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Sony NW-E507

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dvallere

By dvallere,
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dvallere Newbie

dvallere

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You know, I can go years without thinking of changing my format (well, face it, I've been MD-only since '97), and then I see some sleek thing in an ad and I have to get it!

However, this is not to replace my beloved MDs. No, I was thinking of getting one of the NW-E507 models for traveling. It *is* quite a faff to take along the MD player, several discs (I've got an MDLP, so I can probably go transatlantic with only 2-3 discs), and my big Sennheisers. This little Sony gizmo would be way easier to deal with, and it's got enough memory to last me across the Atlantic and back without repeats. Plus it's got such a cool gadget look to it.

Anybody have one? I read the reviews on Amazon but many of the negatives were from people unfamiliar to Sonic Stage and Connect, reporting about the learning curve for that. Won't be a problem for me.

Might be traveling later in July and would love to hear input on this! Thanks.

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Rumz Newbie

Rumz

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You know, I can go years without thinking of changing my format (well, face it, I've been MD-only since '97), and then I see some sleek thing in an ad and I have to get it!

However, this is not to replace my beloved MDs.  No, I was thinking of getting one of the NW-E507 models for traveling.  It *is* quite a faff to take along the MD player, several discs (I've got an MDLP, so I can probably go transatlantic with only 2-3 discs), and my big Sennheisers.  (Absolutely can't fly on planes without noise-cancelling cans.)  This little Sony gizmo would be way easier to deal with, and it's got enough memory to last me across the Atlantic and back without repeats.  Plus it's got such a cool gadget look to it.

Anybody have one? I read the reviews on Amazon but many of the negatives were from people unfamiliar to Sonic Stage and Connect, reporting about the learning curve for that.  Won't be a problem for me.

Might be traveling later in July and would love to hear input on this!  Thanks.

I thought about getting an E407. I'd have one but I'm a little annoyed that Sony has chosen to make all the colors available only OUTSIDE the US. Lame. Just north in Canada they seem to have all the color options even.

Anyways, I wound up buying an E107 used for $100. The 507 is obviously prettier and maybe a little more compact (though I'm not complaining about the battery life on the 107-- uses AAA batteries). As far as using it-- it's a breeze. If you're already using MD it's pretty much like having a disc that you can hook right up to your computer and put music on. I found transfers to the 107 to be slow (in comparison to how quickly tracks transfer with my Vaio Pocket HDD player)-- not sure if that's an issue with the USB cable but it's more likely that the unit is USB 1.1 (I'm too lazy to check). If you're used to Sonic Stage then no big deal, as long as you have 3.0 or later. I imagine the 507 is higher quality than the 107 anyways in the build department.

Sexy player, for sure, that 507. If you decide to get one, let us know what your impressions are. I'm certainly satisfied with the 107 which I mainly use at the gym.

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Kaotic Newbie

Kaotic

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I thought about getting an E407.  I'd have one but I'm a little annoyed that Sony has chosen to make all the colors available only OUTSIDE the US.  Lame.  Just north in Canada they seem to have all the color options even.

not sure what store have you been to, but here @Frys in Cali, I am positive that I've seen blue, gray/black, pink and green. not sure about the Red E5xx series on the store shelves. at the time, I only did a quick look and did not moving the items on shelves a bit to check if there is Red one available. but I am sure. the 4 colors of E5xx series are available so is the E4xx series.

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atrain Newbie

atrain

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i thought about it but decided to go with a vaio pocket instead. i don't run or gym so for the same price there was no option. thanks to rumz's early pics then ishi's detailed pictorial review...

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dvallere Newbie

dvallere

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I talked to Japan Direct about getting a red one, but they wanted an extra $100 over what I'd pay for the silver at Circuit City, so I got the silver one. (So did my husband.)

I'm likin' it a lot! One feature I found really nice is that the player has a little hole in it to slip a strap. I usually wear shirts or pants that have no pockets, so I had noplace to put the player while listening. Audiocubes has the Sony MDR-NQ1 headphones with neckstrap. The headphones are attached to a neck strap, and the neck strap has the little cord to slip through the player loops and then the headphone plug is right at the bottom of the neck strap. It makes it all very convenient. Now it just dangles from the neck strap and when I'm worried about it bashing into things I just tuck the whole ensemble inside my shirt. Looks a bit lumpy, but it works!

As to player functionality, I like it, can't complain; liking the sleekness, the audio quality, and the FM capability. Everything's great. I have nearly the entire R.E.M. catalogue on it (well, pre-1992 anyway), plus loads of other stuff, all transferred at 66kbps and sounding fine. The open-air quality of the MDR-NQ1 means I don't get that good "deep in the ear" sound that I get with noise-cancelling headphones or earbuds, but when I do switch to my big Sennheisers it's beautiful sound. I'm recommending this to my other 2 MD-loving friends as a handy alternative to dragging around our MZ-N707 and a bunch of loose disks.

Also, after I'd used my E507 for a few days I realized Audiocubes is selling the color E407 for the same price as the 507 at Circuit City ($199). If you like the colors and don't need the FM capability I'd go visit Audiocubes.

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dvallere Newbie

dvallere

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Total turnaround here. Connect didn't have a couple of songs I wanted, so I downloaded from MSN Music (my first time using it). They were .wma format, which the E507 literature says it will convert to ATRAC to put on the unit. I kept getting errors about "unable to convert copyright-protected content." Finally I went to the literature for the E507 and in tiny print it says "will convert unsecured .wma files to ATRAC." Unsecured? What's that, stolen? What good does this do me if I can't copy legitimately-purchased music?

I have written Sony an extremely nasty nastygram and we are going to return these things to Circuit City unless they can resolve it somehow - either a) provide a patch, which is unlikely, or cool.gif give us whopping loads of credits to the Connect store. Either way I'm pretty irritated.

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Reggie Newbie

Reggie

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Hi, new here. Here's a mini review of the E507 (plus some pics):

Having used a Sony miniDisc player before, I'm used to Sonic Stage already. One thing I don't like about it is, there's no Mac support. Sonic Stage is not really hard to use. I look at it as, it's not as easy as iTunes.

It comes with 5 free songs (gift cert) at Sony Connect. The upload of the songs to the device was a bit slow since it's USB 1.1. A good thing about Sonic Stage though is, you can choose what songs to upload to your music device (Apple added this feature when the Shuffle was released).

Although just one color (light blue), the OLED screen is great. Think of an LCD screen but brighter (it makes me want to get the Sony Clie VZ90). All devices with screens should use OLED! biggrin.gif

The metal controls require getting used to. It reminds me of the small dial at the side of an analog watch -- pull once and twist up or down to scroll through the songs, pull it one more time and twisting up or down scolls through the albums, push it in and it's on 'hold' and controls are protected from accidental pushes or twists.

On power saving mode, when a song is playing, after a few seconds, the screen turns off. Every after a few seconds thereafter, an animation - like four "(" - runs to show you that something is playing.

Battery life - I have no plans of testing it but the box says it will last 50 hours of continuous playing. The box also says that a 3-minute charge is good for 3-hours use (wow). Charging is done via USB through the computer by the way.

As for weight, it's slightly heavier than the iPod Shuffle.

There is an option to adjust bass and treble. Using good earphones makes it sound really better than the Shuffle.

Purchased music are in ATRAC3 format, though it can play MP3, WMA, and WAV files if you upload them via Sonic Stage.

Earphones, USB cable, belt clip, a black pouch, and a 5 free song Sony Connect coupon are included in the box.

As for the cost, the E507 (which has 1GB) is $199 - the 1GB Shuffle is $129. Is the $70 difference worth it? Knowing that Sony included an 3-liner OLED (not just a regular LCD) screen is well worth it already. It also comes with an FM tuner and a clock. While it says at the the back that it was built in China, the build is solid. I highly recommend this device.

Sony actually released several versions of this flash based walkman. You can check them out under Flash Memory MP3 Players at SonyStlye: http://tinyurl.com/55osy

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Reggie Newbie

Reggie

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Thanks for sharing your impressions, Reggie. Have you give Sony's MP3 File Manager Version 2.0 a go? If you only employ Mp3s, this drag-and-drop utility operates without the need for SonicStage to be installed on your host system. If interested, check out this thread.

Oh Cool! No, it's the first time I've heard about it. I will definitely give it a try! Thanks!

Is there a Mac version? biggrin.gif

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veezhun Newbie

veezhun

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Speaking of the Shuffle, what the E507 lacks is the feature to double as a Flash drive. The E507 is basically a walkman only.

I am not so sure about that. Other users of the E507 have been able to use it as a flash drive. It should mount automatically as a removable drive under windows 2000 and XP. What OS are you using??

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Ishiyoshi Newbie

Ishiyoshi

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I am not so sure about that. Other users of the E507 have been able to use it as a flash drive. It should mount automatically as a removable drive under windows 2000 and XP. What OS are you using??

That's correct, Windows should detect the E507 as a removable drive. I assume Reggie is using a Mac OS.

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Reggie Newbie

Reggie

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I edited my mini review to remove that paragraph. I also read that in Sony Support:

http://www.sonydigital-link.com/DNA/faq/fa...00_500_faq#Q3_3

Q3 : Can the Network Walkman E400/E500 be used for saving data other than the music data?

Yes, you can store a variety of data as well as the music data to the built-in flash memory using Windows Explorer. The built-in flash memory is displayed in the Windows Explorer or My Computer as an external drive (e.g. “D:”).

Note:

Please be sure not to edit OMGAUDIO folders stored in the built-in flash memory.

Sorry.

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veezhun Newbie

veezhun

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That's correct, Windows should detect the E507 as a removable drive. I assume Reggie is using a Mac OS.

But wouldnt using a Mac OS nullify the use of Sonicstage?

Btw Ishi, do you own one of these cool devices?? I am so in love with OLED after the Rh10... Man that is some device biggrin.gif

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Ishiyoshi Newbie

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But wouldnt using a Mac OS nullify the use of Sonicstage?

Btw Ishi, do you own one of these cool devices?? I am so in love with OLED after the Rh10... Man that is some device biggrin.gif

Some users employ Virtual PC to operate SonicStage within a Mac environment. Not the ideal setup but it works from what I've read.

I do not own the NW-E507 as yet but I do plan to acquire the Azure Blue unit.

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Ishiyoshi Newbie

Ishiyoshi

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Btw, it's a hassle however that you need to install the PA Driver before the device gets recognized as a normal flash drive device:

http://www.sonydigital-link.com/DNA/common...p?l=en&v=&m=pad

If you already have SonicStage installed on your host system, that shouldn't be a problem. When you install SonicStage 3.1, PA Driver installs alongside SonicStage 3.1.

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Reggie Newbie

Reggie

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If you already have SonicStage installed on your host system, that shouldn't be a problem. When you install SonicStage 3.1, PA Driver installs alongside SonicStage 3.1.

I mean, you won't be able to use it as a flash drive across different PCs without installing the driver first. sad.gif

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atrain Newbie

atrain

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reggire can you see if the new music move software that actually installs the s/w on the e507, supposed to allow drag & drop. i'm wondering if this would work on a mac.

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Ishiyoshi Newbie

Ishiyoshi

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I plugged the device on the Mac and it was recognized! It works as a flash drive without any additional drivers! biggrin.gif

Now, the only problem left is how to add mp3 files to it. sad.gif

I believe you have to load the utility from the folder (in the E507) it's installed; then drag-and-drop the Mp3s in question over to the device and it should add the files accordingly.

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