Spot the difference between the last two pictures. The screen shows up from nowhere!
I love this new toy of mine. I was using a Rio Unite 130 which wasn't mine and it died on me. I went back to my good old Sony Discman since the Rio died. It was old-skool all over again and I loved it. High quality audio, straight from the CD. But then my discman is old and it was skipping my CDs slightly, even though the anti-shock was turned on (the anti-shock was a gem in the discman's earlier days).
So now, meet my new friend, the Sony mp3 player, which doesn't have a cool model name like, the IPod, Rio or Zen. It's just plain, Sony Walkman, digital music player. Sweet and simple.
In an attempt to briefly review this new toy, here's the run down.
Transferring mp3's from my computer to the player is harder than other devices. You would have to install its proprietary software, SonicStage, import the mp3's into the software, which takes a while and only then are you able to transfer the songs onto the player, which also takes a while. This means there are two "transferring/converting" stages. I left it to transfer 7 albums while I went to take a shower, by the time I came out, it was only about 60% completed. So it is pretty slow and it won't be the best if you're in a hurry. You can't delete anything on the player itself too. You could only do this via SonicStage.
This also means that you can't transfer mp3's from other computers if you don't have the SonicStage software installed. It limits the transfer of mp3's which I think is both good and bad. Good because it slows down mass copying and bad because you would have to be home to do any transfering.
Audio quality wise, it's true to the Sony tradition. Crystal clear audio with just enough parameters in the EQ section to customise a suitable EQ setting to your liking. I didn't have to do much EQ-ing. I personally don't like too much bass going straight into my ears but Sony's tend to be quite gentle with the bass (which I think is awesome) so I boosted a little bass and pretty much left everything else flat. The audio is just awesome. It's perfect.
*Side note: When I'm mixing a band either live or during a mix down session, I am generous with the bass, because you could feel it especially through the subs, live.
For a 2GB mp3 player, retailing at RM399, I feel that it's not the best mp3 player in the market, but it's definitely value for money. I prefer this compared to the IPod shuffle because this has a screen so that I could actually see what I'm listening to and it has enough essential functions that an mp3 player needs. All in all, it is all I need in an mp3 player and I'm happy. Oh, plus it's small and sleek. It's a Sony! (Does the ad voice)
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Broken Scar's album, Midnight In St. Kilda is available on www.mytracks.com/brokenscar
Broken Scar's album, Midnight In St. Kilda is available on www.mytracks.com/brokenscar
Get Mp4 bro. Its cheap and worth it. Lots of space :)
Why would I wanna buy an mp4 player when i already have this one? haha. plus, 2gbs is more than enough for me. i don't need it as storage man. if i had it my way, i'd still use a CD player, or a discman. everything else other than the CD itself is already a compromise.
soooooooo coooooool!!!!!!! :p
does it have a lot of brokenscar tracks on it? :p
:P Hahaha, yeah..you got a point there...I like Mp3s/Mp4s with strong bass enhancers. lol. Really gets you in the mood :)
I love this mp3 player! Was just eying it with huzaifah the other day. Sony's concept store at One Utama. You could test out all their gadgets there. The difference in the audio really stood out. Wish I have r,300 to splash on an mp3 player now...sigh...
shervie: I would have the new tracks on it but they'd be too troublesome to import. hehe.
jie: Everything should be in moderation. I'm an audio engineer too, so I don't wanna blow my ears out before I'm 30.
kamelia: yeah, the Sony concept store is pretty cool. I used to go to the KLCC one, Sony Wings. To be honest, these mp3 players are just a portable means for me to listen to music. The best quality is on either vinyl or cd, through a pro player, which is so expensive. Can't afford it anytime soon, but it'll be something worth investing in. hehe. Marantz is a brand I've fallen in love with.
I have the 1GB version which looks... different, so I am not sure which generation it belongs to. However, I don't need to use SonicStage, and can copy it like a normal thumbdrive and it would work. Pity it doesn't support playlists, though.