MDX-400

Sounds to me like you're playing ATRAC3plus @ 352kbps and not ATRAC Advanced Lossless Because there should be no bitrate mentioned with ATRAC AL. Additionally, the bitrate for ATRAC AL should be variable, not constant. When you encode ATRAC Lossless it makes two versions of the file. One, the lossless version; and, two, the lossy version in whatever you select in the dropdown box. That lossy file that gets encoded coincidentally is the file that goes to the device, not the lossless version. Now I'm not saying that it isn't possible for a device to support lossless but from what you're saying (mention of the 352kbps) it sounds like you're just transferring the ATRAC3plus file to the device (as happens with every other device) and not the lossless file.

$77 US? That's ludicrous! However, I was thinking the original adapter could not be as cheap as mentioned above... Again, I would do what I said and try using a universal switching adapter instead, as it will probably work out okay...

Blu-Ray and HD-DVD (in their current forms) are both the best thing ever, IMO. See, like Joe, I can post two-liners too--they don't mean much but hey it's distracting/pointless to do it

Sounds like part of the mechanism is out of alignment or has been compressed or warped somehow. Strange for a NOS unit, yes, but not unheard of especially considering shipping and storage that it's been through since it was produced. What I would do is disassemble it and try to find out why that is happening and fix it. But that's what I would do. If you're not comfortable with doing that, all I can suggest is a repair shop (though at that point you're probably going to spend more than what you paid and/or more than buying a newer better deck). As for the service manual note that S/Ms never give specific info for fixes. They just show the wiring and block diagrams as well as assembly details and other technical info (such as calibration procedures, etc.). In other words it shows you all the technical details but it doesn't actually tell you how to "fix" anything. Think of it as a guide with information that has to be "interpreted" by a technician. Interestingly that part is not replaceable (that's what the not supplied text means--they don't sell it as a part). Therefore to repair that problem you're going to have to manually do something to make it work properly. If it's a metal part you could try gently bending it one way or the other (if that is possible) or you might have to tighten or loosen screws of that part or other parts and even use shims (washers) if something isn't aligning properly.

I don't use Hi-MD at all, lol. I have DH10P that I bought not-too-long-ago and I transferred a couple things for fun/testing, took some pics for the hell of it, etc. but it's not really too useful for me, especially considering I'm not a big user of portables and nothing else I have can play Hi-MDs. I must add to all this, however, that Hi-MD is super slowww. I was actually amazed at how slow it is, LOL. Benched it with HD-Tach and though I can't remember the numbers I was thinking "floppy drive" when I saw how long it took and how low the transfer numbers were. I mean I knew it wasn't fast but I didn't actually realise just how "not fast" that meant, lol. I'm sure it's very useful for recording, with the 1GB capacity and all, it's just that I can't do that as I only have a DH10P (which is a downloader)...

While this was true in 1992 and perhaps even 1999, today's switching adapters are much more precise in their output voltages and have better tolerances for variation. The MZ-1/2P adapter is a brick to be sure. A large transformer-based adapter with the 10.5V 1000mA output as stated. Most transformer-based adapters have very wide fluctuations in their outputs. Meaning an adapter that is rated for 9V will probably float over 12V with no load on it. As a load is applied the voltage goes down and it will begin to stabilise in output as the current draw gets closer to the rated current output for the adapter. A switching adapter, on the other hand, will usually actually put out close to the voltage it's rated for, load or not. So using the float and load voltages for the MZ-1 adapter and applying them carefully with settings from a switching adapter may result in a better outcome than the fried MZ-1 documented on the EB so long ago. If you get a switching adapter with multiple settings (universal) and err on the side of caution with the voltage settings, I'm sure you could get a compatible voltage for the MZ-1 to work with. There is some danger in this (as we've seen the case documented on the EB) as the MZ-1/2P don't have any internal power protection as do new units (today's units will flash "Hi DC-in" or give a similar message if slightly overvoltaged). Overvoltage a 1 or 2P and you'll likely fry it. So I would use caution but I don't think you're guaranteed to burn it out as you would have done in the past, trying different transformer adapter voltages. If I had a switching universal I'd try it myself on my 2P, but unfortunately I don't have one and the only switching adapters I do have are not enough voltage...

So do I. Particularly the uninformed part. Chris Ayres should not be living it up as a journalist, instead he should be a homeless person trying to find food. If that was the case and he was as good at finding food as he is for doing research he'd have died of starvation long ago. Does this idiot even realise that when he states the [betamax] "two-year lag behind VHS" is a retarded statement considering Beta was released to market before VHS? Seriously, why does this guy have a job writing articles? Plus Beta did not sink as fast as he'd have us believe. Especially if you consider countries other than the USA. But of course he couldn't possibly consider that considering he didn't research his article at all right? And as if he goes on about "claims are still made" in a manner such as to imply those making such claims don't know what they're talking about. If he'd actually look at the technical details he would see it was "technilogically superior" and most of it's innovations within-format were also ahead of the VHS equivalents. As for LaserDisc I can't really disagree too much but he didn't say much about it. I'm sure he didn't do any research there either. Finally the joke (or surely it has to be considered a joke) that MD "enjoyed a brief bite" is pretty funny. I mean does he realise MD was around since 1992? Though it is probably not as popular as it once was, it's 2007 now and it's still going. That makes like 15 years. How long has the iPod been around again? 6 years? But I guess 15 years is "brief" in comparison to that Even if you take the year iPod was introduced and cut MD off right then (ignoring that the 1st gen iPods were not popular) we'd have 9 years for MD and 6 years for iPod. But yes 9 years is a relatively brief period compared to 6. Mr. Ayres either failed math class or english class because he either doesn't understand 9 > 6 or what the word brief means--given his absolutely uninformed article I'd actually think it was both. In closing Mr. Ayres I do hope that your employer(s) realise the exact level of your incompetence and fire you, leaving you as the homeless person you deserve to be. There (on the streets) you will probably find people that are far smarter than you and simply had some tough breaks in life. It's ashame considering you on the other hand have clearly gotten far too far on your low level of intelligence. The only turkey here is Chris Ayres.

^Not to mention Hi-MD, in general, is slow as hell. I'm sure with modern units people would be more likely to favour flash-based recorders over Hi-MD. Not trying to be "mean" to Hi-MD but I'm sure everyone will admit that it is slowwwwww when talking about computer transfers.

Uhm I hardly think this makes BluRay obsolete in any form, shape, or way. First of all Blu-Ray needs not be played on a PS3 (your assumption of that and your question about the Xbox makes it kinda clear that you've got little understanding of Blu-Ray and HD-DVD as it is). HDD recorders are nothing new or innovative at this point in time, so I don't get where Sony's lack of innovation comes in. Furthermore optical disc formats and HDDs have co-existed since the very first CD-ROM disc/drive was used/introduced. HDDs were always faster and in the last 5-10 years they've always been quite cheap, per unit storage. You could record TV broadcasts (whether broadcast, digital cable, PPV, satillite, whatever) since before TiVo was invented. Did those things make DVDs obsolete? Yet you're telling us a device with a HDD and a DVD drive somehow makes Blu-Ray obsolete? LOL you're joking right? Blu-Ray makes DVD obsolete not the other way around. HDDs are a different topic altogether. Perhaps one day downloading or recording content will make optical discs obsolete for distributing movies and other video content, however that day is a long long way a way IMO. CDs are still selling but we've had services like iTunes and the like (along with illegal downloading) for perhaps over 8 years now, with at least 5 of those of it being "popular". Plus your talk of "adults" being more inclined to use your HDD box of the future being more likely? Okay, riiiight. Nevermind that the majority of downloaders both legal and illegal are the younger generation. Who do you think is buying most of the CDs and DVDs these days if not adults? If anything the Pioneer recorder you have is the obsolete one here. I mean you could compare that to a PC of the HTPC variety and find that you could do far more with the PC and it would be more cost effective. The price of the 940HX is coming up for me at around 1000 pounds. 1000 pounds??? LOL. That's like $2000 US. Do you know what kind of HTPC you could build with that money? I'll tell you this much it will have more capability than a simple 500 GB HDD and DVD burner. Even considering such a box would cost only perhaps half that marketed in the US (as things are cheaper in the US), you could still build a pretty competent HTPC that's going to do more for you than just be a set-top recorder unit. How on earth does a DVD recorder + HDD (which has been available for years, mind you) make Blu-Ray (cutting edge optical disc technology) obsolete? Have you been smoking something? What then, would you consider a Blu-Ray recorder + HDD? A miracle? LOL. Before you call Blu-Ray obsolete, do us a favour and come back to reality.

You mean an MD-Data drive or that NetMD drive that was included with VAIO MX PCs?

And what about the fact that this^ is utter nonsense? You could say the same thing about MD units with heavy use--the pickups don't last forever you know At the same time either could last several years with no problems as well.

Just another clarification here. SS doesn't do anything to the quality of the MP3s or alter the basic data in the file in anyway. It only "wraps" the MP3 for use with the portable device. It's the MD unit that is altering the performance of the MP3 through the way it plays it back. So it's technically not the tracks transferred by SS that are affected but rather the Hi-MD unit that is affecting the tracks' playback. The fact that storing MP3s on the Hi-MD in mass-storage mode and playing them back with another device is fine, should come as no surprise at all.

No. The JE510 can't even do MDLP. I'm amazed at how often this question comes up really. "Can this MD unit made in 1997 use Hi-MD discs [that weren't even invented until 2004]?" LOL. Well what you could do would be to use standard MDs and MD-mode on the RH10. But I don't think the RH10 can stand-alone record in MD mode as it's 2nd Gen Hi-MD. So you'd have to go through SS. But then you can't do "true SP" transfers over USB anyway, and the JE510 doesn't support MDLP (as mentioned). So in other words to get a disc to work, you'd end up with quality less than LP2 (ATRAC3 @ 132kbps) and only 80mins of capacity. Not worth going to the trouble for at all.

Back from the Dead!!!!

Though it doesn't fix your problem, it may be an alternate remedy... Try using the remote perhaps? If the panel buttons/controls don't work the remote may still work fine