It is worth noting that many owners of this player have seen cracks develop on the buttons after usage.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=215060&page=1&pp=15

Does anyboyd know if Audible books are compatable with this player and if with the bookmarks you have the ability to switch back and forth between books like the Rio. Cannot do that on the ipod.

Its doubtful that the HD5 supports Audible books. Their site says nothing about supporting it nor do they support any other Sony Network Walkmans (HD1, HD3).

Update: Here is the response i got from Audible...

"Unfortunately, Audible does not support any Sony Network Walkman devices at this time. We are working consistently to expand more compatible devices with our software. For updated and a list of compatible devices please visit www.audible.com/devices"

"Cannot transfer music from player to computer"

That's interesting. You can actually transfer tracks from the NW-HD1 to the same computer the tracks were checked out from.

Dinko, But whats the point? why would i want to transfer the music back to the computer i already have the tracks on?

But none the less they can only be tranfered back if they are ATRAC format! ugh...

Nice writeup. I agree with the reviewer, ATRAC is worthless. I had this player for a week and got rid of it on ebay, such a nice design but its a pain in the ass load. It would have been an ipod killer if it would have played nicely with all formats and services.

You might want to transfer them back to the same computer if you've deleted them. :D Happened to me a couple of times. :rolleyes:

As for atrac being worthless... I think that atrac DRM sucks, not the atrac format. I prefer atrac over mp3 or wma at similar bit rates (personal taste of course).

Battery life on the other hand... One of those Sony flash players plays mp3s perfectly, except under similar usage, I change the AAA battery once a month if all the files are atrac3 @ 132kbps, and I have to change the battery once a week if the files are 128kbps mp3s. It might just be that particular device, but atrac gets me a lot more battery life than mp3 does.

I've got an HD5 here in the UK, and its worth noting for those who want to avoid Sonic Stage for transferring TO the device, download the Vaio Transfer Utility for free from Sony
( http://www.vaio-link.com/Vaiopocket/downloads/downloads.asp?l=en&f=VMTU ), and drag and drop folders to your heart's content.

You just drag folders out of Windows explorer onto the blue Vaio transfer window and all the MP3's are sent over no problem.

Of course to DELETE tracks/albums off of the HD5 I still use Sonic Stage. But its a perfectly workable solution.

I disagree with the comment about not being able to use other music download services. You can point SonicStage at *any* directory tree containing MP3s and do an import operation. this adds the albums to your inventory without moving/converting the files on your disk. You can then download them to your player with SS as normal.

I have the nw-hd5h for a week now, loaded up 16gb, a mix of ATRAC3+ at 256kbs and MP3 at 190 to 256kbs. This device outputs excellent quality sound on my excellent samsung earbuds. Way superior sound quality compared to my samsung and iriver players.

Battery life is less impressive than advertised. With over 1500 high quality songs on it (will be around 3000) you browse a lot and I guess that eats power as does the decoding. My guess is it runs 15 to 20 hours on a charge if you (very) frequently use the menu/buttons.

Regarding Sonic Stage 3.1: I'm actually quite impressed, transferring music is a breeze. You designate music folders on your pc and scan them, choose what you want transfered and of you go. It takes all mp3's I have so far, cbr as well as vbr. Ripping cd's is equally simple. Stuff I miss is report on how many songs you actually have in your library.

Regarding the gap-less comment: I play many live albums and have not noticed gaps between songs.

I am worried about the remarks it will only accept music from one pc only. Hope it does not mean that when I buy a new one it stops accepting songs!

All in all a great device, love it, highly recommend it.

Vince: by download services i think they meant download services like Napster, Yahoo! Music, Raphosdy, ect... the pay services... the only download service that the HD5 can use is "SonicStage Connect".

Sounds like a nice player, but, as I mentioned in another post (iPod a Myth?) I'd prolly stay away from it with those restrictions...

It's understandable seeing as Sony is a major label that happens to have a consumer electronics division, but it's still not excuseable in my mind to lock someone to you view of how music should be..

I have just loaded the sonic stage software on my PC but cannot access the Get CD info option - I had itunes previously on the PC - any suggestions?

thanks

Hi, i recently bought this player from Japan.
the only problem i am currently having is that i seem to be not able to transfer any mp3 with Japanese characters.( I live in Australia, WinXP)

I do think it is a problem with the software, or one of my PC settings,but any help would be great.

Thanks,

Kind Regards,

A friend of mine got that player, and you can change the screen orientation in the menus, contrary to your review. Just trying to help out.

Wow. That NW-HD5 really does suck.

I really like this player, except for two things: the fact that you have to use sonicstage for transferring files, and that yu are locked to one computer. The first point seems to be possible to avoid, but the second? I am moving soon, and will then move again in a year, meaning I need it to work with at least 3 different computers. Any thoughts here? Do you have any other player recommendations?

Has any one had any luck upgrading the hard drive in the NW-HD5??? Is it also possible that sony may releare a firmware update to give access to other file formats e.g. FLAC,AAC Lossless. I think if they did that this would be a winner for sure.

I was thinking about trying to squeeze a bigger hard drive in. I would really like to get a 60GB for it to be worth the it. But im not sure if there is enough room for the extra 3mm drive. When i looked inside it was close.

But you are right, if this player supported FLAC and all that other stuff it would be a winner. Dont hold your breath, it will never happen

Hi does anyone know if a Sony microphone is compatible with this model, and if so, which one? I would like to buy one to use for recording lectures. Thanks

Heya umm I dont think the NW-HD5 is able to record like that lucy it dosent have any inputs for microphones, But has anyone put in a 40GB drive? Im looking at getting the HD5H but if i can put in a 40gb drive i can save a fair bit of cash.

Me again, There is a menu to change the orientation manually and as a side note their have been no reports of japanese models buttons cracking, only uk us and oceanic...and everywhere but japan :p.

"You are stuck with Sony Connect"

i don't quite understand this part. does this mean that i can't transfer all the mp3s on my computer to the nw-hd5? meaning i have to buy all mp3s that i want to upload to the player? or i just can't directly associate napster with sonicstage?

can i unload my mp3 collection? or do i have to make a new collection using sony connect?

No you cannot use Napster or any other services with this player. You MUST use Sony's SonicStage to load you music.

must use sonicstage to load music.. but how bout downloading music from the net? can i use different services?

ok a few things, i got a hd5 last week and dont have 1 of the negative issues mentioned here, i can transfer all files including mp3s back to my computer without a problem, napster is supported although i would never use such a cheesy service, there IS an alternative to sonicstage which is warranted by sony

Download Here

atrac gives a vastly superior sound when ripping cds at lower bitrates, dont forget that sony have been in this music game for a while and if u can swallow your pride and "do what they want u to do" you may just come out of it with a better listening experience....... f**k the system

ive actually been contemplating on getting the hd5...
from what r3s said- " i can transfer all files including mp3s back to my computer without a problem" , now im really interested in this coz the only thing that has stopped me from buying it is not being able to retrieve the mp3s stored in the hd5.i do not wanna convert my whole collection of mp3s to atrac3 from mp3 coz that would only make the quality worse juz to be able to retrieve it back in atrac3. so can someone pls verify this for me...thanx

If you want to easily transfer music back off the player do not buy this player! Sure it can be done with third party hacks but its not very easy.

so it is possible to transfer mp3s out but it wouldnt be EASY...would any of u guys put up some sites which hosts third party hacks which have been tested successful ?? of juz email me..the only thing that i am interested in is the ability to transfer mp3s back off to my pc...this is not for sharing but im using a laptop woth onli 30gigs of space so i need to transfer songs off to the mp3 player so i can free up some space...of do uguys have any other suggestions for a good mp3 player with style?? anything but an ipod...lol..

sonicstage 3.2 has the option of having non DRM atrac3 files
it also is more stable, faster, and has new atrac3plus bitrates (now has 48, 64, 96, 128, 192, 256, 320)

I'm thinking about getting the NW-HD5 because of the build quality, battery life etc. The only sticking point is method of building on-the-go playlists, namely that you can only add tracks to a playlist while the track is playing. you can't seem to queue tracks from the library while other tracks are playing. Is there any way around this, or is there likely to be via firmware etc?

Still thinking about getting a nw-hds, Thought i might let you guys know, i saw a 30 gig one going for the same price (199 pounds)at www.dabs.com. have bought stuff from there before, they are ok.

Got this as my first portable mp3 player and I am very pleased with the results. Good battery life, good size and weight, and (I think) a pretty decent price. Sonicstage is indeed a bit clunky, but it works fine for me, v3.2.

You CAN use other legal download sites like napster. All you have to do is download the track, burn it to a cd (rewritable if possible, you can use the CD again then) and then rip the tracks from the cd onto the computer and add them sonicstage.

Yes, it is a lot to do - but im use to it since the firmware that came on my Creative Muvo V200 didnt support WMA DRM files.

You can use ANY mp3 file on the computer by just using the import function. Here in Canada, the legal sites suck (many are not available), [i]except[/i] for Itunes, so I buy there. I (have nw-hd1) use a file conversion utility (free) and convert the aac files to mp3 and then import to sonicstage, works great, great sound quality.

Question About Playlists. Can you make playlists in sonic stage and then transfer them to the HD5? For example: I make 2 playlists each with 20 songs on them and the two playlists have some of the same songs (similar to the way IPOD handles playlists from Itunes).

can someone tell me a bit more about these cracks on the player. i read about it on a few sites but knowbody says that much about them. eg where are they can u take it back to sony and get a new player or not?

hi, i've juss recently bought di new sony nw-hd5 buh wasn happy bout di memory space. instead of having di usual 20gb it had something like 18.6gb dont know why. everything else is good di software, battery life... etc i big them up

format info takes up space on the HD. you will always have less memory than the box says. and thats for all MP3 players.

Damn it my player keeps shutting off at random times for what seems to be no reason. Really annoying. My battery is charged fully and it shows that. But when I turn it on again the settings and song are always back to when I had last turned it on. Frustrating!

evening all,

there is a firmware update on sony site v1.2.

Sonic Stage v 3.3 also available, a lot of changes there, could be the last one.

hello again.

firmware update v1.2

Sonic Stage v3.3

And yes there are problems with the centre + buttons developing small cracks at the radius, mine now has 2.

As mentioned by clutch kick on October 22nd I also have just recently had the problem of it shutting down for no reason. For the people who are about to ask some dumb ass question like have I removed the battery or have I updated the firmware or have I reverted back to factory settings... I have. I assure you that is not the problem. Also there aren't any threads that mention this problem in any forum. Up until now I love this player and am just wondering if there has been any other people with the problem. Having a electronics career my only solution would to re-intialize the hard drive and recopy the music. Unless the arm on the hard drive is damaged. Please let me know if there is any other solutions.

Hi - I really have to find a way to transfer tracks from the player back onto the PC. Everything on the PC got deleted by accident (so my sonicstage libray is totally empty now) and I only have the tracks on the player now - there must be a way to get them back on the pc - any help would be thankfully received.
Thanks
D,

The player is good...but...I read that i can UNLOCK the volume...what mean this thing?
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/2005/09/sony-hd1-hd3-hd5-volume-limit-unlock.php

thanks!
Andrea

The player is good...but...I read that i can UNLOCK the volume...what mean this thing?
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/2005/09/sony-hd1-hd3-hd5-volume-limit-unlock.php

thanks!
Andrea

Hi just got an hd5 - very pleased - but can anyone recommend any better earphones (they same to lack bass a liitle) Also I have an number of CD's recorded on an audio CD recorder which i guess have the copyright bit. Is there a way round to Attrac these ????

Thanks - Useful sire by the way !

im still thinkin of gettin this or the ipod nano
any advice?

I would get the sony as a few mates have had the nano and they have all had problems with it, and i am very pleased with the sony.

If anyone uses winamp, I use a fairly easy procedure to transfer my mp3s from winamp to the hd5. First make sure you download the drag and drop plugin for winamp:

http://www.winamp.com/plugins/details.php?id=146119

and then download the mp3 file manager talked about in an earlier post:

http://www.syndetics.net/sony-hacks/sonicstage.html

You are now able to drag songs from your Winamp playlist directly over to the hd5 mp3 file manager window. All playlists will move over as "albums" so look for them there. There is not much ability to organize, rename etc...but it is the closest thing right now to a winamp - hd5 workaround and works just fine for me.

Too bad sony makes its customers resort to such measures, maybe they'll get the hint in the future.

what the hell is firmware?! and the hd-5 is well good

There's a way to browse and transfer the contents of the NW-HD5 (and other walkmans&MD players) with this program called GYM - Grab Your Music
HERE:
http://www.atraclife.com/index.php?showtopic=440

I guess i must be the only person here with gribes about bying this item. I feel qualifyed to make these remarks as I have owned an archos, Creative zen and have had the use of an iriver for some time now. SS is unacceptable, full stop. The formwear on the player is clearly aimed at newbies. I can't get the player to turn off once an album is played ( i like to listen to it falling asleep). You cant create on the go playlists, bookmarks are crap. Both the creative and iriver sound better on my jbl on tour speakers. You cant view the tracks youve played . the battery life is more like 20 hours. I bought 5 creative spare batteries for 30 quid on ebay. Unfortuantly I let the damn thing fall so im without it now. I really thick this thing has been over hyped. Sony as ever are in full control over how the blasted thing works. I can only hope theat roxbox do a job on this to make it better.

to:conor
if you have high bit rate music on any mp3 player it will drain the battery like crazy so dont bash the battery life if all you have is excessively high but rate music on your PC.

In responce to the question about headphones, I just bought the Sony Fontopia ones for it, (can't remember the exact model) the little white ones, and I finally have a decent sound. The ones that came with it, and the $10 I got at Target were not up to par. So figure $50-$70 for decent headphones, if you like the little ones, and the sky is the limit if you don't mind the larger ones.

I own a NW-HD5 and think it's great. However, when I transfer audio books (from CD's I get from the library) using Sonic Stage, the chapters get mixed up in the NW-HD5 player and I don't know how to correct the order for playing. Does anyone have a solution to how Sonic Stage transfers files and what order it uses to place them on the player? Is there any way to change the order in the player, once they have been downloaded? HELP

I just wanted know how yopu delete music off the Sony NW-HD5 either directly or via Sonic Stage - Can someone help -PLEASE!!!cos da instructionz r crap

For ACG:

It is easy, in SonicStage you click on the album/artist/song (your choice) with the right mouse button and choose delete. In MP3 file transfer tool or whatever it's called you highlight the applying track and hit the delete button.

FOR Joe: create a playlist, for example with WinAmp and import that into SonicStage instead of the CD. Or you can use the mp3 file transfer tool, and you can arrange the queue of the tracks by moving them up/down in their directory.

Generally, SonicStage is rather slow, but can edit the tags of all tracks, but for transfer the MP3 whatever tool is much better, faster, lot faster. You just have to edit the ID3 tags using WinAmp or with thatever program you prefer.

fotel2000 G yahoo SINGLEDOT com - if you have any questions.

BTW the player with the RM-MC35ELK remote and the MDR-EX71SL in-ear earphones is very decent indeed, with the volume unlock of course.

For Fotel:
Thanx alot 4 ur help m8 and btw, how do u edit d names ov d trax on d NW-HD5 wivout needin 2 delete dem?

o anotha thing cos im a bit shit on ma new mp3, how do u remove da sound limiter?

for ACG: just use the right click and properties in SonicStage, you can not edit the track names in the other software, as far as I know.

MP3 File Manager

Volume limit unlock

Everything you need is written down there.

Hello can anyone tell me if there is anywhere on the internet where I can get my 30gig hd5 upgraded to 60gig or 80gigs. I've read that Toshiba's 1.8 inch drive would fit inside with no problems.

Thanks in advance

hd5wunton

On the AV forums ther was a thread about this, but the most important thing is missing - one guy actually orderd a 40G HDD, but did not write anything about the installation, so it is possible that he did not succeed - or did he? :D

Thanks for the info. I will definitely NOT go for Sony's 'right to copy' infringing hardware. Ipod can kiss my posterior too. What gets me with the Ipod frenzy is that, 1. you have to pay to have the battery changed, and 2. they have now come up with new generation ipods that basically gives you less space for more money so that you can have that 'oh so cute and small that i can stick it up my butt' size.

And btw, when are they coming up with non-portable mp3 players for the home? Not anytime soon i'm afraid, why give the consumer more when you can get more by giving them less.

Sigh. We live under the tyranny of the idiocy of the consumer mass and their ill-thought-throught 'Right to Choose'. Tis about time we added the word 'Intelligently' as a necessary suffix to the aforementioned right in order to validate it. Failing which, as the nano brains out there have done admirably, the superior minds amongst us are given an array of choices which would appeal most to the juvenile amongst us.

I love my NW-HD5, I now just want some really decent portable speakers. I'm using some old walkman speakers in the bottom of a drawer but they sounds a bit tinny. I Preferably would like something with some sort of base unit that fits the NW-HD5 too. Can you help?

it's a great mp3 player, although you definitely need to unlock the volume as without it is only just loud enough (if ur sum1 like me hu likes loud music). i have just 1 minor comment about the main review, maybe sum1's already mentioned it, i didn't notice it when reading quickly. you say that it would be nice to choose which way you oriet the screen, but you can, on the options menus you get a choice of normal, left orient, right orient or automatic, persumably you missed the menu option for changing it manualy

when i upload files that i have downloaded through file sharing ( all my files basically) i just click the upload files tab and upload out of my shared folder and have no problem doing so, so right now i feel oblivious to the problems at which you speak

I don't know why everybody hates Sonicstage so much. I use it everyday to play and organise my music. The ATRAC codec is a great codec and i have used it for years with my minidisc player. I just ordered this and i'm hoping for the best. All the problems listed here aren't problems for me. You people obviously don't remember that sony rates the battery life while it's playing the ATRAC3plus 48Kbps codec. That seems like an extremely low bitrate but it's on par with mp3 128Kbps. I've had good expierences in the past with Sony products an i expect this one to be no different.

"sony rates the battery life while it's playing the ATRAC3plus 48Kbps codec. That seems like an extremely low bitrate but it's on par with mp3 128Kbps".

You're slightly misguided here - the 48kbps atrac is nowhere near as good as 128kbps mp3 - true, atrac encoding does give better quality than mp3 bit for bit, but not to the extent that an atrac file less than half the size would sound as good as an mp3. atrac 48kbps is audibly of significantly lower quality than 128kbps mp3 and you don't need a keen ear to hear this, as I found out through owning a minidisc player.

im so thinking of getting one of these, all the faults do not seem bother me either, 30-40 hours battery lyf, almost 20gig, briliant, gna get one wen i ge the cash, any other POSITIVE INFO would be gr8, many thnks

rus

Can anyone share any advice on the best way to replace and HD5 screen? I managed to crack it and have just been told by the repair company that they will charge me $45 (Australian dollars) to just look at it, and then a screen could cost anywhere between $100 and $200 - and that doesn't include labour.

It all sounds a bit steep to me. Is there anywhere on the web where these sorts of things can be purchased, and then I can get a technically oriented friend to put it in????

Sorry about the long post. Appreciate any help that might be offered.
JDubs

Great review i have a hD5 myself excellent player. id be very intrested if you could let me know wen u change the HDD to a higher gig one and if so is it easy to do!! cheers

Like previous post, I am also seeking some decent quality speakers that would be compatible with the hd5. Any advice would be appreciated.

SEXBRUVV

Does anyone know if the new SRS-NWM10 Sony docking station is compatible with the HD-5?? Or as previous post, can anyone recommend some decent speakers? Thanks..

the new dock will not work i'm afraid, as it has a specific dock on it for the new nwa1000/3000 mp3 player. as for decent speakers, i'd recommend simply getting an audio lead and sticking it into the back of your existing stereo. a decent pair of speakers will set you back a good £80. also worth noting the new sonicstage 3.4 is out now, can now play wma files natively without having to convert to atrac. also improved cd info from gracenote. the hd5 is a great mp3, wish son hadn't discontinued it. primarily as you can use any 6v charger, and mini usb lead for it, but the new sony mp3 players, as well as ipods *spit* and some others need specific chargers and leads which they will quite happily charge you through the nose for..

hey, having a bit of a problem with my nwhd5 and wondering if sum1 cud help me out, recently had to have my pc reebooted and now sonicstage wont let me put the music straight back on from the player coz of authorization stuff, anyone know how to get around this?

Donald... you cannot... thats why SonicStage and Sony sucks

You should try the "GYM aka Grab Your Music" software, first it generates keys for the encrypted files, after that you can save your mp3's on your PC using this app. BUT beware, it WILL corrupt ALL Atrac files on your HD5, you would only be able to delete those tracks, not even the walkman will play them after that.

call sony customer services, they will be able to help you. in UK 08705 111999 (sorry, first number wrong...)

hi guys...excuse me but...how can I transfer my atrac files back to my pc???i tried GYM but it works only with mp3 files..and my sonicstage 3.1 doesn't allow me to do that!I really dont know what to do...thank you so much! (Nw hd5 best player in the world...)bye!

Hi there,

Please can someone tell me in easy-to-understand terms how I can shuffle songs just by one artist? For example, if I want to listen to all my songs/albums by, say, Queen, how can I do it?

I don't fancy creating hundreds of bookmarks just to do this!

You turn the ITEM option ON, then you browse by artist and hit play while you are standing on the desired artist's name, and choose shuffle. This should do the trick!

jus wonderin how u drag files from SonicStage to My Music in My Documents pleez, n e info wud b exellent tanx.

First try to explain what you want in proper English, please.

Im a bit new to MP3 players and the terminology etc. What exactly does ATRAC mean and what is it?
I bought a HD5, after comparing to other brands and deciding this one sounded like the best option. Ive now read all these comments and I dont even know what the hell ATRAC is to understand what people are saying!!
Spewing sonic can only be used on one computer. Boy is that a major drawback....

Rachel:
atrac is a compresion format just like mp3. dont worry about it.
personally i havent noticed that my hd5 is locked to only 1 computer. there r easy ways to get around this.

Thanks for that Rumos. I wont worry about it then!

With this sound unlocking thing, I followed the instructions and did it with my player, but it seems to make no difference. I toggled 4 or 5 times between on and off mode, turned it on and off a few times with the different modes, and made sure the AVLS function was not restricting the volume in any way, but there was still no diff between SP set being on or off. The volume was pressed until it was as high as it could go, but still didnt make a diff when I changed the SP setting to off (or on). It wouldnt go any higher. It doesnt seem to be loud enough. And most of my music is pretty basey and I like to listen to it quite loud as I walk to work with noisy traffic going past, so it needs to be louder. Is there something else I need to do, anyone? Thnks!

does anyone know how to get around authorization for the NW-Hd3?

Hi. I'm having a massive problem with the sony network walkman nw-hd5. It started to slow down and now won't even turn itself on.
It starts off with the twirly thing. Does that for a bit and shuts down. It wont even charge. Can anyone help??

Lorcan: perhaps your local Sony service point.

Rachel: just be sure to follow the instructions, and you shouldn't have the output set to "line out"

I was just wondering how you drag files from SonicStage to My Music in My Documents please, any info wud b excellent thanx.

ACG: My Music is a folder, so it stores file physically located inside it, but SS is just a music manager program, it just stores the uri for files, so they can be physically stored anywhere on your computer. I think it is not possible to just drag and drop files from SS to My Music folder or anywhere else.

had to format my entire computer, including update the BIOS and so on (had a major crash). after reinstalling SS the NW-HD5 does not recognize the computer and demands to have all files deleted before I transfer new files. before the formatting it also refused to transfer the atrac files back to the very same computer as they came from, even though I tried this without even disconnecting the player from the computer ( tried to transfer back to computer 1minute after transfer to player, just for the kicks).

Main problem: cannot transfer more songs to the player without deleting all existing songs first

Second problem: cannot transfer files back to computer, not even immediately after transferring the very same files to the player.

anyone know a solution, first one is quite critical!!

hi guys, i finally brought a hd5 after all the reviews read on this site.. HOWEVER i cant seem to get my music to transfer to the device? i have dome what it says regarding transfer at stage window, though the device window doesnt show up? have tried reloading software, maybe the battery needs to be TOTALLY FULL before i attempt it? help please!! dont realy want to get an ipod...

Ok well... I have dowloaded the songs on my mp3 and the songs play on my computer but when i try to get it to play on my mp3 it says no data...? what do i do!!!!!?????

joff:

no solution, but you should try an upgraded sonicstage perhaps. You can not transfet Atrac music back, only mp3, and that method is only a workaround (Grab your Music)

graemekann:

Does the device appear as an external hard drive in your system? If it doesn't, than it is a communication error between the unit and the PC. The battery can not be a problem, since it chacrges via USB too.

Holly:

You can not simply copy mp3 files to you unit, you have to use either SonicStage (3.4 if possible) or MP3 File Manager, refer to the manual! This way the tracks will be registered and able to play. I recommend to read the manual carefully, since it does contain some important information how you can transfer tracks and how you can categorize them on the unit, since this is not directory, but ID3 tag based.

If you got some other questions maybe you could send me an e-mail: fotel2000@yahoo.com

I was thinking about putting "Grab Your Music" GYM on my computer because I heard that I will be able to transfer my music files from the NW-HD5 back to the PC but then I was told that not only will it refuse to transfer my ATRAC files to the PC but it wil also corrupt them and seriously damage the computer. Is this true and if it is, how can i work around it please?

First: you install GYM on your HD5 not your computer, so this software travels with you whereever you go. A good thing :)

About corrupting your computer: it does not corrupt your PC but it does corrupt the Atrac music stored on your HD5. I have tried it out, and all my Atrac encoded tracks were just unplayable.

Bottomline: if you are planing to use GYM be sure, that you do not have any Atrac encoed files on the device (however, you can have Atrac files on your computer without any problem)

The MP3 handling is flawless so far with GYM.

Thankz alot for that, by the way, when yopu say ATRA enncoded files, how will i know that they are encoded or is it simply that all ARTAC files are encoded???

ATRAC files = Atrac is used as the method to encode music = ATRAC encoded, the two things are the very same. So you got it, all ARTAC files are encoded.

MP3 files are Encoded using a MP3 codec.

PLEASE HELP WITH GENRE SETTINGS!!!!
hi there guys, great posting site.. i love my hd5 and think software is fine, however, the genre categories on the player repeat themselves,like 2 0r 3 times, i.e brit pop 3 genres, brit pop albums mixed between the 3. Same doubling or trebling of other genres, ( which i find the best way to search)
i have sorted the music in SS to genres, and the player puts them like this, IS THE THERE A WAY I CAN KEEP THE MUSIC IN ONE GENRE LINE, AS THEY IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE?
many thanks

MAybe there are additional spaces after the genre names, this caused the same here, and the thinkg is case sensitive also I think. Try copy + paste for the same genres, so they will be the same for sure.

ok i will attemp to do this, i have contacted sony and they are looking into it for me, also i have the playlists set up exactly the same as the genres, so they think that the playlists light be confusing the system..

Ill initialize the hard drive and take away the playlists and do as you suggested also

many thanks there dude

Hi all,
terrible thing happened to me:
I'm using my hd3 as an external HD, besides ~5gb of ATRAC music files.
I've accidentally deleted my HD3 partition using windows xp's setup program instead of the partition on a PC. I've immediately realized that i did something wrong and disconnected hd3 from the machine (which means, i didn't reboot, destroying the data).
Of course, I've powered on hs3 and received an error message (which I've forgotten).
I've used Norton disc doctor to repair hd3's MBR.
Now, I have NO access to all my songs. I can see the full structure (i.e. Folders and sub-folders) along with all the details but have no ability to play it.
Now I have no way to recover all my songs. On my own PC that I've formated since last uploading songs on my hd3, I have no way play the songs (the infamous 0000010d error). Is there a way to recover the files?

Please advise,
Michael

You should try the program called EasyRecovery. Norton is shit.

Hi

Ive been using HD5 for nearly 2 years and I'm very happy with it. Accidently left it on with the hold button off and now the screen is frozen on the track with no way of changing screen, no back light, none of the buttons work.

Any suggestions?

I have NW-HD5 for more than 6 months. I broke my display around christmas and they replaced it with a new one for about 90$. I thought it would be a big waste not to repair this perfect (for me) mp3 player. 2 weeks ago at a party it just stopped working. I don't know if anybody dropped it down and break it or ... i just don;t know. I went to the service again and they told me there are 2 possibilities for this thing:
1-it felt down and the hard disk is fucked up.
2-if you use it for really really long time it can also break down (this is also possible for me)
So the guys told me there isn't point of repairing it because it would be expensive.( I think they just didn;t wanted to deal with it, they didn't know what's the problem)
Now I am really sad that noone can help me and that NW-HD5 is out of sale...I opened the mp3 player and I saw the hard disk is TOSHIBA.
So my question is: If the guys from the service can;t help me can I find somewhre to buy the hard dick and replace it myself. And if this is possible is it the hard disk going to be very expensive. Does it worth???
I hope someone answer me because I really want to listen to music ;)
P.S.Sorry if my english is bad. (I am from Bulgaria :) )

Ive decided after owning my HD5 for 3 months, that I just cannot put up with the crap software that it comes with anymore. Its not user friendly at all and makes it more time consuming than it should be to organise tracks etc and add them to the player. As someone else said, it almost makes it not worth it to own this particular MP3 player. But I assume Im stuck with it now, because if I sold it, the buyer would not be able to load the software for that particular player onto their own computer. Is that right?

@rachel

Try this: http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/2006/04/sonicstage-alternatives.php

U can now get Sonicstage 4.0 CP, which is also designed for NW-A3000/1000s. It is a great improvement for my brother's HD5 and my A3000.

Thanks Enzo, will have a look.

Retardonwheels : So you mean a better version of the stupid sonicstage software that I wouldve received with my HD5 last year? Where can you get that from? Just sony I assume?

is updating the firmware worthwhile? what does it do? and will it delete my files/music?

Boris, I saw on eBay a couple of these hard drives (both 20 and 30Gb) for around 100 USD (+ shipping)

BTW, are you using the cyrill alphabet in Bulgaria? I am going there next summer for some warm sandy beaches and cheap tequila ;)

Does anyone know of a car charger that will work with the HD5

Hi, when i read the manual you could just use a USB cable and a 12V to USB adapter of about 10 Euro/Dollar

FOTEL, 10x for the info but do you think the shipping will be the same for BG? And-yes, we use cyrill alphabet( Зравей, как си :) (This mean: Hi, how are you)...If you are really going to come to the Black sea, I should tell you that you will have greaaat time here...it is really cheap (a tequila is about 15 euro cents!!!!!!)(or 30 stotinki)...If you want you can write me on my e-mail because I am too going to black sea every year for 2 months!... boriss_bg@yahoo.com

Hi all.

Love the NW-HD5 but now, having filled it, need to remove/delete some albums. SS 4 will only allow me to delete individual tracks! Does anyone know if it is possible to delete albums in one hit?

Also, I'm on my 2nd HD5, (Silver) - the buttons cracked within 1 day on the first and have cracked again (same place) on the 2nd but does not affect performance.

I'd appreciate your advice regarding the deleting issue.

Thanks

Jonny Hammer

I dont know why anyone uses SonicStage?? Its the source of all your problems.
I bought the HD5 and never bothered even looking at it.
I just use the great alternatives such as ML_sony (winamp plugin) or even Sonys mp3 file manager, theres also something called GYM. Ive never had a problem, none of this locking the player to one (or 5 after registering) computers, no problems transferring songs back and forth ..nothing.

Just forget Sonicstage and your free to enjoy a great player.

Matt

Im thinking about buying a HD5 for a great price of $149!! I just think its a great deal but Im concerned about the Sony proprietary crap. I had my eye on a Zen Micro 6 Gig for the same price.

What sould I do??!! I really wanted a MP3 player to sync up with Win Media Player. BTW, this will be my first MP3 player so Im all new to this game.

Ive been researching this for 2 days. I wasnt aware you could use anything other than SonicStage. Is this true?

hi folks.........need help...........i am no computer expert whatsoever, everything going fine with my NW-HD5, until my old pc died, got new sony vaio laptop, cant get the music from my player onto new laptop......is there anything i can do!

please help folks.....again i am no expert....thats why im here asking the experts!!!!.......keep up the good work.

Well, since they updated SonicStage 4 CP... things are a lot better - true, ur still stuck with SonicStage if u wanna use Sony players, but it's more stable now and the level of restrictions have been reduced (you can encode stuff without copy protection, convert ur music in WAVs so you can convert into other formats), and the player restriction only applies if u want to buy music from the Connect video store which is only avaliable in the US anyway.... otherwise don't need to register.

I love my HD-5, however, I am looking for the piece that connects the line out port to a 3.5 mm jack port (AUX in my Saab). I cant find this piece anywhere. Sony.com doesnt even have it. So, if anyone knows where I could get this cable, please email me at MichaelPWagner@aol.com. I will not be checking this website, so if you could email me, that would be AWESOME!!

Thanks so much!

Mark: No. I'm pretty sure WMP only syncs with UMS devices, where the NW-HD5 uses Sonic Stage or other means like MP3 File manager

Lee: Use GYM (Grab Your Music). You'll have to create keys (which took me one hour using a Pentium 4 3.3ghz processor), but it's well worth it. Get MP3FM while you're at it.

Mike: It's not a proprietary cable, it's basically a cable that looks like what you plug in to your headphones, but on both ends. You can pick one up at Radio Shack for a couple bucks. You'd be burning up money if you tried to buy one from Sony anyway. I Froogled it
3.5 mm cable

So with GYM i'll be able to restore my precious 25 gigs of lost music?
I just talked to sony actually. The bastard said there was no way of getting the music back, but you guys are giving me hope.

Guys, thankyou so much for showing me those links. Basically I just tried it out, GYM seems a little intimidating at first but Im getting the hang of it- and more importantly I'm getting my music back as we speak :). I can honestly say all of you are blessed for this... I couldn't be more grateful. I just wish I knew you all in real life so I could repay you. Thanks guys.

Hi

I have an HD5. Love it.

But I have just got a new computer. I want to back up some of my tracks but I can't transfer from my HD5 to my new computer. There must be a way round this. Can anyone help? And don't say download all the tracks again!!!!!!!

Thanks

It is such a pitty it does not have a line-in or mic :(

ATRAC has a sonic signiture- Somthing I call the minidisc sound- be warned. As for inherently hi quality sound? I have one of these and would recommend it for the small size and the battery life. The software is dire and everything else is average to below average. The orientation feature is pointless as are a lot of the sound processing modes. The headphones that come with it are shite and their is no radio!?

Hi, I've had an HD5 for nearly a year now and its been great to me but the one thing that naffs me off is that you cant listen to it on a 'shuffle' basis like the IPOD where you just put it on and it plays track after track from different artists/albums etc rather than having to listen to the whole album.
Is this still the case or does anyone have a get around or a note on how to get this shuffle feature?
Cheers.

Good site. Thanks!

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The HD5 is definitely a sturdy and well built peice of machinery. Does exactly what an mp3 player should. It's reliable, has awesome battery life, simple to use nav, awesome sound (my preference is the higher atrac bitrates above 192kbps) and in Australia there is fantastic warranty and repair service.

To date i've had 2 problems, one was with the jack failing but that was partly my fault because i think i shortcircuited the jack by plugging it into a faulty stereo. And the second was a failed harddrive. Many of you may have expereinced a problem with the harddrive starting up then making some clicking noises and the unit powering down. About a week ago i took my NW-HD5 to the repair shop and got the HDD replaced and everything for nothing! The warranty covered me and extended it for another 90 days.

For those complaining about crap headphones, take some initiative and buy some new ones..DUH.. Factory standard headphones always suck no matter where you go. Anyway I just bought a set of Sennheiser CX300 in ears which match the unit perfectly. They have a great balance between bass and trebble, and for all the bass heads messing with the EQ on the unit will definitely satisfy your needs.

As for sonicstage it sucks balls..yah..will that was version 3. But version 4 has had some improvements making it more stable to use. It's not that big a fuss i find it relatively easy. There is also a drag and drop alternative. You can find it at the host of this URL for sonicstage 4

http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=17769

Hope this helps, it really is too bad that sony might not make another kicking mp3 player like this for a while. oh well

Have had an HD5 for well over a year with no problems - sonic stage is just a matter of getting used to.Have well over 800 cds on the player and I find it excellent to use.
However last week the player just appeared to crash
I now have a message on screen saying repairing database and occasionally if I can get further through it states no database found.
When I hook back up to my pc which contains my library in sonic stage it does not recognise the hd5 as being hooked up to transfer to despite my computer recognising it on the USB Port info
Would welcome any ideas to assist in rectifying
Mike

Hey mike, i've just started havin the same problem but mine loads but swtiches off straight away, Can anyone help?

I read through the first 75% of these to see if this was already posted and then lost my eyes for a bit, so I figured I would post it anyway.

Has no one noticed when organizing your music in SonicStage, that you cannot alphabetize it, or organize it by category just by clicking on the category at the top? Yes, in the library side you are able to do so. But, when you get everything over to the player, the organization is done manually. Which is a pain when you have 6,000 songs. If I have a song that is out of place, I have to click and hold it and then drag it up, little by little to where I want it. Can you imagine if I have a song that starts with the letter H and it is mixed in with the W's, how long that takes?!?!?! Does anyone have a workaround for this?

I have had a NW-HD5H (30 GB) for 18 months and am very happy with it. I love the sound quality and long battery life. I especially love the option to switch the audio output between headphone and line out modes.

Line out mode sounds great when connecting to stereo speakers (any pair of PC speakers with a mini-jack cable). At home I use a pair of Sony Megabass speakers with their own power supply and built-in amplifier. It also works great with those 2.1 speaker systems (left, right + subwoofer) you can buy from computer stores. I can also connect to my car stereo with a male-to-make mini-jack lead (widely available in computer stores - even if you can't get one made by Sony).

When I bought my Walkman I also bought a transparent rubber skin made for Sony by proporta.com. It has helped me to keep the player in perfect condition, and protects the hard drive from getting knocked around.

It's no problem to delete albums from the player if you are using a recent version of SonicStage.

Troy - if I have problems with the labelling of tracks then I update the info in the library on my PC. Delete the album from the player and then transfer the album again with the correct information. But the best way to avoid this hassle is to carefully check all the track info in your SonicStage library before transferring tracks over to the player.

my screen is broken, how do i put it onto shuffle? what are the button combinations that should do the trick after pressing menu?

Hi guys,
I've had my HD5 for a few years now and have accumulated a huge amount of music on it (over 1/2 full now) and I've never used or tried the playlists/bookmarks before, firstly are these just a way to create a list of a group of songs in a row, ie. like Windows Media Player's "Playlist".

And lastly, can you group tracks already on the MP3 player to a playlist, I don't feel like uploading a load of new tracks again to make a playlist.

Any help would be really appreciated,

Thanks in advance

While in playback (assuming the player is currently in 'Normal Playback' mode), press:

MENU---LEFT---DOWN---RIGHT---DOWN---RIGHT---DOWN---DOWN---SELECT

This will select 'Shuffle Tracks' mode. Alternatively, to select 'Shuffle Items' mode press:

MENU---LEFT---DOWN---RIGHT---DOWN---RIGHT---DOWN---DOWN---DOWN---SELECT

To return to the playback screen from the play mode screen, press:

SELECT---SELECT---DOWN---DOWN---DOWN---SELECT

For future reference, if you want to change the play mode, the four options are in this order:

NORMAL PLAYBACK---ONE SONG---SHUFFLE TRACKS---SHUFFLE ITEMS

TOMMY C!

The screens not wiiide enough for that post..

SHUFFLE TRACKS:

MENU, LEFT, DOWN, RIGHT, DOWN, RIGHT, DOWN, DOWN, SELECT

SHUFFLE ITEMS:

MENU, LEFT, DOWN, RIGHT, DOWN, RIGHT, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, SELECT.

STREET FIGHTER II TURBO, 10 STARS TURBO:

UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, Y, B, X, A

I have had my NW-HD5 for a year now and am very happy with it. You can get some cool skins for it from zcover. My husband got me an "isound' portable speaker. This 4 driver speaker has excellent sound quality for around $60.00 us. I do not have an auxillary jack in my car so I had an fm modulater installed. Now all I have to do is plug my NW-HD5 into the modulater and I can play my entire cd collection on the fly.
I do have one problem/question, I am hoping someone can help me with this. I tried Sony help and they did not help me. When I create a playlist in Sonic stage and transfer it to my player some of the songs are duplicated on my player. To make put it simply, if a song called Better Man is on my playlist and I transfer the playlist to my player, Better Man will appear and play twice when I play the album it came from. If I delete the second occurance of Better Man from the album list it will also be deleted from my playlist. I would appreciate any help I can get, it is way easier to create a playlist in Sonic Stage than in bookmarks.

Adam, I use a playlist to group a bunch of my current favorites together. They are also a good way to create dance mixes for a party, or songs to create a particular mood. Yes, you can group songs already on the player together just push and hold the up arrow while a song is playing and select a bookmark to assign it to. To delete the song from a bookmark, while the song is playing push and hold the down arrow and then select delete. You can create playlists in sonic stage. Do this before you plug in your player. From my library click create edit playlist. You can right click to name the playlist. You can drag and drop the songs from my library or select the track and click on the arrow to transfer a track to the playlist. You can change the order of the tracks in the play list by dragging them where you want them. When you get the playlist the way you want it plug in your player and transfer the list to your player. Note, the problem I am having outlined above. You might start with a couple of tracks and check to see if you are having the same problem. jo

My NW-HD5 keeps turning off for no reason what can i do?

Has anyone managed to replace the hard drive with a Toshiba 40GB, 60GB or 80gb drive yet? I'm really interested in doing this, but I don't really want to try to do it just to find out that it wont work.

Has anyone tried replacing it yet?

Hey everyone- I'm having the same problem with songs that I add to a playlist coming over twice to the player. Is there a way around this?

Hi, my hd5 has just died. PLugged it in to charge, and next morning, nothing. Have tried new battery, but it isnt that. Out of warranty, has anyone tried repairing?

Don't know if anyone else has said this its also a handy little storage device. I use mine to keep and transfer files from my Linux pc to my xp pc. also i use it to back up or carry files to my mates. Also you can carry mp3 files on it, It just don't play them.. Try this with an Ipod or to say that any other big brand of player it doesn't work . Yes your right where digital rights are concerned its a pain, but ain't all the companies using some form of Digital rights. By the way you can flash the i pod with linux software i'm going to have a look to see if i can do this with the Nw-hd5 If i can then i will.
Had mine over a year. its great.
Reason for flashing Nw-hd5 if it can be done do it.

You can hack the volume. If you want to go deaf that is..

Don't reply to this i won't be back

I have a problem with my Nw Hd5. it works fine, plays music, transfers files, everything is fine, the only problem is, is that the screen refuses to work. it used too, then one day just stopped. It lights up and is just blank, but everything works fine, i just cant see what the heck im doing. Will restoring the factory settings sort this out? or is it just totaly busted?

uh-oh NW-HD-5...earphone jack only playing right side...unless I sort of position it 7/8 of the way in (then it both play)...tried multiple earhones, line outs..anyone?

This is the best MP3-player I have ever seen and had. The sound is perfect, it´s small and it has a beautiful design. The battery is the best ever seen in an mp3 (I think).

my hd5 has just frozen on me nothing works could some please tell me the solution to this ive had this for like 3 yrs and i cant live without it mann

krishpatel69@hotmail.com email me the soultuon someonee plzz

I've had my hd5 Nearly 2 years and have always found it to be great, sturdy, good battery life, great sound quality through h'phones and line out.

Unfortunately I think she's dying, as recently, everytime I turn her on the screen reads "repairing database" and when it eventually powers up, the indexes are unpopulated (ie search under artist and there's nothing there).

Playlists, which I've only recently created, are there and work fine however.

Also connecting to the Laptop has become VERY hit and mis