Got and Ipod Video.. Hate it... Sony please save me!

[stevester162000]

Hi there I recently bought an Ipod Video (3 weeks ago) and regretted it ever since. The videos.....great! Itunes- great! UI- Great! The thing I hate about it is the PATHETIC TINNY SOUND it makes! I listen to a lot of bass-heavy music and using the EQ to boost bass is just not an option. Using say Bass Boost or Hip Hop is a joke as any bass hits just distort and gets incredibly annoying after a while. I believe this is due to the headphone amp not being able to handle any boosted frequencies over 105 db without distorting them or something and this is built into all players so its not a faulty player I have. I've used MP3 gain over my tracks but this inturn requires lifting of the volume limiter which in turn introduces a background hiss so this is a no win situation. Having had a Rio Carbon before which had superb sound quality I was gutted that I had sold that off and bought this pile of S*** I am now selling it on ebay and thinking about the Sony Nwa3000 20gb as I used to have a sony minidisc and hold them in high regard sound quality-wise. I just wanted to ask a few questions about it.... please help!

1. I have dl sonicstage 3.3 seems ok... whats the big deal with the connect software that comes with the player is it all that bad? All I want to do is rip my cd collection (60cds or so) to the player is this like a major undertaking or what?

2. Is the sound quality decent like you expect from a sony? Are the custom E'Q's any good? Is the bass hardcore!?

3. Does it actually convert MP3 to Atrac when transferring to player? Or does the player actually do that on the go like i've heard?

4. Is there a hack to view the HDD in explorer like anapod for ipod and drag n drop?

5. Are there many Fan sites on the net that provide tips etc

[leonyuhanov]

1-Sonic STage and conect player are ok, its just taht they run via Flash/Shockwave so there a bit slow on computers with less then 512 ram. Its pretty simplistic too, but hey it works ok.

2-Here sthe deal with eth eq. i have the nw-hd5, it has awsome EQ settings, from a 6 band equalizer to really cool sound effects BUT, and heres the catch 22, you have to convert your cd's to ATRAC to use them,. If you use solely MP3's then you only have access to 2 basci eq settings, which are bass and trebble. Its ok but you knwo its kidna rip off. General speakign though the sound wuality is totaly awsome!! if you have a good set of headphones its, clear, loud, and crisp!!! i have a paior of compact sony ear-buds(mdr-ex51lp), and when i listen to d&b my head rumbles inside. I also have a pair of sienhiezer muf's and they will soudn awsome too.

3-most of these players will play mp3's natively, which means NO CONVERTION REQUIRED, BUT like i said you wont get all the eq settings. Also the battery life will be shorter if you play MP3's vs ATRAC.

4-i think there is a program athta one of the members here wrote calle GYM, its always in these threads.

5-umm this one is the best fan site for sony stuff! THE BEST!

Leon

[Guest Stuge]

stevester162000,

Welcome to "AtracLife"

Are you using that White Tiny Headphones that come with your I-Pod ?

"2. Is the sound quality decent like you expect from a sony? Are the custom E'Q's any good? Is the bass hardcore!?"

Sound Quality is much much better than An I-pod but One thing I would like to tell you that It not near to "MegaBass" at all that sony use to have .

[Stefan1]

Try some other headphones with larger drivers or sensitivity. If you're a basshead, I suggest etymotic ER6i, although even sony MDR-EX71 does a pretty good job.

[stevester162000]

Yeh I have a pair of EX 71's and still get a tinny sound. I got used to the custom EQ on the Rio Carbon I could just tone down the treble and push the mid and bass up. Yeh Ipod Video definately sucks sound quality wise so I'm looking at the NWA 3000. Just two more questions... MP3 doesn't work with the EQ's? What? Surely they do?! Also I only have 256mb ram is Sonicstage ok to use just to transfer songs? I'll do all my ripping in CDex then. Also does Sonicstage aloow buliding and transferring of playlists?

[Guest Stuge]

MP3 doesn't work with the EQ's? What? Surely they do?! Also I only have 256mb ram is Sonicstage ok to use just to transfer songs?

6 band Equaliser(Eq) works with Mp3`s as well .Soic Stage works well with 256mb ram but Coonnect might not work well as Sony recommends 512mb ram for Connect .

[lxrichbirdxl]

lol. That's why you need the custom EQ settings, in which you can change the way your music sounds drastically(6-band EQ). Your experience is exactly why I hated it, too.

So for me, I listen to lot of heavy stuff, songs with heavy riffs, drumming, and bass of course. I just got totally fond with the custom setting, that I think no other EQs would ever match. But that's very personal, as I really love to hear heavy riffs. Maybe you get confused by what I say, as many other EQ functions of players of many brands only offer adjustment on bass, tremble or some stupid presets, so the distorted guitar sound is often neglected.

Hope this helps, and by using custom setting in your player you can get good and more natural bass sounding as well.

Edited January 20, 2006 by lxrichbirdxl

[stevester162000]

Yep I think thats what it comes down to at the end of the day ... Ipods may be simple to use and iTunes... well iTunes is just brill.. but for people who like decent quality bass, you know who like to hear music like it was supposed to be heard? (loud!!!), its rubbish. Many people go on about the ipods 'balanced' sound, how the heck is bass/treble distorting at high volumes a 'balanced' sound? I'd call that a rubbish headphone amp. You only have to play around with the custom EQ for ten minutes in iTunes to hear how great the iPod SHOULD sound!! The more I think about it the more i'm annoyed at paying £220 on something that has all the audio quality of a £10 cd player. (The video IS good though)

[lxrichbirdxl]

Ya, too bad only i-tunes has got the brilliant function, but not on i-Pod itself, haha.

Edited January 21, 2006 by lxrichbirdxl

[Tetsugaku-San]

Ah if we could only take the good bits of the ipod (usability) and the good bits of the sony (sound quality we'd have agreat machine . .

[Guest Stuge]

Ah if we could only take the good bits of the ipod (usability) and the good bits of the sony (sound quality we'd have agreat machine . .

I know this never going to happen but it would be nice IF Sony & Apple both Collaborate for Hard Disk Players.

[Tetsugaku-San]

Maybe if Sony bought Apple, which has been rumoured for years, we'd be fine

[stevester162000]

Yeh that would be great if Sony bought Apple they could rename the Ipod the Walk-pod! Does anyone have a link to a really thorough review on the NWA 3000? Also looking through the forums I'm reading a lot of confusion about whether or not the customisable EQ works on MP3's?

[bangraman]

Hi there I recently bought an Ipod Video (3 weeks ago) and regretted it ever since. The videos.....great! Itunes- great! UI- Great! The thing I hate about it is the PATHETIC TINNY SOUND it makes!

What headphones are you using?

[IAmTheEvilest]

Maybe if Sony bought Apple, which has been rumoured for years, we'd be fine

That can't happen now... Apple is worth more than Sony; about 50% more by today's number. If anything, it would be the other way around!

The iPod-Walkman anyone?

[Guest Stuge]

That can't happen now... Apple is worth more than Sony; about 50% more by today's number. If anything, it would be the other way around!

The iPod-Walkman anyone?

IAmTheEvilest,

Welcome To "AtracLife"

Apple may be more than worth in one section but not the other .Does Apple makes Stereo(Hi-Fi) T.Vs ,No No

But I-Pod-Walkman would be A nice name ...ENDLESS DISCUSSION

The End.

[Tetsugaku-San]

That can't happen now... Apple is worth more than Sony; about 50% more by today's number. If anything, it would be the other way around!

The iPod-Walkman anyone?

Sony is worth about 100 times that of Apple mate, sorry to disapoint

Oh to the other poster - there is no controvercy - MP3s do work with the EQ.

Hi there I recently bought an Ipod Video (3 weeks ago) and regretted it ever since. The videos.....great! Itunes- great! UI- Great! The thing I hate about it is the PATHETIC TINNY SOUND it makes!

Wanna swop my NW-A3000 for your iPod ?

[bangraman]

I belive Sony as a whole is worth about 70% that of Apple. Surprising, no?

[Tetsugaku-San]

I belive Sony as a whole is worth about 70% that of Apple. Surprising, no?

Behave, Sony sold more Playstations last year than Apple sold anything.

Looking for market figures now - bloody hard to find any grr.

[Christopher]

Wait till the PS3 comes out, it is going to be an absolutely unbelieveable change in the course of Sony's future. You should've seen the huddled masses at CES, people flock to even the demos like flies on shit.

[bangraman]

Behave, Sony sold more Playstations last year than Apple sold anything.

Looking for market figures now - bloody hard to find any grr.

I suppose it might be hard to find if you didn't know what to look for, or don't have Bloomberg like I do. Try googling "market cap" and Sony / Apple.

The PS3 will have to turn Sony's fortunes around. They have nothing else do do it with.

[Tetsugaku-San]

I suppose it might be hard to find if you didn't know what to look for, or don't have Bloomberg like I do. Try googling "market cap" and Sony / Apple.

The PS3 will have to turn Sony's fortunes around. They have nothing else do do it with.

Let me get this straight - you have the figures and you still can't see how much larger Sony is than Apple?

It's true Sony have been having a tough time and just took on a new MD to re organise the place in Japan, but they are hardly on their last legs. These people make Music, games, movies, Playstations (%70 market share in home consoles BTW), TVs, Walkmans, DVD players, Stereos - you name it they make it.

PS3 will no doubt do well even if they loose some percentage to Microsoft - however with the inlcusion of the bluray tech I'm more inclined to side with an increase in market share.

[lxrichbirdxl]

blue ray is really cooler than HD. but HD is more for home uses. Unless PS3 has got really overwhelming popular games, it'll lose a lot.

Besides, there's no need to check for figures, Sony is one of the biggest really, and it's very bureaucratic, they forced us to use MS UMD, etc. That's very obvious and iPod couldn't force you to use its accessories very much. However it's not really a good thing.

[bangraman]

Let me get this straight - you have the figures and you still can't see how much larger Sony is than Apple?

I feel like the teacher being berated by a student: "1+1=2? Don't be stupid, it's 11 you dumbass"

[Tetsugaku-San]

I feel like the teacher being berated by a student: "1+1=2? Don't be stupid, it's 11 you dumbass"

I note how you still haven't produced these mystical figures that you profess to have access to proving that Apple is in fact the largest company on Earth.

Rather than of course a piss pot little one who is only still going because they thought up a shiny white MP3 player.

[bangraman]

Googling too tough for you? I've read through your posts... I understand. Lucky I am here to hold your hand, eh?

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=aapl (Apple market cap = $64bn)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=6758:JP (Sony market cap is in JPY/mil = roughly $45bn)

"Sony, Samsung’s arch-rival whose market capitalisation reached $107bn in 2000, is now valued at less than half that of Samsung."

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/f596262a-7ced-11da...00779e2340.html

Ten years ago, the rot truly set in. They ran out of vision. They're only just attempting to climb out of the hole they've dug themselves in. The sad truth is that Samsung and to a lesser extent LG are becoming the Sony of the 00's. If the PS3 isn't a roaring success, Sony will be further marginalised into an also-ran... and who knows, may even become a takeover target because their market cap will tank further.

[Tetsugaku-San]

That's only one bit of Sony mate.

[bangraman]

That is the entire bit of Sony Corp. There are other affiliated but independent enterprises.

[stevester162000]

Well anyway........... I just got my Walkman NWA 3000 from Amazon today (£175) and I am very impressed so far the quality of it is unreal just as i'd heard fantastic sound quality and really decent bass. I unlocked the volume limiter and it sounds great! I also bought a soft case for it for £5.00 of Amazon which was also a bargain! I didn't even bother installing connect software as my PC is not fast but sonicstage is good enough for transferring. I will just use Itunes to rip all my music!