[UPDATED] Synching Playlists on Sony Walkman NW-A45

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Expand view Topic review: [UPDATED] Synching Playlists on Sony Walkman NW-A45

Re: [UPDATED] Synching Playlists on Sony Walkman NW-A45

by GibsonXXI » Thu Feb 17, 2022 6:10 pm

For syncing generally, we could do with some additional options with regards artwork too. Especially on devices like the NW-A45 that have very specific requirements with regards image format, and file size. I store 1000x1000px art in my music tags, obviously this is going to be a problem for the NW-A45. An option to limit image resolution (and/or convert on-the-fly) to a different resolution would be more useful than simply having the option to 'remove cover art over 300kb' as is currently the case.

Some artwork, even at a lesser resolution, is preferable to none at all, after all. Also, it must save all tag artwork (or convert existing) to basic format. Interlaced / progressive artwork isn't supported on many PMP's like this, so a check for that needs to be present too, IMHO. As well as mistakenly embedded PNG files, which are also not supported.

Dan / Gib.

Re: [UPDATED] Synching Playlists on Sony Walkman NW-A45

by GibsonXXI » Thu Feb 17, 2022 5:55 pm

I am not using the profile supplied on the website at this time. I decided to start from scratch and create my own due to issues with MMW 'seeing' the SD Card. It always detects the main device (in the main), but not the SD Card if the device is plugged in post MMW startup. Windows Explorer sees both fine. This is with Firmware 1.10 on the NW-A45. The same is true for unplugging / turning off MTP mode (via the device) while MMW is running. It won't redetect the SD Card if you re-plug it while MMW is running.

My guess on this is that as the unit is seen as 'one device' as far as Windows is concerned, but has 2 drives / drive letters, with the internal storage being FAT32 and the SD Card ExFAT (Mine is 256GB), that this is confusing the hell out of MMW. If the device is connected, and in MTP mode prior to starting MMW, then it's detected fine.

Going back to the profile, I have set up custom paths, but have not got around to setting up the formats at this time. As a workaround I've simply disabled Auto-convert for the time-being.

Playlists synced from MMW are showing up on the device, but show empty (No tracks) even with the Linux slashes and UTF8 options enabled. Tried disabling 'Extended M3U support', but that made no difference.

That and similar (but not so prolific) issues with my Sony XZ1 Compact and syncing / wifi syncing have taken up most of my time up till now. My old Z97-based computer totally gets borked with regards SSDP discovery if you reboot it, rather than cold-shutdown and re-start, which has been throwing a spanner in the works as to getting all this set up.

Had the NW-A45 for about 18 months to 2 years, but never consistently used it uintil now. The Music Center Software Sony provides is a mess. It crashes frequently, is slow as hell, and can't handle the immense library (55,000) audio files I have here. Not all of it is music, have a lot of podcasts, radio shows, audiobooks and other stuff, but it became patently obvious in a short space of time Music Center wasn't going to cut it, so hence the testing with MMW5.

Dan / Gib.

Re: [UPDATED] Synching Playlists on Sony Walkman NW-A45

by Peke » Tue Feb 15, 2022 4:05 pm

Hi,
GibsonXXI wrote: Mon Feb 14, 2022 4:05 pm Sorry for dragging up this old topic again, but I just ran into the same issue with regards formats on MMW5 where the profile 1.2 for the NW-A45 suggests 'MP3' format is supported, but then proceeds to attempt to down-convert all my 320Kbps MP3s to VBR, which is definately not wanted on a device that supports full bit rate MP3s, and even supports DSD files!
You are right profiles should be updated from time to time I only had A45 for a few days on a test and that is how 1.0 profile is created. All Other profiles were sent to me by users like you and uploaded after RAW test was conducted.

I remember that there was initial issues with various formats even Sony claimed they are supported.

It would be worth to note that MM 5.0.3+ support DSD and I guess you could add them in profile supported formats.

If you have exported profile please open support ticket and attach exported profile (ZIP it if needed) and I'll update it on site.

I guess that sync Paths and playlist settings work?

Re: [UPDATED] Synching Playlists on Sony Walkman NW-A45

by GibsonXXI » Mon Feb 14, 2022 4:05 pm

Sorry for dragging up this old topic again, but I just ran into the same issue with regards formats on MMW5 where the profile 1.2 for the NW-A45 suggests 'MP3' format is supported, but then proceeds to attempt to down-convert all my 320Kbps MP3s to VBR, which is definately not wanted on a device that supports full bit rate MP3s, and even supports DSD files!

After doing some digging, it became apparent that the profile (submitted by Peke) for download on the MM website is missing any real clarity about what sample rates / bit rates are supported for the NW-A45's audio (format) playback.

Creating all this in MMW5 is going to be a right-royal PITA. But for those interested, the audio formats / sample rates / bit rates can be found here (As posted earlier in the thread).

If I manage to get this configured myself (Without losing the will to live in the process) I will post a link to the exported file here, but don't count on it being any time soon.

Dan / Gib.

Re: [UPDATED] Synching Playlists on Sony Walkman NW-A45

by Peke » Wed Sep 09, 2020 2:27 am

Hi,
Sorry for delayed answer, I do not have Sony device to make new profile with added formats.

Once you connect your player you can edit profile options easily by selecting it on tree and go to Options -> File Conversion -> File formats where you can select all the formats supported. Once you create and test taht profile works correctly you can export it so that I can upload it to Addons.

Please use original 1.2 profile before you start to change settings as destination paths and filenames work correctly for most of users.

Re M3U vs M3U8 there is not much difference except that M3U8 support UTF-8 Filenames and paths and device support is better than M3U which have few different structure and can fail to load. Not sure why is that but in tests I've conducted with one of users it proved more stable.

Re: Synching Playlists on Sony Walkman NW-A45

by Murdie » Thu Sep 03, 2020 3:16 am

wjwilliam415 wrote: Mon Mar 16, 2020 9:35 pm Hey MediaMonkey team, I'm not as tech savvy, still can't get my NW-A45 to see the playlist. Please give us a step by step instruction if possible! thank you!
I created an account from the previous post (v1.2 file support needed amending look same user name). I try work on this as I also approached loading on the music to the card a couple of ways.

I think how people do it also affects the sucsess rate. I had a lg v20 with quad dac (but it recently died) i bought the A40 a few years ago for my EX but she didn't want it and I don't have the funds for lg v60. I have mmw4 and MMdroid-pro.

I had an old sony z3 and the hi-res support and other features (clear audio dsee+ etc etc) with the A40 a50's i think took alot from the z3. what i am saying is at the price point as a dap its been pretty good the problem with it is it doesn't run droid to install mma-pro. But for $220 it has decent support for hi-res codecs and even has ldac BT codec. given the recent popularity of the WH-1000m3 and likley m4. for people looking for a $550-600 for dap & ldac noise canceling headphone setup I think this players popularity is likely to increase. especially given recent reviews see whathifi for BOTH (sry couldnt post URLS).


Also Music center for pc (sony) is good at genre and track id taging BUT the transfer OMG you want to shoot yourself in the face its so slow.

Also leading on which might become its own thread I might cover device setup I created a equalizer profile which is closer sounding to Lg v20 quad dac using 4 different headphones open, 2x closed backs, 2x IEM.

I too have been frustrated and ran into problems and it wasn't just MM fault. So i will try go back over what I did to get the music and playlist running.

Alittle disappointed lyrics weren't supported with plugin. I had been saving them in MMdriod-pro (mobile phone) and syncing them back to MMW which where then written to File. I Music center kept playcount data no the device you cant see it but it would be great to see if we could get that across too.

Q to devs In my above post M3U apparently is supported whats the difference between m3u8 (v1.2) and m3u is there any benefits?

Re: [UPDATED] Synching Playlists on Sony Walkman NW-A45

by Peke » Wed Sep 02, 2020 10:23 pm

Hi,
THX for report I'll check and update plugin accordingly.

Looks like you are right only basics are selected as supported. Guess initial auto format support detection was wrong and it propagated to Plugin profile.

Re playlists as MMW keep internal/external separate only thing you need to do is not to sync duplicates.

Re: [UPDATED] Synching Playlists on Sony Walkman NW-A45

by Murdie » Wed Sep 02, 2020 6:20 pm

Ok here are some of the troubles I have found for those it not clear

My library style
I have over a 120gb of music and transfer music to the device via playlists as i use playcount/most recently played/ ratings and more to create live playlist that are dynamic over time. the on board has 16gb so thats not going to work. So i prefer to load all my playlists and media on the sd card.

1) When a SD card is put in the device and the device is attached via sony cable to your computer windows identifies the sd card as part of the player but MM does not, it sees them as different.

So using the "device import" plug in above needs to be applied to both storage locations if you are using both for playlist driven imports as another user above pointed out both playlists will need written under a linux format thus one for each card.

(negative point the sd card will always be labelled as a sd card it wont remember thus the plug in will need applied each time, actually its a bit flaky on my pc it does sometimes and doesnt other times i think this is with other connected devices taking the drive letter).

Also when i first set it up I thought ok I just put the playlists on the device and the media on the SD but see point 2 below I mistakenly thought if i apply the plugin to the just the player I would be ok WRONG. also i couldn't find a way of doing this via sync as the MM sees the sd card as a separate device so if you have this chain of thought thinking the playlists need to be on the walkman don't worry it doesn't.

Now i am a amatuer in media monkey so if the devs can think of a way to clean up this i would welcome it.

2) Sony device MAY HAVE issues with playlists across different storage locations. thus playlists on the device and music on the sd will be blind and vice versa I haven't tried this out yet. from sony site they certainly have issues with adding songs from playlists across it.
"Playlists can be saved either in the internal memory of the Walkman or on the microSD card. You cannot add a track from the internal memory to a playlist on the microSD card or vice versa." https://helpguide.sony.net/dmp/nwa40/v1 ... 49040.html so to me this says best keep your playlist on the card with music or run single card storage.

3) when i applied the plug in V1.2 it doesn't support the file types it will convert hi-res tracks to MP3 YYYUUUUUUCKKK! for wav and flac and i haven't done an update on the device I have a 2 year old A45 but i don't think it shipped with MQA at that time but its listed underneath does mm4 support MQA i dont have any yet?

so the plugin needs updating to support the file types here's text from the sony website https://helpguide.sony.net/dmp/nwa40/v1 ... 49072.html
MP3 ( .mp3)
32 kbps - 320 kbps (Supports variable bit rate (VBR)) / 32 kHz, 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz

WMA ( .wma)
32 kbps - 192 kbps (Supports variable bit rate (VBR)) / 44.1 kHz

FLAC ( .flac)
16 bit, 24 bit / 8 kHz - 192 kHz

WAV ( .wav)
16 bit, 24 bit, 32 bit (Float/Integer) / 8 kHz - 192 kHz

AAC ( .mp4, .m4a, .3gp)
16 kbps - 320 kbps / 8 kHz - 48 kHz

HE-AAC ( .mp4, .m4a, .3gp)
32 kbps - 144 kbps / 8 kHz - 48 kHz

Apple Lossless ( .mp4, .m4a)
16 bit, 24 bit / 8 kHz - 192 kHz

AIFF ( .aif, .aiff, .afc, .aifc)
16 bit, 24 bit, 32 bit (Float/Integer) / 8 kHz - 192 kHz

DSD ( .dsf, .dff)
1 bit / 2.8224 MHz, 5.6448 MHz, 11.2896 MHz

*Audio that is converted to Linear PCM is output.

APE ( .ape)
8 bit , 16 bit , 24 bit / 8 kHz - 192 kHz (Fast, Normal, High) FILES SIZE Larger that 4gb not supported

MQA ( .mqa.flac)
Supported

BASIC FIX for files and playlists

So select storage/options/import device options/{apply plugin see link above}/auto conversion/untick the incompatable audio above .... OR/AND at bottom page add "supported formats on device"/set formats/
I used the AND overkill method (not sure if you just do one it will work)
Thanks

Re: Synching Playlists on Sony Walkman NW-A45

by Peke » Tue Mar 17, 2020 9:58 pm

Hi,
I just updated Device profile for A45/A40 at https://www.mediamonkey.com/addons/brow ... 40-series/

Just import device profile under Device Sync options and you should be set.

Re: Synching Playlists on Sony Walkman NW-A45

by wjwilliam415 » Mon Mar 16, 2020 9:35 pm

Hey MediaMonkey team, I'm not as tech savvy, still can't get my NW-A45 to see the playlist. Please give us a step by step instruction if possible! thank you!

Re: Synching Playlists on Sony Walkman NW-A45

by BradBain01 » Wed Jul 24, 2019 10:24 am

thanks, just encountered this issue last night and this was the answer.

wooo hooo!!!!

Brad

Re: Synching Playlists on Sony Walkman NW-A45

by kailash331 » Sun Jun 02, 2019 2:47 am

OMG GUYS
So first thank you so much for this response I've tried multiple software and for me the playlists always showed up but somehow when I open the playlist on my walkman it would say no files found etc. and then your suggestion to check the device options made me realize that it was using the Linux file naming convention (I had suspected for very long that the issue was due to the path given for the song) so please, share this as much as you can! I see people all over the internet with this problem
Many thanks

Re: Synching Playlists on Sony Walkman NW-A45

by Peke » Sat Sep 15, 2018 9:49 am

Hi,
THX for update, but that confirmed my suspicion about relative path I guess if you open one of M3Us path starts without drive letter and "/"

Re: Synching Playlists on Sony Walkman NW-A45

by acmi » Fri Sep 14, 2018 7:33 pm

I opened the File Explorer on my PC, copied all the playlists (M3U) from the Playlists folder to the Music folder. It seems to have worked. I hope this helps.

Re: Synching Playlists on Sony Walkman NW-A45

by Peke » Wed Sep 05, 2018 4:37 pm

Empty Playlists often means that path to tracks are wrong.
Have you tempered with playlist format as I suggested above. You can also force other formats of Playlists and enable other formats if you want to test and MMW didn't detected it as supported.

It is bit hit and miss but I'm almost certain that you find right combination.

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