Linnovice

Hi PhilippeC and thank you for your response. Are you saying I need to get an external DAC to go between the USB out on the iMac and the Toslink in on the W1? The optical out on the iMac I’m using at present is ok but nothing special. I want to record in real time from the BBC website (320kbps) and sometimes from Quobus flac files. I would not have thought the analogue out of the iMac through an RCA splitter would be of a sufficient quality. I’m based 40 miles outside London in the U.K. Regards Mike

Hi, I have an iMac desktop pc connected to my Sony W1 MiniDisc via the Optical Out (iMac)to Optical in on Toslink. Would I gain any quality by connecting via the USB out on the iMac? If so, how can I go about connecting to the W1 which only has Optical ins and outs. Can anyone suggest a viable method please? Regards Mike

Not sure that I agree 100%. I do have another MDS-E10 machine that works really well and produces extremely good recordings. I also have a Tascam MD801R which likewise is working well. My collection of R2R tape decks are mostly professional machines so It appears to be the luck of the draw. Some studios look after their kit, some obviously don’t. The saving grace of most pro kit, in my experience, is ease of maintenance. They are (mostly) built with maintenance in mind whereas domestic kit isn’t. It would appear that the biggest obstacle in getting my second E10 running correctly is my inexperience. A bummer to say the least. Thanks for the pointer to the service manual PhillipeC, hopefully I may find a cure.

Dumb question, but where is the overwrite head situated? Is it the one visible when looking down at the top of the drive when the cover is off. Poor eyesight and minimal soldering skills probably rule me out but I’d like to take a look before making a decision. Is there any alternative option that would be the recommended? Are replacement drives available?

Hi all, I’ve just bought a Sony MDS-E10 that had an ejecting problem. I’ve changed the loading belt and now mechanically, it’s working ok. Problem is, it plays back ok, it erases ok, but it won’t record to disk. The incoming signal (analogue) is monitored ok and the VU meters are working. Visually everything is right, TOC Writing appears on the screen and the disc ejects ok. When the disc is reinserted it loads as a blank disc. If I put it in another machine there is nothing recorded. When I first turned it on the Initialise showed on the screen but since then has not appeared. I’ve tried a number of different discs with the same result. I’ve also tried discs I’ve recorded on another machine and the play perfectly. I do notice that when I insert a disc and press play it goes into pause mode. Pressing play again starts the machine playing (on a pre-recorded disc. On a disc that appears to be recorded on this machine only blank disc is shown. Can anyone advise on this please?l