Sony MP3/Atrac Boombox Questions

[g00ber]

I just bought the Sony MP3/Atrac Boombox (http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=ZSYN7PSGRAY&Dept=pa&CategoryName=pa_Boombox_PSYC) at Target for 80$.
So far I like it, except it skips some of my MP3.

I have a bunch of newbie questions since this is the first time I've encountered the Atrac format.

1) What is the difference between Atrac and Atrac3Plus?
2) Why dont all my MP3's on CD play in the boombox?
3) I converted a few of my MP3's into Atract and I got a ratio of around 4MB MP3 (128kbps) = 1MB Atrac (48kbps). And the quality seems about the same. How about you guys?

[neato]

ATRAC is a Sony specific compression technology. ATRAC3+ is a newer, more highly developed version of the codec which supports, 48K, 64K and 256K bitrates. ATRAC3+ 64K is nearly as good as 128K MP3, and at these very low bitrates ATRAC3+ performs pretty well. At the next step (odd that there's no inbetween rate, don't you think?) of 256K, it's less superior to MP3 with both sounding about the same. ATRAC3 was never very highly regarded, and 132K ATRAC3 (the highest rate) is generally thought to be about the same as one of the more average MP3 compressors at 128K.

Sony's MP3 support has never been very complete. VBR (variable bit rate) MP3's nearly always trip up almost every MP3 playing Sony I've encountered, and they have other quirks too. It's just one of those things unfortunately.

Anything else?

[g00ber]

Thanks for the reply.

I'm trying out the new Sonic Stage 2.2. I downloaded from the Sony website.
Looks like a big improvement based on what I've read in these threads.
They now have on-the-fly MP3-to-Atrac+ conversion CD burning.
Anyone try out this software yet?

I want to burn my MP3 files as Atrac CD. It looks like Sonic Stage burns Atrac without folders. Anyone get the same thing? The "Import Folder" puts all the MP3 files in one album losing the folder structure.

[neato]

Sonicstage uses ID3 tags to sort your files. If they aren't tagged, it won't import correctly. Personally, I keep my MP3's in MP3 format. You never know when you'll change your player... if another manufacturer comes out with a boombox which is better and you move to that, all your ATRAC CD's are useless.

[NYconnection]

i have a psp i would like to learn how to convert mp3 to atrac3 format

[ECA]

WHY??
As mentioned above, WHAT will you gain..