sfbp

Here in the downloads section. Very first thing that comes up.

Works fine. Are you on 32-bit or 64-bit Windows? (Don't forget to press the NetMD button on the front panel!)

My D5C (the one that's bust) does digital out and it sounds good. The only thing about external DACs is if they're not designed by Sony there's a possible mismatch of specifications. (probably rubbish but I tend to think that Sony always supported their own devices flawlessly). I am very happy with my other amp, an Onkyo TX-SR605, almost the first unit that sold lots which had all the digital inputs. Let's see what happens if I bid on that one, then. Life's an adventure!

Oh wow, I found 2 JBS-940s on Buyee/Yahoo for less than $50 each, and - guess what - THE JAPANESE VERSION SUPPORTS PC-LINK! There's one in 4 hrs and one in 4 days which may easily go for more I guess. Hahahahahah. They both need fixing so the main objective is to minimize postage. The fault on the first one merely requires a replacement loading belt almost certainly. The second one it could be something easy, as the PS is not kicking in. Depends on how comfy you are messing with that stuff. I just remembered why I like M-Crew so much 'cos I got to use it this morning - it's the editing: a. you can type in titles easily (including copy and paste) whilst music is playing (What happened, Sonic Stage designers!?) b. You can fingertip-control where you want to cut off recordings for editing, with no wear on anything except mouse and keyboard of PC (eminently replaceable of course).

I had to wait about 3 yrs from the time I learned about this unit to actually getting one, second hand. It's onscreen interface is horrible but apart from that this thing is a beast! BTW I am seriously tempted by the 770 and signed up for that other site - but I think I will content myself with figuring it out from the schematic. Looks like the critical thing is a buffer for the IIC data consisting of either a single chip or (in the case of the D5C) about 3 bog standard transistors, which allow everything to be connected to the IIC bus without it crashing, I guess.

I'd buy one of these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-USB-External-6-Audio-Optical-Digital-Sound-Card-Box-Adapter-PC-Laptop-Skype-/252053417794 Or something comparable. The mechanism of the portable will NOT enjoy being in permanent record mode. A deck, yes, but the little devices like the one above will do the trick.

Absolutely the best way to play back is through optical digital out, IMHO. The D40 doesn't have it, but I have added it (you can look and if not finding I will go in, resurrect my notes or whatever). The 940 is the ONLY one (except for the pro models) that has both coax AND optical Input AND Output. You will need a nice amp that upsamples, anything made by Sony in the last 10 years will probably do. For example the STR-DG1000, and there are also comparable models you can get second hand by Onkyo and Integra. The DG1000 is the only one with an optical OUTput but in most cases it still requires SCMS-stripping to be useful. However you've probably got the amplifier side nailed down already. If you ONLY have an analog amp, then you need the best cables money can buy and the best DAC in an MD. The latter is argued much but you likely won't find anything except the 940 that does MDLP (there are lots of very heavy very superior models with massive DACs that predate amps with optical input, but they are all SP-only decks). My project is to make the PCLK work with 940/640/D5C. Currently stuck because the D5C developed an unrelated fault (in the stocker) which I hope may be nothing more than fitting new belts. The 980 and other units which do USB will NOT do PCLK because that technology replaced the keyboard/PS2-style interface to SIRCS (take time to read about SIRCS by googling it, all will become clear, I promise). The 980's USB interface is also very sloooooow, and to make matters worse they never released the unit outside Europe, so they are all 230V mains. Net result, if you want to use Sonic Stage (i.e. the USB interface to talk to MD), use a portable, preferably a Hi-MD portable, for best results. Note that the D400 (which has optical out and Type-S) doesn't even have a keyboard socket, never mind PCLK or KBD capability. Come to think of it, the playback from this is very good (because of Type-S instead of Type-R) and if all you need is single MDs or single CDs then you could look for one. You will have to get XP or the XP-box (ie Windows 7 Pro or better) working to run M-Crew and thereby the PCLK. Glad you're getting your feet wet - welcome to the fun.

Maybe you should break down and try out buyee with the remote....

Where the h**k did you find that? I looked and saw nothing.

I've never had anything but good luck. 100% success, your friend is just a bit timid. This (Yahoo) is literally the only place you can get a lot of this more than once in a blue moon. If you have a friend in Japan they don't need to use Buyee or anything else, they can simply bid themselves. I'm not subscribed to anything except Buyee.

OK. So I would proceed with plan A and get the PC3 and its remote in a couple of days. Meantime, sign up for one of the other services and see if they can do it. There's rinkya, and fromJapan.co.jp and quite possibly some others. They have different rates and different policies. You may get lucky. Either that or find a friend in Japan willing to do the deal. I'm intrigued by the 770 myself, I just realised its the ONLY model to publicly advertise that it supports keyboard AND PC-Link. Looking at the circuit to see if I can reverse engineer that

In point of fact, you could get that MDS-JE770 complete with PCLK. A bit more money, but it might suit you well if you want to manage with only one deck. Don't forget to order a 100V power converter. You can plug a lot of this gear into 120V but it will shorten its life something horrible.

You need the remote for sure. I'd be inclined to get something (as well) with bigger buttons for playback. But there's no rush, plenty of affordable decks for that. PS check the dimensions!

If it's not in the auction pictures it won't be there. For example there's an MDS-JE770 with pclk included and it shows you the pclk. It's not internal. It connects to the ps/2 socket on the back.

The restriction is on people posting their OWN auctions, (ab)using us thereby. You have to look on buyee.jp (it's a way, there are more ways, of bidding on Yahoo Japan auctions).

​$30 it's a complete steal, if nobody bids it up. But you'll want to grab the remote from the other auction, and you will have to get a 9V PS, no problem there, looks like the guy simply doesn't have the bits or doesn't know what they are if he has them. That would tend to argue in favour of the device being intact. You can't fall off the floor. The versatility of the PC3 is that you can use it as a D->A or A->D (and also D->D relay) as well as control it from the PC. So far it's the only one of that generation that works right with Gracenote to grab metadata of CDs (in the PC) that don't have CDTEXT already written on them.

The PCLK combines audio card (44.1, not 48) and control. it's one of the only things that automates track marks perfectly, too. And that Behringer device looks like it only sends out 48kHz signal, meaning a double re-sample to get it onto MD. Putting out 48kHz is ok for playback because the average amplifier with decent inputs re-samples to some higher frequency (96,176, 192 etc) but not so great for capture to MD. Most of the cheap USB audio cards output at 48 because they were made in the DVD era.

The D40 is probably the most useful UNLESS I can get the mod done from kbd->PC-Link. In which case these two are right up there with the most useful deck of all time, the MDS-PC3. There's even one of those available.

I dunno about that Philippe. If you can put up with getting 100V power supply then: https://buyee.jp/item/search?query=mds-jb940 https://buyee.jp/item/search?query=mds-je640

Yeah, it's started to come back to life. Remember, this is a servo-based system. You'll have to fix whatever's stopping it from seeking properly.

TE is Tracking Error. So I'd look for anything which prevents the motion of the head. If you can repeat the performance with the machine apart (be sure when you put it together again that the hold switch fits with the external cover for that hold switch) you may be able to see what the test was trying to do when the failure happens. If it's the very first thing that looks like a read operation, check the resistance of the optical pickup (OP in the jargon) to make sure it's not open-circuit. Knowing what operations if any it did correctly before you did the NVreset (911) may be helpful here. Occam's Razor, dontcha know...... one single fault can lead to many symptoms. This is the point at which you become a Real Minidisc Repairman. Look for anything restricting the operation of the lead screw that moves the head laterally. Look for bent or worn parts. Do not put oil on anything, rather tiny amounts of silicone grease. This, dried, may be what's restricting movement. I'm getting beyond my experience and competence here. Jim would know what is the most likely thing as a function of the model number, but he's been out of action vis-a-vis the discussion board. There's a guy in France, Jonathanpotato who may be able to suggest if he reads this and you would describe what you find. Don't worry about cleaning the head(s), it's almost never that.

Sure. Of that MDS-Exx range (which I have no direct experience with) it's the one I would buy.

OK so you are in the CD overall servo test. If not then you should be to get this error. You can look up what 00324 means (p.28). TE adjustment. Time to see what's mechanically wrong. It's probably something quite basic to fail CD tests. The ticking noise isn't necessarily fatal. When the head recalibrates (seek until it hits the stop) this is what you will hear, I think.

You won't find a jE940 it's JB940 The nice thing about the PCLK is it's an audio device... straight to optical of your MD. unfortunately doesn't play back optical input but that's a mod to the D40 anyway.

I think you're OK. It probably resets it to 19 every time you go there. Mine does the same. Did you see the spinning disc icon flash briefly when you pressed pause? If so then I think all the buttons you need are working just fine.