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alxwz

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Posts posted by alxwz

  1. Very interesting thread (that I happened to find rather late ;) )

    No difference. Haven´t tested it myself but I´ve seen several measurements elsewhere. Apparently the ATRAC version in Hi-MD units is the same as used in other portable, non-Hi-MD units.

    MDietrich, can you give pointers to such measurements?

    I wasn't able to find much, esp. about the phase error.

  2. Yes what you saw is exactly corresponding to what I would expect with a deck that has been in service mode. Probably unplugging it from the wall and reconnecting it got it out of s.m.

    Well, the deck did record correctly. It was just that the display and the buttons (partly, it did show the recording level right) stopped working correctly after the recording started. That doesn't resemble a deck that's stuck in service mode.

    Normaly going into service mode cannot corrupt the firmware, event if you didn't know what you do.

    But if you didn't know what you do, it's not normal that you enter into service mode

    Firmware (computer program of the deck) is an ASIC, an EEPROM is inside but only for store adjustments values and errors history.

    Try to enter into service mode and exiting properly by following the how-to in page 4 of the SM. Do steps 1,2 and 9.

    I'll try your suggestions. Personally, I have no problem to enter service mode. It wasn't me who went into service mode without knowing what he does, mind you. ;)

    But the deck isn't really stuck in service mode. It just acted weird on the initial recording. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to perform any more checks ATM, but I'll do so ASAP.

    When you try to play a MD (recorded an another unit) the sound is ok, and the time is running ?

    Yes.

    For my part I believe that you have an internal problem with the SYSCON part (main IC800 CPU froze), check that all internal ribbon cables are well connected, check for bad solders joint, also check CPU crystal oscillators X800/X801 and good VCC/VDD (well filtered) power to CPU.

    I can only try to understand what you're saying here. Checking solder joints, checking CPU crystal oscillators and so forth is well beyond my skills. Doesn't sound good to me at first glance, I'm afraid. :(

    My 333 has exhibited that very same behavior. Sometimes even if I just try to erase a disc, the deck will then not respond to any button-pressing and will have to be unplugged.

    (...)

    My JA20ES also did that same thing when I first tried to use it to record.

    (...)

    Perhaps, as SFBP mentions, both of the units (bought on Ebay) had been put into SM before I got them. I don't know. I do know that what you describe is not limited to the 555.

    (...)

    Now, I seem to recall that when I first got the 333 and it behaved pretty much as does your 555, I put it in SM, ran some kind of check, and eventually the unit worked as it should.

    Maybe we're on to something here.

    Which kind of check did you perform?

    Bruce - wondering if you should simply follow the procedure for "resume clear" which is common to most decks......? Sorry that may be the name they use for portables, I'm possibly confused. But there is a moment when you have finished with decks where you are supposed to press "REPEAT" (check with the exact service manual). The heading is "RELEASING THE TEST MODE". The key is that the unit should display "Initializing.." after you do that.

    Perhaps what is needed is to put it BACK into Service Mode then do this "Initialize", to get out, rather than unplugging.

    Sorry, but who's Bruce? Bluecrab? Not me, for sure.

    Maybe that's something I should check, too.

    But the deck did perform later recording normally, after all?

    Regards,

    Alex

  3. Hi,

    something weird happened to me lately with a MDS-JA555ES:

    By some strange coincidence, not one, but two minty 555s showed up on German eBay two weeks ago, on two different ends of Germany, and one of it in my very hometown! I took this as an unbelievably happy coincidence, so I just had to get this thing. And so I did. :dance2:

    When I went to that place to pick it up I noticed that that guy had no more than 5 (five!) self-recorded MDs (he had set his MDs, most of them still unwrapped, in another auction, which I hadn't noticed). So the tale of this machine only having 10 hours on it may well have been true.

    I insisted in having it plugged in and trying it, and so it was set up to record from a small portable CDP I had brought with me, connected to the analog input. Of course I had also brought the correct cables, but the stupid part in me had packed headphones with the wrong plug, so I couldn't listen.

    When I put in the blank CD (an obscure used one I had got from somewhere, sometime), a strange thing happened. The display showed that the deck recorded, but the display was stuck at 0:00. The drive buttons wouldn't respond to stop, eject or anything. The deck wouldn't even go into standby anymore. :huh:

    It wasn't until we pulled the wall plug and plugged it back in, that the deck would act normally again. It wasn't very helpful that the vendor couldn't remember (or pretended to) how to operate the deck at all.

    After that incident, I ejected the failed disk, inserted another one, erased it, and started all over again. This time, everything went fine.

    I had been ready to cancel the deal, but decided to go for the chance that this would have been a singular incident. After all, I had already had a disc that (while playing) got stuck on 0:00 before (although it hadn't taken the whole deck's operations down), on a deck that ever since has been working 100% reliably. And when would such a lucky chance (no parcel service to throw around the deck on transit) come along ever again? So I decided to carry through.

    Since I had lugged that thing home (it is heavy!), I haven't had any time to play with it yet. But today, I had this weird MD in my hands, when I wanted to make some test recordings in another place, and I decided to use it, and see whether it would fail again. Then I noticed that the "0:00" recording was completely intact. It seems that the deck's firmware had somehow crashed, but the deck had still recorded fine. (And when had the deck updated the TOC? I hadn't noticed that at all.)

    So WHAT ON EARTH WAS THAT?

    BTW: The seller told me that one bidder had sent him instructions on how to go into service mode an read out the hours played/recorded (he even showed me a printout of the instructions). And he'd gone there and done that. Maybe this has something to do with the phenomenon.

    Any way to reset the deck to factory state?

    Regards,

    Alex

  4. IMHO, Sony's ES decks were in a league of their own.

    For a while, Denon, Kenwood and Onkyo also offered high-quality decks, but they stopped before Atrac-R (and MDLP).

    After that, only the Tascam MD-350 (with undisclosed ATRAC version) could come close to the quality of Sony's top decks, if you believe some audio magazines.

    Maybe there were some more good decks in Japan (Onkyo offered two small Hi-MD decks there, but w/o digital out).

  5. Ah, I thought it would be here in the downloads section. Thanks.

    I have a KMD-673R (actually, three :) ). But that's definitely better than nothing (edit: I meant having a 671 instead of 673 sm).

  6. Thanks for your answer, but ...

    MZ-Rx -> both are recorders, so both should be "Rx"?

    MZ-Nx -> both are NetMD-capable, so both should be "Nx"?

    MZ-NHx -> both are Hi-MD units, so both should be "NHx"?

    MZ-RHx -> Sony switched from "NH" to "RH" with the second (not the third) Hi-MD generation, but why?

    And why is the MZ-RH1 the "1" (after there already was a "10" and a "910")?

    Doesn't make much sense to me. And that's exactly what has been baffling me.

    Apart from that, I still hope that someone will chime in on the main topic.

    (Really no pun intended on PhilippeC, I hope I get that across without misunderstanding, English not being my native language...)

    Regards,

    Alex

  7. Hi,

    my first post here, so hello to everybody!

    I've recently rediscovered my love for Minidisc after about a decade, and I'm now thinking of getting more into Hi-MD.

    I have an RH1 that's strictly tied to my PC for up- and downloading, so it won't get the additional wear from portable use. For that, I have an NH1, but its lack of an additional battery case (plus the weird stand it needs for charging) has always bothered me. So I'm thinking about getting an RH910, which not only has a battery case but also a much nicer display on the unit itself.

    What bothers me is that I've come across some posts mentioning failures of RH10/RH910s. Mostly the display of the RH10, but also the RH910 failing to format or record 1GB Hi-MDs.

    My use is primarily for playback, not so much recording. (I would have preferred to get an EH70 or EH50 player, but they're almost impossible to find around here.)

    So here are my questions to those who have experience with the RH910 or both the RH910 and NH1:

    If I don't record a lot - but only occasionally - on an RH910, will it last a lot longer as a recording device?

    Even if it failed in the recording section and I wouldn't bother, is it at least reliable as a playback device or is the RH910 an all-around lemon that should be avoided, and should I stick with my NH1 instead?

    BTW: What exactly does "RH" and "NH" stand for, what's the difference?

    Regards,

    Alex

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