jabbabigbut

I tried the AAC tag plugin on WMP11, although it reads in AAC tagged files with correct tags it won't sync to the A818, just gives an unspecified error. AAC seems to sync fine on Winamp 5.5 but I find it quite a buggy program, constantly crashing. Drag and drop using Explorer works fine though. Just a note on AAC files, the A818 only supports LC (Low Complexity), like those on iTunes Plus tracks. Many podcasts use the higher complexity version that doesn't work.

Here's a tip for converting video files (with command line ffmpeg) to play on the A818 with decent quality, I think it should convert most video files, does VOB too, change "input.mp4" to your video file to convert: ffmpeg.exe -y -i "input.mp4" -vcodec mpeg4 -qscale 3 -s 320x240 -acodec aac -ab 128k "output.mp4"

No hiss.

I've been using an iPod for as long as I can remember for listening to MP3s and Podcasts. Recently got a black NWZ-A818 but it was difficult to find in the UK, black ones were mostly sold out, plenty of white a pink ones though which I avoided. First thing I tested was the sound quality - most important for me. The Sony doesn't dissappoint on my Sennheiser HD600s, it really does sound great, much better than the iPod which sounds thin and lifeless in comparison. I did a direct comparison (no EQ or enhancements) between my A818, iPod Video and Sony MiniDisc RH-1 with the same MP3 file through my HD600s. The RH-1 did sound slightly better than the A818, slightly clearer and a bit more controlled but these were both way ahead of the iPod. I never normally use graphic equalisers or any fancy sound "enhancing" gimicks, but I do use one notch of "Clear Bass" which adds a nice bit of subtle extra bass without spoiling the sound on my HD600s. The A818 also has enough power to drive the HD600s at a decent sound level. The User Interface is just great. I've always been frustrated by the iPod, there's a lot of clicking to get anywhere and the touch wheel is annoying, i.e. fumble in your pocket and suddenly the volume shoots up to deafening levels by accident. The A818 has nice click able buttons that you can easily feel in your pocket, no accidental volume changes or skipped tracks. The interface works just great, the option button brings up useful options wherever you are, I particularly like the "now playing" option. One tip for moving forwards/backwards quickly, press pause and then fast forward and it moves very quickly. Also Sony have added a "Folder" option to the menus, I've wanted this for so long as that's how I organise MP3s on my PC, now you can navigate through directory folders on the A818 just like the PC. I also like to watch video podcasts and the iPod was great for that. The A818 has a lovely screen and is very watchable despite the size. Many iPod mp4 videos work fine on the A818 but I've found a number don't which need converting with ffmpeg - a bit annoying as I can't find the reason they fail. The other major thing for me is the automatic synchronising capability of the device and it's PC software. Previously I avoided the NWZ-A808 because of Sonicstage, which I experienced as being quite poor for the MiniDisc - at least compared to iTunes anyway. The situation is a lot better with the A818s support of Play4Sure (MTP) but why on earth doesn't Windows Media Player support MP4 and & videos files? i.e. Podcasts. The other frustration with Play4Sure is that it doesn't create a drive you can easily copy MP3 files to using batch files, you _have_ to drag & drop from Windows Explorer. I've tried WinAmp which supports the A818 and does support MP4/Podcast files but I can't figure out how to get that to work with "active" playlists that sync automatically with the A818 - Windows Media Player works well at that though. Hopefully Sony's up-and-coming MediaManager will resolve these issues. Overall I'm really impressed with the A818 and I won't be going back to iPods for a while. For me it is all about sound quality and the A818 is superior to the iPod in that respect. The user interface is easier to use than the iPod and much more useful. The synching software still needs some work to bring it near the quality of iTunes - Sony still haven't twigged the importance of this yet.