[erikthecat]

afternoon people, a quick question for you,
is there a basic remote that hasn't got an LCD display?

just play, stop, volume, FWD, RWD.
like the one i had on my old MD player.

my thinking is that i know what's on my HD3, they are all my favourites (or i wouldn't have loaded them on),
if there is a duff track or i want to listen again i use the basic controls.

i also don't like the idea of the control being almost as big as the player

that kind of defeats the object of having a compact size player (may have well bought an enormous iPod!), plus there is also an extra length of remote related cordage to get in the way, that's unless i go out and buy another set of headphones with shorter cable

, ... and my aim is NOT to spend as much again on customising with all the auxillary bits

in this age of, F**ing 'erbert's who just take stuff, from the less streetwise members of society, i don't want to lay myself open by wearing a 'lit up' flash looking LCD remote, that SHOUTS... I HAVE 200 QUIDS WORTH OF MP3 PLAYER ON MY PERSON! (oh abd you may as well nik my expensive mobile phone whilst your at it, sorry didn't i say PLEASE?)

perhaps i'm over cautious, or is it just self preservation, I say.... 'go take the IPOD off the guy with the white earbud headphones'

, is that bad?

also....

is there a recommended lanyard (is that the word?)
a kind of cord that connects to the metal loop,
that would enable the player to hang round my neck,
(in a medallion man style

, this would do away with the need for a remote,
as the HD3 would be exactly where the remonte would be?!
is that what the loop is for?

thanks your time, this is a great post, all very informative.

Regards,

GaRy

PS are you sure that that alleged 'hissing' is not in your mind?
are you listening to the player at very low volume levels?
if i ever think can hear a HISS, i rewind it and turn the volume up
and there's nothing there? that's what the voices in my head said to type

-------------------------------------
www.SplatThatCat.com

 

[erikthecat]

another quick question...

is there a way of re-ordering / placing in alphabetical order,
the items in the GROUP folder.
it would appear to be in the order the CD's were copied across.
is the only way to delete everything and start again?
hope not.

GaRy

www.SplatThatCat.com GaMe On!

 

[Latexxx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by erikthecat is there a way of re-ordering / placing in alphabetical order, the items in the GROUP folder. it would appear to be in the order the CD's were copied across. is the only way to delete everything and start again? hope not.

Sonic Stage allows you to change the order by dragging and dropping files on the list.

 

[Fenhalls]

As a prospective purchaser of the NW-HD3, I have a few concerns:

1) In the "now playing" screen, does the information pertaining to the album, artist, and track name scroll to reveal all the information if it is too long? Is this a continuous process, or does it stop after the first time around? Does that information also scroll in the various search screens?

2) A Sonic Stage question: I understand from one poster elsewhere that even if only one track is transferred over to the player, Sonic Stage has to refresh the library, a process that can be extremely lengthy? Is this so?

3) I have also heard elsewhere that the Vaio Pocket exhibits as certain slowness when changing tracks, something that is put down to the hard drive spinning up. Does this hold true for the NW-HD3?

Thanking whoever might be able to help me in advance.

By the way, I downloaded Sonic Stage the other day to try it out. Man, is it resource-hungry and slow. I really cannot understand how a great company like Sony, rich in manpower and money, could not have come up with something a lot better.

Fenhalls

 

[nimrodity]

@Fenhalls
to 3)thats right i think my HD1 often needs one or 2 seconds changing a track beacause of the hd-spinup sometimes not,what surprises me,the cache should be for 25min,but sometimes it needs to spin up just for repeating the the song i´m just listening,shouldnt it be in the cache an dwhy doesnt he precache the next track like the ipod,i think the drive spins up much more often like the ipod not very smart

 

[boltjames]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fenhalls As a prospective purchaser of the NW-HD3, I have a few concerns: 1) In the "now playing" screen, does the information pertaining to the album, artist, and track name scroll to reveal all the information if it is too long? Is this a continuous process, or does it stop after the first time around? Does that information also scroll in the various search screens? 2) A Sonic Stage question: I understand from one poster elsewhere that even if only one track is transferred over to the player, Sonic Stage has to refresh the library, a process that can be extremely lengthy? Is this so? 3) I have also heard elsewhere that the Vaio Pocket exhibits as certain slowness when changing tracks, something that is put down to the hard drive spinning up. Does this hold true for the NW-HD3? Thanking whoever might be able to help me in advance. By the way, I downloaded Sonic Stage the other day to try it out. Man, is it resource-hungry and slow. I really cannot understand how a great company like Sony, rich in manpower and money, could not have come up with something a lot better. Fenhalls

For #1, yes, but for the song title only. Not for LP title, genre, etc. This will repeat continuously and acts the same way on navigation screens too.

For #2, no. Actually, this is the one and only benefit of SS over iTunes. You can delete all the MP3's from your hard drive once their transfered to the HD3 if you want. Only the new tracks need transfer over. It's not a total sync unless you want it to be. Once I moved my 3200 songs over, all I have to do now is transfer in the new songs one at a time.

For #3, no, the song-to-song skip is very fast. The only time there is a delay is when you've been listening to a song for more than 20 seconds and the hard drive has stopped spinning to conserve battery life. When there is a delay, it's a one-time affair and it lasts under 2 seconds.

 

[Fenhalls]

Thanks very much for you very complete and prompt answers; it is much appreciated.

Just one further question, if I may, about the scrolling song titles: When the text does scroll, is it clear?

 

[boltjames]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fenhalls Thanks very much for you very complete and prompt answers; it is much appreciated. Just one further question, if I may, about the scrolling song titles: When the text does scroll, is it clear?

Crystal clear.

Sony is using a very expensive dot matrix LCD. I've got the silver HD3 with the white backlight and it's amazing. The only LCD that can run in reverse mode (light letters on black background) and actually look better than the normal mode.

Here's the thing to remember about Sony:

They make the best consumer electronics products in the world. They're well designed, they're well engineered, and they're incredibly durable.

The issue here is that Sony's very late in the MP3 game and the iPod has become so ingrained in our brains as the 'perfect' MP3 player that we seem to give more creedance to small things than the bigger picture, which is:

The HD3 is a great, great MP3 player. It's smaller than the iPod, it's thinner than the iPod, it's got much better battery life than the iPod, the screen is clearer than the iPod, the navigation is a close equal to the iPod, and the sound quality is better than the iPod.

What holds the HD3 back is a) price, b) awful SonicStage software, and c) speed of downloads.

Price: Sony products always come at a premium. You can't afford a Ralph Lauren shirt? Don't buy Sony. Drive a BMW? You can afford Sony.

Awful SonicStage Software: Eventually, it'll improve.

Download Speeds: This too will improve with the SS software.

I think of it like a family vacation. Which scenario is better:

Scenario A: You're going to Florida and choose a direct flight that's inexpensive, but when you arrive at your destination you're at a hotel that's second-class. Above average, nice, but nothing special.

Scenario B: You're going to Florida and choose a flight that requires you switch planes three times and it's a very expensive flight at that. Huge pain in the ass to pay more money for such inconvenience. But when you arrive at your destination, you're in a first-class hotel. Very special, very luxurious, full of value and worth the price you paid.

I'd choose Scenario B every time. Why? It's not about how you get there, it's about the destination. It's about the seven days you're in Florida, not the extra few hours it took you to travel there.

Yes, iTunes and file transfer on the iPod is three-times better than SonicStage. Yes, the iTunes store has better music to download. Yes, the atrac stuff and DRM is an annoyance. But in the end, it's six months from now, your collection is transfered, and you're on the train and what do you want in your pocket? A large, white, clunky, battery-sucking iPod? Or a sleek, small, compact, fantastically designed HD3? It's arguably the best portable product that Sony's ever released and it'll get more respect as the bad press and stigma unfairly placed upon it's older brother fades.

BJ

 

[mavis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by boltjames The HD3 is a great, great MP3 player. It's smaller than the iPod, it's thinner than the iPod, it's got much better battery life than the iPod, the screen is clearer than the iPod, the navigation is a close equal to the iPod, and the sound quality is better than the iPod.

I have to say I disagree with your conclusions here, of course I wasn't exactly surprised, after reading this comment: They make the best consumer electronics products in the world. They're well designed, they're well engineered, and they're incredibly durable. ...

It's cool that you totally support Sony, but at least consider the following:

Size: Yes, the HD3 is a bit smaller and thinner than the iPod.

Battery: Yes, the HD3 has much better battery life than the iPod.

Screen: The HD3's screen is VASTLY inferior to the iPod's, in terms of legibility. Earlier in this thread is a pic showing an iPod next to an HD3, the difference between the two displays is night-and-day, in the iPod's favor. The iPod's screen is much clearer and brighter.

Navigation: I'm not sure how you can say the navigation on the HD3 is even remotely close to the iPod, a 'close equal'?! The iPod's UI is exceedingly easy to use and exceedingly FAST. Not so with the HD3 and other button-based UIs. Obviously Apple did somethign right with the iPod's touch-wheel, otherwise you wouldn't see Creative and iRiver (and a bunch of smaller companies too) using the touch technology with their players. The HD3 is nowhere CLOSE to the iPod when it comes to navigation and ease of use.

Sound Quality: Neither player is perfect in this category, that's for sure. But I'll take the iPod's weak bass (with low impedance phones) over the HD3's WALL OF BACKGROUND NOISE (with highly sensitive phones) any day. Listening to the HD3 with my Shure E5c's wasn't even remotely enjoyable, not at all. The iPod is at least listenable with low impedance/high sensitivity phones, which is more than I can say for the HD3.

 

[serotonic]

Is there any way to transfer files to 'groups' that you've created after you've transferred your files? Or do you have to delete them and then transfer them already in a group? Also, I only seem to move files to 'next group' or 'previous group', not to a group that's five lines below, if you see what I mean. I use sonicstage 2.1 and this is the only problem hitherto. Runs really smoothly, actually!

Mavis: Tried the NW-HD1? I'm locally renowned for being sensitive to even the smallest noises, and couldn't be happier with the lack-of-background-noise of the NW-HD1. Maybe you have bad files, or maybe it's all in your head?

David

 

[Beatl?Maniac]

After having considered all the mp3 players on the market i was left with a decision between the nw-hd3 and nw-hd1. I decided to choose the nw-hd1 because of its superior build quality, the addition of a cradle and its superior looks (in my opinion). My music collection is entirely cd based so i had no hang ups about the mp3 issue. The cheaper price was also a bonus.

When it arrived it took no time at all to figure out the menu system and the sonicstage software although a little slow on my four year old pc worked fine. However, it does have the annoying habbit of not transferring songs certain songs for no apparent reason occasionally. The sound quality of the nw-hd1 is incredible. I use 256kbps compression for the best possible sound. The headphones supplied are terrible and are probably the biggest cause of the volume issues people have been complaining about. Top volume doesnt sound very loud at all on them. However, replacing them with fontopia headphones or in fact any headphones that cost more than £10 lifts the volume up enough for even the deafest individual.

All in all a beast of a machine which beats my 3rd generation ipod hands down. I would recommend it over the nw-hd3 to those who have an entirely cd based music collection, otherwise go for the nw-hd3.

 

[chicubs]

Hey guys, I just thought I would pop in and say that I finally won a nw-hd1 off ebay for 248.50 w/shipping + 150 sony connect songs free....so, hopefully, I should have a review done for dapreview done in 2 weeks or so...Lol, im giddy, I have posted this a lot. I have not bought anything off ebay before, though, (imagine that) so I hope it all goes well.

 

[Fenhalls]

NW-HD3 volume problem solved? See link, directly below:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=184051

And thanks for all your wise and knowledgeable advice boltjames; once again, it is much appreciated.

 

[Twizzle]

I can confirm that the forum link above does indeed tell you how to increase the output volume of the NW-HD3! Amazing that it is buried inside a service menu that is otherwise unknown, but it knocks the volume of the unit up to normal Sony standards! It's made my enjoyment of the unit that much more!

I wonder if they restricted the volume on the shipped models to preserve their 'battery life' claims..? I don't get anywhere near 30 hours out of mine - more like 15-20!

Andy

 

[kramnonnac]

excellent news that users now able to successfully increase volume output on EU models....HD3 is a definate now for me as I was concerned that my listening pleasure would be limited by seemingly EU regulations and was contemplating trying to import HD3 or looking at other players altogether......still have to import remote unfortunately but small price to pay for happiness !....well done to all concerned with pursuing this issue and great forum by the way.