Sony NWA3000 Walkman
Well we’re not sure if you’ll be able to wait until the end of October to be able to get your hands on this super cool Sony NWA3000 Walkman. This is being released to coincide with the big launch of the Ipod Nano, and it certainly is going to be the rival to it. The NWA3000 as it is manufactured by Sony gives it the experience of years of successful musical gadgets backing it up. Sony released the original Walkman in the 1980’s when we were so used to having tape cassettes and then moved onto CD’s. This is the best Mp3 player that they have released.
Remarkable this small, pocket sized gadget can store up to 13,000 tracks so you have plenty of room on the 20GB hard drive. This is a vast increase from the storage that the Ipod Nano has, at just 4GB. To go with this increased capacity, the Sony NWA3000 has a 35 hour battery life which means you can be without your charger for much longer periods of time. In comparison the Nano has a battery life of just 14 hours.
The one thing that stands out on the new Sony Walkman is the display. How impressed were we when we saw it. It’s nothing like we had seen before. The text on the display comes through the outer case, so when the gadget is turned off you would not realise the display was on it. It is highly visible and crystal clear when it’s switched on. Also the menu on the display is easily navigable. The software on the Sony is great too with features such as the Artist link which suggests similar songs to listen to, and the Time Machine Shuffle which plays songs from a chosen year. Added to this is the Favourite Shuffle which will play songs randomly from your most listened to tracks. Just like having your very own DJ in your pocket. This Mp3 player will sell in the UK for around £190-£199 and will be available in a range of colours including black (as shown), Silver, Lilac and Pink.
Postscript: Looking to take the Volume Limiter / Restrictor off your European Sony Walkman, then see link
Postscript: If you are looking to incorporate the Sony Walkman into a mobile phone check out the Sony Ericsson W900 Walkman mobile phone.
October 30th, 2005 at 11:37 am
Thankyou for your review, it is the best one i’ve found!
November 4th, 2005 at 5:47 pm
I’d choose this over a pink Ipod
November 4th, 2005 at 5:57 pm
At the moment you’d have to as the Pink Ipod Mini’s are very hard to come by in the UK. People are still wanting the Mini iPod over the Nano due to the screen problems with the Nanos.
November 8th, 2005 at 9:18 pm
Check out amazon for the price, the price is £176
November 8th, 2005 at 9:19 pm
Aloso the 6GB version comes in blue
November 8th, 2005 at 9:22 pm
Somebody tell me if it has a volume restrictor on it though, cause if it can’t be cancelled out easily i wont get it
November 13th, 2005 at 6:38 pm
volume restrictor can be cancelled if required
November 14th, 2005 at 1:27 am
Anyone know if it
a) definitely will play .wma files as well as mp3s and atrac, and
b) can be used as an external hard-drive (and if so what limits to hard-drive usage it has)
November 14th, 2005 at 11:14 am
Hi Jimmy
The Sony NWA3000 converts songs to it’s own format,
Data conversion from MP3 / WMA / WAV to ATRAC3 or ATRAC3plus
As for using it as an external HDD we would say no.
Techlounge
November 15th, 2005 at 12:18 pm
I am really keen to get one of these. However, i currently have a battered old iPod, but 2000 songs on it… is it going to be possible to simply move them all from iTunes to Select/sonicstage? or I am going to need to be more clever do we think?
Cheers!
November 15th, 2005 at 12:25 pm
Bought one on Sunday, thrilled with ease of use and sound quality. So much better looking and better made than the IPod. Is a real quality device.
It can store files in MP3 format if you want to do that. I have found Atrac quality good so far but not tried any classical music.
November 15th, 2005 at 12:44 pm
I am interested to see the positive comments above re the Connect Player software that comes with the NWA3000. After installation the software ran extremely slowly on my PC - and eventually came to a complete standstill. I am aware that others have experienced this problem with this current version (1.0) of Connect Player.
Two days and several re-installations later I eventually gave up and downloaded Sonic Stage 3.3 from the Sony website instead.
This does work with the NWA3000 - except that it doesn’t allow you to take advantage of the intelligent shuffle feature.
I eagerly await an updated version of Connect Player.
November 15th, 2005 at 5:33 pm
I’ve downloaded the new connect player update from their website (http://www.sonydigital-link.com/dna/wm/NWH/NWH.asp?l=en&m=NW-A3000) . Solved most of my problems, I guess that’s the price you pay for new software. It’s better than SonicStage already, but still some job to do, good thing is the soft upgrades itself regularly so pretty soon we’ll have the perfect soft
November 15th, 2005 at 6:40 pm
Thanks woko - but have just got the very latest update and tried again - It still goes like a snail. I suppose I will have to stick with Sonic Stage for now.
November 17th, 2005 at 4:18 pm
Does anyone know the dimensions for the NWA3000?
I can’t seem to find them anywhere
Thanks
November 17th, 2005 at 4:31 pm
Hi Tekkie
The dimensions of the Sony Walkman are
H 10.4 x W 6.52 x D 2.14 cms
Hope this helps
Techlounge
November 18th, 2005 at 12:09 am
Question:
Does the file allow the easy drag and drop of MP3 files from your CDs or backups or does all transfers have to be routed through the device.
Is the battery itself replaceable?
Thanks in advance,
Dave
November 18th, 2005 at 6:32 am
yes the battery is replaceable, but it isn’t removeable like on the HD5. drag and drop is possible in the Connect player. it has native mp3 support, wma support arrives in december via a firmware update.
November 19th, 2005 at 6:13 pm
A quick question:
Does anyone know whether you can make playlists on-the-go with the new Sony?
Thanks
November 19th, 2005 at 7:45 pm
hi, i am thinking about asking for one of these for christmas. I was wondering if anybody knew if they broke or anything. my friend says that she knew somebody who got one and then had to have a replacement twice before changing to an iPod. However, i have heard iPods have problems too. She tends to lie to make herself sound better, so just wondering. also, are you sure they are 10cm tall???? i saw one in dixons and im sure it wasnt that big….
sorry for confusing you all! laura xxx
November 19th, 2005 at 9:41 pm
yes, you can use the nwa3000 as a harddrive. download the manual to learn how to do it: Sony NWA 3000 manual
November 19th, 2005 at 9:48 pm
laura: i’ve ordered one from amazon today, so i haven’t got it yet, but have heard only good things re the quality of the nwa series. there are two sizes: nwa1000 with a smaller harddrive (6gb) and the nwa3000 with a bigger harddrive (20gb). the nwa3000 is also bigger in it self, so the one you saw must have been the nwa1000; it’s only 8.8cm tall.
November 19th, 2005 at 10:23 pm
thankyou andreas, you have helped clear this up! also does using it as a harddrive mean that you can use it as a portable storage device? im not good with all this technical stuff!!! so does it mean that you could put a word document on it and then take it to another computer? i read this somewhere but then comebody further up said no…..so confusing…..
November 20th, 2005 at 3:31 pm
Hi Laura, the sizes of the Sony Walkmans differ buy model. For instance the NWA1000 is (H)8.8, (W)5.5, (D)1.87cm.
November 20th, 2005 at 5:52 pm
thanks!
November 20th, 2005 at 9:24 pm
Wonder if anyone can help - will windows recognise this player as an external drive? ie will I be able to transfer drag and drop tunes from a PC Windows without Sony SS or Connect software installed? In the manual it says you can, but I need to know if the player is recgnised as an external drive BEFORE any Sony drivers or software have been installed (so I can use it at internet cafes / with friends PCs etc). Also, is the charger cable standard USB?
Thanks in advance
November 20th, 2005 at 9:42 pm
i’m really interested in buying one of these but i don’t get a lot of the technical stuff so please bear with me! just a few q’s…
do you have to pay to get music off sony?
can you get songs and stuff off cd’s?
how do you charge it up?
to someone who’s got one… isn’t it quite big?
November 20th, 2005 at 11:20 pm
You do have to pay to get music from the Sony connect site - from what I have been able to see (on the few moments that I got access to the Sony site before the connect software hung again) tracks seem to cost 99p each.
Yes you can get songs off cds but a number of people including myself have had difficulty doing this with the Connect software - which for a lot of people simply does not work properly (even in its latest version). You can get round this by downloading Sonic Stage software instead from Sony - if you do it that way then although the listening quality is excellent you can’t use the special intelligent shuffle functions of the player.
You can charge it up from a PC using the USB connection or from the mains (which is faster) with the supplied adaptor.
November 20th, 2005 at 11:39 pm
thanx! what do you think the iklihood of the Connect software being improved is? i’d like to be able to use the shuffle functions if possible so i’d rather not use Sonic Stage… i also think my computer maybe a little too slow to deal with it… by the way… sorry for sending the last message twice! as i said, not very good with technology!
November 21st, 2005 at 2:47 pm
Is it possible to downloand music from iTunes onto this? Looking at getting one for my girlfriend but haven’t got a clue how all this works!!
November 21st, 2005 at 11:42 pm
Connect is so bad (the worst piece of software I have come accross in years!) that it will have to be improved quickly if Sony is serious about selling this player. I presume they are working on it now but who knows how long it will take.
November 22nd, 2005 at 11:14 am
does anyone know how to cancel the volume restrictor on the nw-a1000? or can someone recommend a link to a website that can?
November 23rd, 2005 at 4:22 am
does anyone know if the NWA 3000 can accept a remote controller (like on MD players?) If so, which model remote would I need?
thanks in advance
November 23rd, 2005 at 10:01 am
I’m new to all this MP3 stuff so could someone let me know if this player will play podcasts from radio station websites like the BBC?
Thanks
November 23rd, 2005 at 10:23 am
Raiden > I found out there will be a remote controller called Sony RM-NWS1, due to be released in December. Try searching for it on the net for more info.
Rio > Podcasts are usually simple recordings of a show, encoded in usually mp3 - so of course you will be able to download and listen the podcasts.
November 23rd, 2005 at 1:26 pm
Thanks for the reply - sorry if it was a dumb question
November 23rd, 2005 at 1:35 pm
thanks for the info, martin
November 24th, 2005 at 10:15 am
hey peeps i was gonna ask for one of these for christmas do you think i shud because i have a really slow computer and by the sounds of the software it may die completely so if sum1 can answer plz do cheers
November 24th, 2005 at 12:56 pm
Hey Jimmy, if Connect will be slow just use SonicStage (you will find it on the net) to upload the music. It should work fine, and anyway, Sony will definitely fix this software problem some time later.
November 24th, 2005 at 10:15 pm
hello people,
just wondering if people get the same problem i do with my nwa3000.
the problem is that it takes a very long time when i open up connect and ive only got 1000 tunes on it so far.
the other problem i have is that it just will not import half the tunes i want to import, it just keeps skipping them.
replies are welcomed
November 25th, 2005 at 10:17 am
enver > if you’ll read through all the comments you’ll see the people say SonicStage is better - did you try that?
and re the skipped tunes while importing - is it possible that those tunes are different by some way? like an unsupported file format or so? anyway, I think the SonicStage would solve this problem too.
November 25th, 2005 at 5:51 pm
Just gotta say that the Sony Walkman is fantastic. Been wow’ing my friends with mine. Better than any ipod in sound quality and looks
November 25th, 2005 at 7:54 pm
right… asked a little earlier on if the software from sony was really that bad and someone suggested Sonic stage does that really mean you cant use the shuffle function?
November 25th, 2005 at 8:00 pm
martin, you said the sony software will get improved some time later… is that like soon? coz i REALLY want one but cant work out whether the softwares gonna let it all down!
November 25th, 2005 at 8:23 pm
i got mine yesterday, and can confirm three things:
1) it will work as a plug-n-play removable drive under windows xp
2) the connect software is really crap (but i use sonicstage, thats’ just a little crap..)
3) it looks incredibly cool!
oh, and it’s quite a good mp3 player as well..
November 26th, 2005 at 1:01 am
I bought one last week from Amazon.co.uk and immediately experienced problems with Connect: Slow to load and shut down, wouldn’t allow me to import specific tracks or folders - had to scan local drives which picked up EVERY sound file on my PC all 8987 of them. Even so it wouldn’t let me upload anything to my NW-A3000. Went to see a Sony dealer who assured me it was just bugs in the Connect software and should be patient and wait for patches and updates.
After reading this thread decided to try Sound Stage: It operated much faster and seem to be uploading successfully until I got error message pop up.
“Windows - Delayed Write Failed Windows was unable to save the dat for the file I:\OMGAUDIO\10F00\10000004.OMA. The data has been lost. This error may have been caused by a failure of your computer hardware or network connection. Please try to save this file elsewhere.”
I am getting really p***ed off with the fact I have a really cool looking and rather expensive electronic paper weight! Can anyone suggest anything?
November 26th, 2005 at 11:22 am
Hi, I have a NW-A1000. It’s very good apart from the volume is too low (thanks French Governement).
Does anyone know of a fix for the volume limiter yet?
Beacuse of this I much prefer my HD-5, I also prefer the operating system.
Mark.
November 26th, 2005 at 9:17 pm
Have Sony A-3000 but could not get Connect Software to work - Every time I started it my computer crashed and restarted with a then serious error notice - Tried several removes and re-installes to no avail
Desparate to get the A-3000 working I used SonicStage V3.1.00.03290 which I use for my NW-E99 - It works great and all functions on the A-3000 perfect - No crashes and can add further albums at any time
A-3000 sound thro good earphones or on line-out to my Hi-Fi is “MAGIC”
Sony have a superb pice of kit with the A-3000 and I will only change to Connect Software when I see on the web that they have issued a Bug-Free programme that works as good as SonicStage V3.1.00.03290
Anyone having problems with Connect should try the above version of SonicStage they may be surprised at how efficient and steady a programme it is
November 26th, 2005 at 10:30 pm
hi. I was just wondering if the Sony NWA3000 was worth buying instead of the Ipod Video 30GB which are both at similar prices.
And also i was wondering how the Sony NWA3000 could hold up 13,000 songs on a 20GB and Ipod can only hold up 7,500 on a 30gGB.
Gef
November 27th, 2005 at 11:46 am
stephen… i havent got one yet, you might have just put me off… but hey! at least you have an incredibly cool paperweight!
November 27th, 2005 at 11:48 am
bdw, whats the dimesions for the NWA3000?
November 27th, 2005 at 10:28 pm
hi i have a nw-a100 but it’s stopped at the mo- theres a constant clicking noise from inside the unit- initially the screen freezes with the connect logo when it shuts down, then theres just a constant cd moving round on the screen when it is restarted!? it happened before but fixed itself- does anyone have the same problem !?! or know how to fix it!?? cheers!
November 28th, 2005 at 10:35 am
Hi Charlie
The dimensions of the Sony NWA3000 Walkman are
(H) 10.4 x (W) 6.52 x (D) 2.14 cms
NWA1000 is (H)8.8, (W)5.5, (D)1.87cm.
Techlounge
November 28th, 2005 at 10:39 am
David > I would definately get your NWA1000 back to where you got it from… the clicking noise sounds very dodgy
November 28th, 2005 at 12:21 pm
You can hear it from there? Must be dodgy.
I have the a3000 and am very pleased with the unit itself, but the software sucks. There has been a major update to it which now gets the software to a useable state (yes it really was unusable on release - poor show sony) and I’m using it every day.
Sound quality is good, althogh I havn’t converted the files to ATRAC format (which is what permits you to hold 13000 songs on the device) so I’m not sure on how they sound.
All in all I love it. Just hoping Sony continue to update the software.
November 28th, 2005 at 2:17 pm
I have spent two days struggling with software. Connect will install OK but will not open. It hangs on the flash screen. I see from earlier comments it takes time to open but how long? The update on the Sony site does not seem to apply to my version. SonicStage let me upload one CD but it crashed when I tried to add MP3s from my PC to the music library and will not now reopen. My PC exceeds all the system requirements and no amount of reinstalling either program seems to improve anything. Any suggestions?
November 28th, 2005 at 2:54 pm
Hi John. To get the latest update I would uninstall your version of CONNECT, then goto C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data and delete the sony library folder contained within. Then reinstall your software from the CD provided with your player and make sure you don’t skip the downloading of the update which it should do automatically.
You should notice a great improvement. There is an animated “progress bar” similar to when you load windows, on the splash screen of the updated CONNECT software.
Hope this helps.
November 28th, 2005 at 8:58 pm
Are you able to simply transfer music from PC onto the new sony walkman without using the Connect software?
November 28th, 2005 at 10:23 pm
Hi guys, all this info is really good, i wanna get this sweet looking device but the key factor in choosing the sony nwa3000 or the new ipod is VOLUME! I had a net md that the french government decided to limit the volume.
Does anyone know the output (watts) of the nwa3000 amplifier?
November 29th, 2005 at 12:46 am
DJ - you can transfer the music to the player by drag and drop through windows, however it will not play it - it will just be like a portable harddrive. You need to use the software to transfer tunes to be able to listen to them through the player. If you dont like the CONNECT software, Sonicstage is also compatible although you will have to go without the artist link function.
Pumba - No idea, sorry. But it’s loud enough for me. As in some tracks are too loud and I have to turn it down. I know that probably doesn’t help you.
November 29th, 2005 at 1:28 am
Bill - Thanks for the advice but no success. I get the splash screen with the animated progress bar but that’s as far as it goes. The program will not open. I’m at a loss
November 29th, 2005 at 1:50 am
John - Ok, so you have the updated version. If you are comfortable in doing so i would try uninstalling again and removing all registry entries before doing a reinstall.
Other than that I’m also at a loss mate. Sorry.
November 30th, 2005 at 9:02 am
Does anyone know if this player will be available in the U.S. and if so when? If not, do you think I’ll have problems with the software or hardware if I import it from the UK? Thanks
November 30th, 2005 at 4:59 pm
to anyone who’s bought one at amazon- my brother reckons that amazon’s crap when you try and order stuff. roughly how long was it before you got yours? also, with this artist function thing… is it like the menus on the ipod? oh! by the way, has anyone got the Connect Software to work for them? like at all? thanx!
November 30th, 2005 at 5:07 pm
are these any bigger or smaller than an ipod?
November 30th, 2005 at 5:12 pm
ok… just one more… if you buy one now and then they update the Connect Software, can you still get the new software… and do you have to pay for it? sorry… i know that sounds like a stupid question!
November 30th, 2005 at 5:41 pm
I have had trouble actually installing the Connect software on my machine. The bottom few lines of the text in the install window is cut off so at the relevant point I can’t tick the “I accept the terms and conditions” bit to unghost the next button. I know its my machine because I installed it fine on a friends PC with the same install disc.
Has anyone else had similar trouble, did you fix it and how?
Thanks
November 30th, 2005 at 6:24 pm
charlie > as far as I know the Connect software is free. the dimension comparison is here: http://www.techlounge.co.uk/78/which-mp3-player.html . as for the amazon - I recon the dates should be stated once you proceed with the checkout, they also depend on the type of delivery you choose.
Stephen Ginever > try scrolling the Terms and Conditions down to the bottom, there’s a chance the NEXT button will grey out then. Or just use the TAB button to cycle through the elements of the form and change their values by pressing the SPACE button.
December 1st, 2005 at 11:52 am
Hi,
I have an old NWHD1 and its broken beyond repair. My insurance company are about to send me a huge cheque to buy a new player and I wan’t this one! However as my computer has been around since the beginning of time, it has Windows 98SE. Will this player need a newer operating system to work? I have been trawling the net for days looking for somewhere, ANYWHERE, that says which OS my PC needs, but I can’t find it anywhere. I might be a fool (quite possible) but I haven’t a clue if this will work. I can’t go on with music much longer so somebody please help me out!
Cheers,
Batty Betty
December 1st, 2005 at 12:53 pm
Hi Batty Betty. The best place to go for system requirements is the Connect store. If you go to the page and click the link in the top right hand corner the specs will appear in a pop up.
They recommend that you have at least a 450Mhz processor, 2GB HDD, 128mb RAM and a CDR/RW drive.
Hope this helps, Techlounge
December 1st, 2005 at 4:35 pm
what i meant was… if i buy it now, will i have to pay for the new and better software when that comes out at a later date?! sorry!
December 1st, 2005 at 9:22 pm
My best guess is that any future upgrades to the Connect software will be freely downloadable - as the only people who would want it would be those who have the hardware to go with it.
I downloaded SonicStage:3.3.03.10270 from Sony free of charge - it works fine for me - and with this player - but as I said before it doesn’t allow you to use the fancy intelligent shuffle and artist link features of the NWA3000 (you can still shuffle within albums and playlists etc).
I ordered mine from amazon and it was delivered a couple of days later - that part was excellent. If only the software had been as good!
As far as volume goes I think it has plenty - I have never had to turn it up full - though I suppose that will partly depend on what headphones you use. It has a volume limiting function which you can switch on and off via a menu. For those who want to plug it in to an external system, the headphone socket can also be converted to a dedicated line out socket (again via a menu option).
December 1st, 2005 at 9:47 pm
wondeerful! thank you stewart! the playlists… are they like the ones on ipods? and by the way, what headphones are you using?
December 2nd, 2005 at 11:42 pm
Hi anybody, I have a HD 5 and was thinking of getting the 3000 instead, however I have 7g of music on the HD-5, does any one know if it is possible to just transfer all my music in to the my library section of sonic stage and then plug the new player in and transfer it all on to that one??
December 4th, 2005 at 5:38 pm
can anyone please give me an adress of where to download sonicstage V3.1.00.03290 or V.3.3.03.10270; also which one is better?
im thinking of buying a sony nwa1000 but i am worried about the problems with the software, does sonicstage work completely fine with it??
thanx
xx
December 4th, 2005 at 7:00 pm
Does it come with a case in the box?
December 5th, 2005 at 10:13 am
Miriam > you can download the sonic stage version 3.3.* here: http://www.sonydigital-link.com/DNA/sonicstage/sstage_dl.asp - the newest software is always better - sometimes new features, always bugs fixed and so on.
December 5th, 2005 at 2:27 pm
To all of you asking whether there is a way to get around the volume limitation placed on these units in the EU the good news is yes there definitely is.
The bad news is the fix I found which was posted on a forum called ATRACLife Colloquiem (google it - I can’t remember the exact syntax and I’m in work now not a home) which for some reason was not available on its server last night (Sunday 5th Dec) or today - don’t know why this is?
The forum was excellent with lots of technical advice - stupidly I didn’t print out the instructions which involve getting into the systems test mode because I bookmarked the site and assumed I would be able to access it when I came to changing mine (can’t do so until the wife allows Santa to deliver it on the 25th - humbug and bugger).
So all I would say - is if the volume limiter is putting you off - don’t let it - there is a fix available and it will resurface on the net eventually or hopefully the Atrac forum at least in which case I will post.
cheers folks
Steve
December 5th, 2005 at 2:46 pm
Hi,
Mine and my boyfriends arrived today and to my horror it says that connect player is only compatible with windows 2000 and XP. I have windows ME!! Oh dear! I am really really annoyed now because nowhere on the sony site or Amazon did it say Windows ME is not compatible. In fact, sony have been very misleading and offer links to Connect music store which tells you that Windows ME is compatible. I therefore assumed Connect Player would be. How wrong I was! The first I know is when I received the boxes and the connect player compatibility is printed on there. I phoned Sony and they were rude, useless and unhelpful and just said try sonic stage which might work or return the player.
I really want to keep the player and have sonic stage from a previous mp3 player and can upgrade it to V3.3.
Could someone who has been using sonic stage with the NWA3000 please tell me what is compatible with the player and the software. ie. What of the shuffles can I use and which ones can I def not use.
Can I search album, artist, song title alphabetically??
Can I play things on random shuffle?
I’m trying to work out if its worth me keeping this player. Which would be more convenient since mu mum has also ordered us the docking station speakers!! I do plan to get a new pc at some point which would mean I’d annoyingly have to blank the players and start all over again I guess.
Help! I need to decide to keep or return!
December 5th, 2005 at 3:07 pm
Can someone please tell me whether the NWA 1000 is compatible with Mac. As some websites that sell them say that it is compatible with both PC and Mac and some say only PC! So what is the correct answer?
cheers
December 5th, 2005 at 6:15 pm
This is the post posted on the Atrac Colloquium website which describes the hack to boost Volume of the new sony players - go take a look if the volume restrictions here in Europe is something thats putting you off buying the machine.
The server seems to be accessable again this afternoon - I’ll save the whole page when I get home for when I need it.
cheers
Steve
Europeans: Boost the Volume of the NW-A3000/1000
Posted by kurisu - 11-28-05 16:45 - 20 comments
Just like the NW-HD# hacks to defeat the European output limitation, there is a service mode trick that will do the same for the NW-A3000 and NW-A1000 as well. No word yet on the NW-A608, but it will most likely not be able to be changed.
http://www.atraclife.com/index.php?s=4057e1d270766f20817b24f069452288&showtopic=509
December 6th, 2005 at 10:56 am
Hi Stevetynant
Thanks for the help that you have given to many of the Techlounge readers on the problems with the NWA3000 and NWA1000 set with volume restrictor in Europe. We have made the NWA volume restrictor hack available here now at Techlounge, just in case there are problems again with the Atraclife website.
December 6th, 2005 at 11:11 am
No Problems TL - will be good to hear some feedback from the board before I get my own at Christmas
cheers
Steve
December 6th, 2005 at 12:03 pm
Hi. I dont know much about these portable music players, but i am getting a walkman for xmas, and so downloaded the connect music player of the website so that i could start putting my music on there in preparation for when i get the walkman. I have put all my CD’s on to it, but all the songs that i have put on there from my CD collection say the file format is “OpenMG Audio”. Will the walkman play these, as i thought it was an MP3 player, but i cant turn the songs of my CDs into MP3’s. Thanks
December 6th, 2005 at 5:15 pm
PLEASE can someone tell me if the NWA 1000 will work with a Mac! I really want it to be as I really dont want an Ipod, but no other mp3 player seems to work with Mac!
Thanks
December 6th, 2005 at 5:33 pm
Hi Jenny
Mac’s don’t fair too well with anything other than Apple products. The system requirements are on the Connect site, (see comment 70 for the link), which gives the info.
Techlounge
December 6th, 2005 at 6:41 pm
Hi Techlounge,
cheers for the information! it looks like one of my christmas present ideas is buggered now!
thanks
December 6th, 2005 at 9:28 pm
hey jenny! you can always sell the stuff on ebay!!!! = D
December 7th, 2005 at 11:00 am
Hey, I’m considering getting one of these, (The 6GB version probably), but I’m unsure whether it’ll be worth my while.
I have Windows 98 (Tragic, I know), and I’m wondering whether the Walkman will actually be compatible with my computer? I’ve already gathered that the CONNECT software won’t be compatible, but it doesn’t sound like I’m missing out on much there, so I’d probably go for SonicStage anyways.
Gutted that I’d have to miss out on the intelligent functions though. Also, anyone know where I can find a list of what MP3 players work on Windows 98? Cheers for any help.
December 7th, 2005 at 12:34 pm
Jenny - have a look at http://www.kanai.net/weblog/archive/2005/11/10/06h20m47s a guy has posted (towards the bottom of the page) how he has gone about using an NWAX000 with a mac. Dont know if this will be of any use to you.
Incedently, Sony have released another update which seems to have made my version of CONNECT a little more stable.
December 7th, 2005 at 5:08 pm
ok… bill… right, you already had the connect software yeah… so how did you get the updated versiony bit? did you just download it or something? by the way, where do you find out this stuff? this place is the best source of info i’ve found so far!
December 7th, 2005 at 6:00 pm
i went into my local sony stockists and looked at one one of these walkmans and put the 6gb version by for xmas….. 1 problem it looked and felt asthough it would break or damage really easily!
the wlman is likely to be put in my blazer pocket for school wich is no problem becuse i had an IPOD MINI and it survived without any damage.
i was just wondering if it was pretty durable and didnt have any problems like screen breaking (even though it doesnt have much of a screen) or if there were any reports etc
i think this is a great site and will use it in the future
JOSH
December 7th, 2005 at 6:20 pm
Hi Josh, glad you like the site…
It terms of damage to your Sony Walkman, they are pretty durable. No bad reports as yet until the Nano which has had loads of problems. The main issue with the Sony is the software…but there are fixed and new versions being made available the time…. and the volume limiter in the uk, but there is a hack for that too
Techlounge
December 7th, 2005 at 11:29 pm
Hey, I’ve had a NW-A3000 (violet) and it was great, I took it back though because the volume was low even with AVLS turned off. This was a problem as I use and spend alot of money on inner-earphones. Also, Connect media player was a disappointment. Now I am about to get a black one, the reason for this is that I have seen files that hack some other place and in the last post, so the volume limit so it will be louder. Also, the new Connect software update is out!
NB to Gef:- The reason it can fit 13,000 songs onto it is because of ATRAC3 compressing. It’s lower bit rate yet still good quality!
December 8th, 2005 at 12:04 am
Charlie,
Yeah, already had the connect software (reluctantly) Initially i had to uninstall and then reinstall and let the installation program update it automatically. Since the first update the connect software has done it for me. It’s still far from perfect however. As for finding the information - when you’ve spent the best part of £200 on something, you wanna find out everything you can about it and how to get the best of it - I think google know me by name now.
I think there’s light at the end of the tunnel here, however i do feel VERY let down at being used as a gineau pig for this utterly awful software that should have been tested before its european release.
As i’m sure you’ve read everywhere else, it’s a great player - but there are ways to work around the difficulties experienced until sony pull their finger out of their…..ears and do what needs to be done.
December 8th, 2005 at 1:10 am
Don’t know what everyone makes of this but all the NW A3000 players have now gone back up in price on Amazon. For the last two weeks they have been at abrilliant £158 now up to £175 which is still comparatively cheap.
Does this indicate they are flying off the shelves and discounts no longer required?
Would be interesting to hear some sales figures in the run up to Christmas or are the well publicized software issues putting people off?
Steve
December 8th, 2005 at 11:39 am
We’ve been doing a bit of NWA hunting this morning and these are the latest prices that are available online for the NWA1000 and NWA3000.
Availability is starting to become a problem on these with Christmas fast approaching. Often though the online stores give a better price than buying products in the shop itself… but watch out for delivery charges.
Techlounge
December 8th, 2005 at 2:13 pm
Ok, I didn’t get an answer to my post above (no. 79) but I’ve decided to keep the walkmans and gone with using Sonic stage.
I am still annoyed at SONY though. Why oh Why does nowhere tell you that connect player is NOT compatible with anything except Windows 2000 and XP!! The reason I went for this player was because I had Windows ME and IPODs aren’t compatible. The sony site is misleading. The connect store indicates that you can use connect with Windows ME. In all the descriptions on the sony website about the walkman, it doesn’t mention compatibilty. Even on a link to connect player it doesn’t!! I bought mine from Amazon and it doesn’t say it on there either!! Grrrrr. First I knew was when I received the player and its written on the box. I did finally find a F&Q on the sonydigital site which says which operating systems work. So BEWARE anyone without windows 2000 or XP!
December 8th, 2005 at 2:20 pm
I have a question about Sonic stage 3.3.
I’ve used Version 3.0 with a previous player with no probs (E107). However last night I was converting about 150 mp3s to ATRAC 64bps and after it was finished some of the songs were currupted. Annoyingly some are corrupted at the beginning but some don’t sound odd till half way through! They sound corrupted on both sonic stage and therefore on the player because I’d transferred them, so I know it’s not the players fault. They sound all distorted and crackly. Does anyone have any ideas what happened? The original mp3 tracks are fine. I’ve converted the very same mp3s before to ATRAC 48bps with no probs on the previous version of Sonic stage that I had. I’m going to have to delete the lot and start again, any advice anyone? It took ages to convert them, and I’ll have to retype all the titles, albums, genres etc again because mp3s don’t translate into sonic stage as they should.
Help, please, I don’t want to waste another whole evening!
December 8th, 2005 at 2:28 pm
wow! post number 100!
December 8th, 2005 at 4:19 pm
thanx bill! that explained quite a lot. and thanks techlounge for the prices! i was going to buy mine from play.com and hadn’t even thought about looking on ebay. do you think there will be better availability on amazon and stuff like that than in the actual shops?
December 8th, 2005 at 5:11 pm
Charlie, availability online may be a bit dodgy. Liking the “buy it now” offers on ebay though. At least if you walk into a shop and have to pay a bit extra you know you will get it… plus you won’t have to wait anymore for one.
December 8th, 2005 at 5:24 pm
i suppose… anyway, do you think they’ll come down in price after the christmas rush… i’d like to get one now if the answers ‘probably not’ but if its a yes i think ill save my hard earned money!
December 8th, 2005 at 6:10 pm
They will more than likely come down in price in the new year, plus you will be getting one that hopefully has been improved in terms of software etc.
Techlounge
December 8th, 2005 at 7:30 pm
i dont really know alot about this software that everyone is talking about all that i do is that its not very good?!
can somebody explain to me (without jargon) what is wrong with the sotware and all this transfering MP3 to ATRAC what does all this mean!!!
please explain if you can
thanx
December 8th, 2005 at 7:43 pm
HI,,
ive seen one of these today 8/12/05 and was just delivered today at the shop i was wondering wether it would have the new sony softare?
thanks
December 8th, 2005 at 7:49 pm
ahhhhhh please write bak plz
December 8th, 2005 at 7:57 pm
Y IS NO1 REPLYING TO MY POST PLAZ REPLY PLZ PLZ
December 9th, 2005 at 12:09 am
hey! i cant answer any of your questions but i thort id reply anyway… so you didnt feel like we were ignoring you!
December 9th, 2005 at 5:29 am
Hi, I really like the look of this player, beats an ipod or creative by miles.
Anyway, just a couple of q’s:
- I had a sony md (minidisc) walkman, and u couldnt transfer MP3s directly to it, but had to convert to ATRAC or something beforehand. Is this new walkman the same? I think ATRAC sounds muddy, when compared with an MP3 and want to transfer my MP3s directly on to the player.
- Also, are there any alternatives to sony’s software, eg using itunes or something.
thanks, Ian.
December 9th, 2005 at 5:58 am
you can transfer mp3’s directly but they consume more space - personally I cant tell the difference in quality
liking your reveiw - the software hogs alot of cpu therefore slowing you system down alot, sony have released a patch assuaging this a little. But if you still find it unuseable you can download sonicstage from sonys site.
ATRAC is sonys version of the mp3, (music files) in theory they’re smaller than mp3 files so you can fit more onto the walkman although you may have to compromise sound quality.
December 9th, 2005 at 9:37 am
ATRAC is a much better format for mix-CD’s. MP3’s always have a small “silence gap” at the end for some reason.
December 10th, 2005 at 6:18 pm
Hi someone please help!!! I want to buy my partner a MP3 player. Is the Sony NWA3000 the right one? He has a huge vinyl collection-can tracks be recorded on to it? I presume you can download anything from the internet? (please could someone advise on best sites?) Also can this be used in the car? W have an existing CD player which claims to be MP3 ‘friendly’ and you can connect directly into it via usb cable. We want to hear the music through speakers-not via a headset. Also can it be used through our home sound system? Please help me someone! I know, as you can probably tell-NOTHING about these things AT ALL!!!!!!! (I have got Windows XP!-This seems to be something that I need)
December 10th, 2005 at 7:58 pm
Hi
I saw the dimensions of the player near the top of this, but can someone please please please tell me, as i seem to find different stats everywhere, is the 6gb version exactly the same size (dimensions) as the 20gb one?
I dont have that many songs, but was just going to get the 20gb one so i would never run out of space, but if the 6gb is smaller, i will probably get that.
Hope someone can help, or if not maybe Tech Lounge can.
Mat
December 10th, 2005 at 8:24 pm
hey matt, to check out the dimensions for the NWA3000, see comment 53, it came from techlounge so it should be right!
December 10th, 2005 at 11:00 pm
Hi
Cheers Charlie
By the way, can you (or someone else) please tell me how many songs both the players will hold if i do and if i dont convert them to ATRAC
Thanks
Mat
December 11th, 2005 at 12:24 am
Mat Jackson >
According to this sony site (http://www.sony.co.uk/view/ShowArticle.action?article=1123689905907) the 6GB player will hold up to 4,000 songs and the 20GB player will hold up to 13,000 tracks in ATRAC format.
The ATRAC is almost the same as MP3, achieving not very significant size differences.
Just remember that “UP TO 13,000 TRACKS” is as always a marketing trick. They give numbers and not much information. I suppose that track number can be achieved if you specify lowest quality or something like that while uploading (I don’t have the player so can’t say for sure).
So I’d say you go for ATRAC (since the mp3 is a pretty old format anyway) and play with the bitrate of the files while uploading to achieve the best balance of quality size.
December 11th, 2005 at 12:00 pm
i went out and got one of these with my mum ….. wot the hell is up with the earphones one cable is shorter than the other and the wire is really short i might be bieng a bit fussy here but its a bit disapointing also
December 11th, 2005 at 1:42 pm
josh > that is a usual thing, one cable being shorter than other. This way you can have the longer wire behind your head, round the neck, so it does not stick out in the front of your face all the time. I don’t know how long the headphone cable itself is but I believe the sony engineers would have thought of everything and wouldn’t provide a cable which is too short. I wonder how long it is now and how long do you want it to be?
Anyway, you can always use your own headphones as far as I know.
December 11th, 2005 at 4:48 pm
There should’ve been a headphone extension lead in the box Josh.
December 11th, 2005 at 5:30 pm
cheers evreyone that replied im just bien dumb im ty!!
December 11th, 2005 at 5:39 pm
i want a sony walkman but i cant afford 1 :’(
December 11th, 2005 at 5:42 pm
json u cheapskate (dnt wurry i no him)
December 11th, 2005 at 8:21 pm
I wouldn’t be worried about not being ablel to afford one. Nor bother getting one Josh, until they give them away or sort out their software.
December 12th, 2005 at 10:21 am
Hi Jason
The best thing to do if you can’t afford the £175 or so for the NWA3000 at the moment, is to wait for a few months for when the price will have to come down. Plus by then the software should be better so that you won’t need to go through all the hassle of downloading the latest fix.
Techlounge
December 12th, 2005 at 5:16 pm
I see the sony website regularly offers updated versions of the connect software. Is it best to download the auto-update version or manually update each version when they are available? Or does it not matter?
December 12th, 2005 at 6:33 pm
bill, do you really think it’s not worth #175 (sorry, the pound signs not working on my keyboard) in it’s current state?
December 12th, 2005 at 8:48 pm
ok let me gat this prob cleared im not to bothered about this jargon and whatever you are talking about the software but is it actually really bad and if so why (in its simplest form please)
josh
December 12th, 2005 at 8:48 pm
Every time i open my connet software it reads my NWA3000 but closes itself down when it gets to 100%, has anyone else had this? I managed to upload about ten albums yesterday and now i cant do anything else…..
I tried using sonic but it was unable to write accross some files, does anyone have a link on how to use sonic?
My recommendation — dont buy until Sony sort out their software..
Cheers
December 12th, 2005 at 9:15 pm
o ive already bought one
is the software exrtremly bad im not one of those people that downloads as many songs as it can take and all the rest of it.
all the songs ive downloaded are on windows meadia player
when i plug in my walkman will all the songs be transfered onto the sony software and all i’m gonna use the software for is puting the songs onto the wlakman
please help its bugging me
December 13th, 2005 at 10:50 am
Please can anyone answer??
I had Sonic Stage Version 3.0 from a previous player. It worked fine, I could import mp3s into it, convert them to ATRAC and out them on my player.
I got the NWA3000, upgraded to SS3.3 and then when I imported mp3s into SS3.3, they all sound awful. They sound crackly, popping, bass is distorted and the drums in the background are now in the foreground and sound like cowbells.
I’ve tried playing the mp3s in media player and they play fine, so something happens to the mp3s when I transfer them into SS.
I reinstalled SS3.3 and it still didn’t work
I uninstalled SS3.3 and reinstalled SS3.0 from the disc and now mp3s won’t import properly in SS3.0!!! THEY USED TO!
I did a system restore back to when SS3.0 was there and worked, but mp3s are still corrupted on import.
I’ve contacted SONY, and I’m still waiting for them to get back to me!
What has happened to my PC?
I’ve got Windows ME which is why I’m using Sonic Stage instead on Connect Player.
I have a huge collection of MP3s and can’t put them on my NWA3000. Currently I can only put CDs on, which is not the reason I bought this player.
If anyone has any clue? Are you all able to import MP3s ok? Whether they are ripped from CDs or downloaded legally/illegally?
I need to do something, I have to decide whether to keep this player or not and haven’t got long left to decide. I am getting XP in the new year and will start using Connect player then, but has anyone had problems with importing MP3s into connect player?
December 13th, 2005 at 11:34 am
When I use Connect I find that after ripping two CD’s the software hangs up (I’m using Windows XP). Any ideas how I might be able to overcome this as its driving me mad?
December 13th, 2005 at 1:05 pm
charlie,
I really do think that it’s not worth the money, yeah. This is because the software HAS to be used to use the player and it doesn’t work properly, so you can’t use the player as you should be able to. Therefore i would be annoyed if i had spent £50 on the player and couldn’t get it to work, let alone £175.
The player itself is a great bit of kit - but what’s the point if you cant use it to its full potential? It’s like having the best parachute available, but without the ripcord to open it with.
December 14th, 2005 at 12:15 am
ok so until sony sort out their software, i shouldn’t buy one. and if they don’t sort it out, what other player would you recommend?
December 14th, 2005 at 11:59 am
Hi Charlie
There are other good looking Mp3 players on the market, other than the Ipod, that have a good storage capacity such as the Philips Hdd6320 or the Creative Zen’s
Techlounge
December 14th, 2005 at 12:53 pm
Alex, why don’t you just use the SonicStage software for the time being? Yes, the intelligent shuffle won’t work, but you will still have the usual shuffle function. And the SonicStage should be just fine, until Sony hopefully fixes the major Connect issues.
December 14th, 2005 at 5:09 pm
yeah… i know… out of those two i’d end up with the phillips but as someone else said on that blog, because of the shiny suface and the nature of the product, the sleek look wont last long, it’ll soon be covered in fingerprints and scratches… and i dont like the zen…. so i’ll end up being a sheep and getting an ipod if i dont get this… thanks for the options though!!!
December 14th, 2005 at 5:12 pm
by the way, if sony do sort out the software, is the sony worth waiting for? just so i dont jump in and buy an ipod any time soon…
December 15th, 2005 at 11:30 am
Yes, i would wait. The player itself is great. Plus it will be cheaper too.
December 15th, 2005 at 12:49 pm
Thanks Alias. If I use SonicStage would I then have to re-rip all the tracks using Connect as and when Sony finally pull thier fingers out and release a useable program?
December 15th, 2005 at 6:45 pm
Has anyone tried using the new Sony walkman - NW A3000 with an add on to itunes called iwalkman - I have been following comments on this site with interest - am really keen to buy one of these machines which sound really great but have been totally put off by the problems with the connect software. iwalkman is supposed to work with any mass storage device that appears on explorer. does the sony walkman meet this requirement. I have bee
December 16th, 2005 at 10:46 am
Hi all,
I’ve had my NWA3000 for a few days and am generally pleased. just wanted to know if people have experienced anywhere near the battery life quoted. I’ve got around 2000 songs on the player, all in ATRAC format at 128kbps with a few imported mp3’s at between 128 and 192kbps. i’ve not listened to it constantly, probably around 6.5hrs or so but the battery is already on the last indicator and i fully charged it before i first used it.
Anyone else experienced the battery running out quickly?
Thanks!
James
December 16th, 2005 at 3:51 pm
Alex > I suppose re-encoding is always being done by the software if you choose atrac format while uploading, automatically, and no re-encoding is done if you just choose that.
And for the quality of Sony software - well if I’d be a Sony boss of a kind I’d definitely shake up the software engineers responsible for that
Alas I’m neither a Sony boss nor have any contacts there - so I cannot tell you anything about that.
December 16th, 2005 at 5:58 pm
James, there’s certain features you can turn off/down in the settings menu to maximize battery life - consult your manual
December 16th, 2005 at 8:22 pm
so is it only 35 hours of battery if everything but the music is turned off?
December 17th, 2005 at 12:03 am
hi all..this site is great! i have a problem. my HD5 got stolen and now im wondering wether to buy the same model again or the A3oo. is there a huge difference? Did Sony just forget about the lovely HD5? thanx in advance
December 17th, 2005 at 8:49 am
I think the HD5 have been discontinued
December 17th, 2005 at 8:59 pm
Can some one who’s got a NW-A*000 tell me how hard/easy it is to get your WMA-files to work? I have a lot of songs of this format, so it’s important to me that the player CAN play these files.
P.S. Forgive me for my bad english, i’m from holland…
December 17th, 2005 at 9:06 pm
I’ve got about 12,2 GB of music on my PC, and i’ve been using Windows Media Player for the last few years, so is it doable to get all those files to Connect Player/SonicStage?
December 18th, 2005 at 4:10 pm
Hi there!
Just bought the NWA3000… I have 2 questions…
So, you can’t shuffle albums as you can with an iPod, this correct?
And… how on earth do you put the damn thing on hold when it’s turned off to stop it from randomly turning on in your pocket? I turn it off, and then I can’t put it on hold, coz it’s turned off…
Man, i feel stupid, but any help here appreciated!
Thanks !
December 18th, 2005 at 6:58 pm
I just thought i would post a message to tell anyone that is worried about the software to forget about it and buy one of these. Just go and download sonic stage for connect and it is almost exactly the same as iTunes but re-decorated and works well.
I read everything here, but still went ahead, and i dont know what people are getting so worked up about. I tried out connect, and it wasnt great, but was certainly not as bad as people make out, but gave sonic stage for connect a go and thats great. As everyone says, the player is great, and with this software, it walks all over the iPod, it really does. It looks ten times better than an iPod, and because it converts songs to ATRAC, the 6gb one holds 4,000 songs, and i dont think it compromises quality at all.
If you still are not sure, go and download sonic stage for connect before buying a walkman and see what you think.
Mat
December 18th, 2005 at 7:15 pm
Hey all, trying to find a good comparison on the two models, the A1000 and A3000. Any idea on whether it’s really worth spending the extra money on the A3000 just because my eyes are bigger than my brain? I mean, I’m tempted by the extra size, but I’ve been told that it would be best to go for smaller as you never really need that many songs in the end. I mean, 1500 songs is so many!
Trying to find some comparisons on the net but having trouble…
December 18th, 2005 at 9:45 pm
Just got one of these, came accross this site after i ordered was a bit concerned about the software issue, so i downloaded SS3 which my PC did not like?? when it arrived i installed the connect software expecting all sorts of problems, but to my pleasant suprise it has worked fine so far (fingers crossed)
December 19th, 2005 at 11:25 am
I have bought the A3000 for my girlfriend for christmas,
l have a though the connect software says loaded successfully (conected to the internet with updates). The connect icon does not show on the desktop or anywhere else on my system, whats going on?
appreciate some help as I want to put some music on this paper weight!
cheers oh and happy christmas
December 19th, 2005 at 4:11 pm
Neil, i would check your add/remove programmes list, see if its there, or do a search on your C:\
If you installed it it will be there,
December 19th, 2005 at 6:09 pm
Justin, pause your music then press hold - it will turn it self off shortly.
Dont know what you mean by album shuffle.
Stijn, the wma format isnt supported by the player itself but connect player or sonic stage will convert them for you, 12gigs will take quite some time to convert tho
December 19th, 2005 at 6:28 pm
i have alot of wma files will they remain unchanged and just be altered on the player
December 20th, 2005 at 10:48 am
Anyone got any ideas why when I import a directory of wma files into connect it doesn’t recognise the genre and puts them into a “various” category?
December 20th, 2005 at 3:48 pm
Alex, afaik wma files do notsupport ID2/3 tags - maybe that is the reason?
December 20th, 2005 at 5:41 pm
Rory, connect player will make a duplicate track in the atrac format
December 20th, 2005 at 9:11 pm
Hi, i just got the NWA3000 and am pretty confused. I put a load of Cd’s onto my computer a while ago, but this Connect software wont pick them up to stick them on my player. How do you convert them to a format that the player likes? Do I have to download some extra software or something? What is this sonicstage thing? AGH!! I’m so frustrated and confused!
December 21st, 2005 at 10:15 am
alias, thanks once again for the advice. It turns out that if I import all the music files in one go (rather than trying to import the directory in which they are saved) it seems to recognise the correct genre category. We live and learn!
December 21st, 2005 at 4:53 pm
Just ordered my NWA-3000 from play for 179, but will it come before xmas, i bloody well hope so,
December 21st, 2005 at 6:17 pm
Chrissy K, load connect player > insert a cd > click the drive with said cd > click rip tracks
December 21st, 2005 at 6:54 pm
Thanks Nesta, but is there no way i can put them on my player from my computer cos they’re already on my harddrive
December 22nd, 2005 at 5:45 pm
you should be able to, click file > import directory > choose their location
December 23rd, 2005 at 1:35 am
hi just got the nwa3000 today and everythng seems to work fine imported loads of tunes of my pc, plus off cds as well, softare seems fine so far, only small downside is volume is a little bit on the low side on max for my liking, maybe ther are better phones out ther anybody got any suggestions, enjoy the music.
December 23rd, 2005 at 10:18 am
hey steve, try disabling the volume limiter: http://www.techlounge.co.uk/96/sony-nwa3000-volume-limiter-hack.html . It should help.
and by the way….
happy holidays, merry Christmas and happy New Year everybody
December 23rd, 2005 at 12:50 pm
just got my nwa 3000 it has a volume thing on the settings menu does anyone elses have this. it looks great i haven’t really used it yet i’m letting it charge. and i need to get some good headphones i had small ones.
December 23rd, 2005 at 9:43 pm
What’s the best format to rip CD’s for the NWA3000? I presume it’s ATRAC3, but what bit rate should I use? I’ve tried ARTRAC3 at 192000 and average file size is 5 - 7 MB with 256000 I get approx 7 - 8 MB. Does this sound right? When transferred these are transferred to player, is there further file compression? Is 192000 too high at bit rate?
December 24th, 2005 at 2:58 am
Rusty, I’d say 128kbps should be enough - I doubt you will notice any significant difference between a 128kbps and a 192kbps track while playing them on a portable player.
December 24th, 2005 at 12:09 pm
Hi,
Bought an a3000 for my daughter’s xmas; it is too slippery to be even a good paperweight; it is not an MP3 player…it will not play MP3 tracks; the connect software is unusable and sonicstage is only marginally better; spent 2 evenings trying to get it to work; took it back to Comet today and got a Creative Zen Micro 6GB….flawless software; everything working within a few minutes and MUCH BETTER sound….so glad I checked things out before Xmas day……
Merry Xmas
Tim
December 24th, 2005 at 7:48 pm
Hi there.. just got NW-A3000… looks great.. works.. not so great.. :/
Just as Tim.. Connect is a piece of software crap
Will have to try SS.
But.. making a firmware upgrade supporting MP3/WMA (and MPC.. i think i wish too much :D) would be great.. just like any Creative’s stuff.. upload few treacks/albums naturally just drag and drop (no side progs .. especially Connect) and go play…
Cheers and merry x-mas
Greg
December 25th, 2005 at 12:18 pm
i agree working with computers all day, the software is shite sonic stage and connect.
December 25th, 2005 at 1:07 pm
ARGGGGHHHHH i HATE the software, please buy something else ipod or creative because i ignored people saying connect was crap and it really is. i am so dissapointed with sony and i love there products but this is crap DO NOT BUY. Trust me
December 25th, 2005 at 4:03 pm
hey.
just got a sony NW A1000 for my xmas and i love it to pieces, it’s the coolest looking thing on the planet! unfortunately i’m tryin to copy my cd’s on to Connect but its not working anymore, i’m really confused as of why its stopped working. But what id like to know is, does anyone know a good place to buy skins for it coz i am afraid that its gonna scratch very easily.
thanks!
December 25th, 2005 at 10:14 pm
Can anybody help me? I’ve just bought the sony NW A1000 and cant figure how i can put it on hold when its swtiched off. It keeps switching back on at the touch of a button in my pocket… Thanks
December 25th, 2005 at 11:19 pm
Woo! Got the NWA 3000 for Christmas. It’s great! Was a little worried about the software after what everyone has been saying but I’ve had no problems at all! I’ve even been ripping and transfering 2 CD’s at the same time
Love it.
December 26th, 2005 at 1:27 am
Lindsey, as someone already told - pause/stop the music and put the player on hold. It should turn itself off and the hold should work.
December 26th, 2005 at 1:36 am
PLEASE can someone help. I have got my daughter a sony NWA 1000 for Christmas but after instaling it and doing a play list she is unable to transfer it to the Walkman as my computer which has windows XP does not recognise the driver in the USB port. She has tried to re install 3 times but the PC is still unable to detect the device in any of the USB ports she puts it in.Please help if you can.
Thanks.
December 26th, 2005 at 1:44 am
I need help.
Got a nice surprise for Xmas - a Sony A3000. I hve never owned an mp3 before and my knowledge is zilch. My daughter uses an i-pod all the time so i-tunes is installed on the family computer. Consequently I have built up a collection of 2000+ songs in i-tunes in readiness for that day when I get a player of my own. Can I easily transfer my entire i-tunes library onto the A3000 ?
Thanks and Merry Christmas
John
December 26th, 2005 at 1:55 am
Geri…There are good looking silicon skins on e-bay for £12.99.
Re. connect software, I have had no problems at all, works fine for me
December 26th, 2005 at 1:56 am
Unfortunately not, you have to install the CONNECT software that comes with the Walkman player. You can easily import all your files into there though, same way you import MP3s into iTunes.
December 26th, 2005 at 1:57 am
(above post was for John Stockport, sorry)
I’ve also had no problems with the CONNECT software. Loving it
December 26th, 2005 at 2:31 am
Hi
Got a new sony NW-A1000 MP3 player for xmas today. I cant seem to transfer any files. I can add to play list but wont transfer onto MP3 player as transfer icon looks disabled ….please HELP
December 26th, 2005 at 2:48 am
Grant, Does the connect software see your player? it should be listed as nwa1000 in the upper left hand corner along with the library and your cd/dvd drives.
I think the transfer icon will be greyed out until it recognises the player is connected.
December 26th, 2005 at 3:07 am
Dear Chris
Thanks for your reply to q181. I have now installed Connect . Forgive my thickness but I don’t understand anything about importing mp3 files into i-tunes. All I have ever done is transfer cds onto i-tunes.
Regards
John
December 26th, 2005 at 12:52 pm
Hi,
Just noticed updated firmware for the nwa-3000 on this page: http://www.sonydigital-link.com/DNA/Downloads/downloads.asp?c=WM&sc=NWH&f=FRM_NW_A3000&l=en#disc
It says that it enables wma support. Has anyone tried this? Does it enable native wma support in the player itself?
I haven’t bought the device yet as my music collection is all in wma format and I don’t fancy waiting for it all to be transcoded before it can be transferred to the walkman. If this upgrade does offer native support though, amazon will get my order tonight!
Otherwise, I’ll wait for the creative zen vision:m to arrive!
Cheers,
Steve
December 26th, 2005 at 1:22 pm
John: to import MP3 files into CONNECT:
Open up CONNECT, then go to File > Import Files
Then browse for the MP3 file you want to import and open it. And you’re done! This is the same for iTunes also.
If you have a folder with all your MP3s in, you can go to File > Import Directory instead and import a whole folder, so you don’t have to do each MP3 individually.
Hope this helps
December 26th, 2005 at 1:56 pm
I received an NW A1000 for xmas and the model itself is v cool but the CONNECT software is causing a nervous breakdown. I have been installing and reinstalling for the last 48 hours and it still isn’t working perfecly. I cannot instal the updates for the software which i downloaded from Sony wesbite - I keep getting the error message: ” “. I installed the software from the CD with the kit, so it is installed. Does anyone know if it is necessary to install these updates as I was connected to the internet during the CD installation and I notice that people have mentioned here that the updates install automatically during this process? If the updates are already installed, would you recommend using Sonic Stage instead as CONNECT is incredibly slow and frustrating and completely non-user friendly! Further, is it possible to just use Windows Media Player and bypass CONNECT? I have installed the firmware update available from Sony. Any help is really appreciated as I want to get this v cool player working and - it is v frustrating!
December 26th, 2005 at 1:58 pm
Sorry - the error message is: “the target software for this module is not installed”. Thanks for your patience!
December 26th, 2005 at 2:02 pm
Hi Colin. Theer is no sign of my player. I have library, connect store, E drive D drive (both empty) and i have playlists. i have imported 13gb into library but still no sign of my player. What do i need to do? cheers
December 26th, 2005 at 2:13 pm
my nwa has been working but then when i plugged it in 2 mins ago my pc just won’t find it just un reconized device found. argghh
December 26th, 2005 at 2:15 pm
I have just got the new A1000 walkman for Christmas, but having read all your reviews, don’t want to try and use the connect software unless I really need to. I have Roxio and my sister has an ipod so I have itunes already installed on my computer and I was wondering if anyone knows whether I can use these instead of the others (preferably itunes)?? I don’t have a clue about anything to do with mp3s as this is my first one so any help would be fantastic!
Lucy
December 26th, 2005 at 2:30 pm
itunes is just for appple. i am hoping someone will do some decent 3rd party software or the next release will be better, just trying to get the update for the play sorted
December 26th, 2005 at 3:27 pm
ive just turned the walkman on and all it says is POWER whats the damn matter with it !!!
December 26th, 2005 at 3:28 pm
ive just turned the walkman on and all it says is POWER whats the damn matter with it !!!!!!
December 26th, 2005 at 3:35 pm
????? PLZ ANSWER SOMEBODY MUST KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 26th, 2005 at 3:40 pm
dnt wurry i reset it
December 26th, 2005 at 4:15 pm
thats in the menu thingy for the hack
December 26th, 2005 at 5:17 pm
o its a bit pointless
December 26th, 2005 at 5:20 pm
i transfer the songs from connect to walkman and in the connect menu it says on device…but when i unplug the USB it says that there is no songs on the device……WHATS WRONG!!!
December 26th, 2005 at 5:37 pm
REPLY PLEASE PLEASE
December 26th, 2005 at 5:50 pm
PLEASE…………… :/
December 26th, 2005 at 7:03 pm
Follow-up to ans 189
Thanks again Chris for your help. I’m up and running now with my A3000 though I must confess, I finally got my teenage daughter to sort it out. She easily transferred my i-tunes library onto Connect. I’m even lower in her tech savvy estimation though. The next thing I’ll have to do is to remove the volume limiter but I’ll wait a day or two. There are quite a few google links on how to do this.
Best Wishes
John
December 26th, 2005 at 7:23 pm
Grant… The player should show up in the box youre looking at with the library, drives, playlist and connect store.
It def. sounds like your PC isn’t seeing your sony player.
What happens when you connect the usb cable? does your player power up and say connecting (it should).
Could be a driver issue or something, maybe someone more techy minded will help here.
Sorry I cant help more but at least youre on the right tracks..
Hope you get it up and running ok.
Have you tried uninstalling CONNECT and reinstalling it, might be worth a shot.
December 26th, 2005 at 7:30 pm
ok then dnt reply to mine
December 26th, 2005 at 10:09 pm
Humm.. well, I have tried to test it out today and I can’t seem to get any songs onto the walkman. I’ve ripped an album onto the connect thing and then connected the walkman, but when I disconnect, there is nothing on it. All it says is ‘connecting’ and there are arrows going in a circle? Is this normal or an I doing something really stupid? Please help me!
Lucy
December 26th, 2005 at 11:09 pm
ok. have a pretty new sony NW-A1000. santa was very good to me. slight problem. have windows 98SE and therefore there are no drivers recognised. any ideas? possibility of using soncstage instead of the connect one that can’t be installed on windows 98SE, but where can one download the whole program and not just the updates?
thanks
December 27th, 2005 at 12:40 am
Got an nwa1000 for crimbo excellent piece of hardware, shame about the software its pants. I am running XP and when I ran the installation from disc its says it installs correctly then after reeboot there is no new software??? - I then download the latest sonic stage which functions ok, but it can’t see all of the albums on my drive, I have a sole drive for mp3’s but it does not show them all ??? - Does anybody know if you can drag and drop or help with the above….merry xmas !!
December 27th, 2005 at 12:37 pm
hi lucy,
same happened 2 me too!!! its a rite pain
i will tell you if i sort it out or find the problem.
December 27th, 2005 at 1:01 pm
hi again ive just downloaded the sonic stage and transfered songs that way….will tell you the outcome
December 27th, 2005 at 1:05 pm
nope it didnt work
December 27th, 2005 at 1:43 pm
Josh / Lucy
Don’t know if this will help - but seems to work for my player.
If you haven’t got any songs on the player yet - good- download the latest firmware upgrade to allow the WMA playback - take a look here - second article down http://www.atraclife.com/index.php?
If you have, either transfer them back to the library or delete them altogether.
Rip one albumn into connect - then attach the Player - if you have a USB 2 connection make sure you use that. Navigate to the library-right click and select all-hit the transfer to a device button on the far left hand side. Then drop and drag the selected tracks from the left hand panel into the right.
Don’t disconnect
50 tracks took less than 30 seconds to transfer on my PC -
Once the software and hardware stop saying don’t disconnect it should be safe to do so - the arrows I think after that Lucy just mean it is attempting to recharge. - check the player and fingers crossed your albumns should have transferred to the player. I then delete the library in Connect (cos I don’t want my daughters thrash metal getting on my player) and load another few albumns(usually about 5 at atime). So far I’ve got about fifty albumns uploaded to the player.
Sorry if I am stating the obvious but I know it works for me so just wondered if tou are missing something obvious.
best of luck guys.
Steve
December 27th, 2005 at 1:58 pm
Thanks Steve. I will give it another go, and hopefully it will work this time!
Lucy
December 27th, 2005 at 3:04 pm
cheers steve
December 27th, 2005 at 3:08 pm
hi lucy ummm..how do u do that wma think im a bit slow…
December 27th, 2005 at 3:25 pm
plz reply anybody….is the light on the device end of the usb meant to stay on wll the time it is connected?
December 27th, 2005 at 3:50 pm
hmm… I´ve got a nw-a1000, and yes, connect player is really bad, but I think the biggest problem is that I cannot trasfer “clean” mp3-files to the unit.
Is it impossible to do that, or am I missing somehting? Do the musicfiles have to be converted so the player can put the right tags on them or what?
Anyway, I think this really sucks and if someone can help me, it would cheer me up bigtime!
December 27th, 2005 at 3:51 pm
Hi Colin. Cheers for reply. I managed to re-install and load 5 cd’s as i could see the driver but then i tried to copy 10 and connect hung and crashed. now i cant load conenct at all , just sits at the splash screen. Not having much luck….few more attempts an dthink i will go for an iRiver!!!!
December 27th, 2005 at 4:45 pm
josh,
I didn’t do that wma thing, but did everything else steve told us to and it worked!!! Yey for Steve!
Lucy
December 27th, 2005 at 6:25 pm
I got the NW-A1000 for Christmas and it’s the new love of my life haha!
Just one tiny problem with Connect:
Has anyone had any problems with this programme when dragging mp3s from one folder into Connect (rather than selecting import from the menu). It comes up with an error message, somethin to do with tinyhttp.exe and then crashes.
December 27th, 2005 at 7:31 pm
ty lucy lol
December 27th, 2005 at 7:32 pm
moving switfly on…..does anybody know how to delete songs of the walkman on connect all it says is ready for delete…
December 27th, 2005 at 7:36 pm
can anyone tell me how exactly can i put my wma files from window media player onto the sony nwa3000, ive tried to drag folders and drop them onto it but they still wont come up?
December 27th, 2005 at 7:38 pm
anybody….?????
December 27th, 2005 at 7:40 pm
try opening files or importing them please answer mine…
December 27th, 2005 at 7:42 pm
HOW DO U DELETE THE SONGS FROM THE WALKMAN USING THE CONNECT PLAYER ALL IT SAYS IS READY FOR DELETE!!!!!!!