S739 or S545?

[ermintrude75]

I bought a 16Gb S739 in May. Loved the noise cancelling heaphones, also found SensMe useful since I don't have many playlists built up. I found it easy to use and the battery life is fine for my use.

At the weekend, it died . Amazon offered a full refund, but could not offer a replacement since they do not stock it any more.

Seems I have two choices: "upgrade" to the newer S545, or get another S739 elsewhere.

The 545 has a speaker (I'd never use it) and a larger screen (not fussed about watching video on it), but no NC and no SensMe. I'm therefore leaning towards the tried and trusted 739. Is there anything else about the 545 that I have missed, that would make it an improvement over the 739?

[CrowdAds]

[Dreamnine]

No - get another S739.

[kysg]

that is your best option get another s739

[MattMc3]

In addition to the speakers, the S545 also has an alarm, sleep timer, and FM recording but loses all podcast support. I've had an S639 and currently have an S545. Absolutely go with the S739/S639 if you can find one. The S545 feels incredibly cheap and I am not very happy with it. I wish I would have kept my S639 instead.

[ermintrude75]

Thank you all for the straightforward replies! I have found a replacement S739, new and boxed, from an Amazon Marketplace seller, and it's on its way. Let's hope this one lasts longer than 6 months...

MattMc3, I was not aware of those extra features, but you're right, they don't swing it!

[JK98]

"but loses all podcast support"

Which Sony players have good podcast support? Do any play 16 or 24 kbps mp3 files, or do they all refuse to play anything under 32 kbps? Do any have a seperate podcast area and autobookmarking(or perhaps easy rnough bookmarking?) Will any let you play some podcasts, some music, turn off the player, then resume the podcast when turned back on?

[Dreamnine]

And that has what to do w/ the thread topic?

[MattMc3]

Originally Posted by JK98

Which Sony players have good podcast support? Do any play 16 or 24 kbps mp3 files, or do they all refuse to play anything under 32 kbps? Do any have a seperate podcast area and autobookmarking(or perhaps easy rnough bookmarking?) Will any let you play some podcasts, some music, turn off the player, then resume the podcast when turned back on?

@JK98: I don't know all of the Sony players that support those questions, but I do know that the S639 does everything related to podcasts that you asked above. True, there is no real bookmarking function, but if you put MP3's and MP4's in the Podcast folder then their position will be remembered the next time they are played.

I'll quote myself from some other threads:

Full Thread

Originally Posted by MattMc3

My S639 would remember the paused position of every single MP3 audio file and MP4 video file only if they were placed in the Podcast folder. There isn't a "bookmark" feature built in to the menu system but the player will remember all of the track's paused positions when they are kept in the Podcast folder.

If you place an MP3 audio file in the Music folder or an MP4 video file in the Video folder, only the last played track will have it's position remembered.

Another benefit of keeping video files in the Podcast folder is that they are listed in alphabetical order with the ability to organize them in sub-folders. If you put them in the Video folder they are listed in order that they were copied to the player. The only downside to putting video files in the Podcast folder is that it won't display the album art (for video files only). But since the album art icon for video files is extremely small this isn't a big deal.

Bottom line:
- Put regular music in the Music directory (last played track's paused position remembered)
- Put audio Podcast in the Podcast directory (all track's paused position remembered)
- Put all videos/movies in the Podcast directory (all track's paused position remembered)
- Don't put anything in the Video directory

The S545 does play low bitrate files. I tested them for you in this thread:

Originally Posted by MattMc3

@JK98: All of the following bitrates played fine on my S545:

32kbps 11khz Mono
24kbps 22khz Mono
20kbps 11khz Mono
18kbps 11khz Mono
16kbps 11khz Mono
8kbps 11khz Mono
32kbps 11khz Stereo
24kbps 11khz Stereo
20kbps 11khz Stereo
18kbps 11khz Stereo

Matt

Edit: Since the Podcast folder and Podcast support has been removed from the S545, only the last played MP3 (in the Music folder) or MP4 (in the Video folder) will have it's paused position remembered.

[JK98]

Thanks for the response. It is interesting that Sony finally has support for lower bitrates on the S545. Many Sony models give an error message when trying to play files less than 32 kbps. Does the E344 and E345 also play low bitrate mp3 files? Do they have a podcast folder? The Sony player look interesting, however I need something for both podcasts and music, and want to get something new. Do you think an S545 or E344 or E345 will adequately power the Sony headphone? My Clip+ and Fuze don't seem to adequately power the V6, and the V6 is not at its best with those players.

[Marvin the Martian]

The E344/345 are like the S544/545 only without the speakers and voice/FM recording, so there is no specific podcast folder.The S545 powers my 60ohm 101dB SPL/1mW Koss KSC75's better than my Clip did, using no EQ or enhancements.

Seems to me like you'd be better suited carrying 2 players.....a Clip+ or Fuze for your podcasts and lectures, with PX100's, and an E345 or S545 for music with your V6's.

[h1a8]

Originally Posted by ermintrude75

I bought a 16Gb S739 in May. Loved the noise cancelling heaphones, also found SensMe useful since I don't have many playlists built up. I found it easy to use and the battery life is fine for my use.

At the weekend, it died . Amazon offered a full refund, but could not offer a replacement since they do not stock it any more.

Seems I have two choices: "upgrade" to the newer S545, or get another S739 elsewhere.

The 545 has a speaker (I'd never use it) and a larger screen (not fussed about watching video on it), but no NC and no SensMe. I'm therefore leaning towards the tried and trusted 739. Is there anything else about the 545 that I have missed, that would make it an improvement over the 739?

The soundstage of the 545 is awesome and much better than the 739. The 739 have much better bass. I love both so much its nearly impossible to choose either. I would say get the 545 and turn the clear bass up a notch higher. I hate sense me and the NC headphones that come with the 739 (they sound awful). I guess I'm just used to high quality like the se530 or the HFI-780. The speakers of the 545 are definitely useful. I used them sometimes when I'm washing dishes in the kitchen or I want someone to hear a song (sharing iem's is unsanitary).

I would get the much cheaper 545 and invest in some high quality iem that blows the 739 headphones out of the water.

[Dreamnine]

Agreed, the n/c iems suck big time. Cheap and clunky.

[klezmer41]

Any idea when the new S series will be available in the US? I just want something 16GB or larger with the podcast folder.

[ermintrude75]

This is turning into a bit of a saga

The replacement 739 I ordered did not have NC headphones as stated in its listing. The seller is willing to refund but now I can't find another S739 for love nor money. So one option is to keep it and find other (better) NC headphones. (The other option is to get something else and still get other NC headphones.)

I think on balance I will try and keep this 739 - will see if the seller will consider a part refund based on it not being as advertised, and then put that towards some IEMs. Off to the headphones forum...

I realise that some do not like SensMe, but I do like it and did find it useful on the old S739. I don't have a stash of playlists as I don't listen to much music from the PC, but I did like being able to easily listen to something more varied than one artist or album. Thanks h1a8 for the comments on the speaker - food for thought, but I think it still isn't a killer feature for me.

To pitch in on the podcasts tangent, if the 545 had the ability to play all podcasts in a folder sequentially then it would posisbly tip the balance for me. I have some audiobooks from CD which are set up as many short chapters where this would be ideal.

Thanks for all the comments.

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by ermintrude75

I realise that some do not like SensMe, but I do like it and did find it useful on the old S739. I don't have a stash of playlists as I don't listen to much music from the PC, but I did like being able to easily listen to something more varied than one artist or album.

There is always "shuffle all songs".

Originally Posted by ermintrude75

To pitch in on the podcasts tangent, if the 545 had the ability to play all podcasts in a folder sequentially then it would posisbly tip the balance for me. I have some audiobooks from CD which are set up as many short chapters where this would be ideal.

Thanks for all the comments.

That might be possible in folder mode....with normal playback mode, if each chapter was numbered right in the tags....but I've never tried so I can't be sure.

[MattMc3]

Originally Posted by ermintrude75

To pitch in on the podcasts tangent, if the 545 had the ability to play all podcasts in a folder sequentially then it would posisbly tip the balance for me. I have some audiobooks from CD which are set up as many short chapters where this would be ideal.

Originally Posted by Marvin the Martian

That might be possible in folder mode....with normal playback mode, if each chapter was numbered right in the tags....but I've never tried so I can't be sure.

Marvin's right. You could just label the file names (for Folder mode) or the ID3 tags (for Album mode) correctly and an audiobook would play back sequentially.

But, in the S545, the audiobook files would have to be placed in the Music directory which means that if you listened to some music in the middle of your audiobook you would have to remember which audiobook track you left off on and would have to manually scan to the position of the track where you paused it.

On the S63x/S73x, you could put the audiobook tracks in the Podcast folder. You would have to manually select the track that you left off on, (which is easy because "unlistened to" podcasts have a "new" label on their icons - the "new" icon goes away after you have listened to that track) but the player will remember the track's position where you left off.

One of the downsides of the S63x/S73x Podcast folder (that I forgot to mention before) is that the player will not play PodcastTrack1> PodcastTrack2> PodcastTrack3> continuously. After each podcast track is played the player goes back to the podcast menu, not the next track. This is the same whether it's an audio-only or video podcast. In the case of audiobooks, I like to rip each of my audio CD's into one long track. That way you only have to select a new "podcast" file after you listen to a full CD, instead of after each individual track.

Matt

Edit: Regarding the NC headphones, maybe other Sony NC headphones would work? I don't know if the S739's NC feature only works with the headphones that came with the S739, or with all Sony NC headphones. And I'd keep the S739 instead of looking at an S545.