dura_

I could import the songs on my A3000 to SS on my new laptop with file>import>music file. Then point the explorer to the HD-player. My songs were DRM-free (originally ripped in SS2.0, and surviving all transitions and new PCs they somehow gott DRM-free).

AAL is the only way to have lossless on a Sony DAP.

I just use it for music. never timed battery life but I would estimate in 20+hrs in real life.

I think the only reason Sony doesn'release the player in the US must be thast they think it would not make a profit. I could be completely wrong here but my theory is this: Reading the internet, Americans are always seem to complaining about Sony players; either there is a buttonposition wrong, or there is something round on the player so it's an ipod rippoff, and sonic stage doesn't work because it differs from itunes. Even 'official' critics like that moron from the Washington Post join in, I f.i. remember Mossberg giving a ridiculous negative review of the NW-HD1, in hindsight IMO the most beautiful HD-player ever made. But it worked different from ipods so his assistant couldn't get it to work easily, Sony's fault of course. No drag 'n drop, no unicode, how can someone enjoy music if it takes time to fill the player once or without accents and italics for heaven's sake etc. etc. Strangely good buildquality and very good SQ doesn't seem to matter much, and faults in players from f.i. Iriver, Cowon and Creative are accepted far more easily. I sometimes get the impression there is a kind of comptetion, like make 100 negastive posts about Sony DAPs and SS, win an ipod. In contrast, Europe, Canada, Asia and Australia seem to be less harsh in their critics, accepting that nothing is perfect. Since the internet nowadays is the #1 source for forming an opinion for the majority of people according to some research I read a few months ago, it probably isn't profitable to release players in the US due to the largely negative critics. Again, i could be deadwrong here, and there might be a completely other reason why Sony doeasn't release the DAP in the US. Anyway it's a pity, the A80x is a masterpiece...

ehm, I really like my A808, but "basiest" or "warm" are not the terms I woukl use to describe the A80x sound. "Detailed" and "lean" springs to mind far earlier.

This must be one of the cutest sentences I ever saw on the net, thanks juli, seriously.

I don't care where its made. My A808 has the highest buildquality I ever saw in a DAP, and that includes even my former Sony players like the NW-HD1 & A3000. as for the sound, try this: DSEE on (makes treble slightly smoother, even on my ATRAC 3+ 256kbs tracks) at the expensive of reduced sparkle Clear bass off (adds punch without warmth), normaliser off (only use this if you really need it, why mutilate audio information), clear stereo off (unless you use the supplied headphones, as per advice in the manual) EQ +1,+1,0,-1,0 (a slight bassraise for warmth, and a small midtreble dip). I mainly use Shure E4s with this setting, works good for other earphones too, but not for the already bassy Px100.

No problem here with my ATRAC-files, did you try if you could hear in on your PC too, using SS? And is it on the same moment in the same song? If so, it could be an encoding problem, reripping should solve it. If it really is the player AFAIK it's the first time this problem is mentioned.

SQ, build quality and, probably more in the past, batterylife are what keeps me away from Apple.

You're right, sorry. I meant to say I compared ATRAC3 132 kbs with ATRAC 3+ 256kbs. The difference wasn't that big, but clear enough to go for 256 kbs because of the purer treble. 256 kbs lead to a respectable 150-200 albums on my NW-HD1, A3000.

You give the impression of being on a quest, sparing no expenses, searching for the grail,audio nirvana... Sparing some of your resources and free time on a hobby (or pet obsession) is okay. Investing more will give you a poor return of investment, take it from an almost 50 yrs old I´ve.been.there.md.psychology.audiophile...and sorry for the mammy knows it better teneur

I use the Shure E4Cs with my A808 andfound the sound cold too, in the beginning, but I got completely used to it and enjoy it very much. The player sounds lean, granted, but on the other hand it has great detail and dynamic range. I advise experimenting with DSEE; switching it on tames the treble slightly, at the expense of some spark. I often listen without EQ, but if I use EQ these are my davorite settings with the E4s: +1,+1,0,-1,0 CB:0 (I do not like CB in this player, it does not add warmth just punch). The basslift gives some warmth, the midtrebledip removes some sharpness, enjoy!

The A3000 is a nice machine; sexy scifi looks and impressive and advanced buildquality, great sound quality. But it also has its bad sites; sloooow, short batterylife, screen unreadable in sunlight. Much as I liked it, going over ot the A808 was a breath of fresh air. OTOH, I have a preference for the sound signature of the A3000.

I sometimes get the feeling there is some kind of contest out there, something like: "write 100 negative posts about sonicstage, they do not have to be true, and win an ipod!"

Here you go: .................,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,..................................,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,........................ Now all you need to do is distribute these properly and remember that the round little things ("points" they are called, very clever invention) are usually followed by a capital.

Strange...I get very acceptable volumes on my Shure E4, Senn Px 100, some Aiwa earbuds and everything else ment for portables I connected. Usually I do not go above 15. A comment often heart is that the 80x seems more powerful then former sonyplayers. Either your music is recorded very soft (try "dynamic normalizer" ), or you got AVLS on (in common settings). Either that or you listen too music way to loud to be healthy.

No problem at all, I have/had more PC's and more Sony DAPs and everything (all non-DRM-files, self imported from CD) work flawless and as expected. It is even possible to import songs on a PC from a DAP.

Hi, had the same battery issues with my A3000. i now have the A808, and I estimate battery life better then 20 hrs in real ife, shuffle, skipping tracks etc. and 256 kbs ATRAC. Since kbs is far less important in flash then in HD-players you'll probably get the same batterylife.

I have never used podcasts but I suppose you can break it up in SS before transfering?

SS 4.3 works ok for me, but there is a learningcurve. It works different and less intuitive then comparable applicactions. But you get used to it; after all all once you are happy with your library that you really do with it is fill your player and listen to your music on the PC. Making the lib itself, with organising and renaming etc is the greatest pain, learing to find what is possible, where te options are hidden etc etc. but it can be done.

Flash is simply much slower then HDD. The difference can be a factor 5-10. It does however speed up much faster, as is also noticable on the A808.

?? I could import files from my A3000 to sS on a second computer without problems, with file>import...

Russian brides 4 marriage??? That's what see when I clikc the link. Perhaps I shouldn't have erased the demo files on my A808....

Nothing wrong with the HD5; much better batterylife then it's follow-up the A3000, more capacity and arguably more pleasant sound quality then the A80X, larger though of course. I like my A808 though because it's compact, beautiful and has even longer battery life, nextgen flash players with larger capacity might make HD-layers obsolete, so the HD5 has a limited best-before-use-date, but so has everything electronic. If you like it, for the next 2 years you'll probably can remain happy with it. Keeping it aeems a sensible strategy, buying another....do you foresee your current machine getting unusable?

My A3000 gave me abysmall batterylife too.