MDX-400

Searched the forum and the help file for SS but couldn't find anything... In the options section of SonicStage there is an option to "Optimize and compress the My Library database". What does this do exactly? Is it just like defragmenting or is it something different? And what does it mean by compress? Is this just dealing with the file(s) that manage the database or all the music files as well?

Hmm it seems this problem has been corrected, and I have a working eject button now (though it only ejects and doesn't close the drive which isn't a problem just an observation). It seems the eject button works only if you start SS with a CD in the drive? Because before I was starting SS with no CD in (and putting a CD in after SS was loaded) and the button would be greyed out. Also I found there are options for auto importing a CD upon insertion and auto eject once importing is complete, in the options section under CD Drive Settings, click the plus sign and there are CD Importing options below that (which I didn't see before).

Unfortunately, I don't think anything like that exists for the HD5. The HD5 has no dock connector, so it makes it pretty much impossible. The A3000/A1000 have a dock/stand, however and you can use a Sony wired remote connected to the phones/remote port at the same time, I believe; but no there is no wireless remote (unless there is a 3rd party one available for the Sony remote port, but I don't know about that). Oh you mean something like that eh? I dunno about the IM7 but it doesn't seem like it is all that great... All of those iPod speaker docks I've seen are POSes in terms of sound quality and pretty overpriced. Never used the IM7 in particular but I'm sure it can't be all that great. After all it is from Altec Lansing and I don't think I've ever heard any good sound from any of their consumer-level products... They all seem pretty useless to me as well; I guess if you travel a lot and want one you can use in a hotel room or something it makes sense, but if you want to make that into a sound solution for your room or something, it's a bad idea IMO. The IM7 is $250 US MSRP too, and all it can do is iPod sound... No tuner, no CD... The only good part about it, I think, is the ability to use a remote to control the iPod. But yes you're correct, nothing like that exists for any of the Sony HDD DAPs.

Oh yes you are correct, my mistake... It seems there is only the S/M for the A1000 up? I guess the A3000 manual is not available on the site as of right now. Sorry. I think a lot of the items would likely be the same for the A3000 as the A1000 but then again there will likely be different things as well. I don't know why the A1000 manual is offline right now, but it would at least give you an idea of what does what. If the service menu items are anything the same as for the HDx models, I don't think there is anything that is useful to change other than the region and SP set values. The other things are all simply testing and calibration routines which are really of no use to you unless there is already something wrong with your unit. If there is nothing wrong with it, you risk doing more harm than good fiddling with them.

I'm curious as to what exactly you'd want to connect the DAP to your stereo if not a cable? I don't think many stereos (meaning traditional shelf systems, receivers, etc.) have anything like bluetooth or wi-fi integrated and not many (if any) DAPs do either. So what exactly is going to connect a DAP (of any brand/make/model) to your stereo if not a cable??? Magic? Voodoo? LOL. Also, if you want the cable to be less than 10m long, then just put the DAP closer to the stereo and use a shorter cable, LOL. Did you mean perhaps you want a stand/dock to connect the DAP to? If so, then you could look into the A1000 or A3000 which have a stand/dock with a line-out connection on it, which goes for about $50 US. And what does "Then I want to have a Boombox." mean? I'm pretty confused as to both statements...

The service manual is available here on AtracLife, in the downloads section, so you can see what all the service mode settings do. However, note that it is NOT RECOMMENDED to change or fool with any of these settings/values as you may render your unit non-functional or potentially useless (i.e. there is a chance you can ruin your player). Therefore, do so at your own risk.

Yes, that's correct; the 1000mA amp model is the maximum current the adapter is capable of outputting safely. If the equipment connected to it draws less current then you don't have to worry. However note that some (particularly non-switching, so with a USB thing you're probably safe anyway) adapters the output voltage is such that with lower currents being drawn the output voltage is more because the adapter isn't under as much load. As the current draw increases the voltage drops. Again, however I think this is more a problem with traditional AC adapters and not newer switching type ones. I'm pretty sure any USB type power supply would be switching; furthermore it would more likely have its voltage more tightly regulated since USB requires a more strict 5V than other applications.

Also another website for you: http://www.paypalsucks.com A lot of interesting reading. I've been using PayPal for a number of years now and have never had a problem. But just because I haven't doesn't mean that a lot of people haven't as well. There are certainly a good number of people that have had problems with the service ranging from minor problems to very significant money losses. Not to scare you, but you should at least know there are dangers--don't just assume "it's safe" without knowing as much as you can about PayPal, the way it works and the pitfalls that may occur and what you can do to prevent such things from occuring... As for this ^ ... You've got to be kidding me right??? You've done just fifteen transactions with PayPal and assume people that say things can go wrong with it, are simply using scare tactics? LOL. You are joking right??? I've done probably around 100 PayPal transactions and, as I mentioned, I've never had any problems. Still I'm not going to say there aren't problems to be had with PayPal. There definitely are, and usually the way people find out about it is by being overly confident in PayPal, much like what it seems you are doing. I'm not saying "PayPal is bad"; or "don't use PayPal" but I'm saying don't think you're perfectly safe when that isn't entirely true.

It seems the Japanese boost their economy with all kind of different shennanigans, lol. Like in Japan, don't you have to replace the engine in your car, by law, at 60,000km or something? (That's why we get all those used Japanese engine imports available in North America I believe...) Though I don't agree with such nonsense, I'm guessing it actually does do a lot to strengthen their economy...

Actually I wasn't being hostile at all, I was just defending a product that first of all does what it says and second of all is the only product of its kind for anything Sony. However, it seems your reply is actually hostile. I dunno what "learn to read" means but I assure you I can. Where on earth did you get the impression that I misunderstood where you purchased it from??? If you look at my reply you'll see that I only stated that if you had purchased the device from Connects2 directly they would have given the same return policy just as Crutchfield does and that such a return policy is not common among direct purchases from most manufacturers of similar devices for car audio applications. Sony themselves don't even support their own gear so it is really nice that there is someone that does. Complaining about devices like this will only make such aftermarket products even more scarce. However, like I said, yours was the first bad review I've read; and as I said already, it seems like you were just expecting things to magically happen when some of it was impossible given the hardware (the head unit's changer interface) we're talking about. I don't know what's hostile about explaining simply that UniLink cannot support some of the features you mentioned that you expected. Fair enough, but again the scrolling on the HU as you would like to have, is impossible with UniLink's existing structure. If you had a Sony MX series CD changer, you'd find the same problem with MP3 CDs--there just isn't any way to browse about the CD that well. It certainly does display 10 characters in the display--almost all UniLink heads do. There are exceptions, the few [older generation] units with HX DSP that had the SA took away two characters in the display for the SA (I believe the C860 actually had the built-in DSP which explains your 8char display); also some had 12, the MDX-400 is such a unit and there are a couple others with the 12 char. display. However, none of that has anything to do with what the issue is. CustomFile. CustomFile is only 8characters... It may be that you can pull 10 chars for CD-Text or MD mode with LIST but I don't think so, I can check this if you really want... But none of that matters anyway... Because even if you could use LIST to do this, you'd be limited to some number of chars be it 8 or 10 or whatever; and, if you've ever used LIST UP you'll know that you're not going to have any easy time scrolling through your albums or what have you because you'll be pressing LIST over and over until you go nuts trying to find something. And you can only go FORWARD in LIST UP, so if you happen to miss the album you wanted 'cause you were pressing LIST too fast then you're screwed. So LIST is actually *worse* than using DISC UP/DOWN because you can't go the other way. And we don't even know if LIST supports more than 10 listings anyway. Again the point of this is to point out only that the problem here regardless of character count and regardless of how you think it should work is how it does work. Furthermore it is a limitation of UNILINK and *NOT* the Connects2 adapter. So I don't see any way on earth that you can blame the adapter implementation for this. Please tell me what facility there is on a Sony HU that provides for doing what you suggest (scrolling through albums without stopping playback and having it easy to navigate through like on the HDx itself)??? Right there is none. So tell me how is it Connects2's fault again? Yeah well doesn't that make it a lot harder? Imagine using an iPod interface on a Sony HU! That is exactly what I'm talking about when I said people are complaining about using the iPod with the interface, because all you can do is use DISC UP/DOWN and nothing else. At least with the HDx interface you can still use the HDx unit itself. But I already said that so I don't get why you think an iPod interface would be any better... I wasn't attacking you at all. I was just pointing out that you are (and it's very clear that you are, IMO) blaming the Connects2 product for something that is not at all the fault of the Connects2 product, but rather a hardware limitation they have absolutely no control over. It's not about basing your review on someone else's or not. It's about basing your review on perceived shortcomings of a product and its design and functionality, when they are really shortcomings not of the product but of the limitations of Sony HUs. All I'm saying is you gave a bad review and some people [clearly seen from above replies] are going to think they've made a bad product based on your comments of it's functionality. However those people should know that no matter who made the device, there isn't really anything to improve on--that's pretty much as good as it is going to get. Saying the adapter was a "complete disappointment" does not really give a fair review, based on what you said you were disappointed about, IMO. Simply because you're expecting things that are impossible and you should have known well before hand if you did your research. In fact if you've ever used a Sony HU with a CD changer, you'd have known or ought to have known there is no way to do what you were expecting on a Sony HU. The fact is the product does not fall short of what it says it is supposed to do, it does exactly what it is supposed to do. What you were disappointed in was that you expected it to do something it never was intended to, nor could it ever do, given what we're dealing with. The one thing I will give you is that they never specifically mention that you can't use the line-out function of the HDx unit. This is a hardware limitation of the HDx unit itself, yes, but a lot of people would not know this since the HDx doesn't come with a remote at all and it says it no where in the manual for the HDx that you can't connect a remote and have the line-out operate (even though you can't). Now if you'd have said "I was disappointed in the Connects2 adapter because I couldn't do the things I imagined it would, but it is really no fault of the adapter--it does what it says it does" then I never would have typed nearly as much of an explanation as to why your review was (IMO) flawed. But you didn't do that, you made it at least seem like it was the fault of the adapter when no such fault exists with it. It is unfortunate the adpter you had stopped working, however. That is certainly not a good point of the device. I've read about lots of people using it and I've never seen anyone complain about it going dead so I'm thinking your problem was more the exception than the rule. Anything can fail though and it seems like that is what happened in your case, unfortunately.

I've used SS to import one copy-controlled CD so far. Haven't tried others yet, but the one I did (A Perfect Circle's aMotion bonus CD, EMI/Virgin copy-protection) ripped fine to ATRAC3plus in SS... I was surprised, but it worked...

Just wondering if anyone else has this problem with SS. On the screen(s) when using your computers CD/DVD drive, there's the drive selection drop-down box and then directly beside it there is an eject "button" that appears. Only I can't use it, it's always greyed out Drive (LG 4163B) ejects fine in Windows Explorer, EAC, and other programs, so it isn't like software eject doesn't work on it... Is there a solution to this? There also seems to be no option to eject the disc once importing is done either (which would work equally as well for me)

Interesting that this uses M-Crew software, because isn't that the software that used to be used with Sony's USB connection (pre-NetMD) on MDS-PCx decks? Also though this is certainly interesting and it is nice that it works with ATRAC3/3plus, there are a lot of products like this out for PCs already; most of which support wi-fi out of the box, many of them with digital audio outputs, some with video support, and some with Media Center support... To me, it just seems a bit "too little too late" from Sony but it does look nifty. Another question I have is... You indicated that the CD drive can support MP3 on CD-R/RW discs but there was no mention of it being able to play ATRAC CD. Has Sony bumbled on this again??? I guess it is made up for by the fact that you can stream ATRAC3/3plus but you'd think the CD drive would play ATRAC CDs as well...

Just noticed FS has the NW-A1000 on sale this week (until the 23rd) for $289.99 CDN. Usually it is $299. A3000 is only sold directly through Sony in Canada (still!) so no discount on that Seems to be only the violet A1000 as well and it isn't really a big discount but I guess it is better than nothing; for anyone that was going to buy it, it's at least a few bucks in savings... http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetai...69025&langid=EN

^ I still disagree with that... There is no reason to assume it won't be safe to use another battery just because it isn't Sony branded. Battery is just a power source and if it is the same chemistry type it charges the same way... It's almost like saying only use Sony AA batteries in Sony devices that use AAs... The only thing I'd be aware of is, often (not always but often), if the cell is Made in China (a lot of the cheap ones are) it will likely not have the capacity it says as a lot of those cells are overrated. That may or may not lead to a noticeable reduction in operation time...

You should be able to get an HD5 for around $200 US or so on eBay, I'd say. Out of the HD5 and the A though, I'd probably want the A, just becaues I think the HD5 looks seriously stupid LOL. Personally I put the HD3 in my choices and easily picked that since you can buy one lightly used for less than half what an A3000 costs new (and it isn't easy to find an A3000 used so forget about that).

Not sure about the A3000 in particular, but no other Sony units allow you to do that so I doubt the A3000 would let you either. And you wouldn't want to really, you're better off using any EQing and sound adjustment facilities on the receiver/amp/etc. you are connecting it to.

Hmm nice that someone is trying to do something like that--we definitely need support for ATRAC in other programs. Only, IMO, WinAmp blows and I have no idea why people use it in thid day and age, LOL. Still good to hear it might happen...

That's kind of what I was trying to explain actually... The CD can only be played by the software built into the disc. However if you have an older drive (usually a non-DVD drive can do it) you can just bypass the software and you'll still be able to play the actual CD tracks in other programs like WMP or whatever... But more likely the case will be that you can't get around that on a current PC CD/DVD drive, in that case you have to rip the CD tracks with EAC in order to get full quality on the PC.

No release date has been set I don't think. It is getting more and more likely, however, that the A3000 will not be released in the US at all. The US may not get a Sony HDD player until the next generation Sony unit is released (which probably isn't too far off anyway). Sony USA has good reason for not launching it there, too--the problems with Connect software. (Though SonicStage works it doesn't yet support all the A-series features.) I'd be willing to bet with how bad Connect is, if Sony USA released it they'd be in for a class-action suit somewhere, lol.

HD5 is discontinued, the A3000 has not been released in the US. Therefore you won't find any in retail places in the US. (You could get lucky and find a remaining HD5 that's still out there, but it will be tough.) However you can find either on eBay, as Spacemanspiff suggested.

Yep either of those will be fine. Personally I'd probably go with the one from Target though, as it seems to offer more for the same price...

50W??? You're joking right? LOL. Way less than that. From the AC the adapter is around 7W, should say right on the adapter as well, right where the input voltage is it will say the power consumption as well.

Alright well I guess I'm going to get one. The only thing I can't decide on is what colour to get... Seems auctions for HD5 and A series units come with all of the colours for one low price, but no such luck with the HD3 They're like $10 US each, with shipping at the lowest, it seems... So I'm trying to decide whether to get white or pink... My HD3 is pink but I'm wondering which silicone will look better... Does anyone have the white? Does it let the colour fromt the unit come through or is it more opaque? I'd like to get the white if the pink will show through it, 'cause I'm thinking the pink will either be too bold or not the same kind of pink as the unit... I guess I'm putting too much thought into this, LOL... I don't get why you can get all of them for the other units but not the HD3

Yeah I think it should be listed as a drive/mass storage in Windows Explorer, that should be normal. Have you tried changing the cable? I read of one other person with pretty much the same situation and it was somehow remedied by using a different USB cable... If that fails perhaps try connecting it and then removing it in the device manager and trying again?