grenert

For me, ATRAC3 132 is not transparent. ATRAC3+ 256 is transparent. I haven't tried anything in between because of limited device compatibility with those bitrates. LAME MP3 at VBR2 (same as alt preset standard) is transparent to me. I found Nero AAC at a VBR rate around 160-170 was transparent. But like pata2001 said, you really have to test yourself, since it's your system, your ears. These numbers can give you a starting point.

I am able to burn ATRAC CDs with version 3,4, but no luck with version 4.0. I haven't tried the latest version (4.3). I have no need for any of the functions of 4.0 and higher, so I just stick with 3.4.

The A810 records? Or are you referring to a different player?

I have read many places that Li Ion batteries degrade with time, independent of use. I have no personal knowledge or experience as to whether or not this is true.

Hey, I like ATRAC a lot, but I'm no fool. That old "research" is Sony propaganda from ages ago. Blind test after blind test (see the Hydrogenaudio website) has shown that a quality, modern MP3 codec like LAME is superior to ATRAC3 at 128kbps (132kbps for ATRAC). ATRAC3+ at 64kbps is better than MP3 at 64kbps, but nowhere as good as LAME at 128kbps. So, unless you are looking to cram absolutely as much music as you can at 64kbps, LAME MP3 will be better in terms of sounding more like the original. Now, there may be some quality of the sound from ATRAC that you like, but it is an artifact (maybe something like using the equalizer), not due to more accurate representation of the original source.

I purchased that exact battery from the same seller. All I can say is that it arrived in good shape and was sent quickly. I bought it as a backup, so it just sits in the packaging until one day when I'll need it. Sadly, it may be dead by the time that happens...

I definitely have used that exact remote with that exact player. My player was purchased in the US right after it came out, so it was an early production model. It also came with a display-less remote, which has the same connector as the LCD remote. Did your player come with the non-LCD remote? Maybe you could take a picture of the headphone jack. EDIT: I see now that your player did not come with a remote. Maybe the Canadian version is different from the US one, or they've now removed the jack as a cost-cutting measure. Does the manual mention a remote as an optional accessory? Attached below is the image of the remote that was supplied with my player. You can see the connector is the same one as on the LCD remotes.

Uhh... Did you see the date of 7.30.05 in the lower right corner?

The milliamp rating on a charger is the maximum current it can safely SUPPLY. How much current it actually sends out is dependent on the DEVICE. Thus, a device that draws 200mA when charging will draw 200mA regardelss if it is hooked up to a charger rated for 500mA or 1000mA. But you would not want to charge it with a charger rated for only 150mA. So, whatever may have happened to your S706 is not related to the amp rating of the charger. Are both chargers rated for 120V (or whatever your local electricity is)? I wonder if the heat is related to the 3min charge/3hr play feature, which really must charge the battery aggressively.

I see the same thing with my various Sony "spinning disc" devices. Also, the battery gauges seem to be strongly influenced by voltage. Since alkaline batteries start off at 1.5V and NiMH rechargeables at 1.2V, I've almost never had a fully-charged NiMH show up as full four bars on the battery meter for more than 30-60 minutes. Alkalines on the other hand stay at four bars for a long time.

Just got a D-NE20 myself. I was about to throw it against a wall in frustration because of what I thought was media incompatibility: Brand new, Taiyo Yuden discs would not work or would take long times to read. As it turns out, the super-thin design leaves VERY little room between the disc and the lid. I happened to notice that one of the small, black felt pads on the underside of the lid was somewhat flattened compated with the other pads. I suspected it may have been brushing against the CDs as they spin. It's just stuck on with some weak adhesive, so I pulled it off. Since then, no problems! Perhaps the rest of you might have a similar defect. So far, I haven't heard any scraping sounds from the player, so I haven't noticed any adverse consequences of removing the pad (several other pads still remain anyway). I was actually able to test for the problem by leaving the lid open and using a small screwdriver to push in a sensor on the side of the player that goes down when the lid is shut. This fools the player into player into playing the disc even with the lid open. Before I removed the pad, playing the same disc with the lid open worked, but once I closed the lid, the disc wouldn't be read properly. At that point, I knew the problem was related somehow to the lid. I really like the sound of the player! It sounds like my MZ-NH900 HiMD Minidisc recorder, which also has a digital amplifier. No incompatibilities so far with any of my LAME VBR-encoded MP3s, or my ATRAC CDs.

Umm... How about Sony? http://servicesales.sel.sony.com/web/index.jsp

See this thread: http://www.atraclife.com/forums/index.php?...ic=2002&hl=

I don't know if this happens with MP3 files, but I found that when I imported some (unprotected) ATRAC files, they would be "transfers not allowed." Then, I deleted them from the library, but did not delete the file from the drive. I re-imported them into SS, and they magically could be transferred! It is a weird bug; maybe the same thing is happening with your files.

I don't think there is a "standard" tagging system for AAC. If there is, then almost nobody uses it, because you hear about various incompatibilities between the tags made by Nero and those made by iTunes. Personally, I've had very good luck tagging AAC files with Tag and Rename, but I don't think that program works with .3gp files.

Also, for anyone with a USA market model, could you see if it supports ATRAC Lossless? The English language manual just posted here seems to indicate that it does, but the SonyStyle website does not list lossless support. Thanks!

With all of your frustrations about SS not enabling UNICODE, I am surprised you still bought a new Sony player! They will only learn to change when we don't buy their stuff.

This is true, but remember that files converted from WMA to ATRAC will not be gapless, if that is important to you. If you need gapless playback (a lot of "bootleg" live recordings are available in FLAC), then convert FLAC->WAV->ATRAC.

How does the sound compare to your MZ-RH1?

My D-NF430 works with both my RM-MC33EL and RM-MC35ELK remotes. I think that the radio can be adjusted via remote as well, but I can't remember how it worked. It might be that pressing STOP while the CD player was not playing turned on the radio. I was able to figure it out pretty easily through trial and error. However, the frequency is not displayed on the remote. It does come with a non-LCD remote. Regarding its G-Protection, my player has never skipped, but it is only used walking and commuting. I haven't gone running or riding with it. Personally, I wouldn't hold my breath for a new line of CD players, except for super-cheap models. There isn't much of a market for quality players now that most people are buying DAPs.

I couldn't tell from the video I've seen of that player if the jog wheel just toggles up and down, or if you can actually spin it around to scroll through menu items. How does it work? Thanks!

I'm not aware of any player, including the A3000, that plays WMA Lossless files.

I was hoping the player was being delayed to develop fitness software to compete with the iPod Nano + Nike setup. It doesn't look like that is the case. Seeing that the new Nano is made of aluminum and the Nike package has a nice software program/website to keep track of your progress, I think I may go with that instead. The original, scratch-prone Nano clearly had some problems as a fitness device, but the new anodized aluminum body should be very durable. I don't see much/any advantage of the S2 player, unless you absolutely don't want iTunes on your PC.

Now that you've initialized the player, maybe you need to re-authorize it.

3 hrs still seems like too long, even with USB 1.x. Are you transcoding (converting bitrates) your files that are copied to the E005F? Transcoding will take a long time. If you make sure that "Delete converted files" is NOT checked under advanced transfer settings, then you will only have to transcode each song only once. The next time you transfer those songs, it should be faster. The downside is those converted files take up space on your hard drive.