Garmstro

Hi, I was wondering whether anyone else has encountered the following problem, and might be aware of a remedy. When I import a CD into SonicStage 4.2 (256kbps ATRAC3plus) I have noticed there is a 1/2-second "skip" or "jump" in the first track around the 25 to 30 second mark. All other tracks on the CD sound fine, but the first always has this "click" near the beginning of the song. Does anyone have any idea what might be causing this, and how I might fix it??? Thanks & regards, Grant

That's wonderful - thank you very much Ishiyoshi

Thanks Ishiyoshi, If we look at the linear graph, there appears to be two sets of four graphs (i.e., between 2,000 and 17,000 Hz there are two distinct lines, presumably where all 4 graphs coincide - and for lower and higher frequencies outside of this range the graphs diverge). What do the two sets of four graphs represent? When you write "It is important to note that it is almost impossible to discern the filter at 16 kHz let alone 17 kHz and 18 kHz.", what do you mean? (I'm sorry I'm a complete beginner when it comes to this.) Do you mean the graphs shown are reflective of an 18khz filter, and would be different if a 16khz filter was used? How do the filters relate to human hearing? Finally, where 192kbps diverges from the original in the low and high frequencies, does that mean bass and treble will be "fuzzy" sounding, or just different? Thanks for all your help, Grant

Thanks, very interesting. When looking at the two graphs - in each graph there appear to be two sets of signals - is that correct? If so, what do the two sets represent? Also, how do you explain in layman's terms the divergence at the high frequencies between say 192 and 256kbps. How would that present in terms of sound?

Thanks Ishiyoshi, 192kbps would be a good compromise. I guess this should give me about 3,250 4min songs. Have you had any experience in comparing the sound quality of 192 and 256kbps ATRAC3plus? According to Sony, 256 is virtually indistinguishable from CD, so I would expect 192 to be very good???

Thanks Ishiyoshi, Wondering if you can help me with the following: I upgraded to SSv3.2 yesterday, and attempted import and export via ATRAC3plus 128kbps. However when I playback on my NW-HD5 it shows up as ( and seems to sound like) 64kbps. Have you ever encountered this? Regards, Grant

Thanks pata2000, Excuse my ignorance, but what does gapless mean? In your experience do you have a feel for the pros/cons of ATRAC3plus vs MP3 (at equal bit rates) purely in terms of sound quality; i.e., is MP3 better for classical music, ATRAC3plus better for rock? Or is this question impossible to answer?

Thanks Ryzir, Iv'e only got SS v3.1. Is there a v3.2 upgrade available from Sony? Do you know if the 132 and 192kbps compressions in v3.2 are ATRAC3plus or just ATRAC? Thanks, Grant

Hello, I've just purchased a NW-HD5 and I'm looking for guidance on what choice of codec and bit-rate to use. I did a quick experiment with Van Halen's Jump comparing ATRAC3plus 64kbps and 256kbps, and MP3 128kbps. Both ATRAC3plus-64 and MP3-128 really struggle with the opening bass synth line compared to ATRAC3plus-256 (sound breaking up and lacking stereo depth). ATRAC3plus-256 sounds good to my ears! My dilemma is that there doesn't seem to be a mid-range compression ratio (128kbps) using ATRAC3plus under SonicStage. So I either go with ATRAC3plus-64 with 10,000 song capacity but with crappy opening to one of my favourite songs, or use 256kbps with only 2,500 song capacity. Has anyone else thought about this issue? Thanks, Grant