Buying a Sony MP3 player

[The Linuxator]

So I am consedering buying this player , Store link

Anybody know anything about these players ? Or even better anyone ever try them ?

I am upgrading from a NF-510ck mini disc player.

 

[Unkno]

well, the specs are nice and not too expensive either. Now if someone only knows if this has good sound quality and if the 50 hours is true...

 

[The Linuxator]

The fact it has 1 GB of storage, that is equivelenat to almost 7 mini-discs which is more than what I need using my 5 barely full Net-MD minidiscs , plus this is much more convenient using, also Atrac3-plus compresses MP3s to half the size keeping the same quality so 1 GB of atrac 3 plus is equivelant to having 2 gb of Mp3s. which is perfect for my 1.25 GB Mp3 library, and I almost never have 50 songs that I need to listen to at the same time, so it's only a matter of knowing if it's as capable of giving me some good quality sound as my Net-MD did.

 

[Unkno]

hmmm, for sound quality, i have seen an article saying the shuffle has the best sound quality (better than the zen micro, ipod mini, and the ipod photo). I would like to see how this sony player compares with the shuffle in terms of sound quality

 

[The Linuxator]

The shuffle sucks, has no screen,seriously I have tried alot of players and sony won my admiration in ever area.
It's just an issue of what sony player to get.

 

[PurdueRy]

I considered this one but ended up with the iAudio 5 although the U2 would also be a good option for you

 

[Tbirdkid]

I have a similar one, and the atrac3 is awesome. Wayyyy better than all other formats. The only drawback, is the software you have to use to sync up your music with it. Sony could have done a way better job with that no question.

 

[The Linuxator]

Ppl don't realise it but sony is the only company right now that has a substitute Compact Discs, in terms of data storage and portability. here, the Hi-MD mini-disc has a 1 GB capacity, a write speed of 100X :Q , it has photo , music, video & data storage capabilities. One 1 GB Hi-MD mini-disc costs only $ 7 .

I like sony's players but the sonicstage software is the sux0rs, If you save a song on your player, you can only transfer it back to that specefic pc , and if you have formatted your PC lately you can't transfer songs back to it. Sometimes it's picky about certain songs, I once made a remix of a couple of songs that I own legitmatley, and then tried to put the remix in my mini-disc player and it refused to accept it, it mentions something about copy rights, that is my gripe with SONY .

But I know why sony refuses to make a drive for PC's that takes in HI-MD media , because that would cause chaose everywhere between manfacturers, it would be like Beta tapes revisited, but the 100X 1 GB Rewritable ...etc would be very tempting to lots and lots of ppl, and mini-discs are much more durable than CDs can ever be.

Originally posted by: Tbirdkid
I have a similar one, and the atrac3 is awesome. Wayyyy better than all other formats. The only drawback, is the software you have to use to sync up your music with it. Sony could have done a way better job with that no question.

So you have the same one cool, the software is inevitable but tell me more about sound quality? Can the volume go up enough to make you jump around or not ? Does it have some good equalizer features in it ?

 

[Tbirdkid]

its a good unit. it gets loud, obviously, you will want better ear phones. simply because they suck. but every players earphones suck. the equalizer features are ok. nothing spectacular.

 

[Schadenfroh]

dang that thing is sexy

 

[Cerb]

Not to really sell you more on it, but there's a much better pic here:
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=140459&page=2&pp=20

Note that the light-colored ones look terrible, but the dark ones awesome.

Atrac3 vs. other formats = placebo. Space-saving placebo, but still, placebo. Luckily, being a Sony, you've only got two choices--Atrac and MP3.

 

[OCedHrt]

I have this player and it rocks. The 50 hour battery life is no lie either. I charged my player about three times on a 2 week out of country trip and never went below 50% battery life. However, this a USB 1.0 device, and transfers are slooooooooow. If you can afford the extra $50 or so, I'd wait on the new models to come out.

SonicStage sucks. But you don't need it. There's another program you can use to transfer files that installs on the player itself.

However, the new low price is because a new line of players with more storage and support for a new SonicStage is soon to be released. Based on what I've seen, the new SonicStage can only be used with the new players, but I didn't really look into that.

All sort of other info is available here: http://www.atraclife.com/index.php?s=ea...ab3e38f0cb516aa11516fc6046&showforum=8

 

[OCedHrt]

Originally posted by: The Linuxator
But I know why sony refuses to make a drive for PC's that takes in HI-MD media , because that would cause chaose everywhere between manfacturers, it would be like Beta tapes revisited, but the 100X 1 GB Rewritable ...etc would be very tempting to lots and lots of ppl, and mini-discs are much more durable than CDs can ever be.

Sony does have a HI-MD drive for the PC (~$125):
http://www.ecat.sony.co.jp/computer/drive/products/index.cfm?PD=21291&KM=DS-HMD1

Oops, should've just edited previous post.

 

[prochobo]

I would like to know how loud these get. I've owned 2 MD (Net-MD and Hi-MD) and they both SUCKED. The reason Sony's get so much battery life is because their output is so freakin low, just like the other players.

 

[OCedHrt]

I've never had a low output issue with my MD or this player...did u have AVLS on? AVLS limits the output to about 30% of full volume.. I typically use 10-15 out of 31 on my NW-E507..unless I'm on the bus, then I go as high as 25. In a quiet room, a volume of 5 is more than sufficient.

Originally posted by: prochobo
I would like to know how loud these get. I've owned 2 MD (Net-MD and Hi-MD) and they both SUCKED. The reason Sony's get so much battery life is because their output is so freakin low, just like the other players.

If it's just like the other players, then how come the other players don't have 50 hours battery life.

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: prochobo
I would like to know how loud these get. I've owned 2 MD (Net-MD and Hi-MD) and they both SUCKED. The reason Sony's get so much battery life is because their output is so freakin low, just like the other players.

I've never noticed any problem with the output on my Net-MD.

 

[dfloyd]

I have a 15 GB MP3 player now and its awesome for carrying everything under the sun. Its not quite as small or as light as I would like but its got great features and it gets the job done.

But one MP3 player has really made me consider switching out and its this one. That battery life is just amazing. I get twelve hours out of mine and its rechargeable and works great for that but wow 50 hours just seems so amazing. Plus the weight of that one looks alot nicer and easier to carry around.

I have seriously thought about selling my Archos 15 GB Jukebox recorder (Works as a MP3 player and recorder, I have inputs for hooking up a mic and recording on the fly, very nice way to capture conversations, live music and more) and picking one of these up. Just the small size and the huge battery life is just awesome.

 

[OCedHrt]

Wait for the new ones More capacity