me still an unbeatable portable HighFidelity device.

 

[vivalavinyl]

@noisyriver
 
INTERESTED!! How does one accomplish this?

 

[Danneq]

I'm also interested. Right now 20GB is okay, but I'm always interested in other options...

 

[bzoom]

Quote:

In case somebody is interested: I was able to upgrade the NW-HD 5 to a 80 GB disk. If you have more questions just post me.
 

Appreciate if you can post some details and possibly some photos.  I still have a HD5 that I use very frequently, just wish I can store more music(than 20GB).

 

[david1978jp]

I have tried KingSpec SSD (16, 32 and 64 GB), none of them work.
I also tried two Toshiba 20 GB hard disk, after the player initiated a disk format, work fine; unlike Creative Labs which reloading firmware is needed.