Sony Walkman Nwa3000 20gb

[the hoff]

Hi All

I am pretty new to the world of mp3 etc (if that's possible) and am seriously considering buying the above from here;

http://www.play.com/Electronics/Ele..._NWA3000_Walkman_20GB_MP3_Player/Product.html

I can't afford an ipod etc as the £ per GB is too much for me, same with the Creative models

I have read a lot of threads on here and other websites relating to this player and the principal grumbles seem to be with the software.

I would like some advice on this player and its relative worth as a purchase and also some tips on how to improve the software operation etc.

I appreciate that this topic has been discussed on other threads, but what I am looking for is as unbiased advice as I can get.

A lot of the other threads (not so much on here - but certainly on other sites) seem to be invaded periodically by Sony haters and contain "advice" along the lines of "it's S*@%, I hate it" etc etc... It may be that it is in fact correct advice but I would like a bit of detail to back it up

FYI - I am reasonably ok with computers, but would not consider myself an expert at all.

If anyone else has other options they think I should explore, I am open minded, but I would be looking for a similar storage capacity and the price is an absolute maximum.

I will probably upgrade the headphones in a few weeks so I am not so concerned unless they are absolutely terrible.

Thanks in advance for your help

Hoff

 

[Maidenpriest]

Its a great piece of hardware and the software isn't bad like everyone makes out! just takes a while to learn ALL THE LITTLE FEATURES, quite easy to use for straight transfers, make sure you download sonicstage 4.3. Soundquality of the NWA-3000 was the best for it's time, the displays a bit rubbish! but the batterys last ages!

It is such a durable player, it will last at lot longer than the Ipod and will take being thrown about!, but the Sony NW-HD5 IMO is much better.

Another problem with Sony is you need to make sure your music is backed up on your PC, because if you lose the music on your pc you cannot transfer from the device back, unless that music is their, a real pain if you get a new pc!

 

[the hoff]

Thanks Maidenhead

NW-HD5 is a bit out of my price range at the moment

At the moment it will just be used for essentially copies of my existing cd collection, so backups are not an issue at present - but thanks for the heads-up

Bit of a noob question, but how do you get the Sonicstage 4.3 is it from the website or an update of the supplied software?

Cheers

Hoff

 

[Maidenpriest]

Thanks Maidenhead

NW-HD5 is a bit out of my price range at the moment

At the moment it will just be used for essentially copies of my existing cd collection, so backups are not an issue at present - but thanks for the heads-up

Bit of a noob question, but how do you get the Sonicstage 4.3 is it from the website or an update of the supplied software?

Cheers

Hoff

Why thanks for calling me Maidenhead? my user name is Maiden (iron maiden) mix with Priest (Judas Priest) i am also a big Motorhead fan (more so than Priest) thats a nice alternative Maidenhead (bagsy mine this user name now! )

 

[the hoff]

Sorry about that I am slowly losing my mind (I ate a lot of beef in the 90's)

On another related subject, did you manage to hack the volume control/limiter on the Sony or is it a lot of fuss about nothing?

I have got an aeroplane journey soon and I am not sure if I can stretch to some replacement headphones before then.

Thanks

Ps: have the user name on me

 

[wicker_man]

If you do prefer to get an iPod, last time I checked you could get a 30GB refurb from the Apple Refurb store for £129, and you get full warranty etc. Cheapest new was around £140 from Think4.

And for headphones, I'd reccomend Sennheiser CX300, available for £20 or less and they were great when I used them with my iPod on the plane when we went on holiday last year.

 

[Maidenpriest]

Sorry about that I am slowly losing my mind (I ate a lot of beef in the 90's)

On another related subject, did you manage to hack the volume control/limiter on the Sony or is it a lot of fuss about nothing?

I have got an aeroplane journey soon and I am not sure if I can stretch to some replacement headphones before then.

Thanks

Ps: have the user name on me

Alright! do a search on volume hacking it is so simple, i have done it for both, and the results are so good especially with speakers, damn you eu laws!

 

[zmaster007]

Another happy NW-A3000 owner here! The "connect" software was the main source of complaint, but the new "sonicstage 4.3" is much better and easier to use. Make sure you upgrade the firmware to version 3.0 if it isnt already.

 

[the hoff]

Hi Wicker Man

Thanks for the idea, I wasn't aware of that. Unfortunately due to my upcoming holiday (reason for plane journey) I am restricted to an absolute maximum of £100

Thanks for the tip on the headphones though, they will definitely be ones I will check out

Maidenpriest

Have had a quick look for the hack and it looks fairly straightforward so it is good to know that's the case

Cheers to both

Anyone tell me where you download the latest SonicStage/connect software?

Also is there a benefit of using the Sony/ATRAC compression over say WMA?

I was intending to compress at 192Kbs as I don't have a massive amount I want to squeeze onto it. Looking on here that seems to give the best compromise between file size/sound quality

Thanks in advance

 

[the hoff]

Sorry another (noob) quickie;

How is the firmware upgrade done and how do I tell which version I have?

Thanks

 

[wicker_man]

Also is there a benefit of using the Sony/ATRAC compression over say WMA?

I was intending to compress at 192Kbs...

If you have downloaded music as MP3/WMA/AAC etc, converting to another format will reduce the sound quality quite a fair bit, so it is best to stick to what you got it as.

For ripping CDs, I'd reccomend trying different formats and bitrates and testing them out to see what sounds best to you. Some people can't distinguish between 192kbps MP3 and CD, yet some need higher such as 224kbps, or you may be happy with 128kbps.

Personally, I rip 192-320kbps VBR MP3 which results in larger file sizes but better quality and MP3 files are compatible with practically all players if I decide to change (although I am perfectly happy with my 3 year old iPod).

 

[GBDG1]

NW-HD5 is a bit out of my price range at the moment

They can be had for £50ish second hand.

 

[Maidenpriest]

If you have downloaded music as MP3/WMA/AAC etc, converting to another format will reduce the sound quality quite a fair bit, so it is best to stick to what you got it as.

For ripping CDs, I'd reccomend trying different formats and bitrates and testing them out to see what sounds best to you. Some people can't distinguish between 192kbps MP3 and CD, yet some need higher such as 224kbps, or you may be happy with 128kbps.

Personally, I rip 192-320kbps VBR MP3 which results in larger file sizes but better quality and MP3 files are compatible with practically all players if I decide to change (although I am perfectly happy with my 3 year old iPod).

I rip at 256kbps to 352kbps sounds phenomenal on a Sony hard drive player, i only go lower if i have no choice (download at lower bit rates) or if the soundquality is not good (ie bootleg)

 

[the hoff]

Lawrenzini

Thanks for that, now I am even more confused!!!

I have seen a few HD5's on fleabay and that price seems to be about right, look like good sellers too so I am tempted

What is the opinion on the forum of a 2nd hand HD5 vs the a brand new NW-A3000

Maidenpriest

Thanks for the info on bitrates. I am a bit old school and would prefer less songs, better quality. Just as a guide how many minutes of music does 20gb equate to at this higher bitrate?

Cheers

 

[wicker_man]

Personally, I prefer the styling of the HD5 to the A3000. It is also smaller and looks cooler.

One of my friends has a HD5 (in black) and the sound quality is very good, and although it took me a while to get the navigation (not as simple as an iPod I'm used to), it does seem like a nice player.

Regarding space of MP3s, bear in mind that a 20GB player will have around 18GB or so actual formatted capacity.

18GB will store roughly:

335 hours @ 128kbps
268 hours @ 160kbps
224 hours @ 192kbps
192 hours @ 224kbps
168 hours @ 256kbps
134 hours @ 320kbps

 

[the hoff]

Hi all

Thanks for the useful information. You are a clever bunch of people

I am starting to make up my mind on this, I think I am going to see what sort of bid will get a second hand player as money is a bit of an issue and if it can be had for a fair bit cheaper I think I will take a gamble.

Am very encouraged by the comments on sound quality as that is the principal reason I want a higher gb player, so I don't have to compress as much.

It still looks like I will be able to fit 100-150 cds (at least) and not have to compress hugely

Seeing as I will be (at the moment at least) just ripping my existing cd collection - would I be better doing it in the ATRAC format from the start or simply ripping as mp3 to Windows and transferring over?

Thanks again for the replies

Hoff

 

[wicker_man]

I perfer MP3 because it is compatible with practically all players, should I decide to switch players or want to listen on a computer with no specialist software (practically any media player can work with MP3).

And as I started earlier, test out different bit rates of music and see what seems best to you (with good speakers/headphones).

A quick look on eBay shows Sony HD5s ending between £50 and £120 depending on condition, so you should be able to get something in budget.

 

[Maidenpriest]

Lawrenzini

Thanks for that, now I am even more confused!!!

I have seen a few HD5's on fleabay and that price seems to be about right, look like good sellers too so I am tempted

What is the opinion on the forum of a 2nd hand HD5 vs the a brand new NW-A3000

Maidenpriest

Thanks for the info on bitrates. I am a bit old school and would prefer less songs, better quality. Just as a guide how many minutes of music does 20gb equate to at this higher bitrate?

Cheers

I got my 2nd HD5 - the hd5h (30gig yeah!) from ebay for about £125 8 months ago and still going strong, hardly ever needs recharging and i use it daily! it was the first and only time i had spent this sort of money on ebay and i took the gamble, but i did my homework a little bit of detective work and i found out it was someone from this forum and so i read his posts and that way had a good idea of the person i was buying from and the condition of the HD5h! (hello if your reading and thanks again! )

 

[Maidenpriest]

Lawrenzini

Thanks for that, now I am even more confused!!!

I have seen a few HD5's on fleabay and that price seems to be about right, look like good sellers too so I am tempted

What is the opinion on the forum of a 2nd hand HD5 vs the a brand new NW-A3000

Maidenpriest

Thanks for the info on bitrates. I am a bit old school and would prefer less songs, better quality. Just as a guide how many minutes of music does 20gb equate to at this higher bitrate?

Cheers

I have about 3833 songs on my 30 gig hd5h mostly 256kbps about 30 are 192kbps about 40 are 352kbps (Pink floyd MFSL Audiophile recordings of the classic albums amazing quality on this hd5 player!), bear in mind it is about 28 gigs and some of the music i listen to is 352kbps are 30mins long per song!

 

[the hoff]

Thanks again Maidenpriest

I just lost out on Fleabay for a mint HD-5

Bit of an amateurs mistake, I put my final bid in too early!!!

Good to know about the number of songs on your 30gb, I guess that would equate to at least 2,500 on a 20gb which is more than adequate for me at the moment.

I am in a similar position that I have a lot of music which is not your usual 4-5mins song length so that would probably be more representative of how many I can fit on without encoding at S t-rates

I am assuming your preferred format is mp3 for similar reasons as wicker man

Thanks again

 

[Maidenpriest]

Thanks again Maidenpriest

I just lost out on Fleabay for a mint HD-5

Bit of an amateurs mistake, I put my final bid in too early!!!

Good to know about the number of songs on your 30gb, I guess that would equate to at least 2,500 on a 20gb which is more than adequate for me at the moment.

I am in a similar position that I have a lot of music which is not your usual 4-5mins song length so that would probably be more representative of how many I can fit on without encoding at S t-rates

I am assuming your preferred format is mp3 for similar reasons as wicker man

Thanks again

No! my preffered format is ATRAC because this is gapless ie Dark Side Of The Moon does not have that annoying gap! and it flows exactly like it does on the cd! Everyone i know that Ipod does gapless as well now

 

[the hoff]

Hi Maidenpriest

Thanks for that I will go with ATRAC and see what the results are

As I said before I am not too fussed about "transferability" at the moment as it is principally my own cd collection anyway

Noob question #3 What does gapless mean? Is there a limit to track length etc That sounds like a big thing as I have some tracks at over 25 mins I definitely need on the player

Cheers

 

[Hrochnick]

Gapless means that if you have albums that have songs that merge into each other such as Pink Floyd's dark side of the moon or a dance collection (to quote the two most repeated examples) the player will be able to play them seamlessley as on the Cd and you wont notice that one mp3 track has changed to the next. If a player can not play gaplessly you will hear a silent pause, a gap, between the songs interupting the smooth flow-through from one the the next.

 

[Maidenpriest]

Gapless means that if you have albums that have songs that merge into each other such as Pink Floyd's dark side of the moon or a dance collection (to quote the two most repeated examples) the player will be able to play them seamlessley as on the Cd and you wont notice that one mp3 track has changed to the next. If a player can not play gaplessly you will hear a silent pause, a gap, between the songs interupting the smooth flow-through from one the the next.

My reason's for sticking with Sony Players are quite simply because Sony have a 'rich Audio/Hi-Fi History' and soundqualiy for me is the most important factor when listning to an audio device! the fact this Walkman History means they have also perfected durability and battery life is an added bonus!

Not as good software as an Ipod i can live with that, Apple are going to make better software it is their expertise! but are they going to make better sound quality, when they don't have an audio history???

 

[GBDG1]

My reason's for sticking with Sony Players are quite simply because Sony have a 'rich Audio/Hi-Fi History' and soundqualiy for me is the most important factor when listning to an audio device! the fact this Walkman History means they have also perfected durability and battery life is an added bonus!

Not as good software as an Ipod i can live with that, Apple are going to make better software it is their expertise!

Sonic stage 4.3 does the job pretty well. Personally I hate itunes, a terrible piece of bloatware that wants to manage everything on your computer and uses masses of resources to do seemingly very little.