[LiquidX]

I just bought this at Circuit City for $284.99 plus tax. US. I don't have any button cracks and hope that i won't get any. I've had an old MD player(Sony MZ-R900) for the longest and I finally decided to get something better. I was planning to get the MD RH10 but chose to get the HD5 instead. I really like it so far. Pretty simple to use and SonicStage isn't that much of problem. I never tried ITunes so maybe that's why I don't really see how it compares. When i tried to the do the volume adjustment i noticed that the Volume suppression was already disabled. There are a few things that can be improved with the player that i believe firmware updates can solve. Does anyone know when the 30gb Special edition will be released in the states?

 

[jant71]

Don't hold your breath waiting for those firmware updates, liquidX. The firmware update is the HD6 which will be on sale in time for the holiday season!

 

[BobMorris1963]

This SP louder hack (the ll,rr...)
Well I got a EU model..OK so I got to the SP part of the menu, and either off or on I cannot tell the difference! mine seemed loud when I bought it, take coldplays X&Y.. I have to turn it down cos It's loud! So how quiet "is quiet" and how louder is it "loud"??? daft question but I'll be buggered if I can tell the difference...

Ah found another anoying little (but easy fixed) I have a couple of double Albums, and I also use the CDDB feature for everything (thats great!), and it split them into disk 1 & 2 (or 3). because I did'nt want loads of CD1 / CD2 all over the gaff I rename the 1st disk to disk 2. I look in disk 2 and what it actually does is it keeps the Track ID tag, so the album now goes..
CD1 - track 1
CD2 - track 1
CD1 - track 2
CD2 - track 2
CD1 - track 3
CD2 - track 3
etc....
so I have to manually re-number the tracks to 'after' the cd1 amount. (ie if CD1 has 14 tracks, renumber CD2/track1 to track 15 and so on...
then I erase the CD2 part from the title...
takes about 5 mins but its a pain!

 

[SDLeMire]

Sony players tend to do that. Even though SonicStage does have a tag for disc#, the players won't take advantage so you'll have to renumber the track#'s. Pain. Wish the players could take advantage of playlists (besides hd5) and year recorded as well.

 

[Zuerst]

I don't understand why people would want to buy the HD5 when it is obvious that the cross buttons are bound to crack and in many cases within the first week or two even with very gentle use.

I was so set on getting the HD5... But knowing that the buttons would eventually crack is just unacceptable to me.

 

[D-EJ915]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobMorris1963 Sonic Stage: Not crashed or anything, so simple and straight forward in my view. I must point out i'm using a new Sony laptop, so a Sony working a Sony program - I should have no probs eh? I have to say the reviews scared me, but I (and i undeline I) can't see what the fuss is about.

Haha, same exact opinion here...maybe it's out laptops (T250 here)...

I was surprised that I saw the Black HD5 in Sears today, I was like WHOA it sure is sexy.

 

[zeus65]

Bob An easy way to get around this is to change the ID3 tag of the song to have and album name with CD1 and CD2 in the name, alteast the player will then split them into different albums.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobMorris1963 This SP louder hack (the ll,rr...) Well I got a EU model..OK so I got to the SP part of the menu, and either off or on I cannot tell the difference! mine seemed loud when I bought it, take coldplays X&Y.. I have to turn it down cos It's loud! So how quiet "is quiet" and how louder is it "loud"??? daft question but I'll be buggered if I can tell the difference... Ah found another anoying little (but easy fixed) I have a couple of double Albums, and I also use the CDDB feature for everything (thats great!), and it split them into disk 1 & 2 (or 3). because I did'nt want loads of CD1 / CD2 all over the gaff I rename the 1st disk to disk 2. I look in disk 2 and what it actually does is it keeps the Track ID tag, so the album now goes.. CD1 - track 1 CD2 - track 1 CD1 - track 2 CD2 - track 2 CD1 - track 3 CD2 - track 3 etc.... so I have to manually re-number the tracks to 'after' the cd1 amount. (ie if CD1 has 14 tracks, renumber CD2/track1 to track 15 and so on... then I erase the CD2 part from the title... takes about 5 mins but its a pain!

 

[BobMorris1963]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeus65 Bob An easy way to get around this is to change the ID3 tag of the song to have and album name with CD1 and CD2 in the name, alteast the player will then split them into different albums.

from my original post...
Quote:

...because I didn't want loads of CD1 / CD2 all over the gaff I rename....

as CDDB does this auto.

---------------------------------------------------
Quote:

Originally Posted by D-EJ915 I saw the Black HD5 in Sears today, I was like WHOA it sure is sexy.

Yup I have a Black one, the Silver just didn't look good to me. Also everywhere I went, the shops had run out of Black ones, and there was me thinking the silver would be popular and i was gonna be different.

 

[BobMorris1963]

As i mention I put this SP volume hack to the test, can someone tell me have they actually noticed any difference? do you notice a difference when turn off/on whilst the track is playing as you applying the hack?

Either mine is off or on and cannot be changed, cos there is not difference.

Any EU black versions users tried this?

 

[KeanosMagicHat]

..

 

[KeanosMagicHat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiquidX I just bought this at Circuit City for $284.99 plus tax. US. I don't have any button cracks and hope that i won't get any.

I hope you don't too but this poor guy did with a unit bought off the shelf from the same store and after only 12 hours use ...

http://reviews.cnet.com/5208-7595-0....sageID=1238033

I'm newly registered here and reading this thread I think I should say something regarding my fellow UK posters. I'm sure these guys are not on here trying to stir up problems, they are just warning you of a serious issue that is affecting European, Australia / NZ, Hong Kong and now US players.

This problem is under investigation by Sony in the UK with a potential recall on the cards.

I sincerely hope you guys don't have to face this issue but it looks like it is starting with the CNET review above.

This is what the cracks look like ....

http://nickandlenka.users.btopenworl...HD5_Cracks.htm

and these are the threads on a UK website discussing them, we have confirmation that Sony UK are monitoring these threads.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=215060

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showt...=217889&page=1

There are also the first indications of the problem posted on the Amazon UK website ....

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...780349-4340458

_______________________________

An excellent player but .........., June 14, 2005

Reviewer: A electronics & photo fan from Cambs UK

I purchased a Sony HD5 three days ago and have found both the operation of the player and the supplied software easy to use - the download speed from the PC to player is superb. The sound quality is excellent and the unit feels solid and well built. However, the supplied case, which is basically a felt bag, is pathetic for a player of this class. Additionally, because the unit is so new, there are not many cases currently available that are specifically designed for this unit. A more worrying issue is a hairline crack that has developed in the silver metal under the transparent keys on my player - although it does not presently affect the operation of the player, some people would find it annoying.
______________________________


So please take these comments in the spirit they are intended and watch out for this issue.

It has already affected the US owner above, there will be more I suspect.


______________________________



With regard to the review ....

Quote:

Originally Posted by widds2v First thing you should know is, this player looks a ton better in real life versus the pictures on the internet. I know a lot of people don't like the new look compared to the older HD1/3 players, but it really does look good. Player feels very well built with the magnesium (i assume? sony uses it for like everything) casing.

Good review but just one correction.

Apologies if already mentioned but the only walkman in the NW-HD range to have a magnesium casing was the NW-HD1, this made it more durable, lighter and overall more classy (in my biased opinion as I currently own one

)

The NW-HD5 has an aluminium casing.

I'll be getting an NW-HD5HS as soon as they start shipping them again in the UK.

 

[zeus65]

Sorry Bob my bad. I'll blame it on the fact that I was working a little and reading the forums at 4am this morning. Brain must have not been working too well.

Have a great weekend.

 

[sohc]

is there a dock available for the hd5? kinda odd if not. all other hds have it, i would imagine any ipod competitor would use a docking station.

also- i dont know much about hdd daps, as ive never owned one- is there a limit to how many playlists you can have? i assume there wouldnt be considering a playlist is no more than just a list.. 20gigs should be able to hold billions of lists.

thx

 

[SDLeMire]

HD1 had one, but since then the HD series is dockless.

 

[KeanosMagicHat]

With a direct USB connection, I'm not sure why you would need a dock really?