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SonicStage 3.3 Differences

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gr00vy0ne

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I'm not sure if this was mentioned on the forums yet, but I've noticed a very huge difference between SonicStage installs from the US (aka Connect) and Japan. If this has been discussed before then I apologize in advance to the admins for this.

I've predominantly used SonicStage JA version since I listen to a lot of Japanese music and want the titles to show up correctly and can interact with the interface. I have noticed for some time that I never had all of these initialization/authorization issues that I see people having trouble with.

I have suspected for a long time that the US version has this artificial limitation/hassle/etc that drives people insane. Today, I was refreshing my desktop system and had to reinstall SonicStage and decided to install the US version for shits and giggles. To my horror, SonicStage wanted me to reinitialize all my devices and wipe out all the existing files. Good job Sony.

I quickly uninstalled the US version and performed a clean installation of the Japanese version. Guess what?

SonicStage (JA) simply recognized my devices and let me access them and play music off of them and transfer new tracks without ever asking me to "reinitialize" my devices. That's how it should be in the first place!

So, first of all, I'm pretty sure there is some registry key where one could change the US version to behave the same way. I still haven't found it but it has to be there since the install files are essentially the same. (I could be wrong though).

Secondly, I wonder what the ultimate reason is behind this. Is it that Japanese users are more trustworthy and are less likely to pirate and thus have less DRM restrictions? Are Japanese users less likely to stand for these lame DRM restrictions? US customers seem to be treated like second class citizens. I do wonder if it also has to do with the fact that the Mora.jp and Connect.com music stores use different DRM restrictions/engines (with the Japanese one being less restrictive) and thus the Japanese version is much more friendly.

Anyways, I thought I'd bring this to everyone's attention if they didn't already know about it. At least we have MP3File manager and the new GYM programs to help get around all of these anti-customer-friendly practices.

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I have always used the Japanese version of SonicStage for obvious reason and I can confirm your observation. The Japanese version never requires one to conduct harware initialization. If we can locate that specific registry key, we may apply it to non-Japanese version of SonicStage and be done with the initialization woes.

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Now it makes sense why there was a box to check in previous connect pleyer version: a "authorize/initialize/recognise" whatever option with U.S only written next to it. It seems it disapeared in the latest version.

I guess it is automatic in SS. US market must be quite different from Euro and Jap one.

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Hi guys, where can I get SS japanese version? Maybe is a dumb question, but, I wonder if this software comes in japanese, or I can install it in english?

Thanks!

The UI of the Japanese version of SonicStage 3.3 will be in Japanese naturally and you will need to run the software via Microsoft AppLocale to ensure proper display of Japanese text within the UI.

I have edited the installer so one can run the installer without OS language restriction. If you are interested, proceed to this post for the installer, which I have attached awhile ago.

Note: You should ensure that you have completely uninstall present version of SonicStage from your system before running the Japanese version.

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Me again, thanks for the .exe, but.... how i run Microsoft AppLocale?, the truth is... I don' t know nothing about this... please guide me with this issue, or tell me how to install your edited installer, thank you Ishiyosi.

You can acquire Microsoft AppLocale here; upon installation of Microsoft AppLocale start the utility and run the "SetupSS.exe" in Japanese language. (the setup file of the SonicStage 3.3 JE installer you've downloaded from the link provided in the preceding posts) Let the installer run and reboot once the installation is complete.

Run Microsoft AppLocale once more with identical steps but this time you will need to run "x:\Program Files\Sony\SonicStage\Omgjbox.exe" instead. This will launch the Japanese version of SonicStage with its UI displaying Japanese language properly. Please note: you will need to have WinXP to run AppLocale.

If you have any further queries, please pm me instead - I will provide you with further AppLocale instruction accordingly. We would like to keep this thread to topic.

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