mp3's on blue MS

[mnholt]

I'm wondering if anyone is able to play mp3's on the blue memory sticks from sony? I'm having problems using iTunes to transfer mp3's to the blue memory stick and have them not show an error. When I try to play the song an error message pops up telling me that either the MS is locked or the file format is not supported.

Thanks

[Mason]

Generally, there is no reason why one can not play MP3 files on purple sticks. Judging by the message you received, I would suggest trying the following two items:

Did you activate the lock on your stick after installing applications or databases? Sticks must be unlocked for both recording AND playback. Check that you did not accidentally lock the stick when handling it.

If the stick is not locked, start Audio Player and select Normal View (one song per screen.) Beside the title there is an icon of a note. Hit it. This will show you the file details. Be sure that they match the ranges specified in your manual. If not, re-rip your files.

Mason

[Mason]

I have just read a reply to a similar question in thread: 710 Audioplayer conundrum. Scott777 has replied with a suggestion that reformatting the Memory Stick may resolve the problem.

If your files were recorded properly, you might try reformatting your Memory Stick.

See Scott's reply in the above thread for details and allow me to emphasize that the fromat must be done on the Clie.

Mason

[Brucemac]

Hi Guys
I just got a NR70v myself and have been doing some experimenting with Blue sticks (I have a few for Cameras and the like)
The issue -- as far as I can see -- is to do with the bit rate that you encode at. The sony player will not work with bit rates other than 128kb, so make sure your ripper is set to that.
I'm using a whole variety of Sony and non Sony sticks and they all work fine. The problem is that most tracks (say 3 mins) are about 3500kb so you need a big stick to hold 3 albums of say 10 tracks each.
I also found that you don't need to format the stick on the Sony. I can transfer my picture stick from my Konica camera, put it in the NR70 and fill it up with music.

Hope this helps
Cheers
Bruce

[Marcotjo]

I had only problems with MP3 using the Sonic Stage software.
I format and use the blue memory stick on my Clie and can transfer MP3 and play them without any problem.
Don't forget to put your MP3 files in the default MSAUDIO directory on the stick.

[Scott777]

Also, make sure your bit rate is set to 44.1 khz and you encode them at 96, 112, or 128 kbits per second. From my experience, you don't gain any higher quality over 128 kbits so it's not worth inflating the file size.

Also, there are several different "Encoding" formats. The one I use is BladeEnc together with RazorLame. I can encode at 96 kbits and still have great sound quality. It's a little slower than most of the other programs but it has a nice batch conversion utility.

Here's a list of software that uses Blade Encoding as the basis for their software:
http://bladeenc.mp3.no/skeleton/products.html

Download BladeEnc:
http://www2.arnes.si/~mmilut/BladeEnc.html

Download RazorLame:
http://www2.arnes.si/~mmilut/Lame.html

PS-The Blade files have to be saved in the same directory as the RazorLame files

Scott

[YKZ_Pilot]

I use the blue sticks only for my MP3s. The Sony MP3 transfering software uses piracy protection that only works with the Magic Gate sticks. I don't pirate, but I refuse to pay more for the MG sticks because there are so many thieves out there who think their stealing of software and songs do not hurt anyone. (not to mention the obvious ethical sleeziness)

You cannot use the Sony software with the blue sticks. However, you can simply drag and drop the MP3s from you computer to the Clie and play them back without a problem.

:cool:

[mnholt]

HI,

after reading all the advice, I first reformatted the stick from the clie then proceeded to drag two mp3's onto the memory stick, one encoded at 128kbps and the other at 64kbps. The first one played and the second one gave me the file format error as before. So Thanks for the tip to encode at 128kbps, I was trying to get everything down to 64 so I could get about 50 songs onto a 128Mb MS but looks like that idea has been put on hold for now.

Cheers,

Myles

[bjorn]

I too have been doing some experimenting, and 96k seems to work fine as well as 128k and 160k. Anything below 96k fails on my NX too. As best as I can tell, khz don't seem to matter ...

Bjorn

[Mason]

Myles,

I am glad to hear that you have been successful in transferring an playing your MP3 files. There are two points I would like share with you and the others.

Firstly, 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.

It seems from your posts that you want to put a lot of music on Memory Sticks, thus the Magic Gate sticks may actually give you the lowest price per minute of recording.

Secondly, Memory Sticks may be formatted with either a computer or a handheld. The reason I emphasized formatting on the handheld is that in the manuals, Sony states that sticks must be formatted on the handheld. While most applications will work with sticks formatted on a computer, there are some subtle differences in formatting and some applications will not work with computer-formatted sticks. Saving data and re-formatting a stick is an avoidable headache.

Enjoy the music!

Mason

[avijohn]

This may be caused by a variety of different items. This solution is broken into the following sections:

Section I. Confirm Audio Player Installation
Section II. CLIE PEG-N710C 2.1 System Update
Section III. MP3 File Format, Location, And Other Important Notes

Please follow the troubleshooting sections below. Be sure to test MP3 playback on the CLIE handheld after completing each section to see if the issue is resolved.


Section I. Confirm Audio Player Installation

Audio Player version 2.0 must be installed to play MP3 audio. Audio Player v.2.0 is usually installed during the first HotSync after the Audio Software has been installed on the computer. If you have not already installed the CLIE Audio Player from the Installation CD, please follow the steps below.

1. Attach the supplied AC adapter to the CLIE cradle, and plug it into a power outlet.

2. Place the CLIE handheld in the cradle and power it on.

3. Insert the CLIE PEG-N710C Installation CD into the CD-ROM drive of the computer. The CD will autostart.

4. At the first screen, click "Install CLIE Audio Software."

5. At the "Audio Software" screen, click "Install CLIE Audio Player."

6. At the "Install Tool 3.0" window, next to "Username," click the down arrow and select the desired profile, and then click OK.

7. At the "Install Tool" box, confirm that "AudioPlayer20E.prc," "AudioPlayerSkin.prc," and "Update Yo-2.0.prc" are listed.

NOTE: If all three files are listed, please skip to step 8 below. However, if all three files are not listed, please follow these sub-steps:

A. Click the Add button.

B. At the "Open" box, navigate to the CLIE/AudioPlayer folder on the Installation CD.

C. Press and hold down the CTRL key on the keyboard, and click to highlight the "AudioPlayer20E.prc," "AudioPlayerSkin.prc," and "Update Yo-2.0.prc" files.

D. Release the CTRL key, and click the Open button.

The files should now appear in the "Install Tool" box. Please continue with step 8.


8. Click the Done Button.

9. At the "Next time you perform a HotSync operation, the listed file(s) will be installed on your handheld" message, click OK.

10. Click Exit to close the CLIE Installation CD screen.

11. At the Windows desktop, in the Taskbar located at the bottom-right corner, click the HotSync icon (looks like a red and blue arrow in a circle) and confirm "Local" is checked. Click any blank space on the computer screen to close the HotSync list.

12. Press the HotSync button located on the front panel of the CLIE cradle.

13. When the "You now need to reset your handheld computer by tapping the button below" message appears on the CLIE, tap the Reset button on the screen. The CLIE handheld will restart and the installation is complete.

14. Test MP3 file playback. If problems still occur, please continue with Section II.


Section II. CLIE PEG-N710C 2.1 System Update

The CLIE PEG-N710C 2.1 System Update increases Audio Players compatibility with the MP3 format, and adds some additional features as well. Please follow these steps to download and install the update:

1. Connect to the Internet and go to:

http://www.ita.sel.sony.com/support/clie

2. At the CLIE Handheld Support site, click the link titled "Software Updates (PEG-N710C Only)."

3. At the PEG-N710C software update page, locate the section titled "CLIE PEG-N710C 2.1 System Update," and click the link titled "UPYO211.EXE."

4. Print and follow the update instruction page to download an install the update.

5. Once the update is installed, test MP3 playback. If problems still occur, please continue with Section III.


Section III. MP3 File Format, Location, And Other Important Notes

Listed below are a series of tips and guidelines to aid in MP3 recording and playback with the PEG-N710C Handheld. It is recommended to read through all of these.

1. When recording MP3 files using Real Jukebox on the computer, remove the check next to "Secure my Music Files", found under the "Audio Quality" tab of the software preferences when encoding for playback on the CLIE handheld.

2. Only Joint Stereo MP3 files up to 128 bit are supported on the PEG-N710C CLIE handheld. A third party MP3 program that collects the MP3 data may be used to determine whether or not the files are in the proper format. Any MP3 not using Joint Stereo may cause the CLIE handheld to lockup, display an error message, or to not recognize the Memory Stick.

3. MP3 files that are encoded by Real Jukebox under 96Kbps will not play in Audio Player and may result in the error "Failure due to one or more of the following: Invalid track - does not support copyright system." When encoding MP3 files using Real Jukebox, 96Kbps is recommended. Additional information about Real Jukebox is available at:

http://service.real.com/help/call.html

4. Ensure the files are stored in the proper location on the Memory Stick. Audio files must be stored in the \palm\programs\msaudio directory.

5. If the MP3 files were not encoded properly, the CLIE handheld may lockup, display an error message, or music may skip or hang. To restart the CLIE handheld, perform a Soft Reset. No data will be lost. Perform a Soft Reset as follows:

A. Unscrew the end of the CLIE stylus pen to reveal the tip.

B. Using the stylus tip, press and slowly release the Reset button located at the back of CLIE handheld.

C. The CLIE handheld will restart. Make the desired on-screen selections to complete the Soft Reset.


6. Do not mix ATRAC3 and MP3 formats on the same Memory Stick. Playing files with mixed formats on the same Memory Stick may result in errors or lock up the CLIE handheld. A Hard Reset may be needed to restore used of the handheld device.

!!WARNING: All data and programs added to the CLIE handheld internal memory will be lost when a Hard Reset is performed. It is highly recommended to synchronize all CLIE data to the computer before performing a hard reset. This data can later be restored to the CLIE handheld via a HotSync.

To perform a Hard reset, do the following:

A. Remove the stylus pen from the CLIE and unscrew the tip.

B. Press and hold down the Power button located on the front of the CLIE handheld.

C. While holding down the Power button, insert and then remove the stylus tip from the Reset hole located on the back of the CLIE handheld.

D. Wait for the Palm Computing Platform screen to appear and then release the Power button.

E. Make the desired on-screen selections to complete the Hard Reset.

[lodeon]

Hi!

I've just bought an PEG-N710C CLIÉ but i didn't get the installation CD with it. I have noticed that you need the 2.0 version of the Audio Player to play MP3's, as for now i've got the 1.1 version and can't play any MP3's.

Can someone please send me the software that i need to play MP3's or point me to a URL where i can download it.

Thanks in advance!

[YKZ_Pilot]

You should have received the software from the place you purchased it. If they are an authorized Sony dealer they will supply it for you.

If you did not buy it from a proper source, and you cannot get the CD you can always go into the Sony Store and get a copy. If you are a regular customer they will give you a copy, if not then you might have to pay a very small fee.