sylikc

Hi all, I've read quite a few threads here about problems with UNICODE either on the NW-S70x series players or with SonicStage and stuff, and I just wanted to share my experiences. I've seen several threads talk about using the China or JP version to get unicode working, but it seems like I didn't have to. As drmoze pointed out in another thread. Buy.com is selling the NW-S706FP at $95 in the US. http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=...&adid=17662 I've been waiting to get this player for awhile, was even willing to pay the extra cost of getting someone from Canada to ship me the 4GB version, so when I saw it at $95.... even in pink, it's a steal!!! Anyway, as expected it is the UK version with UK warranty and stuff. Funny that I can't find the NW-S706FP sold on SonyStyle UK anymore. Well I went ahead and downloaded SonicStage CP 4.3 . I mean, the gripes about having to use another music manager doesn't bother me as much, since that's all I'm going to be using SonicStage for is loading music, not organizing my collection. (Come to think of it, I still have to figure out an organization strategy ) So, UK site to download latest version: http://www.sonydigital-link.com/DNA/WM/NWF...F&m=NW-S70X Download the Installer, let it do it's magic, reboot. SonicStage CP does not support Unicode filenames. If you try to import music with Unicode filenames, you'll get a bunch of errors.NW-S706F supports UNICODE on-player. If your MP3s have Unicode in the ID3v2 tags, they will display on the player. I've tested this with both Chinese Traditional and Japanese. I don't see any blocks at all. All the ASCII characters used I can see too. I'm not adventurous enough to try control characters Come to mention it, MP3-VBR is displayed if you have VBR MP3s, I've tested that tooSo, the UK version with full support on player. Btw, in SonicStage you won't see any useful information since it doesn't support UNICODE. But it seems to pass the tags straight thru to the player. I'm not sure if this will be true with all NW-S70x's but the Buy.com one I bought with version 1.00 [shown in information] works. Anyway, I can post pictures later if anyone wants, but just FYI. (If this happened to be duplicate info, thanks for reading thru my blabber ) Before buying this player, I was almost sure the player didn't support any UNICODE display. I must say I'm pleasantly surprised. /sylikc

Hi, I'm looking to purchase the CANADA model (not the international one, whether it be Jap or EU) of the NW-S706F. I know sonystyle sells it for CA$290 but if someone can find it cheaper, that'd be great. I don't know what the cost is to ship it to the states. I'm located in California. Any ideas, anyone? (I haven't found any on Ebay) /sylikc

(from the other thread that got locked) ::shudder:: I _almost_ got an NW-E507 from Amazon before my curiousity whether there's a 2GB model led me here and reading about the NW-A608. I have a very good feeling that if Amazon doesn't offer it anymore, it's coming!!! Too bad though, I was going to get myself one for my Xmas present

Ouch. I hope you didn't do that to your own player... if so, does it work if you put the two screws back in? Btw, it's not clear from the pictures, but is that Li-on battery removable? I've love to go power another device with a 50 hour battery

Oh ... stupid me, I read the data wrong. Ok, now it makes sense!

You guys sure have a lot of time to write essay-length posts! Anyhow, just adding my 2 cents to the peaceful topic (amazed there's no flames )... I don't have any of Sony's latest MP3 players. But I do have one of their really nice MD players (the MZR-91 or something). The sounds was great, battery was nice, and it was slim (size of 2x MDs stacked on top of each other) and sexy. Most importantly, I loved that in-line control using that toggle/knob switch you find on the NW-E507/A60x. That's probably one of the main reasons I landed myself here at ATRACLife . Like Stuge was saying, I was one of the lucky ones digging for NW-E507 firmware updates before it shipped . I found it hard to navigate Sony's site for support and downloads (Google's usually much faster anyway!). On the iPod/iSheep (lol I never called it iSheep before), I do like the look and feel of the original Synaptics touchpad. It was cool for about the 1st and 2nd generation. But, like others have said, something can only look "cool" for so long. There really isn't much style if everyone's carrying one of these 'cool' white things around. I'm a late adopter when it comes to trends hehe. In fact, I've had the pleasure of choosing between the iPod Nano and Sony player for my first MP3 player. And, between the NW-E507's OLED, insane battery life, all-in-one knob switch which I loved so much.. and the Nano's bigger capacity, round touchpad, more LCD display lines, larger user-community... I've found Sony as the more competent player. But looks and operational aspects are only the half of it. I find sound-quality a supreme aspect when choosing a player. Reading all types of reviews on MP3 players, I think Creative probably has the best sound quality. But, they're software is inversely as bad, probably having some of the worse build quality and usability on the market. Many iSheep users tell me that their player sounds to same as everything else out there. Yes, it does when you're using the stock earbuds that come with the players. Aside from my newly acquired Sennheiser PX-100, I also have a Kenwood KPM-610. Music does NOT sound the same on all players with high quality headphones. Another aspect is the source audio quality... if all you're listening to is 128kbps MP3s, I'd say it sounds about the same on all MP3/DA players regardless of what headphones you use. On to software and usability connecting computer to DA player... Yes, I would prefer to have true drag-and-drop onto the player to transfer music. I think anyone who's aware of all the bloat and crap that can get installed with commercial software really doesn't want to install more junk on their computer. I listen to my music in Winamp, and that's about all I want in terms of audio software. Most DA players nowadays comes with some form of their audio software to control DRM. I know it doesn't apply to MP3's, but manufacturers bundle it anyway. Frankly, I don't care for Sonic Stage or Connect, because all I have are MP3s. Sometime down the line, I might start ATRAC-ing things just so I can listen to music on the player longer. But, in my opinion, iTunes, Sonic Stage, Creative Media Center, iRiver, etc. software packages all kinda suck. To add to Sony's mess of DRM and stuff, if you guys have read about their latest problems with XCP on their Audio CDs, Sony is really really paranoid when it comes to controlling DRM. That's why you can put music on the player relatively easily, but very hard to "copy" it back off digitally. The equivalent is that back in the MD days, you can have digital-input (recording) of MDs, but only analog-output (playback) of your digitally recorded tracks. This doesn't bother me much though, storing to the player is more or less a one-way operation for me. If I need to give a copy to my friend, I'd use a flash drive or something. The point about why Sony has different hardware in different regions probably has something to do with Sony's sales strategy. That also goes in line with how Sony's prices are generally a little bloated as well. In terms of hardware, though, iSheep players don't have FM. They can have a 'universal' player that works everywhere because it doesn't have to deal with the different frequencies.

An alternate to charging MP3 players that normally charge off a USB port (i.e. NW-E507, iPod Shuffle, ...) is to use a simple USB hub (that takes power input). In the US, retailers like xPCGear sells some for like $9 with free shipping. I have a mini USB 4 port hub, each port is rated to supply the standard 500mA draw. The good thing is that with one AC-to-DC power adapter plugged into the hub (without a connection to a computer), I can charge 4 devices at once. Anything that's standard USB should be able to safely charge the Sony, since its 5V rail should permit at the 500mA draw that is required.

Whoah. 90 hours for 48kbps on A608. That's killer. I didn't know that the A-line all had different batteries... it's not all rated at 50 hours? I thought they all had the same battery but diff flash sizes... (I have no product spec sheets to look at cuz it's not released in English yet)

Sweet. Ok, the UK and US frequencies overlap almost all the way... hmm, thanks for the info Stuge. Gosh, then I might be tempted to go hunting for it in Europe... those Emerald and Gold color ones look so cool though!

Stuge, would the FM on the UK ones work in US? Hmmm might still be expensive to import...

Hi all! I'm glad I found this forum. I had ordered my NW-E507 on Amazon because it looked like a totally cool player... but now I have something to look forward to: the NW-A608. Question is, do any of you think it will come to the US? I mean, I've seen companies like Casio do the sell-good-stuff-only-outside-of-US thing (namely the EX-Z4 with video vs EX-Z4U without US Only). I did some searching and came up with http://www.dynamism.com/nw-a608/pricing.shtml selling the A608 unit, the special edition ones too (I think the Emerald color looks awesome!). Anyone think it's worth it for ~$320 US? These'll probably be the JP imported ones so I'm thinking the FM radio won't work. If importing the canadian ones, radio should be fine, right? /sylikc