pata2001

What kind of files you're trying to transfer? Purchased Connect tracks or your own self-ripped MP3s? I don't have Vista, but I wouldn't be surprised if it has compatibility issues.

You should not have to re-initialize the E99. It's recognized as a memory stick, not Atrac Audio device. I've switched my E99 between different PCs and versions of Sonicstage, and I never have to reinitialize it.

...and yet you still use it? 1st tip, don't use Vista.

Looks like a youtube clone?

We're counting the media too? OK, I have a couple packs of Sony DVD blanks, each has 50 DVDs in it. :D If we start counting media, blanks, accessories, etc, then everybody will have countless of Sony products.

LOL I sound like a dork for not reading. As far as I know, the both the A1000 and A808 don't support WAV, so when you transfer the WAV files, I presume Sonicstage is compressing them to Atrac. Check the file format in the player to see what bitrate they are.

*Edit Wrong answer for not reading the question.

See my sig. Just my 2cents.

6 Sony PCDPs. 5 Sony Network Walkmen/DAP. 7 MD/HiMD portable units. 1 PSP 2 PS2s. 1 PS3. 1 Sony LCD monitor. 2 Sony Ericsson mobile phones. Various Sony earbuds. Sony Bravia LCDs look good, but IMO Samsung/Sharp provides better bang for the buck (although now Samsung is getting on the pricey end too).

... and you still want to use Sony products? You have your answer. If you value your time, spend your money elsewhere.

Oh, you have your answer already.

I got a similar problem quite a while back. All my Connect tracks lost their transfer rights. A Sony support guy even let me re-download the tracks multiple times, but the problem was never solved. I simply gave up (another reason to move away from Sony).

Can you search with Chinese Kanji or hangul on the A800? Also, are all this doable with US version of Sonicstage? So you prefer your songs to have ????? than an actual title? "Scrolling" with the click wheel is rather fast, so even though the iPod doesn't sort phonetically, most of the times you'll be able to find what you need rather quickly.

Clear? I guess hiss = "crisp" now. My E99 and any MD portables have much cleaner output than the E00x.

It's better than "???????" Besides, iTunes supports not only Japanese kanji, but Chinese and Korean too, so try sorting all of those phonetically. You can scrutinize every nitpick all you want, but fact is iTunes support unicode, Sonicstage doesn't.

Why would one use AAL, especially if one already use Flac? Flac is open source and more widely supported compared to AAL. AAL is close to useless as a format. Yeah, there is no direct transcoder to AAL. The only way is to decode the Flac to WAV, then encode the WAV to AAL with SS.

The least Sony could do is to release the A80x in the US.

Although the player simply pause or resume when you press the play button, it loose the resume position (back to the beginning of the current track) after charging with an AC adaptor. FYI.

My point is if your competitor has to blatantly pointed out your weakness in a public event, and yet you don't even pursue to fix it, then there is something wrong with you and the company. I've yet to see unicode in Sonicstage. Heck, Sonicstage cannot even play AAC gaplessly, while the hardware (NW-S70x) can.

Sometimes those codecs will do enough damage to windows that even uninstalling them won't reverse the condition. Of course, I think your problem is more of the stability of SS itself instead of the codec problems since SS managed to transcode few of the MP3s. Sorry, but there is just too factors to consider for a stability problem (especially in windows). Do you try to use SS while your PC is acting as a server at the same time? Maybe SS just doesn't play nice in heavy multi-tasking environment.

Sony tried "fresh" with Connect player, and we knew it was a disaster. Sony simply doesn't know how to create software, plus the pressure from the Sony music/movie to cripple anything related to digital content/media. Read every reviews of Sony products post NW-HD1, and all of them pretty much like the hardware, but despise Sonicstage, yet Sony never learn. Even Steve Jobs said it blatantly at the D5 conference that the key is software, and the Japanese company (read: Sony) doesn't know how to do it. I sound like a broken record here.

Rip your tracks to LP2 (Atrac3 132kbps) and do a comparison with the original source, see if you can hear the difference. If not, LP2 will save you more space, more compatible than Atrac3plus, gapless, and give you even better battery life than Atrac3plus. Or, use Lame MP3 --preset fast medium or --preset fast standard. MP3 has VBR mode, which is more efficient in filesize and quality compared to the ancient CBR-only Atrac. I don't see any advantages using Atrac3plus unless if you want to go lower than 128kbps.

...that has been around since the days of PCDPs, and worst sound quality to boot. Best bet is to get a car deck with AUX line-in. Unfortunately Sony doesn't really care in integrating their Network Walkmen products with their car decks, but they do have iPod integration.

Do you have things like Community Codec pack installed? Those multiple codecs can really screwed windows and other programs.

AAC. I would think using Atrac will technically give you better battery life, but I doubt that you can distinguish the differences between MP3/Atrac/AAC at 128kbps and above.