Perus

Suddenly I had this feeling that what if this is "by design" that a consumer recording shouldn't be as good sounding as pre-recorded media with (possibly) some type of control bit set to change the dynamic range in the playback chain like the "HDCD Peak Extension". Just a thought... About SF, the 980 supports it and I don't know when using that if the recording is re-sampled or the range just changed "on the fly" during playback. /Per

Oh that was quick, many years since I jumped between V to dB and dBm that swiftly While investigating this further, I really hope someone else could confirm this as well just in case I've made some kind of mistake here. I hope to have some time this weekend to provide some oscilloscope traces and spectrum graphs to show the horrible result. /Per

Hi! Ok, the JE470 behaves in the same manner, as soon as the recorded signal rises above -7dB the analog output signal is clipped. For the JB980 this is fixable either via using the digital output or decreasing the analog output level via setup/aout temporarily since its not possible to save. This "phenomena" happens both while listening to Minidiscs and monitoring through the input, digital or analog doesn't matter. I really don't understand why higher (>-7dB) signals recorded on the media is distorted in this way - especially since the manual states that the recommended recording level is one step below "over" which is close to 0dB. I've seen other recommendations for a maxium recording level of -12dB for some decks but not these decks. On the JB980 this little issue affects the headphone output as well - this is how I first started to suspect something was wrong. Any more suggestions on this? I'm certainly going to measure the supply rails for the OP-amps later as suggested (thanks!) and also trace where the signal clipping occurs. Btw, this is the "UK tuned" version of the JB980 /Per

Hi! Just noticed while listening to music on the JB980 via aout and the phones jack that with the default output (setup/aout) level setting at 0dB the outputs clips for signals higher than -6dB (Also noticed this while injecting a -0.1dB 315Hz via the optical input and verified with a scope on the aout) Is that really normal? I guess since its a consumer device and recordings reaching 0dB levels with the aout set at 0dB should result in clipped output signal - why have aout at 0dB chosen as default then? My tape decks certainly doesn't behave this way... Anyone else noticed this? Going to compare with the JE470 later but since it doesn't have the setup/aout level settings I hope its going to be fine. /Per

Ok videos coming up this weekend. Guess I shouldn't worry about the 718hrs then?

Yes, I've tried with several new discs. So the clicky sound is pretty normal then? If that's the case I'm content with knowing that (Maybe I should post a video on this?) My first thought (and reason for asking) was that the sled motor might have been working too hard to correct something that wasn't properly adjusted and with time that could cause unnecessary wear on the mech. /Per

Hi! I recently acquired two minidisc decks, the Sony MDS-JE470 and a JB980 - both needed a loading belt change and after that not so much more than the regular cleaning. However, with two (almost) identical mechs to study I've noticed that the sled motor on the JB980 appears to be pulsating (moving forward&backwards) during playback and recording a bit more compared to the JE470's more linear behaviour with the same discs. There's also a slight ticking sound from that. At first I thought there was dirt on the spindle causing some sort of disc displacement/imbalance but a thorough cleaning didn't change it and the discs appears to centered in the same way for both decks. Apart from this behaviour the JB980 also have several more "op play hours" on the laser compared to the JE470 - 718Hrs vs 1Hrs(!) With that being said, there's no issues whatsoever with reading or recording discs on either deck. So, should I be worried? should I do something about this ticking sound? is it normal from time to time? Are there any checks or adjustments to perform? This tickning sound has been observed on the JE470 as well but less often. /Per

I'm collecting my JB980 later this evening where the belt is due for a change - as for my JE470 I'm going for another of these "belts"; https://www.walmart.com/ip/Rainbow-Loom-Black-Rubber-Bands-Refill-Pack-RL13-600-ct/47924563 Only 598 pcs left now /Per

When my JE470 arrived recently I needed a quick replacement for the loading belt and found myself a bag of 600(!) small rubber bands in a suitable size at a hobby store which did the trick for me at least. This is what I got for £5 (from another store and not Walmart): https://www.walmart.com/ip/Rainbow-Loom-Black-Rubber-Bands-Refill-Pack-RL13-600-ct/47924563 Before anyone laugh, now I can replace this 599 times more at no extra cost. Instead of buying a "genuine" belt from the bay at £5 each /Per

I got addicted by MD quite recently and apart from using Hi-MD on a MZ-NH700 and NH900 I also have two Sony decks incoming, the JE470 and a JB980 - need more discs now

Did I miss this or what were the exact dimensions of the genuine loading belt that worked on the JB940?