Sony NWZ-E345

[lestatar]

Matt, thanks for piping in.

You must be right. Maybe my own expectations are actually higher than I think. I thought I was primarily concerned with the big 3 [sound quality, form factor, capacity], but perhaps my needs a bit more sophisticated than I thought.

Or maybe I have just been spoiled. Every previous mp3 player I have ever owned prior to this Sony has allowed me to do all the things I am ranting about. For some reason it really bugs me that for a portable device, I have to connect it to a PC to do so many things. This strikes me as being completely counter to the whole point of a portable mp3 device. I mean, I am not asking for tag editing on the device or anythign like that.

Thanks for sharing the info on your mp3 habits. 12GB might not be huge, but it's the content that matters, especially to you as an individual. My own collection is at 55GB and counting, not even including the nearly 1500 CDs I have yet to rip. With HD sizes/prices so low, I might start a medium term project and finally digitize the whole kit and kaboodle once and for all.

What also kind of hurts me is that I insist on at least 192kbits or better [vbr LAME only please] for all my mp3. While nowhere near as huge file sizes as the FLAC aficionados demand, I still managed to fill my new 16GB Sony by day two. I am constantly shuffling/deleting/adding music to the device, which is why on the go deletion/track appending to the now playing queue is vital for me.

Anyway...question for you please!

Just for kicks, I wanted to convert and test view a video on the E345. I read the device requirements, converted a file to the following:

60mb vid converted to:
WMV
30FPS [Sony tech support insisted on this]
320x240

Thing is, the video does not appear on the device Video menu. The pre-installed video is there and plays fine, but mine does not. I thought maybe the transfer had failed, but when I connected the device, XP explorer sees the file in the VIDEO folder.

What am I doing wrong? Any ideas?

I am using MediaCoder and FormatFactory to convert the source video.

Any help/ideas would be much appreciated...

cheers,
-lestatar

[CrowdAds]

[Dreamnine]

To me it's a non-issue not having playlists or a delete song function on a player. I have to connect to a computer anyway to recharge so I do any library re-arranging then. My P3 and Clip+ have song delete (I think) but it's not a function I ever use.

[MattMc3]

@lestatar: I haven't used either of those video converting programs before, or used an E345 before. I sent you a link through ABI's private messaging to download a short, 1MB test video. It's an MP4 that was encoded with the MPEG4/AAC CODEC's (320x240). The user manual for the E345 says that it only plays WMV's, but try the MP4 that I sent you and let me know if it works or not. If it doesn't then I'll assume the E345 actually won't play MP4's and only WMV's. In that case I'll have to find a test WMV for you. I've never encoded WMV's as I try and stay away from proprietary Microsoft formats. I usually stick to Xvid AVI's (for the computer) and MP4's (either h264 or MPEG4) for portable devices.

Matt

[lestatar]

Originally Posted by MattMc3

@lestatar: I haven't used either of those video converting programs before, or used an E345 before. I sent you a link through ABI's private messaging to download a short, 1MB test video. It's an MP4 that was encoded with the MPEG4/AAC CODEC's (320x240). The user manual for the E345 says that it only plays WMV's, but try the MP4 that I sent you and let me know if it works or not. If it doesn't then I'll assume the E345 actually won't play MP4's and only WMV's. In that case I'll have to find a test WMV for you. I've never encoded WMV's as I try and stay away from proprietary Microsoft formats. I usually stick to Xvid AVI's (for the computer) and MP4's (either h264 or MPEG4) for portable devices.

Matt

Matt, thanks a million! Will try the MP4 and get back to you. My understanding is that the E345 will only play WMV files [horrible, horrible format!]...at least according to Sony Tech Support.

Will test that MP4 and get back soon...

thanks again,
lestatar

[lestatar]

Originally Posted by Dreamnine

To me it's a non-issue not having playlists or a delete song function on a player. I have to connect to a computer anyway to recharge so I do any library re-arranging then. My P3 and Clip+ have song delete (I think) but it's not a function I ever use.

dreamnine, thanks for responding.

I totally understand and you do have a point about making the changes/deletions when the device is charging. But again, 2 issues for me:

- if I discover at 9AM that, out of 3 new CDs I just ripped and xfer'd to the Sony, I want to delete 3/4 of the songs and I don't get home until 10PM, I most likely will have forgotten exactly which songs I want to ditch;

- and besides, I might want to do other time-wasting stuff on the PC, like surf sites like this, rather than constantly groom my Sony device as its charging...

Anyway, different strokes...

cheers!
-lestatar

[lestatar]

Originally Posted by lestatar

Matt, thanks a million! Will try the MP4 and get back to you. My understanding is that the E345 will only play WMV files [horrible, horrible format!]...at least according to Sony Tech Support.

Will test that MP4 and get back soon...

thanks again,
lestatar

Matt, just PM'd you back...No dice with the mp4...

cheers,
-lestatar

[MattMc3]

Originally Posted by lestatar

Matt, just PM'd you back...No dice with the mp4...

I guess the E340 series only plays WMV's - I was hoping the video support info in the user manual was a typo. I guess not. I downloaded the test video again and it still plays good on my S545. Not sure what to tell you now. I don't have any experience with WMV's, and the software on my PC won't save videos to the WMV format. The Wiki page for WMV's lists some WMV encoders. That might be somewhere to start. Good luck.

Matt

[lestatar]

No worries Matt. I actually have alot of experience transcoding video files so that part is no big deal. But even though my test vid was transcoded exactly as Sony wants it to be, it seems something is still wrong. Once I figure it out, I should be OK. I will continue working on it though...

cheers,
-lestatar

[Instead]

MP4 is working on my E-345 using the Realplayer platform. I'd still like advice on how to set up video play lists on this unit. Seems like huge downside and maybe, ultimately a deal breaker. Still deciding. Bought yesterday.

[lestatar]

Originally Posted by Instead

MP4 is working on my E-345 using the Realplayer platform. I'd still like advice on how to set up video play lists on this unit. Seems like huge downside and maybe, ultimately a deal breaker. Still deciding. Bought yesterday.

hey there...

Interesting [and surprising] you got MP4 vid files to work on the E345. I was told explicitly by Sony tech support that only WMV is supported.

Can you please post:

- the app you used to create /transcode into the working MP4;

- what specific vid/audio settings you used?

Also, I am happy to go into detail on the pros and cons of the E345 with you. I have had mine for just over a month and am a long-time MP3 portable user.

Just PM me here...

cheers and thanks!
-lestatar

[skip252]

Try Pazera's Free PSP Converter. The MPEG4/AAC presets work with both my e345 and s639.

[lestatar]

Originally Posted by Instead

Try Pazera's Free PSP Converter. The MPEG4/AAC presets work with both my e345 and s639.

@skip252:
Thanks for the info. I tried Pazera awhile back and gave it up in favor of the multi-format transcoders like MediaCoder. Will def give this a shot to try and get MP4 vids working on my E345.


@Instead:
No idea if this will work for video playlists, BUT....

I use Winamp on my XP Pro SP2 PCs to manage my E345. MediaMonkey is great but doesn't work perfectly with the E345 whereas Winamp does so beautifully. I avoid WMP like the plague. And I hate to install any "proprietary" software unless I absolutely must.

MP3 playlist creation on the E345 using Winamp is a snap...

waitasec...Never mind...

I just tried the same method I use for MP3 playlist creation using Winamp to make a playlist of 3 test vids I already have working on the E345.

This Video Playlist shows up on the device [unfortunately it is greyed out], but it can't play the vids.

Here is the message:
"No songs available for playback. Please connect to compliant software or device and transfer songs."

So unless you or someone else can figure a workaround, it would seem that playlists for vids on the E345 is a non-starter.

Again, feel free to ping me if you wish to get my real-world feedback on the E345 after 30 days.

cheers and good luck,
-lestatar

[JK98]

Why does Sony ignore podcasts? The E345 looks like such a nice player. if only it had good podcast support(autoresume, automatically remembering which file was played last in each of several series of podcasts, support for very low bitrate files, and a separate area for podcasts so podcast files aren't shuffled with music files like the Sandisk Clip+ and Fuze do) I might have already bought one. Any hope that Sony might start having good podcast support on their players?

[MattMc3]

@JK98: Not sure about the X series, but the new S640, S740, and A840 series players all have podcast support. Unfortunately they aren't available in the US yet. An S745 is available in Canada, and Australia and Europe are supposed to launch a few of those models in February. For the currently available models available outside of Japan (excluding the S745 mentioned above) the E340, E440, and S540 series, none have podcast support. I agree though, I'd like to see all Walkmans have podcast support.

Matt

[Marvin the Martian]

I believe the X series can download podcasts wirelessly.

[JK98]

"but the new S640, S740, and A840 series players all have podcast support"

In addition to podcast support, I want a price under $100, user selectable msc or mtp modes, 16 GB(or less memory if the player has a card slot), great podcast support(ideally also with variable speed playback with automatic pitch control- not just separate setting for each), a mini USB connector(the proprietary connector on my Fuze is so annoying), and long battery life. Are those Sony models with podcast support expensive, do they have proprietary connectors, or are they mtp only? I have the Fuze and Clip+ but want something new and can't find any other players that come closer to suiting my needs.

[Dreamnine]

If the X supports wireless podcasts I still haven't tried it nor even switched the wireless on, or the N/C. I just use it for music and occasional iPlayer wmvs and downloaded mp4s since I no longer use a tv or dvd player.

[Dreamnine]

Originally Posted by JK98

"but the new S640, S740, and A840 series players all have podcast support"

In addition to podcast support, I want a price under $100, user selectable msc or mtp modes, 16 GB(or less memory if the player has a card slot), great podcast support(ideally also with variable speed playback with automatic pitch control- not just separate setting for each), a mini USB connector(the proprietary connector on my Fuze is so annoying), and long battery life. Are those Sony models with podcast support expensive, do they have proprietary connectors, or are they mtp only? I have the Fuze and Clip+ but want something new and can't find any other players that come closer to suiting my needs.

Build your own because what you want doesn't exist and you sound repetitively anal.

[CDMP3PlayerFan]

Originally Posted by MattMc3

@JK98: Not sure about the X series, but the new S640, S740, and A840 series players all have podcast support. Unfortunately they aren't available in the US yet. An S745 is available in Canada, and Australia and Europe are supposed to launch a few of those models in February. For the currently available models available outside of Japan (excluding the S745 mentioned above) the E340, E440, and S540 series, none have podcast support. I agree though, I'd like to see all Walkmans have podcast support.

Matt

Podcast support hasn't been much of an issue for me. All I do is make sure that for each downloaded podcast the genre is "Podcast" for podcasts that I'm subscribed to, or "DAB" (short for "Downloaded Audio Broadcast") for podcasts I no longer subscribe to (so they don't show up in MediaMonkey's list of podcast subscriptions). This allows to to easily locate my podcasts regardless of the player I'm using.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by CDMP3PlayerFan

Podcast support hasn't been much of an issue for me. All I do is make sure that for each downloaded podcast the genre is "Podcast" for podcasts that I'm subscribed to, or "DAB" (short for "Downloaded Audio Broadcast") for podcasts I no longer subscribe to (so they don't show up in MediaMonkey's list of podcast subscriptions). This allows to to easily locate my podcasts regardless of the player I'm using.

I had to use my S545 one weekend for podcasts while I didn't have my Q2. I had an easy enough time of it. I created a folder "PODCASTS" in the S545's music folder and opened it up, and I clicked "select all" on the 4 podcasts that had downloaded, then I did the old "copy and paste" right into that podcast folder.

When I wanted to listen to one of them, I used the folder browse to select the podcast folder, then scrolled to the one I wanted, and played it.

It was not a big deal to forgo "shuffle all" with my music until the podcasts had all been listened to, either. Maybe it would not have sufficed for some of our more demanding members *cough*JK98*cough* but I didn't mind it at all.