juli_

utahman - Welcome, yes, this is a great community, one of the best around. I think of it as the hidden 'Narnia' in the wardrobe! OK, this is going to sound silly, but when you say you tried to convert a 'number' of mp3s - was it a huge batch? I'm only asking because I vaguely recall someone else mentioning something along the same lines as you, and it turned out they had to convert in smaller batches in order for SS to cope. Someone else will be able to help you, I'm sure of that - but in the meantime it might help to start by reducing the amount to convert into more manageable sizes. If you've tried that already - ignore this and wait for some real help!

It's maddening isn't it? I just don't use the covers they provide, since A, like you, I couldn't 'grab' the damn things - and B, the 808 has such a beautiful screen, it demands nice pics, so I Photoshop everything and add it myself. I find the less involvement CCDB/Gracenote has with 'assisting' me - the less likely I am to have problems. With the 706 and its much smaller screen, detailed covers are not so essential, so I just get the cover from Amazon - save as jpeg on the desktop and then drag it on to the album in SS. As I've just 'finished' re-ripping everything and getting everything I want on both players - I am hoping not to need SS for a little while! I could defnitely use a break from it

Don't be sad confusion is par for the course with SS and album art, and I've just discovered yet another foible re: album art and split albums. I just imported 3 songs from one 'Doors' CD - and 5 songs from another. I gave them the same genre, title and numbered them sequentially and in the SS library it showed 8 songs together in one album. Art was applied as usual, then when I transferred the songs to the player - it went over with 5 songs in one album with album art - and 3 songs in another album without album art. The track numbers had rearranged themselves 1-5 first album, and 1-3 second album. Transferred back and forth with no luck, and then I checked in 'my music' (saving location) and there were 2 folders, one for each album - so I made one new folder and put the 8 songs in that, and transferred that to SS and then to the player - with the same result as before. I had the same problem with 'The Wall' which is 2 discs, and I wanted it to be under one album. No matter what, it split them into Disc 1 and ". I 'solved' that by deleting the album altogether and re-importing it. I can do that with the Doors but there must be an easier way than that!

But that just scatters all the tracks into several individual albums, doesn't it? If you want 'multiple artists' in one album, I'm sure you have to tick the compilation box. Anyone? Re: Album art - I've picked up some useful information here, much more than I would have done if I'd had to wade through the seventeen-million-page user manual. You guys are better than the manual and easier to read

I've been able to assign different album art for each composer in my 'Classical' album on the 808, which is useful for when I wonder who I'm listening to I tried doing this on the 706 as well, but although I was able to change the album art for individual tracks within SS - when the album was transferred to the player, the regular artwork shows, ie; the cover in the library. I applied it in exactly the same way as I did with the 808, and I can't get the 706 to display anything other than the one cover, the library cover. Can someone please confirm if only the 808 can apply album art to individual tracks within the same album? Thank you

Hi there, are you using the latest firmware 1.02? People here who had the same problem upgraded the firmware and this resolved the sound issues. See here for more information and download link. http://www.atraclife.com/forums/index.php?...c=3624&st=0 I hope that helps you

Nice one Sherlock - I also remember someone saying they'd got one from NY and I commented that I didn't think it was available there. Something I don't understand is why Sony would assume UK people might want the 8xx but not those in the US. I can understand it not being released somewhere like Moldavia for example, but they must know people in the US want it. I don't think it was released in Australia either, or if it was - the price was a lot steeper

I bought the Western Digital My Book 250GB Essential USB 2.0 External Hard Drive from Amazon for under £60 a few months ago and it's been really reliable. I haven't even begun to fill up 250GB so it should outlast me I think! The price is amazing considering the storage space.

Thanks Lulu. I sort of remember someone (richy?) saying he always plugged in his atrac device first, and then the external drive so that the drive letter would be the same. I'll try moving them to another directory first as you suggested and check that I can still restore them.

Thanks Zizone (again!). Now it makes sense

OK thanks. That explains why the same bitrate in AAL sounds better. I did read something about it in the forums but I can never seem to find the same page again to refer to later. One query is that if it transfers the lossy part to the player, does this mean it's not playing in AAL after all? File properties show it's in AAL and it does sound better, or is that my imagination??

I've used the backup tool three times so far and each time it cannot restore any CDs imported through SS. As I have almost finished re-ripping my CDs, I want to make sure this doesn't happen again. Currently, the location for saving files is: C:\Documents and Settings\Julie\My Documents\My Music\. For some reason if I set the saving location to 'default', I cannot view album art so I changed the location to the above. My question is: Before I go ahead and use the backup tool to save everything on my external hard drive - do I first need to change the location for saving files, or is it too late since they've already been saved elsewhere? Also, once I've used the backup tool to transfer everything to the external drive, can I then delete the files on my laptop? As I've undertaken quite a time-consuming task, I'd like to ensure I can put everything back again. I remember the drive letter being mentioned in a previous post, do I need to make sure the external drive is always plugged into the same usb port for backup, or is that just for saving files? Lastly, I've recently been unable to add any album art at all. I don't use the art supplied by Gracenote/CCDB, so I drag my own album art over which has always worked before. But since yesterday, I cannot apply any art at all. I can drag it over, but it doesn't appear at all. Any ideas why this has suddenly started happening? I've tried shutting down SS and the computer and restarting, but still the album art won't transfer. I've even tried dragging various covers to several albums just to make sure it's not a one-off issue - but still nothing.

Did you re-buy the 706 and sell the 808 after all? I bought the 706 again and kept the 808. I put all instrumental stuff on the 808 and vocals etc on the 706. I was finding it was the vocals that were too 'harsh' on the 808 which made it hurt my ears. But it's excellent with just music and no vocals, so now I have the best of both worlds and luckily they are both small enough to carry about with me when I want. Which headphones did you finally settle with? SNR = signal-to-noise ratio

How true. Even though SS defeats me most of the time (mainly because I just cannot get to grips with understanding it fully) - it's forgotten about as soon as I start using the product. I bought the players for their wonderful SQ and battery life. . . the software is just a necessary evil to get the music on them. While I appreciate that many people have no problems with SS at all - there are many of us who do find it very frustrating and temperamental. I think it's testament to the Sony SQ, that those who do find SS complicated to use (and I really do) will keep plugging away at it relentlessly anyway, just because the end result is worth it. I spent most of today re-ripping around 40 CDs to split between my players - and SS froze 3 times before finally crashing my computer. But I'm not moaning because my music is where I want it to be and now I can enjoy using the hardware and forget about the software for the time being.

Jesse Cook - Cafe Mocha (Frontiers) - some thumping bass, just mindblowing with my lil' ol' Shure SE210s in AAL@256kbps on an 808 - volume 16

Hi, I 'googled' everything I could about this and searched these forums but still can't find an answer. I am currently re-ripping a lot of CDs in AAL to my 808 unit. What I don't understand is why there are differing bitrates for Atrac Advanced Lossless. . . surely the lower the bitrate, the higher the compression, but doesn't 'lossless' mean 'uncompressed'? I've chosen the highest setting but am confused as to why lower bitrates are available in the first place. Can anyone explain this? Does a 256kbps AAL file sound the same as a 256kbps atrac3plus file, and if not, why not? It would be useful to know as I could save room on my player. 30 minutes later. . . I just found out the answer when I listened to the same file in 256kbps AAL and 352kbps atrac3plus. The AAL sounded 'bigger' with a bigger soundstage, it was enough of a difference to sacrifice some storage space anyway

Almost. . . but it lacks the 3-minute charge function and FM radio from the 7xx series. That might sound like nit picking, but I assumed the 808 would have kept the same features as the 7xx - and then simply added more. The quick charge was really useful, and the radio made a nice change from listening to CDs all the time. Small niggles, and it really is just nit picking

Remember I haven't used the E013 - I'm only comparing the same AudioDream that you have with the 706 and 808, and because the mw x channel is the same on the 3 Sonys, I'm assuming you would get a louder volume. Seeing as it's a new model, I would have to think the volume's on a par with the 706 and 808. I can't listen to anything past about 20/30 but it also depends on what headphones you're using. I'm 100% sure you'll find it's a huge improvement over the AudioDream, (which is still not a bad player considering how old it is) - but you'll get a lot more clarity from the Sony

I still can't get to grips with SS, but there are several knowledgeable people here that will definitely be able to help. They've helped me with loads of things that have made SS so much more manageable. So just hang around and wait for some help - they seem to know just about everything about just about everything here, it's a veritable mine of useful information.

I still have an AudioDream, it was my first player. I don't have an NW-E013, but I do have the NW-S706 and 808 and they're rated only 5mw x channel, but I just tried the Audiodream again, and can promise you they play as loud, if not louder than the Audiodream. The Audiodream only has the volume bar rather than a number - but I set it to 80% and then put the Sonys on 80%, volume 24 - and they play as loud but with better definition. I still don't understand why a weedy 5 mw x channel should produce such a powerful sound, but it does. I'm assuming the NW-E013 would also play loud but you'd need someone else to confirm that for you.

Only in a parallel Apple universe could an iPod beat a Sony in the sound department I did hear several positive reviews about the 1st gen shuffle mind you, but apparently it was a sound chip they didn't use again in later models for some reason, maybe cost? Also, I prefer Sony designs to Apple. I don't like the look of any iPods at all, they look so bland, but maybe that's because I'm sick of seeing them everywhere. I don't like scroll wheels either, and to be perfectly honest, the SQ of the last 2 Sonys has been so phenomenal, I can't imagine getting any more enjoyment or better SQ from anything else on the market.

I was using the CD copies, I always burn a copy and leave the original on the shelf where it can't get scratched And I've just read the help section again, and can see it supports wma, but not wma lossless. I saw 'atrac advanced lossless' and put the 'lossless' with the wma in my mind. So I guess I have to go get the original CDs off the shelf then. Thanks Zizone

. . . whenever I try and transfer files to the 706 or 808 after using WMA lossless, I get the message: "One or more files cannot be transferred at the current bitrate" - then I have the option of choosing a conversion rate, atrac3plus @ 352kbps. When I looked in SS help pages, it stated that WMA lossless was supported, but if that's true - why are my files being converted into atrac? I don't have a default bitrate set, as I like to choose different rates depending on the music I'm transferring. I want all my classical and instrumental in WMA lossless, not atrac3plus. The average file size of WMA lossless was between 600 and 730kbps. Does anyone know why SS won't transfer these files? Thanks

Transferring files back to the library. Oooops, I think I posted this in the wrong place. It's software related but not about gapless - should I have started a new thread? And if so, I don't know how to re-post and delete this. Anyway. . . I keep having the same problem occur about 70% of the time. When I try and transfer files back to the library from either the 706 or 808, it goes through the motions of 'pretending' to transfer, and then when it's finished, the albums are still on the player. Even if I shut down and restart SS, and disconnect and reconnect the player - the albums are still there. All the tracks are still in the library and they all play, so I don't understand why SS won't transfer them back. It ends up with me having to delete the album altogether if I want to remove it from the player. Then I have to import it again, it's very frustrating. Am I doing something wrong? I know you can't transfer files back from the player if the files have been removed from the library, but in this case they're all still in the library and they all still play. Can anyone shed some light on this? Thanks

Play.com have stopped stocking it too. My idea dap would be the 706 as an 8GB. I'm sitting here admiring both my 706 and 808, and have to say that the 706 is absolutely beautiful. The 808 looks great too, but the 706 is like nothing I've ever seen before. By the way, for those that have both the 706 and 808 - what do you put on them? I mean do you have a total of 12GB of music, or do you have music on one - and videos, audio books etc on the other? I am about to stick uncompressed classical and flamenco on the 808 and have the 706 for all other styles. I think the 808 is great for instrumental, and the 706 best for vocals as the 'harshness' I referred to on the 808 is mainly noticed with vocals. I think I have a very sensitive ear to vocals