NWZ-A829 - what a nightmare! some advice please...

[fugusushi]

OK, so i picked up an NWZ-A829.

Now, SonicStage is/was a piece o'**** - but at least i'd got used to it - had all my playlists set up etc.

Now this 829 isn't even recognised by SS!

And now Sony supply 'Media Manager for Walkman' - good grief - you wouldn't believe Sony would offer up an even worse piece of trash than SS, but here it is! And WMP doesn't seem to offer any meaningful transfer options...

So, I'm at a loss and would certainly value some advice....

I wanna transfer my playlists using the best recommended lossless for the best music quality i can get. I store all my music is WAV format - so 'I should' be able to achieve this - some way.

any comments and suggestions would be MUCH APPRECIATED!

[fugusushi]

barney - juli

would you mind me asking what vaious sound settings you've got your 829's on?

[juli_]

barney - juli

would you mind me asking what vaious sound settings you've got your 829's on?

None with the Triple.fi's at all. The combo has a full balanced sound without the need for enhancements.

With my Denon C700s, I also have nothing activated, not even Dynamic Normalizer which I used to use a lot.

When I had the Etymotic ER-4P for a couple of weeks, I used CB +1 and turned down the treble frequency.

[barney]

Default options- No sound settings defined.

I've listened to it on a pair of Dennon AH-D1001 cans and the bundled headphones, sounds better on both.

[fugusushi]

i've got some super-fi 5s, but i found them a little troublesome - i kept needing to readjust them to keep them in my ears... i picked up some shure se 530’s and they're incredibly comfortable to wear...

the triple-fi's are the metallic blue ones, no? how are they? have you looked at the pro 11's - 4 speakers!!

i don't use the equalizer or VPT, but i do have DSEE, Clear Stereo and Dyn. Norm. 'on' --- from what you've said maybe i need to check playback without them too - hadn’t occurred to me to try...

have you put 'everything' across in WAV?

[juli_]

the triple-fi's are the metallic blue ones, no? how are they?

Yes, they're the metalic blue ones and they suit the 829 very nicely

have you put 'everything' across in WAV?

No way! Only my favourite gapless albums of which I whittled it down to 5. The rest is in mp3@320kbps

EDIT: The Triples stay put better in my ears than the super.fi's ever did. No idea why since I have small ears and the Triples are bigger.

Edited May 14, 2008 by juli

[fugusushi]

thanks for the feedback guys - i'll have to test out what you've both commented on...

yeah, i've put everything across right now in mp3 320 - although i've got a ways to go - 4 playlists out of about 10 - i have to put in track details/cover art on the rest... i've not started using it yet - still using my 818 - which is no real hardship...

BTW, you guys might be interested in this - if you haven't already seen it:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/01/video-h...with-bluetooth/

here's the g-sat dongle mentioned - i haven't decided if i'm gonna get one yet - seems like a good way to stroll off and leave your Walkman behind...!

http://www.easydevices.co.uk/pp/Bluetooth_...O_FOR_IPOD.html

here's a review:

http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/globalsat-bth820.php

Edited May 14, 2008 by fugusushi

[decoupe]

I find NWZ-A829 to be great for mass appeal. People have to do more research to find a player to suit their needs. Stop regretting after buying the player and start criticizing it.

[Old Skool P]

I find NWZ-A829 to be great for mass appeal. People have to do more research to find a player to suit their needs. Stop regretting after buying the player and start criticizing it.

This is much true

[Old skool D]

I don't agree, fully. yes , you should do some research ref a new player, BUT you have the right to moan or gripe, particulary if you feel said player is missing a few things.

[barney]

fugusushi- I personally rip everything in AAC 192, having compared MP3 128 to this and found AAC 'cleaner'. However it's whatever you find best. I'll hve a lok at this links, cheers.

I did a lot of research about the A829 (including reading old skool d's initial comments), I looked at the ipod touch and classic and considered a 8GB A81x series.

I took the plunge and must say I'm really pleased with it, ok no fancy UI or controls however I knew the battery life of an ipod would drive me mad. I am frustrated by playlists and video but I think I just need to invest the time in finding out how.

As for voicing concerns/issues, surely that's what a place like this is for to talk about things and get answer to problems?

[fugusushi]

thanks for the feedback…

i've got everything in wav and having worked out how to get wma320 that's what i'm going for…

wma appears to be 'better' than mp3 - or at least according to the Wiki. entry info...

i haven't tested mp3 against wma - i'm getting kinda bored with the hassle or trying to get this all sorted - but when i tested the wma320 against the same track on atrac352 on my 818, it was quite noticeably cleaner (same settings on each player)...

i can't speak to videos, but playlists have proved pretty painless (aside from having to re-set them up). which music player are you using?

i got excited when i just read a review on these guys: http://www.musicgiants.com/

they offer WMA Lossless downloads 'as standard' - cheaper than iTunes too - but, their site crashed my browser twice (when i had tracks in my cart!) plus music selection is not so great - but if they get it together, they'll be a v.good resource... still, it might work for some folks…

[Old skool D]

fugusushi- I personally rip everything in AAC 192, having compared MP3 128 to this and found AAC 'cleaner'. However it's whatever you find best. I'll hve a lok at this links, cheers.

I did a lot of research about the A829 (including reading old skool d's initial comments), I looked at the ipod touch and classic and considered a 8GB A81x series.

I took the plunge and must say I'm really pleased with it, ok no fancy UI or controls however I knew the battery life of an ipod would drive me mad. I am frustrated by playlists and video but I think I just need to invest the time in finding out how.

As for voicing concerns/issues, surely that's what a place like this is for to talk about things and get answer to problems?

Exactly. I'm glad you like your new Toy. With a little bit of reading( and some help from fellow owners!) I think you'll not regret your purchase.

[fredman22]

yeah, i can see that it's 'straight forward' to just transfer them in MP3 or AAC (after ****in' around reentering track details and no cover art) - however, in ATRAC (SS) i was able to put them accross with 352kbps - my options now don't seem to go past 256 - not the end of the world, but could do better, surely...

i can put them on as PCM @ 1411 - great, but 110 tracks are coming in @ 8GBs.

Hense my original question; given the situation, what is the best lossless codec i can use to achieve best sound quality - and how do i do this???

any further suggestions much appreciated...

I'm in the same boat, having recently acquired an A829 to 'replace' my still-operational Atrac equipment after the inevitable happens. I only have 400 CDs or so, and as a rule did not keep them archived on HD at all. The suggestion to re-rip to MP3 made the most sense, unfortunately. I experimented with the Sony program but yes, it only goes to 256, so I began using the formerly much hated WMP to re-rip CDs @ 320kbps and add album art, having to re-create a library in MP3 to support the player. The result is a format less than Atrac - noticeably more lifeless in playback, non-gapless - but a bit more manageable/handier on a 16Gb device, and ooh, I can look at album art briefly during playback. A brief re-training of WMP will give you pretty much what you want, but you will have to maintain a HDD library to 'sync' with easily. I find that most annoying when I only want to rip existing CDs. At present, I reformattted the device (removing all sample tracks, pictures, and video) and re-sync-ed 70 albums/997 tracks @320 with about 5GB of space left. When these things hit 32Gb, I'll either import an Atrac version from Japan, or simply begin using WAV as MP3/AAC just don't do it for me... Cheers.

[kino170878]

I'm in the same boat, having recently acquired an A829 to 'replace' my still-operational Atrac equipment after the inevitable happens. I only have 400 CDs or so, and as a rule did not keep them archived on HD at all. The suggestion to re-rip to MP3 made the most sense, unfortunately. I experimented with the Sony program but yes, it only goes to 256, so I began using the formerly much hated WMP to re-rip CDs @ 320kbps and add album art, having to re-create a library in MP3 to support the player. The result is a format less than Atrac - noticeably more lifeless in playback, non-gapless - but a bit more manageable/handier on a 16Gb device, and ooh, I can look at album art briefly during playback. A brief re-training of WMP will give you pretty much what you want, but you will have to maintain a HDD library to 'sync' with easily. I find that most annoying when I only want to rip existing CDs. At present, I reformattted the device (removing all sample tracks, pictures, and video) and re-sync-ed 70 albums/997 tracks @320 with about 5GB of space left. When these things hit 32Gb, I'll either import an Atrac version from Japan, or simply begin using WAV as MP3/AAC just don't do it for me... Cheers.

You can really hear the difference between 320kbps and WAV? Most people at that rate would find the music to be transparent. So how do you rate Atrac 352 then?

[fredman22]

You can really hear the difference between 320kbps and WAV? Most people at that rate would find the music to be transparent. So how do you rate Atrac 352 then?

I pretty much use A352 exclusively on my Atrac stuff (occasional 'mix' discs using Simple Burner/HiSP) simply because if I could fit everything on disc @ PCM I would, so I use the highest codec 'speed' that still gives me some capacity (A352 = ~5.5hrs./Gb). The sound differences between HiSP (A256) and A352 are very close but as with MP3, I think the spatial presence as well as high end clarity suffer with compression, and now and then I think I can hear that (mostly as a wow or wavering in the high end during busy musical passages, for example). I find that very noticeable on MP3s and although I did not seem to hear it on the 320kbps samples I had, they still lacked a little depth or sonic punch that WAV/Atrac files seem to have. I'll not deny that any of this is placebo effect, but using A352 gives me piece of mind, so... As an update to all of this, a little more browsing here and on Headfi shared the discovery of AAC codec and dbpoweramp. Using AAC seems to restore that 'snap' to music I don't get with Mp3. The dbpoweramp program not only tags/edits your files, it also rips to AAC as well, and the produced files can simply be dragged/dropped into explorer bypassing that whole Walkman Media Manager/WMP mess. I can now edit files/folders as I like, and this AAC sounds as good as Atrac/HiMD to me, so far - so I'll live with it a little longer and we'll see. Cheers.

[shirleywhite_]

Hi friends

Firstly I want to say thanks for all the good info and comments coming through on this thread. Really appreciate the time and trouble people take to give views and help others. I am a long time Sony fan - ( various minidiscs, HD1, HD5 ) but I use mostly my 808. [i never moved on (up?) to the 818.]. So i'm quite used to (and quite like!) Sonic Stage and Atrac. BUT................... would really like to go to 16gb - so am almost certain to be unable to stop myself from buying an 829!!

But this thread has started some nagging doubts ticking away. Firstly there's the functionality I'll lose. ( The various playlists,favourites etc as I understand it?) but there's also the options re ripping/transferring. Luckily perhaps my music is exclusively cds - and not huge amounts (approx 300 cds) - so can always rerip I guess. But at the moment I've got some atrac 352 and some mp3 256. All this thread talk re Winamp,Mediamonkey,Albumart probs etc etc has worried me a little bit!!

Anyone else made the biggish jump from 800 series ( and SS) right into 820 series............. and can fully recommend it??????

Regards to all.

PS was also interested to read the mentions re headphones - I tend to use Superfi 5Pros or Ety 6is with my 808 and (like Juli et al) have all eq/bass etc OFF. Would expect the 829 sound to be very similar ???

[juli_]

Hi Shirley, I love my 16GB Sony despite losing a lot of features from the the 808. My main gripe was about losing gapless, but the 829 can play gapless wav files, not ideal, I know, but at least the facility's there for any crucial live albums etc. You can make playlists via the computer, but there's no deleting tracks directly, although you can delete video directly from the unit.

I think the 829 sounds slightly better than the 808, but it's mainly the soundstage that seems wider. Zizone noticed this too and it certainly gives the impression of a 'bigger' sound. The sound itself is very similar, it just seems to be spread over a larger area. But the 808 sounds really good anyway, so it's not as if one sounds bad and the other sounds great.

I used WMP to sync my music and it was very easy. I had a mix of wma, mp3 and atrac, so I ended up just re-ripping the whole lot again. I didn't bother with Media Manager or any other software because I know WMP really well and it was easier to stick with that.

I'm actually selling my 829 (believe it or not) because it's already full, so I re-bought the Zune to store all my music on, (as the new update featured gapless playback!!) and then I bought the Sony 8GB 828 just because I really like the sound. And I use that specifically for portable use and the Zune when I'm in one place for a long time.

[shirleywhite_]

Thanks for the reply Juli. Interesting that you have gone down the Zune + 8gb 828 route!! I've never seen a Zune in the flesh - but another feature that's important to me is "size" - in that I really like "smallest possible". The slightly larger size of the 829 cf 800 is just about bearable for me! I'm guessing that a zune is larger to some extent.

Your comments re "sound" ( ie wider soundstage ) are reassuring. Thanks.

PS I'm not expecting to use bluetooth much /at all. In fact - if the 729 was readily avaialble I'd perhaps go for that. But on the grounds of "might occasionally want to transfer via bluetooth" I'm going for that rather than realise i'd like the function later!!

Regards.

[intellidryad]

It works well (i'm no apple fan, but it does what it says on the tin), although I have a few grips with itunes:

1, album art doesn't appear on the walkman unless you manually add it (ie get album cover art option doesn't save it in to the file).

2, ripped folder arrangement, although I've become savvy to it now and make sure the album/artist names are identical for each track before ripping.

3, all the extra software installed, apple update, quicktime, bonjour. I must have a look to see how to slim down itunes to the bear essentials......

I am also using iTunes and draging it over to my A720. Some comments:

1. iTunes sometimes adds album art as a PNG image, but the Walkman only reads JPG files, so you have to manually add a JPG file. Well, I don't have an iTunes account, so there's no "auto album art" option for me

2. You can set up iTunes to manage the file structure for you, and the folder names will be neatly managed as the artist & album names.

3. Of all that, you can uninstall or not install Apple update, other then that, Quicktime is the decoding/encoding engine for iTunes, with out it iTunes is just a useless shell; while I don't know why Apple doesn't let people who don't share music uninstall bonjour.

So far, iTunes is the only software I know that can get all the tags and album art right. WMP and Sony Media Manager are simply 2 big nightmares. And yes, I also don't like it that I can't make playlists going this route. I sometimes use Songbird to make playlists, but some how it stopped recognizing my AAC files one day. I might try Media Monkey.