Near to change to an iPod! Wake me up!

[lindijones]

Hei All!!

You must help me because i am near to change my HD 5 to an iPod although i am the true Sony Freak.

But the problem is that i don´t want to connect my HD5 so silly with a 10 meters long cable to my Stereo.

Then i want to have a Boombox. And maybe i need more capacity.

And the last: I think that this click wheel seems to be the best type of steering to all the albums.

Sometimes this up/down keys make me really angry...

Are there roumors of some new players or accessories??

Thanks

Tom

[Guest Stuge]

Are there roumors of some new players or accessories??

No

[Beethovenian]

I'm sure you're not alone. Sony is so behind that it's indeed tempting to jump ship. I for sure won't go to the white side, because of the gapless issue, but if the new Toshiba Gigabeat solves it, I'll take it. I need more than 20GB, and it would be nice to have album art in a higher resolution color screen. If the NW-A series had a 40 or 60GB version, I'd buy it in a second. I particularly like its navigation scheme better than the iPod's or any other I've seen. But it's just so frustrating that Sony is opting to adopt other open formats instead of opening their own Atrac that I fear being stuck with files that soon even Sony players won't play.

[sdfzz_]

why don't u wait for new walkman, if u r not in hurry...

Ipod and Walkman have their own advantages and disadvantages..

For me, the sound quality of A series or HD5 is much better than Ipod..

hopefully there are more options available on next walkman

[Guest Stuge]

A-series is only for those people who are hard core listeners because of Sound Quality .

I-pod give you an additional video playback just to see some videos (Just an additonal video feature but not a main feature because of its battery life)

[pata2001]

You must help me because i am near to change my HD 5 to an iPod although i am the true Sony Freak.

But the problem is that i don´t want to connect my HD5 so silly with a 10 meters long cable to my Stereo.

Then i want to have a Boombox. And maybe i need more capacity.

And the last: I think that this click wheel seems to be the best type of steering to all the albums.

Sometimes this up/down keys make me really angry...

Are there roumors of some new players or accessories??

I wouldn't throw away the HD5 yet. IMO, it is still a better unit than the NW-A3000.

If you don't want a long cable connecting your HD5 to your stereo, then maybe you can consider a full size headphone for home use. Most speakers for iPod are just so-so quality.

Click wheel is good for browsing large library. However, with tactile buttons, you can operate your player in your pocket without having to pull it out.

No rumors for new player from Sony, but rumors for a touch screen video iPod is all over the place.

Choosing between Sony or Apple, IMO, would come down to 1 thing, gapless. If you need gapless, go with Sony. Other than that, the iPod + iTunes combo is extremely powerful in organizing your music library.

[Dinko]

Click wheel is good for browsing large library. However, with tactile buttons, you can operate your player in your pocket without having to pull it out.

Choosing between Sony or Apple, IMO, would come down to 1 thing, gapless. If you need gapless, go with Sony. Other than that, the iPod + iTunes combo is extremely powerful in organizing your music library.

About the buttons/click wheel: I haven't had much trouble operating basic functions (track skip, volume, album skip) with an iPoo in my pocket. Although I did have some difficulty doing that with an A1000.

As for gapless, there's a hack apparently from Rockbox which I have not tried. It loads some new software on the iPoo and allows you to play gapless.

That said, I would not switch from Sony to Apple. I tried both, and I think both Sony and Apple produce critically flawed digital music players.

If you need to switch from Sony to something else, then go for Toshiba, RCA, Cowon or Samsung. If you don't mind chubbiness, the new Creative Zen Vision:M is apparently very good.

[pata2001]

As for gapless, there's a hack apparently from Rockbox which I have not tried. It loads some new software on the iPoo and allows you to play gapless.

If you need to switch from Sony to something else, then go for Toshiba, RCA, Cowon or Samsung. If you don't mind chubbiness, the new Creative Zen Vision:M is apparently very good.

Although I'm excited for rockbox, it doesn't even have audio yet for 5G iPods, so it is not something to be recommended yet.

Hardware wise, yeah, many excellent DAPs out there. However, if you have a large library of music, iTunes is still the winner. That's one of the selling point of iPod.

[MDX-400]

But the problem is that i don´t want to connect my HD5 so silly with a 10 meters long cable to my Stereo.

Then i want to have a Boombox. And maybe i need more capacity.

I'm curious as to what exactly you'd want to connect the DAP to your stereo if not a cable? I don't think many stereos (meaning traditional shelf systems, receivers, etc.) have anything like bluetooth or wi-fi integrated and not many (if any) DAPs do either. So what exactly is going to connect a DAP (of any brand/make/model) to your stereo if not a cable??? Magic? Voodoo? LOL.

Also, if you want the cable to be less than 10m long, then just put the DAP closer to the stereo and use a shorter cable, LOL.

Did you mean perhaps you want a stand/dock to connect the DAP to? If so, then you could look into the A1000 or A3000 which have a stand/dock with a line-out connection on it, which goes for about $50 US.

And what does "Then I want to have a Boombox." mean?

I'm pretty confused as to both statements...

[lindijones]

Did you mean perhaps you want a stand/dock to connect the DAP to? If so, then you could look into the A1000 or A3000 which have a stand/dock with a line-out connection on it, which goes for about $50 US.

And what does "Then I want to have a Boombox." mean?

I'm pretty confused as to both statements...

Hei Yes that is what I want to have!! I kind of stand / dock for the HD5 with a Remote control.

And what is unclear about the "Boom Box" ?? Just look at the im7 from Altec Lansing and you can see what i mean.

Nothing similar to the HD5

so all the reasons you posted in here are things that i thought about. What is about to play gapless in iPod with wav-files?

Does anyone know about that?

Thanks a lot for those infos!!!

Tom

P.S.: here in germany i wrote a review of the A3000 and they said that the soundquality is far worse against the iPOd....

Wondering about that....

cu

Edit:

Yesterday I was 1 cm away from buying an iPod. But now i understand what MDX-400 meant. The soundquality if the im 7 is nice but not that perfect as i thought. I connected my HD5 player to the im7 and listened some tracks. It´s ok if you have an iPod and want to buy such a thing. But for me it is too expensive right now because i have to buy the iPod too!!

The Videoplayback works really great. And you can move the cursor in a video the same way like in mp3s.

This means that you can access minute 46 of a 2 hour video in about 3 seconds. Could not see the quality on a TV.

Well for now its OK but i dont know how long it takes if i have a powerless moment when i will get one....

CU

One more edit:

Can you see that since yesterday apple has a Boombox to sell? called ipod hifi.

And there should be iTeufel from "Teufel" speaker systems very near.

Much more than for the Sonys....

I think the Apple iPod Hifi is the thing i was looking for.

CU

Tom

Edited March 1, 2006 by lindijones

[MDX-400]

Hei Yes that is what I want to have!! I kind of stand / dock for the HD5 with a Remote control.

Unfortunately, I don't think anything like that exists for the HD5. The HD5 has no dock connector, so it makes it pretty much impossible. The A3000/A1000 have a dock/stand, however and you can use a Sony wired remote connected to the phones/remote port at the same time, I believe; but no there is no wireless remote (unless there is a 3rd party one available for the Sony remote port, but I don't know about that).

And what is unclear about the "Boom Box" ?? Just look at the im7 from Altec Lansing and you can see what i mean.

Oh you mean something like that eh? I dunno about the IM7 but it doesn't seem like it is all that great... All of those iPod speaker docks I've seen are POSes in terms of sound quality and pretty overpriced. Never used the IM7 in particular but I'm sure it can't be all that great. After all it is from Altec Lansing and I don't think I've ever heard any good sound from any of their consumer-level products... They all seem pretty useless to me as well; I guess if you travel a lot and want one you can use in a hotel room or something it makes sense, but if you want to make that into a sound solution for your room or something, it's a bad idea IMO.

The IM7 is $250 US MSRP too, and all it can do is iPod sound... No tuner, no CD... The only good part about it, I think, is the ability to use a remote to control the iPod.

But yes you're correct, nothing like that exists for any of the Sony HDD DAPs.

[lindijones]

They all seem pretty useless to me as well; I guess if you travel a lot and want one you can use in a hotel room or something it makes sense, but if you want to make that into a sound solution for your room or something, it's a bad idea IMO.

The IM7 is $250 US MSRP too, and all it can do is iPod sound... No tuner, no CD... The only good part about it, I think, is the ability to use a remote to control the iPod.

But yes you're correct, nothing like that exists for any of the Sony HDD DAPs.

It has an aux input!! You have to see the smaller ones which you can take to a hotel room but the im 7 is much larger. Did you see it in reality before?

It something else that creative portable sound 200 e.g.

You know i dont think that this thing is useless. Did you ever hear it? Or the Bose Sounddock?

It´s really great. If you want to have any other Boombox e.g. from Philips or JVC then you will never get such a sound quality and if so then not in this size of the unit. So i think although they are really expensive you will not get any other unit like the im7 or the bose sounddock. The large one from JVC is also about more than 200 euro...

The im7 can be also used with Batteries and if not you can carry the hole soundsystem from your sleeping room to the bathroom or to the living room or to the lake, garden or to just a friend!

I think that unit is wonderfull!!

It is just silly to connect your HD player with a f**king cable to your large stereo system at your livingroom without any control from your seat.

Think about future? Do you want to have such a solution the rest of life?

Maybe we have luck and sony will hear us and provide such a real good (maybe high priced...) unit.

I would buy it if it would deliver the same/better sound...

Thats my opinion.

Bye

Tom

[MDX-400]

It has an aux input!! You have to see the smaller ones which you can take to a hotel room but the im 7 is much larger. Did you see it in reality before?

No I've never seen it in real life but by looking at the pictures it doesn't seem all that large (considering the size of it relative to the inserted iPod, which I have seen/held before). I can see that it is a good bit bigger than a lot of the other sound dock things.

You know i dont think that this thing is useless. Did you ever hear it? Or the Bose Sounddock?

No, as I said I haven't seen or used the IM7 personally. However I have seen/heard the Bose Sounddock thing and it is a POS, lol. But that's like anything Bose, pretty much all overpriced junk. "Friends don't let friends buy Bose" and "No highs? No lows? Must be Bose!" are the common sayings about Bose, lol. Bose is one of the biggest and most successful marketing scams for speakers. Lots of people buy Bose and pay their inflated and ridiculous prices for mediocre products. Why? I don't know; but for some reason people think Bose actually make good stuff when they don't.

It´s really great. If you want to have any other Boombox e.g. from Philips or JVC then you will never get such a sound quality and if so then not in this size of the unit.

Well if it sounds good to you I guess that's what really matters if you're the one buying/using it.

So i think although they are really expensive you will not get any other unit like the im7 or the bose sounddock. The large one from JVC is also about more than 200 euro...

Perhaps that's true for all the sound dock things, but there are lots of mini or shelf systems you can buy that sound better (IMO) and cost less for what you get. If the Bose Sounddock is as good as it gets for iPod docks, I'm sticking to saying all the iPod sound docks are POS!

The im7 can be also used with Batteries and if not you can carry the hole soundsystem from your sleeping room to the bathroom or to the living room or to the lake, garden or to just a friend!

I think that unit is wonderfull!!

Yes for convenience it is, well, convenient. I'll give you that. Again if you can make good use of something like that and enjoy it, that makes it a good purchase for you, if you think it is worth $200+ US...

It is just silly to connect your HD player with a f**king cable to your large stereo system at your livingroom without any control from your seat.

Think about future? Do you want to have such a solution the rest of life?

Well I dunno about this "future" but it doesn't matter to me personally. Music played in-home is either from my PC or from a CD changer or from an MD deck, to my receiver/speakers; I'd never try to use a DAP as a primary in-home music source. I even have a remote for my PC so I can skip tracks, etc. but I barely ever use it since just pressing the track keys on the kbd or using the mouse/screen seem to be just as easy.

The wireless remote facility is nice though, if you're using a portable DAP to play music from. There are separate wireless receiver/remote packages available for iPods though, so you aren't exactly limited to using the silly sound dock things. You could use an existing shelf system/receiver/etc. and just buy a wireless remote for it.

Again this doesn't help you with the Sony though. However I do remember someone created an interface for the Walkman remote port using an IR receiver that plugged into the remote port and then utilised a PIC that interpreted commands from an IR remote and translated them to the electrical signals for the Walkman. This was, however, a DIY project and was for an MD unit; but it is possible if you want to go to the trouble.

Maybe we have luck and sony will hear us and provide such a real good (maybe high priced...) unit.

I doubt Sony will release something like that. They might have a small speaker dock for the A1000/A3000 already (I can't remember now); but if there isn't one for the HD5 already there never will be one as Sony has discontinued that model some time ago now (and as mentioned there is no dock connector on the HD5 anyway).

[lindijones]

To MDX-400:

Well anyway if you think that the bose has a bad sound. I aggree with you with the large HIFI-Systems like Acoustimass Series or something like that, but for sure the Bose Sounddock is the best sounding speakersystem for the iPod. For sure you can have more if you buy a normal Stereosystem. But anyway you will have the Problem with the remote for any other player than the iPod.

Today i heard a new logitech iPod Speakersystem and it has an integrated LiIon-Battery. And it also has a remote unit and the sound is also nice. Maybe better in mid/high range than this im7 from Altec.

But well the Power is not the same as it is in the IM7.

The Battery lasts for about 10 hours, on the logitech page.

You know for an iPod owner and the want-have-features like mine is this really perfect.

Up to right now i always heared music with headphones. But i changed a little in that way and now i want to have something to hear good music in any portable way like all these sounddocks. And they are all for the iPOd.

But thats not all which is available. Today i tried this videoplayback on the iPod video screen. It absolutely nice.

Well the resolution is reduced and you need to convert all the videos. But anyway you can also control the video like an MP3 with this wheel. You can access very easily minute 47 of an 2 hours video. Really amazing.

I never thought that this is also possible with video.

Anyway. I like my Sony. But the way i want to hear music changed and apple has some stuff to fullfil my dreams.

Don´t have the passion anymore to wait for sony.

I waited for so long time.....

Bye

Tom

[stevester162000]

I returned my NW-A3000 to Amazon because of the software/build quality issue and got a Zen Vision: M only £225 at the moment. Forget 5G Ipod this is the best thing you can get with your money, sound quality just as good as a Sony and doesn't distort like 5G Ipod

[Guest Stuge]

stevester162000,

Can you post the review of your Zen Vision M in Lounge section.

[lecram1971]

I have 2 reasons for not going to Ipod right now:

1) Money

2) Gapless Play back

Reason 2 always was, as a music fan, the main reason, but now with 60gb video etc., when I can have the Money (reason 1) I think I wil go for it. Unless Sony give something similar that use ATRAC.

[Guest Stuge]

lecram1971

You buy Sony products b`coz of Atrac CODEC???Bizzare

[lindijones]

I can understand the reason with atrac. Atrac is a great format.

Because of this gapless thing. It´s such a shit in ipod.

Now i have the 60 gb video ipod.

Well sound without eq is little better than in HD5 i think. But the eq settings you cannot use.

There is no setting out of 13(?) without any distortion. The bass in all the tracks to powerfull then and it sounds horrible.

Well i dont know. The perfect Player has to be made. Maybe with Bluetooth A2DP??

And then SONY:

Please make a cool Boombox like the iPod Hifi!!! Or anything similar in BLACK and I would buy this at once!!!

I think many more people too!!!

AND:

Make ConnectPlayer stable and fast as soon as possible!!!!

You will loose the fight against iPOd if you do not!!!!

tom

[lindijones]

Hei Guys!!

Should i have to say that i bought an iPod and the iPod Hifi?

Yes I bought it and it is really great. It´s not perfect but very great.

Videothing is cool but difficult to get DVDs to the iPod. Because of all that Copy Protection things.

Next cool thing is the Podcasts. Absolutely integrated in iTunes. No comfortable chance in SonicStage.

And sound quality seems better than in HD5. I am not sure because the iPod seems to be more powerfull or let´s say aggressive in sound.

The HD5 is a little smoother and thats maybe the reason why some people say that the sound of the sony is not that good.

A friend of mine bought the A1000 and he also said that the ipod is more aggressive in sound.

I also checked a short time the A1000 and i think the sound increased a bit compared to the HD5. No real comparison to the iPod.

Some things to the iPod Hifi:

I sounds totally good for this price. And hey all the audiophile guys: Don´t tell me anything about the price and that you will a much better stereo with a separate Amp and all that sxxx!!!!

Do´n´t want to have that!

iPod Hifi is the thing which I was waiting for. Batteries also possible.

Well also some things are not that good. One thing is gapless playback. And there are also some Firmware-Problems in the iPod.

Where is Sony? Why is there a better Speakerset for the Walkmanphones than for the Walkmans itself?

Who needs that 2 Watt speaker bullsxxxx for about 99 euro?

COME ON SONY!!!

I was/am such a huge Fan of Sony. But I think they will not survive if they go on like this.

Why won´t you make a similar Speakersystem like iPod hifi using the remote connector on nearly all the Minidisc CD HD Walkmans???

I know that not all the remotes work with all the players but hey SONY: Find out how to make it in a cool way to make a wireless IR remote for nearly all of your SONY players.

Who dont want to have a comfortable Remote? And: I dont have a CD Player anymore!!! So the iPod is the only way to get such a solution right now!!!

SONY: Make it better and i will be back with you!!

Tom

[pata2001]

2) Gapless Play back

Reason 2 always was, as a music fan, the main reason, but now with 60gb video etc., when I can have the Money (reason 1) I think I wil go for it. Unless Sony give something similar that use ATRAC.

That pretty much rules out all DAPs out there except for Sony + Atrac. At least with iPods, you can put Rockbox to have gapless. That's not the case with other DAPs (creative, etc). As for money and the features you get, the iPods are now actually on-par/better than the competitors.

stevester162000: As for 5G iPod distortion, simply don't use the EQ. If you need bass, buy better headphones/earbuds.

[lindijones]

stevester162000: As for 5G iPod distortion, simply don't use the EQ. If you need bass, buy better headphones/earbuds.

Do you also know the distortion with EQ? That a real problem with 5G iPod!!! I really cannot use the EQ!!!!

What to do? That one thing where the Sony is much better...

tom

[pata2001]

Do you also know the distortion with EQ? That a real problem with 5G iPod!!! I really cannot use the EQ!!!!

What to do? That one thing where the Sony is much better...

tom

Yes, the EQ distortion is very obvious, even on MP3s that have been MP3gained.

1st, I would use MP3gain to reduce clipping on all your MP3s. Although some EQs can still distort, some of them would become acceptable. If they're still distorted, well, simply don't use the EQ. If you don't "like" the sound, buy a better headphone. I like the 5G iPod sound without EQ just fine, and I use Sennheiser HD555.