FIRST
So i heard recently that Microsoft implemented some sort of thing in Windows XP where if you encode MP3's, the quality will be surpressed, whereas if you encode the song in Windows WMA format, it'll come out cleaner. I read this on a reputable web page (sorry i don't have a link). Anyone have any experience with this.

SECONDLY, couple of questions

i have my whole mp3 collection on my Empeg on shuffle. When i'm in INFO mode, it shows the time as a total of all the songs ( 2D, 18H, 3M, 11S), how do i get rid of this and have it show individual track times.

Also, I have my Empeg hooked up to my Kenwood Z828 (which ironically, I bought 6 months ago for $600 because it read mp3s). To you users out there who have dual decks, what volume setting do you keep the main unit on, and what do you keep the Empeg on?

What the hell is Jemplode and Hijack, i see all these discussions of it, but mostly questions and whatnot, i just wanna know what they do.

Does anyone know if there are plans to have more visualizations?

I don't know if what you say about Microsoft's MP3 encoder is true, but it's easily avoidable by using a different encoder, such as LAME.

There is an option to set the time display. Total playlist time is certainly one of those options, but you can change it to show a variety of things. I believe it's under Settings on the main menu. I don't have my empeg in front of me right now.

Jemplode is a reimplementation of the emplode program that you use to upload mp3s to the empeg. It's written in Java, which means that it's usable by people running OSes other than Windows. It has a very similar feature set and user interface to the original.

Hijack is a replacement kernel for the empeg that has a lot of additional features for the empeg. Read more in the FAQ.

The thing about the MP3 quality is only if you use the built-in Microsoft codec to create your MP3 files.

No one in their right mind would ever use the built-in Microsoft codecs to create an MP3 file in the first place, anyway, so as long as you're using a third-party MP3 creation tool, you should be OK.

Please read the corresponding FAQ section on how to create good MP3 files.

I believe this is just the MS only include a low bitrate (up to 96kbit) mp3 encoder with XP - more than that and they'd have to pay frauhofer for a licence.

The WMA encoder has no such restrictions, though, neither to 3rd party encoders such as LAME.

Hugo