Few questions abt. Sony Walkman X from an iPod User

[Avenger]

Hi. I'm an apple iPod user (nano, touch) but am open minded in looking at other products. I am going to take a look at the Walkman X as a possible replacement for my nano for audio listening only. My main question is how good is the content transfer software that allows you to move playlists from itunes onto the media player? I still want iTunes as my main organizer because I use it for the ipod touch and an Apple TV. Is it pretty much drag and drop? Also, what of album art? A lot of times I have high resolution album art. Will this transfer and be scaled properly on the Walkman X? I read of an issue with an older sony player that couldn't handle large album art images. The ipod takes any size and scale appropriatly.

Is there anything else I should be concerned about? I'm looking at mainly mp3's and non drm aac's.

[Zizone]

I don't use content transfer so I can't answer that part of question. But, I can tell you that you don't have to worry about high resolution album art displaying properly by Walkman X.

Just to help you decide if Walkman X is the device for you or other devices...

Walkman X is great for music playback with superb sound at high volume (S-master digital Amp), especially with large headphones, with no distortion, Noise-Canceling function, great video playback and youtube videos but for other apps or internet browsing is not good as iPod touch. If you are serious about music sound quality and videos with nice OLED, then I strongly suggest Walkman X but if you are more into other side things then I say ipod touch.

[bob123]

I have Walkman X and use content transfer from Itunes - works really well. No issues. Just drag n drop. Album art etc all good. Agree with last post. If you want great SQ etc then Walkman x is the one.

[Avenger]

I have Walkman X and use content transfer from Itunes - works really well. No issues. Just drag n drop. Album art etc all good. Agree with last post. If you want great SQ etc then Walkman x is the one.

Sorry for the double post in the other thread, but I am just curious what version of iTunes you are using? I have 8.1 but there is an 8.2 and someone in another post stated there may be an issue with 8.2. Thanks... I'm still thinking about this one. I need the transfer playlists to work or else I would go mad recreating them Also what OS are you using? Windows XP or Vista?

[bob123]

I'll check but I think I'm actually still on Itunes 8.0. I was meaning to update Itunes to 8.2 so might do it and let you know if there is any difference. You have to make sure you have the most up to date content transfer as well. I was using an older one that wouldn't allow itunes playlist transfer.

If your itunes playlists are important to you, you should definitely make sure because WMP11 doesn't recognise AAC songs sufficient to incorporate into its playlist so you are then left with a program called Walkman MTP which works well but you have to create playlists from scratch using the music on the player. I hear Windows 7 has WMP12 which recognises AAC songs etc but I don't have that yet.

My OS is vista.

[Zizone]

I'll check but I think I'm actually still on Itunes 8.0. I was meaning to update Itunes to 8.2 so might do it and let you know if there is any difference. You have to make sure you have the most up to date content transfer as well. I was using an older one that wouldn't allow itunes playlist transfer.

If your itunes playlists are important to you, you should definitely make sure because WMP11 doesn't recognise AAC songs sufficient to incorporate into its playlist so you are then left with a program called Walkman MTP which works well but you have to create playlists from scratch using the music on the player. I hear Windows 7 has WMP12 which recognises AAC songs etc but I don't have that yet.

My OS is vista.

After installing supplied CD for WMP 11 it recognizes AAC files but it can't be used for playlist? (I use PS3 to manage my AAC files and WMP 11 for L-PCM)

[bob123]

I didn't install the supplied WMP11 CD but I had downloaded and installed from the web a add-on to enable WMP11 to recognise AAC. When I did that although it would recognise and play AAC you couldn't transfer to player from WMP11 etc.

Can you sync your player from the PS3?

[Zizone]

I didn't install the supplied WMP11 CD but I had downloaded and installed from the web a add-on to enable WMP11 to recognise AAC. When I did that although it would recognise and play AAC you couldn't transfer to player from WMP11 etc.

Can you sync your player from the PS3?

Oh ok.

You can transfer AAC or MP3 files from PS3 without any problem (that includes transferring Album art). PS3 recognizes Walkman as Walkman not simply as USB device. So it supports Walkman.

[Avenger]

I'll check but I think I'm actually still on Itunes 8.0. I was meaning to update Itunes to 8.2 so might do it and let you know if there is any difference. You have to make sure you have the most up to date content transfer as well. I was using an older one that wouldn't allow itunes playlist transfer.

If you upgrade iTunes to 8.2, be careful. I think it is hard to downgrade once you ugrade iTunes. From reading some forums, you need to backup your iTunes library file while still on the older version before upgrading since during the upgrade process, the library file is updated. I have iTunes 8.1. Anyone out there using content transfer successfully with it for playlists? I know iPod touch & iPhone users were forced to move to iTunes 8.2 when the device OS got upgraded to 3.0.

[bob123]

I just checked and I am using iTunes 8.1.0.51 - so i assume that is iTunes 8.1.

...and i can drag n drop songs and playlists from itunes using content transfer

[Avenger]

I just checked and I am using iTunes 8.1.0.51 - so i assume that is iTunes 8.1.

...and i can drag n drop songs and playlists from itunes using content transfer

Thanks bob. That is the version I am using also. I'll probably give the Walkman X a try out in that case.

[Ascariss]

I would advise you to hold out for a new audio player if you can for september or so.

[bob123]

Do you have inside info on what is on the horizon Ascariss?

[Avenger]

Do you have inside info on what is on the horizon Ascariss?

I guess you have the yearly iPod refresh and the Zune HD launch in September for starters. But I'm going to take a look at the Walkman X anyway because of the good sound quality. I was looking for something a bit smaller than an iPod touch or Zune HD and the walkman seems to fit the bill.

[Zizone]

Do you have inside info on what is on the horizon Ascariss?

I believe he is referring to a new Walkman, possibly new A series. My guess is that it'll be a news about the player, not the release date.

I don't regret purchasing X series though. As for me, this player is really great for audio device (I personally don't watch video on the go). The sound is less digital, more smoothness in sound, compared to previous Walkman.

[bob123]

I believe he is referring to a new Walkman, possibly new A series. My guess is that it'll be a news about the player, not the release date.

I don't regret purchasing X series though. As for me, this player is really great for audio device (I personally don't watch video on the go). The sound is less digital, more smoothness in sound, compared to previous Walkman.

I totally agree. I also only use for audio and love the sound. Well worth the purchase. No regrets.

[Ascariss]

well there are new walkmans coming according to sonyinsider, but then of coure ipods and the ZuneHD which features the tegra cpu which is one powerful cpu.

the X series is a nice audio device but falls short on video. Wifi is also not the best. besides the ancient CPU in the X series, it is overpriced for what it offers.

If Sony would have kept the oled, and added more audio codecs, and removed wifi, it might have been priced more reasonable.

Unfortunately the new walkmans will not be above the x series and from the article little info is known. here is the article

http://www.sonyinsider.com/2009/06/09/goog...oduct-strategy/

The next Walkman will have advanced hardware, capable of higher resolutions than the limited video capabilities of the current X series

Expect new Video Walkmans coming soon sometime during July to September, and 2010 models coming in January to March.

So I would wait, since by the time the new ones come out, there will be other new players from other companies out as well and it might be that the X series will drop in price by then.

[bob123]

well there are new walkmans coming according to sonyinsider, but then of coure ipods and the ZuneHD which features the tegra cpu which is one powerful cpu.

the X series is a nice audio device but falls short on video. Wifi is also not the best. besides the ancient CPU in the X series, it is overpriced for what it offers.

If Sony would have kept the oled, and added more audio codecs, and removed wifi, it might have been priced more reasonable.

Unfortunately the new walkmans will not be above the x series and from the article little info is known. here is the article

http://www.sonyinsider.com/2009/06/09/goog...oduct-strategy/

So I would wait, since by the time the new ones come out, there will be other new players from other companies out as well and it might be that the X series will drop in price by then.

I personally think it depends on what you want the player for. If it is for video etc then yes maybe best to wait. But if it is only or mainly for audio I don't see any point in waiting. I expect any new walkmans to have the same audio quality as the x series - perhaps depending on the model maybe even not as good as the x series. As such if it were me I would not wait. At least you get to enjoy the SQ now!

[Ascariss]

I personally think it depends on what you want the player for. If it is for video etc then yes maybe best to wait. But if it is only or mainly for audio I don't see any point in waiting. I expect any new walkmans to have the same audio quality as the x series - perhaps depending on the model maybe even not as good as the x series. As such if it were me I would not wait. At least you get to enjoy the SQ now!

I only buy sony walkmans for their build quality and sound quality, but the x series is too expensive to justify sound quality even if it is the best on the market. I could see myself paying, 300 tops for the X series.

[bob123]

Fair enough. Certainly if there were an X Series model that had no video, photo or web but was a lot cheaper I would have bought that instead. My X Series 16GB cost $550 NZ dollars (purchased in Singapore) which is about $400 canadian I think.

It will be interesting to see where they go with the next A series walkman. My guess is the next A series may be a touch player but without WLAN and NC etc and that they will then grow the X series to be more open like the Ipod Touch with the ability to add other applications etc and leave the A series as the closed player intended mainly be an audio player with video and photo added on.

The questions is when (if ever!) will Sony finally bring back gapless playback and playlists on the go etc?

[Ascariss]

The questions is when (if ever!) will Sony finally bring back gapless playback and playlists on the go etc?

Not sure, would want to see it as well, especially if I could use cue sheets which I could make at home for home made mixes.

It will be interesting to see if sony does launch any new players, atraclife/sonyinsider has not been wrong on the walkman side of things before.

[bob123]

Avenger - just fyi ... out of interest I updated iTunes on my work computer to 8.2 and as others have found Content Transfer doesn't like iTunes 8.2 very much - playlists can't be dragged and dropped etc.

Which is good to know so I will leave my home pc on iTunes 8.1!

[Avenger]

Avenger - just fyi ... out of interest I updated iTunes on my work computer to 8.2 and as others have found Content Transfer doesn't like iTunes 8.2 very much - playlists can't be dragged and dropped etc.

Which is good to know so I will leave my home pc on iTunes 8.1!

Thanks for the confirmation. And for sacrificing your office computer :>

[Zizone]

Avenger - just fyi ... out of interest I updated iTunes on my work computer to 8.2 and as others have found Content Transfer doesn't like iTunes 8.2 very much - playlists can't be dragged and dropped etc.

Which is good to know so I will leave my home pc on iTunes 8.1!

I forgot where I read about it... but... I read from this or other blog that was quoting Apple that they are aware of other Media Players usage of songs purchased through itune. Obviously, they are,through firmware, preventing use of other software, e.g. Content Transfer, not allowing easy transfer of songs to non-ipod products, i.e. Walkman. Obviously, its their interest to lock up, not through DRM but in similar manner (at least giving some trouble), ipod users from leaving them for Walkman or other audio players.

To be honest, this attitude is no different from using DRM on songs.

[Avenger]

Well I picked up a Walkman X today and have been fiddling with it for a while. I found a few issues:

1. For some reason with content transfer, some songs in my playlists from ITunes show up in the wrong order. I have to go in and manual fix it once it gets transferred to .pla format.

2. I underestimated the job it is to transfer stuff to the player with drag and drop. It would be pretty quick but I am heavily segregated with playlists (probably for no good reason) and I have to drag one at a time. If you drag multiple playlists without waiting for the first to finsh, the playlist could get bad data (ie. from another playlist).

3. I am not an audiophile or guru when it comes to music but I don't like the included earphones. The sound has no warmth to it and not a lot of bass either. I tried fiddling with the equalizer settings (basically trial and error for me) to no avail. I find that both my Bose headphones (one over the ear and one in the ear model) sound much better. Is the Bose sound just coloring my perception of the music? I know many people say the Bose headphones aren't good but they are sounding a lot better than the included ones. Maybe I'm just too used to them?

Otherwise, the user interface is great. The only time I found slowdown is when using the "coverflow" like feature with alot of albums. If it isn't fixed then it is just a gimmick and not very usuable. I'll be filling it up more and trying some other stuff. I didn't try video or web access yet.

[bob123]

Glad that you made the purchase & have not stuck with ipod. It can be frustrating when there are issues with loading songs on the player. You will find that after a bit of experimentation you will come up with a method that works everytime. SQ is so subjective. I think just go with what ever suits you. I did find though that after a few days of listening my views about the SQ of the player improved. I would say the SQ is considerably cleaner and accurate than previous walkmans. I found I was able to increase the treble without any SQ deterioration. Some may like that and others may complain that it lacks warmth. Glad your Bose headphones are doing the trick though.