simon.giesen

Hi ceres, I have similiar problems. As I own a Sony Ericsson Walkman Smartphone W950i I have to use AAC. And yes, you are right, Sonic Stage is not able to read the iTunes Tag properly. Please try to rip to MP4 AAC by using Sonic Stage. It uses a 3GP container but as long as you don't use the files on Sony Ericsson Walkmen you can live with it. The tags in the 3GP files can be handled with the PSP and all Sony Network Walkman.

Hi friends, I just wrote an in-depth review of the SE W950i. It's in german, but perhaps somebody can read german and is interested. There are also pics. The W950i is SE flaggship walkman phone and the sound quality of this phone is among the best music players in the world. http://www.scaanoo.de/de/Testcenter/W950i/...28/Default.aspx There is also a review of the pocket walkman speakers: http://www.scaanoo.de/de/Testcenter/MPS60u...29/Default.aspx

Yes, you are right, same to me. Also I let only Sony feed my ears with music. In former days I owned a Sony portable DAT-Recorder with Super Bit Mapping and the sound quality of that device is still unmatched today. Afterwards I moved to Mini Disc and bought an ES device. Again extremely satisfiying quality. After that I moved to the HD-5 and from that on to the Sony Playstation Portable. The Sony Playstation Portable is a great sounding machine, as you've described it wondefully. I still have the PSP but I fell in love with another very special device: The Sony Ericsson W950i Walkman Phone with 4GB Flash Memory Storage and the Sony Ericsson Stereo Bluetooth Walkman Headphones Here you get everything: Sound Quality, complete Walkman-Player and a built-in-phone. A true iPod killer and winning the UI game by using the great touchscreen navigation. This is a top-notch-device, of course no alternative to the PSP - you can't play games such delightful. But in terms of an audio-device this is my choice!!! Sadly there is no native Support in Sonic Stage for it and it does not play ATRAC. If you are interested in more, I wrote an review with pics, here you can find it (in German): W950i Review

Hi guys, I have purchased Apple Quick Time 7 Pro and encoded some files in AAC. Quite good sound quality. Now AAC is serious. BTW: Quick Time 7 Pro USES A DIFFERENT ENC THEN iTUNES!!! No I have to alternatives: 1.) Sony ATRAC Device, Sony Playstation Portable and NW-A3000 providing a high-end sound experience 2.) Sony Ericsson Walkman Phone W950i - always in my bucket, day-in, day-out, providing a GOOD sound quality WHAT SHALL I DO? ANY ADVISES?

Hi, thanks, I will try LAME. Well, currently I experiment with the PSYTEL AAC ENCODER. These are my flags: -br 128 -production -qual 9 -profile 1 -c 20050 -low_ath -resample 48000 the results are quite impressive. BUT: I can playback the files with Quick Time Player, when transferring to a W950i non-production model the file is not playable. What about the header information PSYTEL writes to the file? Perhaps they have 58bit ADTS headers and need to be converted? I will check this... Anyway: WHAT SHALL I DO? MOVE TO A SONY ERICSSON WALKMAN PHONE OR STAY WITH A SONY ATRAC DEVICE???

Yes, ATRAC Lossless is intended to be used on your PC or Network Reciever only. For example: ATRAC3Plus Lossless 352Kbit consists of the LOSSLESS PART AND THE ATRAC3Plus 352Kbit PART. WHEN TRANSFERRING TO AN ATRAC3Plus DEVICE, SUCH AS THE PLAYSTATION PORTABLE OR THE NW SERIES, SONIC STAGE IS TRANSFERRING ONLY THE ATRAC3PLUS 352Kbit PART !!!

Yes, Sony Sonic Stage CP is encoding AAC files with the LOW COMPLEXITY (LC) profile and CONSTANT BIT RATE. Sony uses the original Fraunhofer Codec as it can be reviewd by clicking on "About..." Though, iTunes, I have to admitt, sounds better concerning AAC, since they use VBR. Nevertheless, both AAC encoders implementations are no alternative to ATRAC3Plus. Please advise me, I need your help. I can not believe that there is no possibility to feed a Sony Ericsson Walkman Handy with proper sound files...

Hi guys, recently I had some thoughts to move from my beloved Playstation Portable to a Sony Ericsson Walkman Phone, the W950i. As Sony Ericsson is not supporting ATRAC this would mean that I had to re-ripp all my CDs again, now in AAC. So I installed several AAC encoders, including iTunes, FAAC and Nero 6 Reloaded. I tried several settings, VBR, adaptive Bitrate, Main Profile, HE-AAC. Nothing sounded good. I tried some classical music, some pop with "real" instruments and some jazz. Everything sounded loud and clear but the punch was missing, the body of the instruments, the space and the air between the instruments. I have all my CDs at ATRAC3Plus 352Kbit and they sound extremely good on my PSP and similiar on my NW-A 3000. Also I ripped a CD in ATRAC3Plus 128Kbit and the result was impressive, much better than AAC. When I loaded the AAC tunes on my PSP they sounded as shitty as on the W950i. This is certainly not Hi-Fi. Please, can you advise me? What shall I do? Sell my NW-A3000, rip all my CDs again in AAC and swith to a Sony Ericsson Walkman phone because having "one device for all" ??? For everybody who whishes a proof: I have prepared a sample file. Artist: Hande Yener, Sefkat Gibi, DDD Recording, ripped from original CD, Encoder: FAAC, Q=150, VBR, Cut-Off-Frequency: 20500 Hz, 5.7MB for 4:07, AAC, Main-Profile. Please drop me a message. (Compared to ATRAC3Plus 128Kbit -> ATRAC3Plus much much much much better)

Sony has killed ATRAC. As Sony in Tokia has posted a notice on 13.05.2006 they switch from ATRAC to AAC has the leading compressed audio format. So Sonic Stage CP can actually compress digital audio in AAC. My PSP was not capable of playing back since the latest firmware because of the .3gp ending. I do love my PSP and I do love ATRAC. All my music is ripped from CDs by using ATRAC3Plus 352Kbit/sek. Since my PSP is quite big and I am a Sony Ericsson Fanatic, my next phone is the Sony Ericsson W950i, featuring a 4GB built-in flash memory. Sony Ericsson was not supporting ATRAC ever, instead AAC. Sony Ericsson has sold millions of Walkman phones and they are more successfull than Sony themself with their Walkman products. ATRAC is dead. I am going to re-ripp al my CDs again, now in AAC 128Kbit. Sounding suprisingly good. Only with a slight different to ATRAC3Plus 352Kbit. So this Technical Discussion Session in this Forum is old fashioned, out-dated and "antique".

Hi guys, recently I read a lot of storys telling that Sony isn't going to develop ATRAC any further and moving to AAC. To bad, all my CDs, far more than 250, are ripped in ATRAC and played back formerly on Sony Harddisk Walkmen and nowadays on my PSP. Good enough, my PSP is able to play back AAC. Can you advise me and all others to which format to switch to? AAC? Which bitrate? Is AAC comparable to Atrac3Plus?

That's exactly what I would like to know!!! Why do we Europeans have to wait everytime that long???

Great, and which Sonic Stage Version works? 3.4?

Hi guys, I downloaded the Sonic Stage 3.4 Version. I am impressed. Great! It's getting better and better, perhaps perfect with 4.0? Well, is it possible to use the NW-A series walkman alongside with Sonic Stage 3.4? Please help me. I am just planning to buy a NW-A series walkman or a PSP. But I would only buy a NW-A series if it works with Sonic Stage because I prefer it...

Hi guys, as I am planning to buy a PSP I wonder which ATRAC bitrates are supported. Currently I own the NW-HD5 and all my music is stored in ATRAC and managed in Sonic Stage 3.3 - can I keep it? Mostly I recorded my music from CD at ATRAC3Plus 352Kbit - is this supported on the PSP? Help me, please!!!!!

Hi guys, I am stuck in despair. I would love to get one of these sexy new NW-A3000 walkmen. Currently I own the NW-HD5 and I am extremely satisfied. Though, as mentioned, the NW-A3000 is the sexier product and the upcoming accessories like loudspeakers, desk stands, etc. are desirable. So, what do you think? Please give all these NW-HD5 series owners good advices!!! Something to discuss e.g.: - Battery life: Same? - Supported ATRAC Bit Rates: Same? Still playing ATRAC3Plus 352Kbit? - File Conversion: Needed? All files have to be converted from Sonic Stage to Connect Player? - Connect Player: Shitty piece of software, I do love my SS 3.3 - I read several news here saying that Sony is updating SS to support the NW-A series. So should I wait until all issues are solved? See you!

Hi guys, right now I still own the NW-HD5 walkman and I am extremely satisfied. Especially that stunning battery life is blowing my mind. Well, I told my wife that I would like to have a NW-A series walkman as a birthday present for my birthday in april. I am a sound-fanatic person, I am afraid. I ripped all my CDs again in Atrac3Plus 352Kbit and I am deeply impressed by the sound quality. Now I noticed that the new walkman would not be able to play back these files... can you confirm this? regards, see you...

Well, I do own a HD5 and I can confirm that this Walkman ist sounding "spectecular". Fuller, richer, nicer and stronger than all other players. If you could label this performance "accurate" depends on you. What I noticed: Using lower ATRAC bit rates blows the sound. Even using 256Kbit makes me feel this: slightly more bass "woom" and stronger than on the source material - even having all the EQs off. Recently I ripped my favourite CDs again by using ATRAC3Plus 352Kbit - wow: Now it sounds SPECTECULAR AND ACCURATE. Very transparent, somehow soft and tenderly, especially the higher tones but yet strong and deepest black in the bass. Try it... You won't achive this using any other codec or player. BUT: Please try it with high-quality phones. Headphones I have used: - Sony MDR V700 DJ - Grado Reference Series RS-1

Again, bravo Kurisu! And bravo willykyu! The commercial situation here in Germany is too bad. Almost no advertisement in TV or newspapers but on the other hand a lot of announcements to do so at sony.de - and in our Saturn or Media Markt Mega Stores most of the personell there is quite anti-Sony. They call Sony "so-nie" which means "never that way!" BUT: They don't even know what is a Sony! I agree that the new generation walmans are one of the best mobile music players in the world but I am afraid that the Apple iPod Hype will ruin Sony. Every kid here in Germany owns one and the commercials from Apple are excellent. Apple understand to establish a product to be a must-have. So here are my tipps: a) Do spend millions of Euros in commercials and advertisements and place them virtually everywhere! Do sell the players even cheaper and make massive advertisement and for the connect online store! c) Do offer your music in Connect Online in plain MP3 at high-bitrate as an option! d) Do produce even more gadgets for the players like Apple do e) Do convince third-party-vendors to produce gadgets, too f) Do refine the Connect Player software so it will be the best on earth! g) Do make the Connect Player as good as everybody may use it as the music jukebox sofware of-choice (and deleting Apple iTunes) h) Do release players with 40GB and 60GB also so that you can beat Apple i) Do think of releasing a "video-version". Though it might be silly to watch video that way (2" screen) many many persons will love it as it can be noticed in US whre millions download "Desperate Housewifes"

Well, you are right. Shame on me. Yes, I tested it and it Sonic Stage really does some upconverting of the pre-ripped-lossless-256K sound. BULLSHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, again, I imported some of my favourite CDs again by using WAV file format and I checked the sound with the Sony MDR-V700 DJ headphones and with my Grado Reference Series RS1 headphones. Now it's perfect, it's different from anything before - this is HiFi but - funny how one (me) can be blamed... (by Sony blaming us as silly users) AND NOW PLEASE EXPLAIN ME THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "HIGH" AND "NORMAL" QUALITY RIPPING!

Hi guys! I am really very disappointed. I had a first look at the Connect Player and you can just DEL from your harddisk! Well, Sonic Stage isn't that bad, right?! So as I own the HD5 Network Walkman I will keep Sonic Stage AND my walkman as long as Sony is ABLE to release a product that CAN compete with Apple's iTunes and the iPod. Well, I am a big big Sony fan and I will never change to a different company BUT SONY WHY DO YOU HURT AND BOTHER YOUR FANS SOOO MUCH??? I WOULD upgrade IF: a) Sony would release a >20GB player better and slimmer design (no easter-egg-design) c) A WORKING connect player software WHICH CAN IMPORT MY THOUSANDS OF SONIC STAGE FILES IN NO TIME SO IS SONIC STAGE AND CONNECT PLAYER FOREVER "SEPERATE" PRODUCTS? I AM NOT GOING TO BETA-TEST YOUR SOFTWARE, SONY!!!

The HD5 has also a line out, you can swith it one in the settings. Afterwards it will provide enough power on the connector even for a high end system. Yes, I agree, the VP has a 40GB hard drive and is more suitable for a jukebox...

Hi folks, Yesterday I installed Sonic Stage 3.3 and I've tested several features. Here is what I found out: a) It is not possible to rip CDs with ATRAC3Plus 352Kbit/s Unfortunately, my HD-5 is supporting this bitrate and NOT 3xx .. so I have to rip my CDs in ATRAC Lossless and then afterwards I downconvert them to 352Kbit/s. c) Downconverting and ripping in ATRAC Lossless takes actually a lot of time :-( d) I do not rip all my CDs in ATRAC Lossless, only my fav ones but I wish I could use ATRAC Lossless directly, any hint of a new firmware, folks??? e) ATRAC2Plus 352Kbit/s sounds great. Fully transparent, with a lot of "air" especially female voices sound "very colorful". I would love to test ATRAC Lossless and see the difference! f) Do you know what they mean in "fast ripping" or ripping in "high quality"? I could not determine any difference! g) The new rating system is sometimes not working and accepting my editing; often I had to go by "properties, rating", strange!? h) Is the new Connect Player software NOT working with my HD-5?! Where is it? Where can we download it? The new walmans are being shipped here in Germany in a couple of days...

Hi folks, I just have sold my Vaio Pocket in Ebay :-) A nice player but I used to use the train to go to work each morning which takes me about 90 mins and I love listening to music. The Vaio Pocket was to bulky for that task and the battery life after the latest software upgrade is a shame. The Vaio Pocket consumes battery even in standby and it happens quite many times that the battery power was completly gone so that I had to re-initialize the player. Annoying. Well, the HD5, I own one in silber, is just perfect: a) amazing sound quality (rated by CNET as the best sounding mobile player) amazing battery life c) simple but sophisticated product design and handling d) amazing built quality PS: I am using the Sony MDR-V700 headphones, try them with the HD5! It's just amazing...

Hi everybody, Chris, you said that the A-series walkman are not announced in the USA? Look on the Sony Germany website and you will find them, you can even pre-order them on Sony Style Store Germany. Well, I own the HD-5 at the moment and I am very very satisfied. I am not sure whether I will upgrade, these are my questions: 1.) Batterie Lifetime: My HD-5 seems just to be unbeatable. Amazing, I am listening all the week through to music, even I plugged it to my stereo and the batterie is just not going down. -> The A-series seem to be bad regarding batterie lifetime. Why? Because of the OLED? 2.) Size and storage: The A-series seem to be bigger then the HD-5, yes? Why not a model with a 40GB storage? Is this planned? Are there any G-Shock protection? 3.) Sound quality: The HD-5 was rated by CNET, Audio and several other magazines throughout the world as the best sounding mobile player and I can confirm that it is! Have you ever listened to the A-series? 4.) ATRAC3Plus: Are ALL data rates supported? Certainly, Sony is late, very late. But I think they only have a chance to beat the iPod in creating a product which is completely different - "like no other". A gadget. And they have to release tools for it: Several cases, special headphones, loudspeakers, desk stands...

Hi everybody, well this is my first posting here and I am German, so please do appologize my bad english :-( I would love to know whether anybody has tested the Atrac3Plus 320Kbit feature of Sonic Stage 3.2 - I got the HD-5 and it was not possible to copy tracks recorded with that bitrate without an conversion to the device. Second question: Any experiences? Does Atrac3Plus 320 sounds really better than 256? Regards!