SD-card vs. SD-card (help?)

[garym]

Re: SD-card vs. SD-card (help?)

Yes, I totally understand what you mean about call-centers etc. The fact that they always need to take-out 48 to find the answer before getting back to you says it all really. Although I do have to say that I am very surprised Sony has steeped this low.

But, unfortunately, the fact of the matter remains that I have tested out two non-Sony SD-cards and neither of them are working with the Sony Walkman! In this respect, I feel I am stuck between a rock and a hard place.

odd. I guess the next step is to try a sony card. Have you tried a 128GB card of any other brand (assuming this is the maximum recognized)?
edit: actually schmidt's advice regarding formatting a card for sony then copying your flac files over to new card is excellent advice.

[monsterjazzlick]

Re: SD-card vs. SD-card (help?)

The Sony guy is feeding you a line of CRAP!

Hi schmidj,

Nice and too the point! lol

That's what I was practically telling the agent when he was giving me all this sales-talk. I cooled it down though because I did not want to end up swearing and then cutting him off. I was going to ask to be put through to a Manager, but I guess they would try and spin me the same line.

But the reason I flipped out on him was because I argued that the Sony SD-card was £20 dearer, had a much small memory capacity, and had lesser specs!

So you would just go ahead and buy the SanDisc then? I have Amazon Prime membership so if I buy directly from them I will be covered (ie. refund/exchange).

Cheers,

Paul

[monsterjazzlick]

Re: SD-card vs. SD-card (help?)

odd. I guess the next step is to try a sony card. Have you tried a 128GB card of any other brand (assuming this is the maximum recognized)?
edit: actually schmidt's advice regarding formatting a card for sony then copying your flac files over to new card is excellent advice.

Not tried a Sony card yet. I wanted to seek advice here first on that matter. I have only tried 200GB and 32GB SD-cards in the Sony to date. I only own two SDs!

I don't actually have any objection to buying a Sony product (I mean, my headphones and Walkman are Sony). I just hate it when a company tries to fleece you out of more money by giving you preposterous 'progressive-sale' talk!

Again, I could buy the Sony from Amazon and return it for a full refund within a certain period of time.

[garym]

Re: SD-card vs. SD-card (help?)

I was going to ask to be put through to a Manager

The so-called "managers" at call centers are typically just a different low-level no-nothing person.

[schmidj]

Re: SD-card vs. SD-card (help?)

From Sony's support page:

https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/support/articles/00171492

he maximum capacity for micro SD cards for use with the NW-A3x/A4x series Walkman players is 2TB.

All Sony micro-SD cards currently available on the market are confirmed to be compatible.

NOTE: Sony cannot guarantee full compatibility with cards from other brands.

NW-A3x series models:

NW-A35
NW-A35HN
NW-A36
NW-A36HN
NW-A37
NW-A37HN
NW-A45
NW-A45HN
NW-A47

They won't guarantee compatibility woth all SD cards, because they couldn't possibly test every make and size, and there are so many fakes out there, but you notice it certainly didn't say the device only works with Sony cards.

Reading further in the online instructions, it appears that the file structure for the device is quite specific, and you in all likelihood have to format the card and then load files using their app and dragging and dropping. Not uncommon on various products of different manufacturers. You could probably take a (smaller) SD card, format it, and load some music onto it using the Sony software on your PC, with the card in the player. Then you could quite possibly insert the card (with an adapter if necessary) in your computer and using the properties function determine what file system is used (FAT32, etc) and using Windows Explorer, see how the file and directory structure is organized, which might (MIGHT) allow you to copy files to the card in your PC without using Sony's software.

It is pretty evident that any size SD card will work.

[garym]

Re: SD-card vs. SD-card (help?)

Not tried a Sony card yet. I wanted to seek advice here first on that matter. I have only tried 200GB and 32GB SD-cards in the Sony to date. I only own two SDs!

I don't actually have any objection to buying a Sony product (I mean, my headphones and Walkman are Sony). I just hate it when a company tries to fleece you out of more money by giving you preposterous 'progressive-sale' talk!

Again, I could buy the Sony from Amazon and return it for a full refund within a certain period of time.

I wasn't suggesting you buy a Sony card at this point, or even limit to 128gb. I like schmidt's idea about formatting a card (even larger than 128gb) for the sony then copying files over.

[monsterjazzlick]

Re: SD-card vs. SD-card (help?)

From Sony's support page:

https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/support/articles/00171492

he maximum capacity for micro SD cards for use with the NW-A3x/A4x series Walkman players is 2TB.

All Sony micro-SD cards currently available on the market are confirmed to be compatible.

NOTE: Sony cannot guarantee full compatibility with cards from other brands.

They won't guarantee compatibility woth all SD cards, because they couldn't possibly test every make and size, and there are so many fakes out there, but you notice it certainly didn't say the device only works with Sony cards.

Reading further in the online instructions, it appears that the file structure for the device is quite specific, and you in all likelihood have to format the card and then load files using their app and dragging and dropping. Not uncommon on various products of different manufacturers. You could probably take a (smaller) SD card, format it, and load some music onto it using the Sony software on your PC, with the card in the player. Then you could quite possibly insert the card (with an adapter if necessary) in your computer and using the properties function determine what file system is used (FAT32, etc) and using Windows Explorer, see how the file and directory structure is organized, which might (MIGHT) allow you to copy files to the card in your PC without using Sony's software.

It is pretty evident that any size SD card will work.

Thanks a lot,

That was what the agent was telling me for 10 mins: "Buy a SONY 2TB SD-card" (yet it soon came to light that they do not even exist!). But there are other 2TB brands (although there is no way on earth I need this huge size). Despite me telling him may times that my FLACs amount to circa 150GB, he kept recommending a 2TB size - I think most people, like myself, would also have been annoyed with him. Such a ridiculous hard-sales-pitch.

Cheers for confirming that ALL Sony SDs are Walkman compatible. I had looked online but it can be easy to miss things. Sony would do much better including a user-manual (stuff the environment or whatever their excuse) with their devices (instead of cut&paste email responses directing customers to join their Forum/Community [which is pretty crap in terms of the responses I have read to date]).

Yes, you are correct about the procedures regarding formatting the SD with the Walkman. I remember this from last year (when I bought their Sony A-35 model). However, I was assured (now I know I should never trust an agent!) that you can simply plug-in-and-play with their newer A-35 Walkman (which is clearly not the case). In this respect, I think garym is correct in that you are, annoyingly, basically dealing with a dork at the other end of the line!

Paul

[monsterjazzlick]

Re: SD-card vs. SD-card (help?)

The so-called "managers" at call centers are typically just a different low-level no-nothing person.

Do such companies actually have members of staff operating on a 'managerial' level anymore? I only ever seem to hear the title 'supervisor' these days.

[monsterjazzlick]

Re: SD-card vs. SD-card (help?)

I wasn't suggesting you buy a Sony card at this point, or even limit to 128gb. I like schmidt's idea about formatting a card (even larger than 128gb) for the sony then copying files over.

That's probably the best way to go I think. I, personally, cannot really see how a Sony SD is any better than a SanDisk in terms of functionality and specs? The only real significant difference is the fact that the Sony is £25 more expensive and 70GB smaller! Also, I have never heard anyone complain of SanDisk before.

And is there REALLY going to be a compatibility issue between to different brands of device? If there is, then surely it's on Sony's part.

[monsterjazzlick]

Re: SD-card vs. SD-card (help?)

Again, this would be the SD-card I would preferably purchase. It's very promising in it's price, size, and brand:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...KL5A1OLE&psc=1

[garym]

Re: SD-card vs. SD-card (help?)

Do such companies actually have members of staff operating on a 'managerial' level anymore? I only ever seem to hear the title 'supervisor' these days.

No. And "supervisor" is mostly non-existent too (when they transfer you to the "supervisor" it is often just another worker than doesn't know anything different. They have learned that the customer doesn't know the difference, but at least feels like their issue has been elevated). And you know from experience that when these so-called higher ups promise to get back to you with details, they never call back or contact you. As soon as you hang up the phone, you're dead to them. Sadly, I wouldn't believe anything I learned from a call-center person.

[monsterjazzlick]

Re: SD-card vs. SD-card (help?)

And you know from experience that when these so-called higher ups promise to get back to you with details, they never call back or contact you. As soon as you hang up the phone, you're dead to them. Sadly, I wouldn't believe anything I learned from a call-center person.

Exactly, a qualified and conscientious Manager would honour a customer call-back!

[schmidj]

Re: SD-card vs. SD-card (help?)

Hi again,

The card you linked should be fine, direct from San-disk. You might want to first buy or use (if you have a spare one) a smaller, presumably inexpensive card and format it in the device and make sure that you can load music into it. You don't want to spend money on an expensive card and then find out the player is defective in some way...

There are no actual working 2TB micro SD cards or even 1TB, they are all fakes, as described before. There are a couple of companies claiming to make a 512 GB card One is British, a company called Integrel. PNYhas also announced one but it is apparently made of unobtanium! San Disk has several versions of a 400 GB card, and a 256 GB card (There are other makes of legitimate 256 GB cards, including PNY and Samsung).

Sandisk announced a 1 TB full sized SD card a while ago, but they never appeared for sale.

[monsterjazzlick]

Re: SD-card vs. SD-card (help?)

The card you linked should be fine, direct from San-disk. You might want to first buy or use (if you have a spare one) a smaller, presumably inexpensive card and format it in the device and make sure that you can load music into it. You don't want to spend money on an expensive card and then find out the player is defective in some way...

Sandisk announced a 1 TB full sized SD card a while ago, but they never appeared for sale.

Hi schmidj,

I have just spoken to Amazon. I will buy a SanDisk and, because I purchased the Walkman from Amazon and am a Prime member, I can return it for an exchange or refund if deemed incompatible.

Yes, I heard about the SanDisk 1TB rumor myself last year!

Paul

[GaryG45]

Re: SD-card vs. SD-card (help?)

Hi Paul,
Sorry to hear you are having all of these problems with the SD card. I went to the website that schmidj had a link to in post 20. At the top of that page is the word Support, which provides three options with Support being one of them. I clicked on Support, and it opened a page that said Welcome to Sony Support. I entered your model in the box for the model, and on the next page you will see Downloads, Manuals, Q&A, etc. I clicked on Manuals, and it brought me to a page displaying a link to an online Help Guide, two Operating Instructions PDFs, and a Startup Guide PDF. Looking at the smaller Operating Instructions PDF at the beginning in bold text is Formatting a microSd card. This section refers to the Help Guide for instructions on microSD cards. One of the first things the Help Guide mentions is that you must format the microSD card on the Walkman and provides instructions on how to perform the format. I would suggest that you download the PDFs and bookmark the Help Guide. Lately I've started to go to product support sites and obtain manuals before I purchase the product in order to see if it will do what I want.

I agree with everything garym has said about help desk people. I've found a few that have been helpful, but I don't expect it. It is sad that they cannot use their own support site and check the manuals to help answer your questions.

Once you get the SD card formatted I hope you don't have any further issues.

Gary