New to Sony :)

[covingtoncat73]

Hi. The lock/unlock button on my iPod Nano broke and my Shuffle is not good for audiobooks so I tried a Sansa Clip, which didn't work out at all for me. I returned it and got a Sony Walkman, 4G. I believe it is E series. Anyway, I think it and I will get along just fine.

It is nice and sturdy, sturdier seeming than my Nano, which survived a lot of abuse for 2 years. It was pretty easy to get music and audiobooks from my iTunes onto the Walkman, thanks to that little transfer software. A couple of things were protected but most of it transferred with not too much trouble. The sound is great, at least what I've heard so far (I turned it up so I could hear it over the mower and have been listening for about 1/2 hour to an audiobook I ripped from a purchased CD). I like the look of it, I like the feel of it, and, as I said, the sound is great. I'm a happy camper so far.

It is more what I want than the Shuffle, which isn't great for audiobooks or the new Nano, which has that foolishly small touch-screen, or the Touch, which is more that I really want to spend and has a bunch of features I would not use. It is rather like my Nano only better. Also, it was less than 1/2 what I paid for my Nano (69.99 at Best Buy, the Nano, if I recall, was $150)

The computer has frozen up and had to be restarted a couple of times and/or not recognized the Sony but restarted fixes it and that is a problem of running a 5-yr-old Vista-running Dell laptop. Almost time for a new one. to the Sony to the Vista.

[GreasyTacoAficionado]

Hi. Glad to hear you're enjoying your Sony. I bought the E355 a while ago, my review here. There are a few things that annoy me about it but overall it's a good little player.

I listen to alot of podcasts, one thing I love is the DPC (Digital Pitch Control) that lets you speed up playback by x1.1, x1.25,x1.5, x1.75, x2.0. I usually only use x1.1, I find I like getting through the podcasts a little faster than normal playback.

You mentioned you like audio books. If you use the audible audiobook service, the Sony's aren't compatible with it unfortunately. The Zunes are though. They're cheaper now than they used to be as Microsoft is discontinuing them, see zune site.

What ear buds or headphones are you using? I just got a pair of shure se215 for $100. They have pretty great sound isolation, blocking out outside noise, so you don't have to turn up the volume too loud while mowing the lawn.

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by GreasyTacoAficionado

Hi. Glad to hear you're enjoying your Sony. I bought the E355 a while ago, my review here. There are a few things that annoy me about it but overall it's a good little player.

I listen to alot of podcasts, one thing I love is the DPC (Digital Pitch Control) that lets you speed up playback by x1.1, x1.25,x1.5, x1.75, x2.0. I usually only use x1.1, I find I like getting through the podcasts a little faster than normal playback.

You mentioned you like audio books. If you use the audible audiobook service, the Sony's aren't compatible with it unfortunately. The Zunes are though. They're cheaper now than they used to be as Microsoft is discontinuing them, see zune site.

What ear buds or headphones are you using? I just got a pair of shure se215 for $100. They have pretty great sound isolation, blocking out outside noise, so you don't have to turn up the volume too loud while mowing the lawn.

Awesome review, thanks. I'll have to follow that link about the Karaoke. I'd love to try that. $100?

Yikes! I don't think I can spend that on headphones. I know I probably should. My hearing is pretty bad already. I just got the Sony, so I'm just using the little earbuds it came with. I have a couple of others and some non-earbud cheap headphones.

[lestatar]

@OP: Indeed! Enjoy your Sony! The E series is indeed a fine player, very good value for the money and should serve you well for quite a while.

You hit the nail on the head - the price differential between the Sony and the Apple Nano [old versions] is quite large isn't it? And you are not missing out on too much with the Sony. In fact, you have been liberated a wee bit from the Apple monoculture

cheers and enjoy! do not hesitate to post here with any questions/issues you may have. There are quite a few folks here well-versed with Sony gear.
-les

[FreeZ5]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

The computer has frozen up and had to be restarted a couple of times and/or not recognized the Sony but restarted fixes it and that is a problem of running a 5-yr-old Vista-running Dell laptop. Almost time for a new one. to the Sony to the Vista.

Interesting. When you have problems with the Clip+, it's the player. When you have problems with the Sony, it's the computer.

Good luck with the Sony.

Steve

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by lestatar

@OP: Indeed! Enjoy your Sony! The E series is indeed a fine player, very good value for the money and should serve you well for quite a while.

You hit the nail on the head - the price differential between the Sony and the Apple Nano [old versions] is quite large isn't it? And you are not missing out on too much with the Sony. In fact, you have been liberated a wee bit from the Apple monoculture

cheers and enjoy! do not hesitate to post here with any questions/issues you may have. There are quite a few folks here well-versed with Sony gear.
-les

Thank, yeah, it is working out so far. No, I don't feel I'm missing out. I really love the ease of transfer.

Originally Posted by FreeZ5

Interesting. When you have problems with the Clip+, it's the player. When you have problems with the Sony, it's the computer.

Good luck with the Sony.

Steve

Well, the Clip's main problem for me was the difficulty in transferring music/audiobooks and having to convert hundreds of songs. That was kind of a killer for me. People were kind enough to point out the MSC/MTP thing to me and that did solve the connection issue but it also kept repeating things, even though repeat was off, and I still had a massive conversion job ahead of me.

With the Sony, I find that little content transfer box much less obtrusive than creating dups in iTunes or downloading a third party program (to iTunes and my player). Anyway, after a couple of times restarting, I have had no more recognition problems with it and I have got it 3/4 full.

[skip252]

Congratulations on finding a player that suits your needs. The way I look at things it doesn't matter which player you have or what software you use to manage it as long as it fits how you choose to enjoy your music.

On the enjoying your music thought one thing you posted truly concerns me. Turning up the volume to drown out outside noises is a sure fire prescription for hearing loss. The question isn't if it will happen but when and how much. If your hearing isn't the greatest now it will become worse if you continue doing that. If you want to enjoy your new player for a long time I'd think about getting some headphones that will help you preserve your hearing.

There's IEMs that are are much less expensive than the ones that GreasyTacoAficionado link to that will allow you to lower the volume on the player and significantly reduce the mower or other outside noise. They'll also sound better than the stock earbuds. I'd look into those or a decent pair isolating over the ears headphones.

You don't have to break the bank to make a significant upgrade in sound and isolation. When I'm going to be in a noisy place that's not going to allow for great sound quality I just use a pair of JVC Marshmallows. You can usually find them for between $15 and $20 in most bigbox stores. They're not world beaters for sound but they're much better than the stock buds. One of the best parts is that they're comfy for me for long periods and the isolation is very good.

There's other inexpensive alternatives that will still get you decent sound and help preserve your hearing. I'd take a look at here as a start. The sooner you look into upgrading to a more isolating headphone the less you'll place your hearing at risk.

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by skip252

Congratulations on finding a player that suits your needs. The way I look at things it doesn't matter which player you have or what software you use to manage it as long as it fits how you choose to enjoy your music.

On the enjoying your music thought one thing you posted truly concerns me. Turning up the volume to drown out outside noises is a sure fire prescription for hearing loss. The question isn't if it will happen but when and how much. If your hearing isn't the greatest now it will become worse if you continue doing that. If you want to enjoy your new player for a long time I'd think about getting some headphones that will help you preserve your hearing.

There's IEMs that are are much less expensive than the ones that GreasyTacoAficionado link to that will allow you to lower the volume on the player and significantly reduce the mower or other outside noise. They'll also sound better than the stock earbuds. I'd look into those or a decent pair isolating over the ears headphones.

You don't have to break the bank to make a significant upgrade in sound and isolation. When I'm going to be in a noisy place that's not going to allow for great sound quality I just use a pair of JVC Marshmallows. You can usually find them for between $15 and $20 in most bigbox stores. They're not world beaters for sound but they're much better than the stock buds. One of the best parts is that they're comfy for me for long periods and the isolation is very good.

There's other inexpensive alternatives that will still get you decent sound and help preserve your hearing. I'd take a look at here as a start. The sooner you look into upgrading to a more isolating headphone the less you'll place your hearing at risk.

Thanks, Skip. I've been using earbuds for 6 years now and I do think it might be making things worse. Thanks for the link. $10 is more like it. I think there was actually a paper about "we want you listening for life" about not playing the sound too loud included with my Sony.

I'm 6/9 of the way through the audiobook I'm listening to and still quite pleased. I'll have to download some pictures to the Sony, to see what they look like. I look forward to trying the karaoke feature and checking out eAudio from my library on it. I got some of my Van Morrison, all of my Nick Drake, Mumford & Sons, U2, that new 8in8 with Amanda Palmer, some Nick Cave, some Violent Femmes, etc. loaded up.

[GreasyTacoAficionado]

Those JVC marshmellows look nice. For sure they'd be better than the ones that came with your player. When I first tried that style of IEM (In Ear Monitor), that goes into the ear, I wasn't sure if I liked them. But after a week or so of using them there was no going back. Isolating the speaker sound from the outside noise makes a huge difference.

Just be careful walking around with them on in public, it's easy for cars or people to sneak up on you

Another company you might want to look at is MeeElectronics, they're a taiwan company that sells direct. I personally have nerver used them but I've seen them recommended.

http://anythingbutipod.com/2011/05/m...s-a151-review/

On thier site they start at around $44. You might find them cheaper on amazon.com.
http://www.meelec.com/M11_Earphones_...show=10&page=1

apparently there's a 25% off coupon, code: 25_OFF_MEE on their site, I think that expires May31 though (tomorrow).

[lestatar]

+1 on the Meelectrics. Many folks have had some very positive things to say about their products AFAIK. I too plan to look into them when I have time.

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by GreasyTacoAficionado

Those JVC marshmellows look nice. For sure they'd be better than the ones that came with your player. When I first tried that style of IEM (In Ear Monitor), that goes into the ear, I wasn't sure if I liked them. But after a week or so of using them there was no going back. Isolating the speaker sound from the outside noise makes a huge difference.

Just be careful walking around with them on in public, it's easy for cars or people to sneak up on you

Another company you might want to look at is MeeElectronics, they're a taiwan company that sells direct. I personally have nerver used them but I've seen them recommended.

http://anythingbutipod.com/2011/05/m...s-a151-review/

On thier site they start at around $44. You might find them cheaper on amazon.com.
http://www.meelec.com/M11_Earphones_...show=10&page=1

apparently there's a 25% off coupon, code: 25_OFF_MEE on their site, I think that expires May31 though (tomorrow).

Thanks, Taco. I think I may get those JVC Marshmellows.

I have bought a few (not many) Audible books but I don't have a subscription anymore. My public library has an excellent collection of audiobooks both on CD and eAudio and I looked at their list of supported devices and Sony is on it. That is weird that it is not on Audible's. If I do want to listen to one of the Audible books again, I'll break out the Shuffle, even though it is not ideal, it will play them but I am good to go with the Sony as far as the library's Overdrive eAudiobooks go.

[covingtoncat73]

I've had a few days with the Sony now and am still loving it. Heh. I've played MP3/4 music, an audiobook ripped from CDs I bought, photos, and an eAudiobook I borrowed from my public library.

The eAudiobook worked great and trasferred very quickly to my Sony, quicker than with my Nan. Overdrive likes a Sony better than it likes an iPod.

The sound, as I mentioned, is excellent and I love how the device is sturdy but not bulky. I also really like that little pop-up, drop-and-drag transfer box. I don't even open iTunes, anymore, I just drop-and-drag from my music folder into the transfer box, though you can do either and I have done both. There is only one thing I miss thus far and a couple of little niggles.

I really wish that I could forward and reverse in an eAudiobook segment. Sometimes I get distracted or something else happens and I miss a bit and need to go back. I don't know if anyone else is as much of an audiobook fan as me but some eAudiobook segments can be over an hour long.

Some of the photos I put in the Sony show a thumbnail but some don't. If you select the photo, it'll come up, though, so no real biggie. It is just weird.

I must be doing the screensaver wrong. I selected a photo as screensaver, yet I see a dark screen after not using the device for a little bit but not the screensaver.

Other than that, I haven't tried the Karaoke function yet and need to find a video to play to see how that is. The screen is real clear. I did look at the nature videos they included. Very clear.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

Other than that, I haven't tried the Karaoke function yet

On my older Sony, the Karaoke is simply an audio thing.....it mutes the vocals somewhat, presumably for you to sing along with.

[GreasyTacoAficionado]

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

There is only one thing I miss thus far and a couple of little niggles.

I really wish that I could forward and reverse in an eAudiobook segment. Sometimes I get distracted or something else happens and I miss a bit and need to go back. I don't know if anyone else is as much of an audiobook fan as me but some eAudiobook segments can be over an hour long.

Can't you just hold the left or right arrow button to reverse and fast forward? As mentioned in my review, it is a lot faster if you pause it first. Are you audio books in MP3 file format?

Originally Posted by covingtoncat73

Other than that, I haven't tried the Karaoke function yet and need to find a video to play to see how that is. The screen is real clear. I did look at the nature videos they included. Very clear.

Just to clarify, I don't think karaoke works on a video, just an audio file. You have create the lyrics file on your computer with the time (to 1/100 of a second) of when the lyrics should appear on screen. It is quite a time consuming process so you better really be into karaoke to attempt it =)

[covingtoncat73]

Originally Posted by GreasyTacoAficionado

Can't you just hold the left or right arrow button to reverse and fast forward? As mentioned in my review, it is a lot faster if you pause it first. Are you audio books in MP3 file format?


Just to clarify, I don't think karaoke works on a video, just an audio file. You have create the lyrics file on your computer with the time (to 1/100 of a second) of when the lyrics should appear on screen. It is quite a time consuming process so you better really be into karaoke to attempt it =)

Ah! How did I miss that part? That works beautifully.


As far as the Karaoke, I have never Karaoked, though I have sung to myself while listening to music. Heh. A local pub within fairly reasonable walking distance of me has Karaoke on Sundays and I have been considering going and thought I might practice.