what chipset does the walkman e344 use?

[ineedhep]

Well..., does anyone know what chip it uses?
If anyone knows please post!

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by ineedhep

Well..., does anyone know what chip it uses?
If anyone knows please post!

It doesn't matter what chip it is....it sounds great.

[lestatar]

Agree totally with Marvin...no idea on the chip and I don't really care as my E345 does indeed sound terrific. IMO, the strength of the Sony's lie in their great EQ.

My own understanding is that most reputable manufacturer's DAPs will sound pretty similar provided good quality components are used - what sets the sound signatures apart really has more to do with software on the device with regards to EQ and other sound enhancements than hardware.

I would research/audition headphones and spend more time in that regard finding earphones you love as IMO this is the single most important part of the portable audio chain...

Still, perhaps someone knows/can dig this info up for you...

cheers!
-lestatar

[ineedhep]

how does sound quality relate to my question ?

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by ineedhep

how does sound quality relate to my question ?

Isn't that the point of the chip? Why else would you want to know?

[ineedhep]

I mean the name of it and the company who makes it.

[lestatar]

OK....of course, you are right...It doesn't.

My post was simply trying to illustrate that chipsets in quality DAPs generally result in audio that is pretty much indistinguishable IMO/IME.

Yes, my response was based on the assumption that you were asking the question because you are one of the people who are a bit...obsessive...about stuff like chipsets in DAPs and how one chipset might make a player sound notably different than another.

If this is not the case, then my apologies for misunderstanding you.

Perhaps you can clarify exactly why you are interested in this information? This would probably have made the responses more targeted in the first place.

cheers,
-lestatar

[lestatar]

Originally Posted by ineedhep

I mean the name of it and the company who makes it.

Ah, ok...Sorry to waste your time then. I have no idea. Perhaps contact Sony tech support directly via chat/phone/email and query them - perhaps they will tell you, if they don't consider that information confidential.

good luck,
-lestatar

[saratoga]

The firmware update file looks like a Freescale format, and its some ARM CPU. My guess would be imx series chip, like the imx233. You'd have to dig into it in more depth to be sure.

Might want to open the player. The mx part number should be printed on the chip.

[meetooman]

@Saratoga: We have seen some Sony service manuals to download on the forum, was there any valuable informations to read for people in a "Rockbox state of mind" ?

[saratoga]

Do these manuals mention what chips are used?

[lestatar]

Please guys...as a new fan of RB, please do not [even accidentally] tease me with tantalizing fantasies of a possible future RB port for the Sony E/S series...

Be still my beating heart! :-D

[The DarkSide]

Originally Posted by lestatar

Please guys...as a new fan of RB, please do not [even accidentally] tease me with tantalizing fantasies of a possible future RB port for the Sony E/S series...

Be still my beating heart! :-D

Ain't never gonna happen, not for a S or E series player. They don't really need a port.

[saratoga]

Originally Posted by lestatar

Please guys...as a new fan of RB, please do not [even accidentally] tease me with tantalizing fantasies of a possible future RB port for the Sony E/S series...

I wouldn't worry about that. Apparently in 2 years no one has even mustered enough interest to figure out the CPU. At this rate the sun will explode before someone edits a firmware file to say SORY.

[ineedhep]

Does anyone here with a similar Walkman know how to open up the walkman I have?
(Sony e344)

[dfkt]

Originally Posted by The DarkSide

Ain't never gonna happen, not for a S or E series player. They don't really need a port.

Speak for yourself... All stock Sony firmwares are 100% utterly useless for my needs.

And yes, I would kill for a quality Sony hardware with pan/balance, gapless, Replaygain, scrobbling, decent EQ. Their players handle so lovely, yet their firmwares are utter garbage for my needs.

I really wonder why nobody ever looked into porting Rockbox to a Sony... they would be my first choice. It's quality hardware that deserves a good firmware.

Saratoga, AFAIK Sony prefers to use NEC chips and Cirrus DACs in their players, to the best of my knowledge. Some even used to run on Linux (and have some GPL'ed sources): http://www.sony.net/Products/Linux/A...ategory01.html

[ineedhep]

Originally Posted by lestatar

Please guys...as a new fan of RB, please do not [even accidentally] tease me with tantalizing fantasies of a possible future RB port for the Sony E/S series...

Be still my beating heart! :-D

Does this mean that Sony E/S series use the same chips?

[saratoga]

Originally Posted by dfkt

Saratoga, AFAIK Sony prefers to use NEC chips and Cirrus DACs in their players, to the best of my knowledge. Some even used to run on Linux (and have some GPL'ed sources): http://www.sony.net/Products/Linux/A...ategory01.html

FWIW I don't think they prefer anything. I've seen ones using ARM and ones using CF. I've seen ones with Freescale and one with Sigmatel. Now you're saying NEC, which I didn't even know made chips for mp3 players

[dfkt]

In that case "prefer" was really the wrong word, indeed.

[aarons510]

I don't know if this is useful to you, but the E438F definitely uses a SigmaTel chip. I know this because I have a non-working one that shows up in my Mac's System Profiler as follows:

ROM Recovery:

Product ID: 0x3700
Vendor ID: 0x066f (SigmaTel, Inc.)
Version: 0.01
Speed: Up to 480 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: Sigmatel, Inc.
Location ID: [not relevant]
Current Available (mA): 500
Current Required (mA): 100

Incidentally, I have a few non-working players from other makers that show up with identical information, including an RCA M4304-A, an RCA Lyra SL5004-A, and a Memorex TouchMP MMP9490.

P.S. I share the original poster's frustration about getting responses that presume that you had a different question in mind than the one you actually asked.