minidisc3 Posted October 25, 2004 Report Share Posted October 25, 2004 Yes you need to run it from the device, that's correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsangc Posted October 25, 2004 Report Share Posted October 25, 2004 Unfortunately I was not able to play the files, because they don't show up in the playlist. I couldn't get the installer to even dearc the files to my PC hard disk, but I copied the tool over manually by extracting the EXE archive in WinZip. I got it to copy, but same as you, I couldn't get it to play the files because they didn't appear in the playlist. I tried moving the DAT files (both the MPxxxx.DAT and PBLISTx.DAT) I guess we'll have to wait for Sony. Best case scenario is there's some unknown file format/directory structure which tells the player which files to play. Maybe it's just a matter of formatting those PBLIST files appropriately. Worst case scenario the device has no MP3 native firmware. Oh well. The NW-MS70D is a nice player, except it's proprietary in every way. Perversely proprietary: Everything from the memory format (MemoryStick, and at that MS Duo) to the file format. Hell, even the headphone connector has a weird adapter collet on it. Calum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minidisc3 Posted October 25, 2004 Report Share Posted October 25, 2004 Well at least the transfer was allowed by the software. It worked on my HD1 but not on my NW-MS7! I guess the foldernames should be different with our players to get them MP3's to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ-NH1 Posted October 26, 2004 Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 Just wait a sec. Are you saying with this tool you can transfer .MP3 files across to you Hi-MD Discman? or only to the new *Walkmans's Sony have just brought out? If yes to the 1st question, does this mean you can transfer .mp3 files to the MZ-NH1? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sxc Posted October 26, 2004 Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 No one is saying you can transfer files using this tool to a Hi-MD. But you could try and see if it is successful. So far people have tried with the HD1 player (transfers but no playback) and the NW-MS70D memory stick walkman (transfers but no playback). No tests done on Hi-MD as yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syrius Posted October 26, 2004 Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 ^^ *Thinks* Hmm.. what could it be?... Transfers to Hi-MD but no playback either? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsangc Posted October 26, 2004 Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 So far people have tried with the HD1 player (transfers but no playback) and the NW-MS70D memory stick walkman (transfers but no playback). No tests done on Hi-MD as yet.Note, I think we could have also made it transfer with a USB memory key or a ZIP drive too. I don't think the tool is detecting that the drive it's being run from is a Sony player. Calum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sxc Posted October 26, 2004 Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 The problem with this software is that Sony has only got half the equation so far. itunes and ipod are popular also because of their ease of use. This MP3 file transfer software is a very basic piece of software that does nothing for ease of use. There are so many flash players in the market that you can directly transfer MP3s to. There isn't a lot of differentiation in Sony's product. Sony needs to get the software side of things working so the user experience is generally pleasant. In the news.com reports, Sony says they will be improving on their software....hopefully they will deliver on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ-NH1 Posted October 26, 2004 Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 Lets hope so sxc! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minidisc3 Posted October 26, 2004 Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 Note, I think we could have also made it transfer with a USB memory key or a ZIP drive too. I don't think the tool is detecting that the drive it's being run from is a Sony player. It won't work, I've tried with my (1999 model) Sony NW-MS7 memory stick walkman. That's why I still have good hope one day it will work with my NW-HD1 HDD walkman, because transfer worked. And Hi-MD? Just try... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xispe Posted October 26, 2004 Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 i've tried in my nh700. It didn't transfered anything... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sxc Posted October 26, 2004 Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 Just tried NH600D - also no go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsangc Posted October 26, 2004 Report Share Posted October 26, 2004 It won't work, I've tried with my (1999 model) Sony NW-MS7 memory stick walkman. That's why I still have good hope one day it will work with my NW-HD1 HDD walkman, because transfer worked. And Hi-MD? Just try...Well, that's reassuring then. The native MP3 thing is really my only major beef with the NW-MS70D. Otherwise, the beautiful design (it's basically a MD remote with an extra lump on it) and materials make it nicer than your average cheapie MP3 player. If I had the ability, investigation of those DAT and playlist files with a hex editor might yield some info. That way we could make it show up in the playlist. That makes the assumption if fed the MP3 data, the hardware can play it back. But I don't know, there could be something more--like a specially placed configuration file, or some sort of binary firmware in the right directory. Maybe the unit has the hardware for MP3 playback, but needs some sort of firmware to be loaded first. Or, maybe not at all. There's also the possibility we're reading far into the words of some random marketing guy, who absent mindedly said "And we'll offer this on older units too!". And that leaves the MemoryStick walkmans as what they are, which is an MD player minus the MD transport and with a virtual flashdisk added. Calum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skmetal07 Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 The problem with this software is that Sony has only got half the equation so far. itunes and ipod are popular also because of their ease of use. This MP3 file transfer software is a very basic piece of software that does nothing for ease of use. i think sony got it right with simple burner, probably because its.....simple the only thing i wont like about mds being mp3 ready is that whenever someone askes me if its a mp3 player, ill have to say..... "yes, it is" :whatever: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 It's alot less confusing than saying, "No, it's an ATRAC player." "What? I don't see any 8-track tapes." :rasp: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skmetal07 Posted October 27, 2004 Report Share Posted October 27, 2004 "8-track!!? that's old-school! check out my mp3 player!" i never really figured out how it was pronounced. is it like the "A" in take and then "track"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ-NH1 Posted October 28, 2004 Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 Lol! I really don't know why Sony just haven't updraded the MD's in a new firmware release of how ever they do it, so that all New Hi-MD's can play mp3. Make life a lot easier for everyone! :@ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skmetal07 Posted October 29, 2004 Report Share Posted October 29, 2004 i don't think that the codec a recorder has can be changed by a firmware upgrade, its a special built in chip that cant be upgraded. i could be wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ-NH1 Posted October 29, 2004 Report Share Posted October 29, 2004 buma :| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qwakrz Posted October 29, 2004 Report Share Posted October 29, 2004 Most codec's are now based on software rules provided from a flash rom. It is easier to use a generic DSP and program it to decode the required audio format. This means you can use a cheap DSP and make a quick program to tell it how to decode. Hardware based decoding chips (Hardwired & non changeable) are very expensive now as they will be made for one purpose only & it costs alot of money to tool (provide the lithographs and other items needed) a production plant to make a few chips. Just my $0.02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syrius Posted October 31, 2004 Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 But what if that same DSP is on a non-rewriteable, fixed ROM chip? (think arcade machines or cartridge games) If sony didn't feel there would be any need to update the codec, there would be no use for a rewriteable chip. And I'm guessing that was their original aim. Unless Hi-MD had been another story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atrain Posted October 31, 2004 Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 this is the next gen chip for the new sony cd walkman. it is also rumoured to be in the next batch of Himd, tho there has been nothing official on that. it's also the reason that current himd owners are kidding themselves if they think retrofitting would work - if it did why make this at all? http://www.toshiba-components.com/prpdf/5536E.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xeroxide Posted October 31, 2004 Report Share Posted October 31, 2004 hmmm, ok. So it's added support for mp3. But tell me, if they were going to use this same chip on the MD, doesn't mean the md will have cd support will it ;-) All I want from my hi-md is the possibility of flagging/unflagging the protection bit. If that could be done with modding the firmware/some other way... that would be purrrrfeccct! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ-NH1 Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 I have just spent my whole day of the weekend, uploading music onto my new 1GB discs. It has taken AGES to 1stly convert the music to ATRAC3plus, and then it uploads the songs (and for some reason some songs don't even play :S) Why does Sony make it so hard for its customers! :@ So I have just used up another 4GB of my Hard drive, with the files I had to convert to ATRAC3plus. Why can't they just allow mp3 suport on their products! :@ 1stly change the layout of SonicStage, so that if we do have to use it, make it so we can use it. We should create a partition, with everyone in this forum signing it and then tell them how difficult and TIME WASTING it is to convert the music to ATRAC, then load it to the MD. This for me, and I would think many others, takes up twice as much space on my hard drive. My only other question is, has this already been done? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skmetal07 Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 that's a good idea, sony probably wont read it, but we could try. i always delete the atrac files on my computer, i have a small hdd so i pretty much have to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ-NH1 Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 Yeh! Oh so you can delete the converted atrac files after they have been uploaded onto your MiniDisc!? It would be good if you could! Because as I said, I have got now 5GB worth of ATRAC files which I don't really want Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeriyn Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 AFAIK, the ATRAC DSP is a specific purpose IC within the MD unit and can't be upgraded and isn't a ROM. I don't know about Hi-MD. I'm not the person to ask about Hi-MD. I still want an AAC-compatible MD unit. :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syrius Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 Yeh! Oh so you can delete the converted atrac files after they have been uploaded onto your MiniDisc!? It would be good if you could! Because as I said, I have got now 5GB worth of ATRAC files which I don't really want Risking to derail the track, I'd say that with unlimited checkouts with SonicBarf 2.2, it's pointless to keep all those OMG/OMA files in your HDD. If you lose a disc containing a song you wanted, simply re-import it, and download to another disc. Just don't delete your original MP3's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ-NH1 Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 Thanks for that Syrius and aeriyn. Does any1 have the same problem as I have just come across? - I upload a track to the Minidisc (1GB Disc) and it says it has been converted and successfully transfered, yet when I have a look, it says track time 00:00! And when I go and play it, it just plays blank sound for 2 secs, then moves onto the next track! Out of the 250 songs I put onto the disc, I'd say about 100 Max were like this! Anyone know what could be the cause of this? please help me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffS Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 This sounds like an issue with the source file. I'm guessing you're converting from mp3, and probably VBR mp3s at that. I've had issues with VBR files that SS (any version) just does not like. For those files rip them out to wav or burn to cd/image and use SS to import from there. That should get you back up and running. Currently I have my music collection in iTunes, using CBR mp3s at 192. Since it has to be transcoded to lp2 there isn't much getting lost and iTunes is decent for music managment. I just import what I'm going to copy to MD, and delete all the files afterwards, including omgs. If you're still having problems transcoding, select the files and do "convert format" first, before transfering to disc. I've had a few times where it does the conversion on the fly, that it's errored out and crashed SS. Good software can be so hard to come by these days... -Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ-NH1 Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 Thanks very much for that Jeff! I'll try it all out But what does VBR mean? :S i got no idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffS Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 Variable Bit Rate. an mp3 that's say, 192 VBR, will use upto 192 bits but use less when there is less information to encode. So they save space. -Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ-NH1 Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 Ok, thanks very much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidrobe10 Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 Its Gonna Cost 20 AUD dollars to upgrade to mp3 support for a Hi-Md but the bad thing is u hav to send it in or u can drive to a sony service center Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ-NH1 Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 Are you serious davidrobe10!!!!! If so, then that is fantastic that Sony will actually upgrade the Hi-MD to play mp3 files without it being converted to ATRA3plus. Is this what you are saying? Or have I misinterpreted what you are trying to say? Where did you get this information from as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 Where did you get this information from as well?Yes, where? :spite: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skmetal07 Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 if this is true and have this done, will u be able to play your old hi-md discs with atrac 3+? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atrain Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 himd or nwhd1? sounds to me like davidrobe10's confused it a little. of course i'd be happy to be proved wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ-NH1 Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 Yeh I recon! Please let this be true for Hi-MD's! Unfortunately I can't find anything on the Aust Sony web site about this info though Is it possible though for Sony to actually make the Hi-MD's play mp3's without them being changed to ATRAC3plus? If Sony were able to change the firmware or something with the Hi-MD’s for a small price, then I think they would win back customers. I definitely would get the procedure done on my Hi-MD! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xispe Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 wow! damn! I would be in heaven if i could upgrade my mz-nh700 to play mp3 files! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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