transfer & play MP3

[Niclas]

Hi,
I just bought a NR70V, and am having problems re playing MP3s. Would appreciate any advice on a simple MP3 player for this machine, and how to transfer MP3s from my hard drive.

The software supplied, SonicStage, is simply the most user-unfriendly I have seen from so many aspects (and I used to work in a design company...), and in addition Sony expects you to use MagicGate Memory sticks that cost more than ordinary sticks... I mean please Sony, this is a great way to lose future customers...

Many thanks in advance.
Niclas
:confused:

[fearlessfozz]

If you call this number (1-877-760-7669) i think they tell you how to put mp3's onto the blue ms's. Just go through the menu and it should be one of the options. Hope this helps

[Mason]

Above phone number only works in U.S. Here's one of several possible ways to do it, (assuming Windows O/S):

1. Insert purple stick in Clie.
2. Start Audio Player application. (This will write an audio directory onto the stick, if one does not exist.)
3. Open MY COMPUTER.
4. Put Clie in sync cradle and now start MS Import. (A new drive icon will appear in MY COMPUTER.)
5. Open the newly appeared icon and locate the /PALM/PROGRAMS/MSAUDIO directory.
6. Copy your MP3 files into the MSAUDIO directory.
7. Stop MS Import. (Icon disappears.)
8. Start Audio Player application.
9. Boogie.

[Mason]

Niclas,

I hope you have been successful in transferring an playing your MP3 files.

Yes, the Magic Gate sticks are more expensive, but unless you are making high-fidelity recordings, you can make ATRAC3 files at the lowest bit rate with almost no noticeable loss of sound quality. Assuming in-ear phones and normal indoor and/or outdoor ambient sound pressure levels, the ATRAC3 sound quality is fine. These files will be about half the size of MP3 files, thus making the Magic Gate sticks actually cheaper if you fill them to capacity.

I experimented with different rates and encoding techniques. I realize that sound-quality is a subjective matter, but I decided that best price/performance (sound quality) ratio actually came from the low-rate ATRAC3 files.

Mason

[stupot42]

So, it is possible to create music on the cheaper memory sticks? I had been told it was, but couldn't find proof. Is it possible to do the same with the ATRAC files?

[Mason]

Yes, it is possible to put music files on the standard (purple) Memory Stick. Just make your MP3 files and follow the instructions above to put them in the right directory. You can also put MP3 files on Magic Gate (white) Memory Sticks, but you will be loosing the cost benefits.

You can only put ATRAC3 files on the Magic Gate sticks, and there are limitations on how many copies you can make. Sony owns the rights to a lot of music, (just ask George Michael,) and the ATRAC3 format was a way of protecting copyright and CD sales while satisfying customer demand for making copies of music they have bought. They are intended for use in Memory Stick Walkman and car radios etc.

Mason

[szaki]

I just bought two, Lexar Media 128Mg stiks (blue) from www.buy.com for $49, with $10 rebate each. They work great.
After inserting it in my Clie NR-70P , it creats a few directories on the stick.
/PALM/PROGRAMS/MSAUDIO
/MSFILES
/PICTUREGEAR
Take the stick and insrted into you're PC desktop or laptop stick reader and it should come up in you're filemanager as a removable drive. Than just copy any MP3 files into the /MSAUDIO
folder on the stick. Works great. I have 17 mp3 songs on the stick, 72 minutes music and it's only half full. Seems, I can put 2 hours MP3 on one 128Mg stick.
The other way is to use Ms Import, the PDA has to sync, I have not tried it yet.
Good luck!!!

[stupot42]

I'm considering buying a mem stick reader, so I can copy files to my sticks with out using my clie.... I'm interested in if you all think it's worth buying one? And if so, which sort?

Thanks!

[szaki]

The one I have is came with my Epson printer, it is built into it.
(Epson Stylus PHOTO 785EPX). I also have a USB and parallel port Sony stick reader that are extra, if you intrested I can sell it to you. $20+SHP) Let me know, if you're intrested.

Julius

[stupot42]

That's very generous of you, but I'm in the uk, and if I were to buy it from you, once I'd paid the postage, and my bank had charged me to change the money from GBP to US$ then it would probably work out more expensive than me going to the nearest shop and buying one. Much appreciated tho! :)

Anyone know if these 3.5" floppy converter to mem stick reader/writer are any good?

[szaki]

You right, but may be able to ship it to the UK for $5 if it's under 1lb. Far as payment, you can use PayPal (www.paypal.com) and the it automaticly convert the currency to the present rate, when I get it.
I've done it, mailed items to Ireland, $5, it was there in 3 days from California, using USPS World Priority. I also bought item from New Zeland, payed with PayPal, very fast.
Far as the flopy stick reader, most likely much slower than the USB, since you are going through the flopy drive with 350Kb transfer speed, and the old USB has 10mg transfer speed, new USB 2.0 port has 40mg. Flopy is an option for old computers that don't have USB port. My new HP laptop didn't come with flopy drive.

Julius

[Mason]

Stupot,
Currently there are four adapters from Sony and several from other companies. The Sony 3.5 inch floppy format adapter works fine. As Julius points out, it is a little slow, but if you have an unused 3.5 drive, this will certainly give the utility of having a memory stick port without taking up a USB port.

It will also give you the ability to transfer directly between sticks if you connect your Clie.

Mason

[stupot42]

Thanks for the info guys... Yeah, I'm a bit short on the old USB ports... I only have two, and already have 3 USB devices, so rather than shelling out for a hub as well, I thought it might be easier to use the floppy adapter...

I'll have to think about it some more. But I can buy either a USB or Floppy adapter for about £10, so thanks for the offer, but I'll stick to the stores! :D

[YKZ_Pilot]

Do NOT buy the 3.5" Floppy adapter ... unless you want to buy expensive batteries ... which it takes to drive it. It is very slow to boot.

Buy a USB or PCMCIA adapter. USB is cheaper.

Do not get the PCMCIA adapter from Sony if you have Win2000. They still don't have a driver for it.

There is a 3rd party PCMCIA adapter that reads 4 different types of memory cards/sticks.

You can even buy a Sony USB Opticla mouse that has the reader built into it.

Enjoy ....

[Mason]

I use my PC card with Windows 2000, both English and Japanese versions. (non-Sony PC's.) Works fine with both.

[stupot42]

Thanks for the info YKZ_Pilot... I think I'll look into the USB one, but for the moment I'm going to stick with the old cradel method... nowt wrong with it, and I don't have the money to shell out at present! :(

[colmag]

I bought an end of line display model N770 recently, that didn't have the main software disc in the box..

After much web browsing, found the following site:

http://www.musiclub.sonystyle.com/support.jsp

From here you can download PDF guides on how to do all audio type things with your clie.

One important thing i learnt after wasting a couple of hours writing MP3's that wouldn't work, is that you have to encode them as stereo 44Khz, between 32 and 128kbps.

I downloaded an mp3 ripper that would only encode at 30-something khz, which i didn't realise at first...