Artie75

Try this in any scrollable screen: start to scroll, and you will see a very small colored tab appear at the extreme right margin. Put your finger tip on this and start to scroll. A larger tab emerges with a letter of the alphabet. Now you can drag this and very rapidly scroll through the entire list.

"Worm" I was interested in your reference to the "Maintenance menu." I can't find this on my unit and I have an older version of the complete written instructions. What are the steps to access that menu? Thanks -=Art

I updated just now with no complications or ill effects. Took less than 30 seconds to download, less than 30 seconds to automatically install. "What it does" is, as described in Sony's characteristically vague terms, "Improves secure communication." File size is described as "1 byte," which is difficult for me to believe. No need, apparently, to upgrade the HDD Audio Remote program.

Following is the response I just received from Sony--probably more encouraging than response to Mike ? Hi Arthur, Thank you for contacting Sony video and sound Support. We hope you are doing well. We regret for the inconvenience caused. We are sorry to inform you that there is an issue with the Gracenotes from our end and our Engineers are working on it and it will be resolved as soon as possible. Please feel free to get back to us for further assistance if you face any difficulty. If you would like to be the first to know about our latest products and receive exclusive offers, please sign up for our newsletter: https://subscribe.sel.sony.com Thank you for choosing Sony. Best regards, Axel C60K The Sony video and sound Email Response Team.

Moments ago, using U.S. Sony's form for support, I sent the following: HAP-Z1ES can not connect to Gracenote server since date of firmware update 15261R, 6/30/15. Attempts to select "Get music info" result in an error code such as "Error 34800--cannot connect to remote server." Transferring music files to the unit are successful, but result in a persistent "?" symbol on the unit's display. My unit has a WIRED connection to router and internet. Help please. Other users have this problem! Stay tuned for a definitive answer

I ripped my first CD since the "no gracenote" event and successfully transferred it to the sony. It's in the database OK, probably because I have been using dbPowerbase as the ripping program, and all the important fields are properly filled out. I'm left with the little ? on the screen, indicating that the Sony didn't connect with the server. I probably can live with that, but will soon try my hand at submitting a complaint to Sony support. I imagine the majority of HAP-Z1ES users have their music transferred before this outage, and may not notice the problem until they decide to add or edit another file---and maybe the complaints will increase.

Thanks for the update. I'll wail a few days and email them if the problem persists. I fear the fix may not come as quickly as the response you received, if the vTuner outage 6-8 months ago is any example. -=Art=-

dep14, mike37: Add me to the list of those unable to connect when selecting "get music information." I get various error numbers including 34400,31600, 34800, etc. This has begun since the new system software (15261R) installation on 6/30/15. Their various "help" websites offer no insight, although they have updated numerous questions and answers on 6/30/15. This is probably some system-wide problem---Please Post any successes you may get in resolving the issue!!!

I think noise is a non-issue. My Dell laptop, when the fan is stopped, makes more noise from the hard drive. If I hover over the HAPZ1es with my ear tilted toward the rear vents, 1 foot away, I can hear a very faint whir sound if I hold my breath. I hear nothing sitting a couple of feet away. The sound is probably the fan, since I know the many hard drives are virtually silent, such as my 1T Passport portable drive which is silent unless I place my ear on it. CD drives are another matter, and they can make huge amounts of noise in comparison.

Thanks for the "heads up," walt..Actually makes sense when tagging a whole album. I'm amazed how clever the program actually is, despite the documentation which is sometimes a bit sketchy....

Interesting! Rechecking, I find that I can indeed edit Genre in individual tracks, but attempts at editing or deleting genre for the ALBUM can't be done by my Android app. I can get the little screen allowing me to type or delete, but then, after hitting OK, the "save" button in greyed out, allowing only "cancel." I actually have never used the genre feature. -=Art=-

Yes, within limits using the HDD audio remote app. You can edit or change or delete a genre tag of specific albums or tracks using the remote app. If you misspell, and create, a new genre, I see no way of correcting it other than create a new one for the track in question, and then reassigning individual albums/tracks to the label with the correct spelling.

Some further thoughts—which may help me organize them for myself as well: First the business of computerizing and organizing music files is new to me: no iTunes a folder with various snippets of music I’ve captured form various sits. Until last November, I was content with two Sony 300 disc players, until one broke down for the second time, and I saw the handwriting on the wall. I’ve repaired it once but again it needs much dismantling to replace one of several $2.00 rubber belts. The Z1ES seemed ideal for my situation and I’ve enjoyed every minute of the sound. You might enjoy the included2 Internet radios vTuner and now TuneIn) which provide thousands of stations and are processed by the Z1ES to improve the sound. So my ripping of my CDs was done using the built-in Windows Media Player, after a disaster using Creative MediaSource Organizer. The Sony Z1ES “analyzes the ID3 tag information . . .and registers the files to Genres, Artists, and Tracks. If music files do not contain ID3 tags or if any of the information is missing, the unit automatically access the Gracenote server on the web an obtains the music information.” The Z1 instructions (section 48) cryptically warn that the results of inputting the data depend on factors that vary among organizing programs, and may actually not transfer any metadata at all with “some” programs. I think that such a problem manifested itself with the Creative program, which left much to chance in the way Sony’s Gracenote program handled it. The windows program organizes by Artist (the main Folder, then Album name, then track, and also provides the album art images. This seems to be enough for the Z1ES. All this can be edited by you using the HDD audio remote. SO, my file structure, with one track as an example, in the computer is, in Windows 7 style, (My computer name)\Users\(MyName)\Music\Artist name\AlbumName\Tracks. It may not be necessary for you to worry about album art or track data if you provide the basic title and artist, since the file will be examined by the Gracenote program which does pretty will with classical music and better than the Microsoft source which makes an attempt when I rip the discs. If I want to listen to a specific album, I use the Album icon on the remote. The Folder button addresses, it seems, the raw data, Artist folder as inputted into the Sony. I suspect you’ll figure this out faster and sooner than I, and will enjoy the contraption as most have. The only troublesome issue I’m dealing with, and it CAN be done, is editing errors in classification in which a track is either orphaned or put into the wrong album. The instructions provide for this, and is probably best left for another thread! Regards, Art

I have the Android version with Samsung Galaxy 3, which I imagine is similar to the iOS. I have "only" 600 classical CDs in the system and am learning by trial and error. Note that main menu choices allow you to LIST by Artists, Albums, Genres, Tracks and "Folders." System doesn't consider other tags such as Composer. But note that you can SEARCH for any word or phrase in the database. The results are grouped by Albums, Tracks, Folders and Files. The vast majority of my CDs have the composer in the title, and if they don't, I edit it in before transferring. For me, the Genre, is useless but I could have probably interpreted it to provide such info as composer, or particular favorite pipe organ, for example. These alternatives are enough for my purposes. Arthur

I'm rather new at this, also, but might provide some insights. With regard to 1.: The more data you provide, the less is the likelihood that you'll have to edit the results as processed by Gracenote. But the system is quite good utilizing Gracenote. 2: If you provide no metadata at all, the results can be unpredictable. 3: NOT LIKELY Somewhere in the documentation it is stated that edited info will be lost if you have to perform a rescan of the database, and I doubt that the edited versions will appear in a back up. I plan to verify this in a day or so. NOTE: that as of today (yesterday, actually) all three components of the system ( the HDD remote, the HAP transfer program, and the HAPZ1ES unit itself) have new UPDATED software