Getting started with SonicStage digital media library

Find out how to create a digital library in SonicStage and transfer music to your CD or MP3 player to take with you wherever you go

Quicklinks

• Import music to SonicStage
• Transfer music to your WALKMAN or a CD
• Backing up your library

Having problems with SonicStage? Find answers in our tips and solutions tab for your model

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• Get the latest version of SonicStage
• Download the latest SonicStage security update
• Download the migration tool to transfer files from CONNECT player to SonicStage

You can import music straight from a CD or from your hard drive and store it in your library.

To import a CD:

1. Open SonicStage
2. Place an audio CD in your disk drive
3. In the menu bar click music source
4. Click Import CD and follow the on-screen instructions

To import music from your computer's hard drive:

1. Open SonicStage
2. In the menu bar click music source
3. Browse to the folder where your music is store
4. Click open

Once you've imported songs into your library, they'll automatically be arranged into albums. To play a song, simply click on the song and press the play button

Once you've arranged all your music in your library, you can transfer it to your WALKMAN or to a CD to enjoy when you're not at your computer.

You can transfer music to any of the following devices:

1. Hi-MD
2. Net MD
3. ATRAC Audio device (including ATRAC HDD)
4. Memory Stick
5. Network WALKMAN or Portable IC Audio Player or VAIO Music Clip
6. Audio CD
7. ATRAC CD
8. MP3 CD

Follow the simple steps below to transfer your music:

• Plug in your WALKMAN or place your audio CD in the computer
• Click transfer in the main menu
• Choose the format you would like to transfer your music to. The transfer window will now appear.
• Select the tracks you would like to transfer from the My Library window on the left and drag and drop them onto the window shown on the right hand side. Alternatively you can click to push track across to the transfer window.
  
  
• If you want to specify your preferred bit rate you can also click the button.
• Click burn to start the transfer. The progress of the transfer will now be displayed. To make sure it goes smoothly, don't remove the device or CD until the transfer is complete.

To make sure you don't lose your music if something happens to your computer, it's a good idea to back it up.

You can choose to back your data up on your computer's hard drive or on removable media such as an external hard drive. Before you start, make sure all other programs are closed, and make sure you are not running SonicStage during the back-up process.

Follow the steps below to back up your library:

1. Click the Windows Start button
2. Point your mouse to All Programs (in Windows XP) or Programs (in other versions of Windows)
3. Point to SonicStage
4. Click SonicStage Backup Tool
   
5. The backup tool window will now appear. Make sure back up my data is selected and click next
6. Click next again on the next window.
7. Select where you would like to back-up your data by selecting from hard disk or removable media .
8. Click browse and choose the folder where you would like to keep your back-up data. Once you've selected a folder, click next .
9. Enter a name for your back-up folder and click next
10. Click start on the next window - the back-up process will now begin.
11. Once the process is complete, a message box will appear to confirm it. Click ok

Restoring your backed up data

If you lose your music library for any reason, you can restore from your backed-up files to put all your music back into the library.

Before you start you'll need to make sure your computer is connected to the internet. And if you backed up your data on an external hard drive or a CD, you'll need to make sure it's connected to the computer or in the CD drive.

Follow the steps below to carry out a restore:

1. Click the Windows Start button
2. Point your mouse to All Programs (in Windows XP) or Programs (in other versions of Windows)
3. Point to SonicStage
4. Click SonicStage Backup Tool
   
5. The backup tool window will now appear. Make sure restore my saved data to my computer is selected and click next
6. The start restore window will now open. Click next
7. In the next window, click browse to find the folder where you saved your back-up data. Once you've found it, click next .
8. The next window will ask you to confirm the details - if they're all correct click next
9. In the next window, make sure restore to the backup source files is ticked, and click next
10. The next window will make sure you are connected to the internet. If your computer is connected click next
11. Click start to restore the saved data. Once the restore is complete click close