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NEW: SonicStage 3.3 Now Available!

Richard

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Richard Grand Master

Richard

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Sony has released Sonicstage 3.3 and it is now available through Minidisc Community Downloads and other locales.+++

Enhancments include:

# Dynamic Playlist is available.This allows you to select genres and artists of tracks and to specify the order of tracks to display, to make Playlist by Date Imported/ Rating/ Playback Count/ the Number of Transfer and the Number of Tracks/ Playback Time/ File Size, dynamically.

# New Playlist updated on My Library renews existing Playlist on an ATRAC Audio Device, transferring the Playlist to an ATRAC Audio Device.

# Ripping an Audio CD in ATRAC Advanced Lossless format is available.

According to new audio-compression technology, an Audio CD can be recorded into My Library without any sound degradation. And this new technology allows to record an Audio CD with the size of 30~80 percent with ATRAC3 or ATRAC3plus current audio-compression technology, in order to keep compatibility with current devices.

# Ripping an Audio CD in WMA format is available.

# 352kbps ATRAC3plus is now available.

As mentioned before, ATRAC Advanced Lossless has been introduced. There are four bitrates: 256, 132, 128 and 64kbps at normal and high quality settings. When converting from CD to AAL, you can choose from one of those four bitrates. AAL cannot be transferred over to an exising ATRAC device; it will be converted to ATRAC3plus 256kbps.

[attachmentid=1022][attachmentid=1021]

To further expand on the aforementioned *.wma support, a screenshot has been provided:

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Note: Another nice feature from SonicStage 3.3 is the option to transfer your ATRAC tunes as ATRAC3plus 352kbps to all existing ATRAC3plus capable units - that includes 1st and 2nd generation Hi-MD units and all known ATRAC3plus capable Network Walkman devices, VAIO Pocket and the PSP.

The following screen captures depicts the option to use ATRAC3plus 352kbps in the "Transfer Window." *The device used during this transfer was the VAIO Pocket.

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In addition to a new ATRAC3plus 352kbps bit rate and the advent of the ATRAC Advanced Lossless format, SonicStage 3.3 allows the user to determine ratings of each music track.

[attachmentid=1024][attachmentid=1025]

SonicStage 3.3 Module Version

SonicStage : 3.3.03.10270
SonicStage Add-on for Personal Audio Download : 3.3.00.09270
OpenMG Secure Module : 4.3.00.08302
MagicGate Memory Stick Device : 4.3.00.08302
NW-E2, NW-E3, NW-E5 and NW-E8P : 4.3.00.08302
OpenMG CD : 4.3.00.08302
M.S. PRO : 4.3.00.08302
CD Walkman : 4.3.00.08302
Hi-MD : 4.3.00.08302
Music Clip, NW-S4, NW-E7 and NW-E10 : 4.3.00.08302
HDWM : 4.3.00.08302
Net MD : 4.3.00.08302
EMD Plug-in: 1.2.0.9
CD-R Writing Module(Audio CD/ATRAC CD/MP3 CD) : 3.3.00.09270
Px Engine: 2.4.35.500[/code]
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Edited by Webmaster
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mercury_in_flames Newbie

mercury_in_flames

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I doubt it, unless you are talking about himd.. i wouldnt know if thats the case. Ive tried to put the higher bit rate, 320kb/s atrac on my hd5 and of course, you cant. Is it just me, or are those other bit rates new?? theres now 160 and 192 atrac. I tried the 160 and that works, so any atrac file that's 256kb/s bit rate and lower will work.

One new thing i noticed, you can copy cd's that are BMG copy controlled. CD's that have the copy control logo on back, and say the cd can only be played at its full quality, can be ripped using the new version. Before i got 3.3, i couldnt transfer the new cd i had bought, namely, Kokopelli, by kosheen. Now i can. hmm. You've also get the option to add copy protection, when you import the files, does this mean you could give an atrac file to someone with an atrac device?? I doubt it, but why else would it ask you if you wanted copy protection on your music? and then make you click that u accept that its illegal to etc etc??

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mercury_in_flames Newbie

mercury_in_flames

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Over at atraclife, an HD1 owner has tried the lossless option, works well supposedly, but i cant be bothered with it, haha. I doubt it sounds that much better, and if you cant transfer those files to regular md using net md, then theres no point, imo. I rip all my music in 132atrac specially, so that i dont have to convert or re-rip any music, if i should want to put the tracks on md.

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Richard Grand Master

Richard

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Maybe it should be noted t hat this download seems to be for European models only!

Though I'm not sure this matters - any comments?

I see no mention of SonicStage 3.3 on any North American Sony sites... YET.

S

Yes I forgot to mention this was from Sony Europe, - not sure what the Connect Store implications are for US users.

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Richard Grand Master

Richard

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Oh, by the way, I imported 2 cd;s and neither of them had the option to show album art. I still have to add a jpeg myself.

This has always been the case - it is a CDDB issue. I have only ever had one album with SS3.2 automatically assign the cover art - the difference in 3.3 is that you can see the cover art on the groups on the unit in the transfer window.

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doclloyd Newbie

doclloyd

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Atrac3Plus @ 352 kbit can be transferred to first-gen units ^_^

Does it sound any different to you on the device? How about playback quality off the file on the computer?

This version of SS is most interesting. I look forward to trying it out with MD's and my other ATRAC devices to see if it really can watch playlist changes between device and computer.

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Richard Grand Master

Richard

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Does it sound any different to you on the device? How about playback quality off the file on the computer?

This version of SS is most interesting. I look forward to trying it out with MD's and my other ATRAC devices to see if it really can watch playlist changes between device and computer.

Interesting but strange that you can't import as 352 directly? I will have to try to import as lossless convert to 352 and transfer...

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indeego Newbie

indeego

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From CD, then converted to Atrac Advanced Lossless 256 kbit, then converted to Atrac3+ 352 kbit (I was playing around with the new bitrates ;), but you can also convert Mp3s from your harddisc to Atrac3Plus 352 kbit))

Soundquality is good (on PC and Walkman), but I doubt I'll use it, because Hi-SP perfectly fits my needs.

screenshot of 352 kbit file on Hi-MD

Edited by indeego
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Richard Grand Master

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From CD, then converted to Atrac Advanced Lossless 256 kbit, then converted to Atrac3+ 352 kbit (I was playing around with the new bitrates ;) , but you can also convert Mp3s from your harddisc to Atrac3Plus 352 kbit))

Soundquality is good (on PC and Walkman), but I doubt I'll use it, because Hi-SP perfectly fits my needs.

screenshot of 352 kbit file on Hi-MD

Confirm it works, but file size on Hi-MD is bigger than the original track I transferred??

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indeego Newbie

indeego

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What do they mean??? Lossless 256kbit?

I don't know exactly why, but you can chose between 64, 128, 132 and 256 kbit when you import "lossless". Maybe this determins how the file will be transferred to an Atrac-Device.

The new Modul-Versions are:

SonicStage : 3.3.03.10270

SonicStage Add-on for Personal Audio Download : 3.3.00.09270

OpenMG Secure Module : 4.3.00.08302

MagicGate Memory Stick Device : 4.3.00.08302

NW-E2, NW-E3, NW-E5 and NW-E8P : 4.3.00.08302

OpenMG CD : 4.3.00.08302

M.S. PRO : 4.3.00.08302

CD Walkman : 4.3.00.08302

Hi-MD : 4.3.00.08302

Music Clip, NW-S4, NW-E7 and NW-E10 : 4.3.00.08302

HDWM : 4.3.00.08302

Net MD : 4.3.00.08302

SonicStage MP3 Add-on program : 1.0.00.07120

EMD Plug-in: 1.2.0.9

CD-R-Schreibmodul(Audio CD/ATRAC CD/MP3 CD) : 3.3.00.09270

Px Engine: 2.4.35.500

Edited by indeego
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Richard Grand Master

Richard

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It will be interesting to see the bottom line of this... :)

...and to hear if @352 sounds any better than Hi-SP. That would mean that I could use that instead of PCM for that 20% of my music where I think Hi-SP isn't really up to it.

Maybe somone can do a proper analysis of the rates, I unfortunately don't have the software to analyze them in depth. Good work Indeego!

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garcou Newbie

garcou

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Sorry if I'm stupid, but I don't understand nothing!

Is atrac 352kbits a real lossless format ( just like wma lossless or flac)?

And can it be played without any conversion to lossy atrac on the current Himd units?

Edited by garcou
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Kaledi Newbie

Kaledi

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These new bitrates are confusing me a lot, but think I'm beginning to work them out.

You can encode lossless at "256kps, 128kps, 132kps and 64kps"

When you encode the same track into each of these formats you get slightly different file sizes - between 33.5 and 35.5MB for 4.08 track.

What I have found though is if you want to convert your lossless files to a compressed bitrate, then the files are optimised for their associated compressed version and the conversion is almost instantaneous.

Thus

256 lossless to 256 ATRAC3+ is very very fast

but 256 lossless to any other ATRAC3+ is slower, but interestingly still much faster than conversion from ATRAC3+ to ATRAC3+

Same goes for other 'lossless' bitrates

What isn't clear to me is why file sizes of the lossless files differ.

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Richard Grand Master

Richard

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Sorry if I'm stupid, but I don't understand nothing!

Is atrac 352kbits a real lossless format ( just like wma lossless or flac)?

And can it be played without any conversion to lossy atrac on the current Himd units?

At the moment you can import to Atrac Advanced Lossless which is a real lossless format - but this can't be transferred to Hi-MD. But you can convert the lossless imported track to 352 Atrac3+ and transfer this to Hi-MD.

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garcou Newbie

garcou

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Thank you richyhu.

This is a bit dissapointing, because with SS3.2, I can import in my library wma lossless tracks but have to convert them to lossy atrac3+ before transfering to MD (no pcm available).

Is atrac lossless saving more space that wma lossless? (with wma lossless saved as data on Himd you can burn directly from MD a pcm CD audio using Windows media Player 10)

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Richard Grand Master

Richard

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Thank you richyhu.

This is a bit dissapointing, because with SS3.2, I can import in my library wma lossless tracks but have to convert them to lossy atrac3+ before transfering to MD (no pcm available).

Is atrac lossless saving more space that wma lossless? (with wma lossless saved as data on Himd you can burn directly from MD a pcm CD audio using Windows media Player 10)

Not quite sure what you want to do but you can use Simple Burner to burn CD's direct to MD in PCM.

With SS 3.3 you can rip to Atrac Lossless then burn a lossless audio CD I think.

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streaml1ne Newbie

streaml1ne

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I wonder if Atrac3plus 352kbps was originally engineered into the units and just never released externally for whatever reason. It's either that or they're doing some strange voodoo to get it to play on the existing units. Either way it's a pretty cool option.

PS:

If you download the web installer from Sony directly they have a small survey at the bottom of the page asking whether the page was valuable to you. If you click an option and submit it will bring up another window for comments. I suggest all Hi-MD users leave some sort of comment (positive preferrably) about how this and the 3.2 specifically enhanced their Hi-MD experience. The more voice we bring to Sony the better the chance of them actually hearing us :)

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KrazyIvan Newbie

KrazyIvan

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I wonder if Atrac3plus 352kbps was originally engineered into the units and just never released externally for whatever reason. It's either that or they're doing some strange voodoo to get it to play on the existing units. Either way it's a pretty cool option.

I agree, I just read that 352kbps is playable on my 1st gen Hi-MD???? How? Without a firmware update? It was there all along? Ugh! I have too many unanswered questions. :wacko:

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garcou Newbie

garcou

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352kbps is playable on my NH-9OO, RH-10 and Onkyo MD105FX deck!

Very strange that 320kbps is not????!!!

If true lossless was playable , it would be perfect...voodoo??

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jadeclaw Newbie

jadeclaw

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A few words from this side of the ocean.

Atrac Advanced Lossless actually stores the music twice.

First really lossless, then in parallel in the datarate you have selected before ripping.

When transferring onto MD, only the lossy part is transferred.

If you selected 64k at import, then Hi-LP@64k ends up on the disc.

The bad thing: When forcing SonicStage to convert such a lossless file during transfer, only the lossy part is converted.

Tried it with one tagged at 64k and converted it to 352k - still sounds like 64k on the MD.

But sounds CD-Like, when played from the HDD.

So, if you want to make full use of the 352k of your HiMD, import to PCM, then convert to 352k during transfer.

However, I'm still wondering, why Sony didn't went the whole way and offers the 352k on import as well.

(Maybe on SS 3.4?)

Another notable point: Sony finally listened. You can now select the coding quality during import.

Set it to high. CD-Import takes noticeably longer, but especially the lower datarates profit here.

So, remember to select 'High' on the recording quality, it is well worth the wait.

Soundwise, I can recommend to upgrade.

Tried WMA just for fun too, it can't compete. But as we all know, Microsoft can't compete on technical merits...

352k works on the european NH700 as well.

Edited by jadeclaw
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streaml1ne Newbie

streaml1ne

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Hmm when I imported a wave file directly it didn't ask me if I wanted high quality or not. I specifically looked through the menus for the high/low quality option. Guess this only on CD rips.

edit: Anyone else finding 352kbps noticeably better than 256kbps?

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Ishiyoshi Newbie

Ishiyoshi

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Hmm when I imported a wave file directly it didn't ask me if I wanted high quality or not. I specifically looked through the menus for the high/low quality option. Guess this only on CD rips.

edit: Anyone else finding 352kbps noticeably better than 256kbps?

I tried earlier with Anton Kuerti's rendition of Beethoven: The Complete Piano Sonatas & Diabelli Variations and I thought I could discern a difference between piano tone represented in the 352kbps and 256kbps bit rates. To my ears, the piano tone of the 352kbps sounds a little more detailed and refined.

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