[camille]

coming from a then-MD user (in the heat of NetMD), i was really turned off by Sony DAPs. i still enjoi the real-time part of MD, but the "Net" part was the killer. sorry to say it, but SS 1.5 was a piece of crap -- and no matter how improved it may be (SS-CP 4.0 now?), i'll never go back. that was a living hell to go through, and left me with a crippled PC (which was my parents). the way you had to convert any media file (mp3, etc.) to ATRAC, to me, was ridicurous. it just added a whole lot of unnecessary stuff on the computer. plus no Kanji character support. (you'd have to tweak registries, etc. on SS to do so -- again, too much hassle) w/ iPod + iTunes, Kanji, Hangul, etc. compatability is seemless; straight outta the box. i dont know if it's been fixed since 1.5, but reading threads over at Audio T-Board, it still doesn't seem to have been rectified.

one thing i can say that's 'positive' is the gapless support. but still doesn't justify it. i guess that's what Rockbox is for

Quote:

doesn't want a theft-icon on the high street

so taking that quote verbatim, i wouldn't get mugged if i had an HD5, for example?

 

[Paul L]

Zip22, thanks for your reply although I won't pretend to understand it.

I won a Rio Diamond something-or-other in a competition a handful of years ago, technically it might as well be a lifetime ago as I could not find support for it on anything newer than Windows 98 so it became a paper-weight. It held 64mb and so was useless. I figured 20gb was quite a lot more capacity than that?

Each time I have read reviews of various DAP devices the Sony is praised on sound quality and I thought it could run at 352kb or somewhere in this region allegedly similar to iPods and others.

Having used various pda's over the years from Palm, Ipaq and Blackberry plus a number of mobile phones I'm not looking for a multi-tasking device, just good music.

My understanding of the terminology and technologies is dreadful so I hope I'm not going to be disappointed. If I am, I'll end up giving the NW-A3000 away and borrowing my Father's Walkman Pro cassette player which is still perfect and will then leave the DAP thing alone for another five years I guess!

 

[doctorjuggles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul L Zip22, thanks for your reply although I won't pretend to understand it.

I have no knowledge of the Sony players specs, but Zip22 means that the Sony can only play lossy compressed audio files.
There are three basic types of file that these players can generally play:
1) Lossless - this means an exact copy of the file/album/song. Bit for bit, the track is copied exactly as it is on the CD. This results in very big files (around 700mb for an entire CD)

2) Lossless compression - with this the file is made smaller (roughly one third to one half of the original size depending on the technique used) but through various algorithms etc the file is compressed when ripped and then decompressed when played and is as good as the original with no differences. This kind of compression requires more juice for a DAP to decode, but again, audio quality remains the top priority. For more info on this, check the wiki entry for 'Lossless compression.'

3) Lossy compression - your standard mp3/atrac/aac etc ripped file. With this method, complex algorithms are used to calculate what sounds in the file the human ear technically shouldn't be able to hear and cuts that sound from the file completely. The result, depending on bitrate, is usually around one tenth to one fifth the original size, meaning you can fit more onto your player, but sound quality is compromised slightly.

He's saying the Sony can only play the last of these files.

I don't know if that's true, I'm just trying to help you understand what he means.

 

[purk]

I still have the Pocket Vaio and so far I am very satisfied with it. Of course, SS is quite annoying and very slow during transfering. I also dislike the occasionally battery drain (for unknow reason). I, however, do like the Pocket Vaio's style, sound quality, large HD, and the ability to display pictures.

 

[Pluman]

Did anyone get a nw-e002, 003 or 005?

 

[Paul L]

Ah, okay. I'm with you. It will be an interesting ride then as I would not want to live with 64kb or 128kb, hopefully the higher resolutions will be fine but if not then at least I will now why.

 

[dura]

I've got a NW-HD1 for alomst two years now, and I still absolutely love it.
Perfect styling with its beautiful compact cast magnesium case, still not a scratch (I just toss it in my bag or pocket, but it's as good as new, ever seen a two year old ipod that was treated like that?) long battery life (>20 hrs using 256ks) and I absolutely love the sound quality, together with E4s a match made in heaven.
SS has shaped up nicely, does what it's suipposed to do, doesn't crash or feeze anymore.
Disadvantages: Atrac-library so bound to sony players, buttons get triggered easily in pocket, hard to control without looking.
All in all, haven't once felt the urge to replace it.

 

[DJShadow]

Really? I've had the HD3 for a year and a half and come to conclusion that it is sonically inadequate and that is using e3c's (I know not the best) and HD 595's.
I find the sound is underwhelming, devoid of any power (due to woeful power from the internal amp no doubt) and fails to bring any excitement. But then again, such devices are optimised to be compact, sleek and stylish with sound quality being a lesser priority. Back when I was using 256 ATRAC I definitely did not get >20 hours of juice.

I've read many horror stories of SS but even on my humble system it works without any drama, even moreso with the current incarnation (4.0). But it is highly constrictive forcing you stay with it in order to manage your player.

So to summarise, the reasons why I wouldn't recommend a Sony player, the HD3 certainly, are a lack of codec options (no lossless etc), pitiful amp leading to underpowered sound and a sadomasochistic commitment to SS. The good points are small package, good battery life (although no where near what Sony claims) and to me the biggest plus, gapless playback but only with ATRAC.

 

[ehcanadian]

dont support sony,
they bring us rootkits and (D)igital (R)estrictions (M)anagement

 

[jonnywolfet]

i allways recommend my hd5, ive been through archos, iriver, apple and ended up with the sony.

and if you own the cd's, whats the problem with propriety compression (i digress, dont answer that). from a sound quality perspective, battery life, build quality and small form factor, i really like my hd5 for portable use.

i actually wanted to use atrac on a sony device as i get gapless playback without whooping battery life by using 3rd party software. i like rockbox, i really really do, its just that the battery playtime cant stand the test of time ( it needs to last a minimum days work for me).

the only issue i have is a hiss with my iem's, amping through the lineout solves this problem for me.

to weigh up the pros and cons for this player:

pros:
longer than average battery life
gapless with atrac
small
long battery life
nice sounding unit (to my ears, atrac on the hd5 sounds better than any other portable i have had)
lineout
solid build quality
really really cheap on ebay (mine is a 30gb i got for £90 new)

cons:
sonicstage really could be better (but once the music is on there, who cares?)
slight background hiss with low impedance phones (doesnt allways bother me, amping solves this)

thats it, the hd5 is perfect for me. i dont really understand why there isnt more love for it around here.

 

[dskywalker]

Another vote for HD5. I used to own it and I must say it sounds very good with a little tuning with its eq. It's size is just amazing for a 20gig player. Sonic Stage isn't horrible, it's just mediore. It never crashed on me once. Maybe it's because I don't need to rip songs a lot, or transfer gigs of mp3 all at once. I've used itunes as well, it's just as slow, and interface isn't that much better. I really liked the HD5, but the new models to me is just a step back.

 

[Rogane]

How did you get your cracked buttons repaired on your HD5... How bad must they be to get repaired?

 

[fraseyboy]

My sister has the NWE005 as well. Although its a great little player, withe excellent SQ, the software really is a letdown. I have upgraded it to the latest (4.2) and although it has never crashed, it is VERY hard to use and insists on converting all the music on her computer to ATRAC3.... If the player was UMS mode, it would be perfect.

 

[liquidfireboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fraseyboy /img/forum/go_quote.gif My sister has the NWE005 as well. Although its a great little player, withe excellent SQ, the software really is a letdown. I have upgraded it to the latest (4.2) and although it has never crashed, it is VERY hard to use and insists on converting all the music on her computer to ATRAC3.... If the player was UMS mode, it would be perfect.

your sister needs alternative software.

http://www.atraclife.com/forums/index.php?showforum=25

 

[Sparky191]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fraseyboy /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...the software ...I have upgraded it to the latest (4.2) ....it is VERY hard to use and insists on converting all the music on her computer to ATRAC3.......

If this is SonicStage, IMO its not THAT hard, just clunky. I've never had it convert all the tracks on my PC.