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Everything posted by maxthrusters
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Sony pulls the plug on Connect, refocuses on PlayStation
maxthrusters replied to or300's topic in Software
After years of waiting, the Connect store finally arrived in Canada only a few short months ago. Now it seems Connect USA (and presumably Canada's store) will be "winding down and closing" over the next few months. Not mentioned is Mora (the Japanese store) or the European Connect stores. It all seems very odd to me. I've used the Connect service (a few hundred tracks) since the Canadian launch. I like it, but a few things annoy me: 1. While a good many songs have unlimited transfer limits, all of the tracks coming from the Universal Media Group have a transfer limit of 3 much like the dreaded "check-in" and "check-out" of SDMI days. While I only have two ears I do have many Sony toys that play music, so this is especially annoying. 2. Ridiculous licensing restrictions cause some albums to be available as "tracks only", or "album only"...sometimes both on the same item! "You can only buy this item as seperate tracks, and yet these tracks can only be bought as an album" lol 3. The mixtape feature is pretty cool, however the Canadian store lacks the rights to sell a lot of songs that are available to Americans. For example, one collection of 25 songs in the USA is reduced to only 7 for Canadians. 4. The pricing makes me uncomfortable, it just feels "wrong" to pay anything for something intangible like a digital file. I'd rather get the CD if I must pay, and that gets me uncompressed DRM-free music. Despite these comments I still went ahead and bought various songs and albums, I think because I had fun doing it and it was a lot more convenient than going down to a physical shop. I hope the Connect store continues in some form. If they were smart they would dump everything except Sony's own labels (and interested indies and EMI) and give away the compressed ATRAC files, with lossless AAC or ATRAC for sale. -
To update firmware (North America): http://www.us.playstation.com/PSP/Downloads/SystemUpdate Game Downloads (North America): http://www.us.playstation.com/psp/downloads/GameDownloads For Asia I guess you would want to check out the Asia-Pacific or Japan equivalent. If you have a wifi hotspot at a café nearby you can do it there with Network Update, which is much simpler. The PSP browser homepage also can point you to game demos for direct download too.
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Reorganizing tracks on player in Sonicstage quickly
maxthrusters replied to RobA's topic in Software
I know exactly what you are referring to here. I've seen it myself with my MiniDisc and MS70D players. When I got a newer, faster PC with more RAM I found I had no more problems and could switch around songs zippity-quick. Also, the A1000 and onwards can display songs in alpha order (and a bunch of other ways too) so how they are ordered in SonicStage makes little difference. Mind you compilaton albums don't work quite as well. Probably not helpful, sorry -
Sony needs to get their software house in order. Not just for SonicStage mind you, but all of it. At least with SonicStage we can get the latest version without buying a new Walkman. They should have a corporate software division that works to integrate everything. Right now some VAIO applications do integrate with each other (SonicStage/VAIO Zone/Image Converter/DVGate/Click To DVD/VAIO Media all have some degree of integration with each other), but one has to buy a VAIO to get this functionality, and a new VAIO to get updated versions. I also think SonicStage without Windows Media Player integration is a huge mistake, especially given the release of Vista and the prevalent nature of Windows. Another mistake is the lack of full integration with Sony's own Playstation3. Product relaunch sounds to me like empty marketing talk. Hasn't every walkman been a "relaunch" since 2000 or so?
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I've seen this with my S706 when deleting everything off the player. The remaining available free space seems correct so I am thinking it's just a SonicStage glitch and nothing to worry about.
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I recently bought another A3000 on eBay myself, and it too had some problems. It would charge via USB but not transfer music. Looking closely at the connection slot with a magnifying glass revealed damaged prongs on one side, so the cable couldn't connect fully. Anyway, mine is in the shop for repair out-of-warranty. So much for any savings buying on eBay lol. At least the seller offerred a full refund or partial refund if I wanted to keep it.
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From what I can tell, the auto star ratings change based on how often you play, or skip, songs using SonicStage. These new star ratings then get synced to the player. Playing only on a player seems to only affect Favourite 100.
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22,075 songs at the moment here, I noticed the problem at around 20,000.
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I like ATRAC3 132 (also called LP2). To my 40 year old ears it sounds the same as CD, even when playing through my home stereos. The higher bit rates are great, but if I cared that much about quality I would listen to the CD and not compress at all. I also enjoy the longer battery life of my devices when using LP2.
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Do you have a large music library? I'm having the same problem and I suspect it's from having a very large music library. To get around the problem I have to transfer only one album at a time. SonicStage shows as Not Responding in the task manager for up to 10 minutes before it resumes and the transfer begins. An iPod using friend was visiting recently and observing the problem, and mocking me for staying with it lol. SonicStage 4.2 (Canadian) VAIO RB53 Win XP Home SP2 Pentium 4 CPU 3.0 GHz 1.50GB RAM CA Antivirus ATI video card app Windows firewall
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I've never had any problem with minidisc.ca although I never used PayPal with them. I've bought NH1, DH10P, assorted mics, and loads of blanks from them in the past. If I do go ahead and get an RH1 it would be from them too.
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sonystyle.ca has some of the NW-S700 series accessories now
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Sony Ericsson W42S ATRAC phone
maxthrusters replied to bland10000's topic in Product Reviews/Pictorials
I wonder if this phone sold well in Japan. Hopefully it did, and Sony will put out more ATRAC-enabled phones (incl. ATRAC3plus!). A friend of mine just got a W800i, and it is a nifty phone. I am actually interested in getting a new cell phone for myself, and a Sony Ericsson seems like a good idea to me. Unfortunately none of the models we have in Canada suits me: I want a phone with ATRAC3plus, CONNECT store compliance, Bluetooth A2DP, photo, video, quad-band/EDGE, and that uses Memory Stick Pro DUO (not the newer mini sized M2 one). -
I would predict onboard flash memory for any new version of the PSP, rather than a hard drive. Hard drives use up battery faster than flash, and are more delicate than flash. Neither is a good idea for a handheld gaming device IMO. Flash has come down a great deal in price since last year. The online "articles" I've read so far regarding future PSP models with hard drive sound like wishful thinking at best. At worst a rumour that weakens PSP sales, much like the previous rumour about an imminent price reduction (which was bogus). On the other hand, a new device based on the PSP concept is entirely plausible.
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Minidisc.ca gets my recommendation. It's where I bought my MZ-NH1, MZ-DH10P, as well as loads and loads of blanks during a promotion of some kind that they had. No provincial tax either, if ordering from outside Quebec. Also, all MD sold in Canada are subject to the copyright levy. Last I checked it was wholesale 0.79$ per disc...which means the retail cost is presumably jacked up between 1.58$ - 3.16$ per disc depending on the retailer's margin. In some cases it's worthwhile to look abroad for MD blanks, particularily with 'free shipping' deals. Blanks imported by the end user are not subject to the levy.
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My Copyrights Issues: SonicStage refuse to play my own files
maxthrusters replied to atikin's topic in Software
Have you tried updating SonicStage to the current version, SonicSage 4.2? At some point after 3.2 protected songs could be converted as unprotected. -
In my experience, this issue occurred when updating SonicStage from a non-Connect Store version to a Connect Store version. For example, I once upgraded my own Canadian version of SonicStage (which at the time had no Connect Store service), to the American SonicStage which does have the Connect Store. I was required to format my player.
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The one with the speakers included seems to have a IR port for the remote, which the regular one does not have. At least that's what it looks like to me in photos.
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I've noticed an increase in the frequency of spam posts lately. Since the spammers are taking notice of atraclife that can only mean one thing: we're getting popular! Or could it be that these are robotic spam threads? Perhaps adding security features to new members would be an idea. Verified email, the "type in these characters" thing, or even no posting for first 24 hours or something. I'd like to mention that I have no need for penile enlargement. Fake rolex: no thanks, I prefer real ones. Cheap prescriptions: umm no, I prefer non-deadly meds from local pharmacy. Maybe I am looking at "View new posts" too often lol
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I do see a distinct personal advantage with ATRAC. Since I have quite a large music collection (over 23,000 songs) I am constantly asked by friends, relatives, and even neighbours for access to my files for use with their iPods. "I am so sorry, all my music is in Sony's proprietary format which only plays in Sony Walkman's" is my response, which saves me countless hours of having to entertain guests wanting to raid my music collection!
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Problem: SonicStage CP 4.2 won't refresh and recognize a new CD
maxthrusters replied to dtrain's topic in Software
Hi there, I've had the same problem. This seems to happen when auto-play is disabled (which is a good thing to leave disabled). To solve, do the following: 1. In SonicStage options, clear the checkbox "Eject CD when import complete" (not exact wording, but you know what I mean). 2. After every CD is done, click the "Eject Disc" button and the display will clear. Good luck -
I recently obtained the cable from Japan. Once attached a folder for recordings is created on the device's memory. You can record in atrac3plus 128 (default) or 256 or 64, or PCM. No copy protection is added to the recordings. A subfolder is created with the date, and each file is titled by date/time. When you connect the device to PC via USB, a new button presents itself on the transfer pane, on the bottom, for importing recorded tracks. The user has the option to delete from device after importing, and track lookup (which interestingly works with NO info in the existing title, at least for a song recorded from a commercial CD). In my opinion this is not at all a suitable replacement for MD/Hi-MD, since there is only line-in analogue recoding (no optical in, no mic). Still it's an interesting and potentially useful feature. I can't read the instructions as they are in japanese, so I am not quite sure about the 1-2 switch on the cable.
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I bought two albums from Connect Canada. I had to initialize my A3000, but NOT my S706F. I didn't get any promo codes with my player: unlucky me got one without the promotion sticker on it. I emailed sonystyle about it. I can't say yet how the albums sound, as I am still transferring them.
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I'll start off! While watching "Aeon Flux" last night I noticed a character holding a modified NW-MS70D without headphones. The actor was using it as a "futuristic" communications device prop. I found a photo from a props web page
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SonicStage 4.1 stops responding during transfer to my A3000 device...for every transfer. It does start up again on it's own, but the overall transfer experience is agonizingly slow. I didn't notice this with the newer S700 player. It still transfers useless album art to A series players, which of course can't display album art. The CD installation automatically uninstalls the previous version of SonicStage before installing the new one. Installation was pretty quick compared to a full fresh install of SonicStage 4.0