juli_

Having had the Zune for 2 days now, I have still not succeeded in transferring my music over. After 5 attempts, the Zune has loaded incomplete albums - eg, out of 23 albums, they all have at least 7 tracks missing from each one. No logic in it at all and I yearn for SonicStage at this point. And ALL my tags are correct. Haven't had much of a chance to analyse the sound yet, having spent so long trying to get the music over But at first listen, for someone like me - who uses the Sony normalizer, I find it sounds much emptier. While I don't need the EQ on the Sony, I like to have the option to add bass if I want to and so far, I feel the Zune bass is lacking. It may be that my ears need to tune into a different sound to the Sony, or it may be that I'm used to the Sony sound after all these years, because I just prefer it? I will say there's no hiss whatsoever with the Zune, and I mean none at all - but then I was never bothered by Sony hiss because I didn't hear it. I'll update this when I've listened some more. It's not fair to judge it after such a short time, and having had so much stress trying to load my music. But initial impressions are that it lacks the fullness of the Sony, and I think that's probably what I'm addicted to! With the normalizer 'OFF' on the Sony, they do sound more similar, but the Sony just has extra punch. Someone suggested not listening to the Sony for a while to let my ears adjust so I'll do that for the next couple of days and see how I feel after that. It could turn out I grow to like it. After all, I was one of those who preferred my 706 to the 808 - and yet now, my opinion's the complete opposite, so we'll see. . .

I've got the Western Digital 250 GB external hard drive and I connect it to my Vista HP laptop, so I assume it's on USB2. Certainly, I've never had cause to complain about transfer speeds. Probably a good decision to forget about tech support for now, especially as you haven't lost any music. I'd assumed you needed to recover the lost back up because most of your music had vanished. As you still have it all (thank goodness) - the easiest route is an external hard drive.

That's a really good idea. I bought mine from Amazon a year ago and didn't regret it for a second. Before that I actually backed up to CD - can you believe it? How primitive! It's so easy to back up the library to an external hard drive, although I never use the old backup. I always make a fresh backup (since you can't 'add' folders, you have to back up the entire library every time. But it's really fast. It takes me about 10 minutes to back up 10GB, so it's no problem at all. Re: your issues with the triplicate folders, how weird, and why why why? Anyway, don't forget to say how you get on tomorrow. P.S You haven't actually lost any of your music have you? It's all still in the SS library? If so, just buy the hard drive and be done with it. I use mine mainly for music and photos - so easy and not stressful at all.

Oooh - I had the Zen Vision: M for a few weeks many months ago - software was corrupted and kept crashing all the time. Horrendous. And SQ was not a patch on the Sony. That's one reason why I didn't get the 16GB flash version (because I didn't trust Creative to improve the SQ like Sony do) I know what you mean about having the bravery to try another dap - whatever Sony does 'wrong' - it's never an SQ issue, and that's the main thing. I just ordered a Zune, having got bored waiting for Sony to release a 16GB - and I'm still a bit anxious about how I'm going to like the sound on it. I blame Sony for spoiling me for SQ!

Well, anything is worth a shot. Remember to let us know if it worked! I don't understand the format thing either. Each time I put a brand new blank DVD in my Sony DVD recorder - it has to 'format' it first. I was under the impression that if it's blank - what's to format?? But your issue was that the first disc went through with no problems - and SS lulled you into a false sense of security by pretending it had completed the resotr when it hadn't. Is there anything else you can back up to?

No problem. As we're all in agreement about the Sony SQ - you can bet I'll be judging the Zune quite harshly!! Re: the software. Well, I downloaded the software already (you can use it without having the hardware.) I've heard horror stories of it replacing all your album art with its own version, which is a bit concerning. But I found a way to stop it by going into the settings and disabling the 'update artwork automatically'. So now I can force the Zune to chose my own artwork and not the measly 200 x 200 default it uses. But we'll see the 'reality' of this when I get to connect the Zune and watch all my album art replaced by a big shapless blob! I also heard that a compilation album will split itself up into as many albums as there are songs - so a 20-track comp will be split into 20 albums. Nice. I read there's a way round that too, but as I'm not adept with software, I plan to look for as much info as possible. One thing I do know is to get all the info correct before you rip anything as it's evidently quite awkward to change certain info afterwards. And it seems it's a bad idea to rip CDs using the Zune software, mainly because it will try and force all its onw info on it, which is invariably wrong. Of course, I don't know any of this for sure until I try it. It makes me realise that SonicStage was actually user friendly compared to the Zune software! And I never thought I'd use the words 'SonicStage' and 'user friendly' in the same sentence.

The only thing of any minute relevance in the SS help was this: Silly question, but if the second 2 discs weren't formatted - SS wouldn't have been able to back up the library in the first place would it?

It's really puzzling. If SS correctly recognises the size of your library from the backup tool, then why isn't it giving you the option to insert Disk 2? It must know that 10GB hasn't been fully restored?? As for uprading to SS 4.3, it's worth a shot I guess. When I did my most recent backup, I had 4.3 installed on my XP laptop. I backed up the library to an external hard drive, put 4.3 on my new Vista laptop, and restored the library onto it from the hard drive. The only differences I can see there, are: I used the same version of SS to back up and restore - and I restored from an external drive instead of a DVD. I'm not certain if the SS version is relevant or not (someone else please??) - but it's illogical why SS should be unable to recognise the other disks. It would make more sense if none of them were recognised. Did you notice if the backup tool had settings you could change? ie; a facility to restore from multi disks rather than just a single disk? I've never checked if it has settings on not - maybe it doesn't. All the same - it's very weird. I'll have a look in the SS help (oh, SS help, hahahahahaha!!) and see if I can catch something remotely related. If I do, I'll tell you asap! That looks like the number I called when my first backup failed many moons ago. I hadn't 'authenticated' the database I don't think (was still very new to SS and didn't know what it even meant!). But they did help me. If the first person can't help you, ask to speak to someone else. Don't give up until someone can explain why this happened - and how to fix it AND prevent it happening again.

I think most people will always help if they have an answer. Sometimes there just isn't an answer to a certain query. I've been lucky and have almost always had someone respond to a problem I've had. Without this site, I would still be adding album art to each individual track instead of just dragging it over and letting it apply itself to the whole album! Sometimes, a simple problem (like most of mine are) is simply down to user ignorance, and I am very guilty of that. It's why I appreciate this place so much because my devices are so much more fun to use when I know what to do! But, like I said - sometime problems come around, and there IS no answer for them. It doesn't just happen here - it happens everywhere. Anyway, I do think Atraclife is one the nicest, friendliest, and most helpful forums I've been on. So long as the users are still alive and kicking, I'm happy!

I did a Google search to try and help you but came up with nothing!! It makes no sense why the restore feature would happily restore one disk - and reject the rest. Where's the logic in that? I take it you hadn't lost your connection to the internet when you went to restore the second disk? Just a shot in the dark! Anyway, sorry I couldn't be of any help. I just hope one of the more informed members can suggest something. It would be awful if you lost your music after having used the backup and restore exactly the way SS wants. It might also be an idea to call tech support and ask for advice.

Well it will be here on Monday so I can check it out for myself. I didn't know I could download the software first and start loading up. That's useful to know. I can start doing that over the weekend. It turned out to be extremely expensive - about £180 with express postage from the US etc so it had better be good! But I'm beginning to feel it was an impulse buy while I was waiting for a new Sony to come out!! I just have no patience waiting for new products to come out, but I really really want a 16GB Sony. Anyway, if anyone's interested in what the Zune sounds like compared to the Sony, I'll be happy to provide a quick comparison. I already heard it lacks the dynamics and fullness of the Sony, but people still seem to like it a lot. Well, we'll see. Ceres, I don't have a US Vista operating system - I'm assuming I'll be able to use the software anyway, or I just wasted £180!

Well I just ordered a Zune 80 to go alongside my Sony A808. (The iPod was not in the equation!) I was fast running out of room on the Sony and was too impatient to wait for a 16GB player to be released outside of Japan. Now it seems as if they might be bringing one out after all, in which case, I'll sell the Zune and buy the Sony. I don't need 80GB (probably won't need it in a lifetime) - but I was interested in the good reviews about the sound quality. As for SonicStage - well, it seems it has competition in the form of Zune software, which (according to other people), deletes music FROM the player (if you've dared to delete it from your computer.) In its infinite wisdom, it decides that if the song is not on your hard drive - then you don't want it on your player, so as soon as it's connected - it deletes it for you??? How very 'helpful'. So you have to keep ALL the music on your hard drive (a problem for people with too little space.) Say what you like about SonicStage, but at least it never had the nerve to delete songs from my player unless I authorised it myself!! Unbelievable. I have at least 100 songs on it that are not on my hard drive. I would be really annoyed if SS decided to delete them for me! Anyhow, I imagine people will soon stop slating SS once they've used the Zune software! As for my beloved 808, it plays gapless and the sound is amazing. I love it to pieces. It is my 'music' player. The Zune will be my 'storage' unit as I like the thought of storing all my photos on it as well as music. It's not gapless of course (huge oversight) - but it doesn't matter since the 808 can take care of that. I definitely want a 16GB Sony. I'm salivating over it right now, and I don't even know what it looks like! And I sincerely hope they bring back gapless????

As far as I know - you can only use a Sony charger with your player. And they're not cheap!!

Try listening to early Leonard Cohen if you think Sade can be depressing! In the middle 80s he changed tack and his music became more upbeat (ie; less suicidal). No need to reach for the pills anymore

I don't think you're supposed to format it through the computer. It's supposed to be formatted via the settings on the player. At least that's how it works for the flash players, so I'm assuming it's the same for other units too. Have you tried formatting it through the player settings yet?

Hi Zizone - is PCM the equivalent of WAV, ie; lossless? The reason I never use it is because I found that 352kbps shortened my battery life quite considerably, so I assumed PCM (lossless?) would kill it altogether!

Yes, that's a real worry. I spent what seemed like forever (fairly recently) re-ripping 130 CDs to Atrac (originally in wma) because I thought it would help extend battery life!! A lot of them are compilations of albums from the same artist (within one album) so it's not just a case of re-ripping them - I'd have to remake all the compilations again. I was tempted to get the A919 until someone confirmed it couldn't display an English menu.

I've recently switched to Vista too, (using SS 4.3) and haven't noticed any lag in transfers, or anything that didn't already occur with XP. But, strangely I have noticed that when renaming an album on the player when it's plugged in (rather than renaming it in the library) can cause freezing. This has happened each time I've renamed an album. Yesterday, SS hung for over 20 minutes, so I shut down SS, used the 'safely remove hardware' icon - and found I had 'NO DATA'. I plugged it back in and it recreated the database but I was worried for a minute. Now I'll make sure to rename everything in the library rather than on the player. I haven't looked at CPU but I'll check today as I have more transfers to do. I've also found that album art takes an age to transfer!!

I think he meant an unbranded player.

Hahahahahaha!! Yes - there is NO volume limit on these models. Hurry up and buy one. You'll love it.

Hi HurryKen - no - the NWZ series doesn't use SS or Atrac. It's apparently what people wanted and the reviews are really positive for the new drag and drop models. So there are 2 identical models - the NW-A808 WITH Atrac/SS and the NWZ-A818 without. Like you, I am also fine with SS (didn't used to be) - but I am used to it now and I appreciate the features it has. I guess the grass is not always greener on the other side of SS!!

I know. I wonder why? Is it because they dropped Atrac everywhere except Japan? I would have loved a 919 even though I prefer the 808 design.

If you paid by Paypal, then print out the invoice and the item description (which proves they were new when you bought them). I see no reason at all why Sony shouldn't fix them.

I don't use the 'Tools' option. I select the album, then right-click and select all tracks, and the convert isn't greyed out. That's how I've always done it. . . did you try that way? You can't make an mp3 better quality by converting it to anything at all since it's already been compressed and 'lost' te information in the first place. You can physically convert it - but the only thing you will gain is a larger file. You can't put back what was lost. If you have the original CDs, I suggest you rip them again. . . boring, maybe - but it's the only way.