NW-HD5 questions

[kroff]

hello, i just found u :-) thanks to wikipedia

..anyway ..i have some noobish questions

i have a NW-HD5 Walkman for quite some time now ...and i was just wondering...are there any accessories for this? Whats the LINE OUT thing for? any special cables?

and can someone explain to me the "Network" part in the name of this device? are there some uber hidden networking capabilities in this thing?

well..nowadays i just use it as an expensive portable 20gb hdd :-)

thnx

kroff

[MDX-400]

Line Out mode is for exactly that--line out mode through the headphones jack. Line Out cannot be enabled when a remote is plugged in, but can otherwise. Note: Do not have headphones connected when you switch to Line Out as it may damage them.

Line Out changes the output to a voltage level and impedance level more suited for line-level inputs rather than headphones--it makes the sound quality better when you connect the device to external amps, receivers, etc.

The name "network" as in Network Walkman is completely unrelated to your apparent notion about the word "network". Network Walkman refers only to the fact that you use the device by connecting it to a PC and loading files to it via a computer connection (USB in all cases, I believe). You're reading way too much into the term network, lol.

Why use it as "an expensive portable HDD"? It's quite a competent DAP for it's generation/what it was designed to do.

[navsimpson]

[edit] MDX-400 replied while I was typing, so I just erased my now reduntant message

Edited October 14, 2006 by navsimpson

[kroff]

Line Out mode is for exactly that--line out mode through the headphones jack. Line Out cannot be enabled when a remote is plugged in, but can otherwise. Note: Do not have headphones connected when you switch to Line Out as it may damage them.

Line Out changes the output to a voltage level and impedance level more suited for line-level inputs rather than headphones--it makes the sound quality better when you connect the device to external amps, receivers, etc.

Why use it as "an expensive portable HDD"? It's quite a competent DAP for it's generation/what it was designed to do.

ok thnx for you answer ;-) anyway ...still on the line out subject....why is there a special ...4pin female connector if the sound goes through the phone jack? what remote? and are there any cables, accessories,... that use that special 4pin female connector labeled as LINE OUT?

i'm just little angry at sony ...since it made this walkman after ipod ..and didnt design any addons for it. or at least make somesort of interface for 3rd party products.

..offtopic...

they do this stuff all the time. ...its like the photo cameras DSC and the PSP. One would assume that if they make both of them ...they could make them work together ...but no ...the movies i record with a sony camera can not be played back on the psp ..someone should be kicked out of work.

:-)

kroff

[kerfuffle]

As far as I know, the only thing you can stick in the connector is a Sony remote control, like the ones you get with MiniDiscs.

[MDX-400]

ok thnx for you answer ;-) anyway ...still on the line out subject....why is there a special ...4pin female connector if the sound goes through the phone jack? what remote?

LOL. Funny that you mentioned what is actually the remote port (the 4-pin port) and "what remote?" in the same sentence! Yeah that port is where the remote plugs into.

and are there any cables, accessories,... that use that special 4pin female connector labeled as LINE OUT?

Well the HD5 has few accessories really (if you're comparing it to Apple's Honda Civic-like aftermarket for their iPod, lol). Line Out, as mentioned is supported by any miniplug stereo cable. This cable can either be mini to mini or mini to L/R RCA, depending on what you need for connection to your amp, carstereo, minisystem, etc. If you're connecting the HD5 to play music on anything other than headphones then you'll want to use the line out mode and an appropriate cable to connect it up

There is one car integration interface made for the HD1/3/5 (and now compatible with the A3000) to connect the HD5 to a Sony Unilink car head unit. The interface allows for text display and track skipping, etc. from the head unit. That interface uses the remote port.

That's pretty much all there is. The remote port of course supports a wide variety of Sony remotes for portables, however note that with the Network Walkmans, text won't appear on most of the LCD remotes out there. The only ones that text works on I believe are the RM-MC35ELK and the RM-MC40ELK. Most other LCD remotes will display track time on the remote but no text. The controls on most any remote (even the non-LCD remotes) will work to varying degrees as well. (On some remotes the functions may be mis-mapped or might not work at all; also controls you might want might not be available on a particular remote, that's why it's best to stick with the MC40ELK or MC35ELK).

i'm just little angry at sony ...since it made this walkman after ipod ..and didnt design any addons for it. or at least make somesort of interface for 3rd party products.

Don't get mad at Sony, get mad at everyone that buys an iPod which is everybody, lol. (Well you could get mad and say well Sony should make a product that more people would buy I guess...)

The remote port interface is useable by any company, it's just that no companies use the interface. And the remote port has been there since the early 90s probably, on various Sony portable gear so it's not like it's something new. (There have been differences in the protocol over the years but the cross-compatiblity of remotes is quite good considering how many Sony portables have the same remote port from different generations and for all kinds of different formats: MD, CD, etc.)

Since everyone and their grandma wants/has an iPod, that's what companies make products for. It's not really Sony's fault that 3rd party companies don't make anything for their products. Sony is also to blame a little too as they don't really make any accessories for it either (other than remotes) and don't even support their own player for their own car HUs. Connects2 makes the interface for Sony HUs while Sony decided to make an iPod interface for their head units!!!

Connects2 is pretty much the only manufacturer that's stepped up and used the interface. Other manufacturers could, it's just that none do.

With the A-series HDD Walkmans (the NW-A3000 being the successor to the HD5) Sony did use a new dock connector at the bottom with audio and control functionality. They did make a speaker dock as well as a non-speaker charge/USB/line out dock for those models. However again, no aftermarket company has produced any products for that.

Perhaps with the next-generation HDD Network Walkman we might see some more accessories.

One thing that bothers me though about these accessories is that I think for products like the iPod there are waaay too many accessories. People go nuts for accessories they don't even need or don't actually need to be "custom" [read: overpriced] accessories to do what they need.

Like my cousin with an iPod it's like he's crazy over absolutely useless accessories. I swear he has to have like 10 accessories for his iPod mini, all of which seem quite pointless to me. He's got like 3 car chargers (and only has one car) one of which also has an FM transmitter built in. Then he has another FM transmitter for it, and then he has a stupid wireless remote thing. The wireless remote isn't so bad but he uses it in his car where the location he puts the iPod is clearly within reach He's got like iTrip this and iStupid that, it's just plain stupid IMO. And the best part is he always talks about getting some new accessory that's nearly as pointless as the last or does the same thing but just looks different.

There's no need to buy 10 redundant accessories! For all the money he spent on overpriced iPod accessories he could have easily bought an iPod integration interface for his car's factory head unit, which would have been a much better idea...

..offtopic...

they do this stuff all the time. ...its like the photo cameras DSC and the PSP. One would assume that if they make both of them ...they could make them work together ...but no ...the movies i record with a sony camera can not be played back on the psp ..someone should be kicked out of work.

:-)

kroff

Indeed. There's a thread here about the senseless things Sony does...

http://www.atraclife.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1087

Why they do them is a mystery to everyone.

[kerfuffle]

On the topic of accessories, I think that it's a good thing that there are so little accessories for Network Walkmans, especially my model. If anyone steals it when I'm out and about, they're going to have a very hard time using it to transfer songs or charge it or sell it, 'cause you need the cradle to do anything with it, and unlike iPod docks, they're very hard to get.

But that's just me.

Edited October 15, 2006 by kerfuffle

[maggior]

Yes, there are a bazillion accessories available to iPod users. And this is bad why?

When I used my HD3 in the car, I had a wire running from the back of my stereo onto my passenger seat that I plugged into my HD3. Each time I got in the car, I had to go through the menu, switch it to line out, connect it and lay it on the seat. Somebody in the car with me? Carefully stow it away in my center console. These were the only options I had.

With my iPod, I purchased a gooseneck holder that plugs into the cigarette lighter and has a jack at the base to plug in the lin-in wire from my stereo. It's a beautiful thing - it holds it out of the way, charges the battery, and allows me to hide the wire connecting it to my stereo. And I don't have to access the settings menu everytime I get in the car since the line out is not shared with the headphone jack.

I had a choice of covers. I had a selection of docks. Yeah, it's easy to go nuts, but it's nice to have available what you need to help you enjoy the device.

Yes, the HD3 is older technology. But could I have set myself up with a NW-3000A the way I have my iPod? No. Perhaps the situation is different in Japan. Here in the US, I couldn't even purchase the device let alone accessories!!

If Sony wants to continue to compete in this market, they best wake up. Now that iPod supports gapless, people that only use Sony ATRAC because of gapless will drop Sony like a stone. I did.

Sorry for my rant in support of iPod. But it just frustrates me how Sony has fallen so far behind. I really wanted my Sony devices to fill my needs, but they didn't, at least not the way my iPod has.

Rich

[Ishiyoshi]

*topic moved to the appropriate section of the forum

[W0aIFanN]

Hi, i was wondering if anybody knows how to initialize the NW-HD5, because i formatted it using windows.

After formating it with windows, i got no clues how to get it working again.

[Guest Stuge]

Welcome to AtracLife!

[W0aIFanN]

thank u so much Stuge