MDX-400

Well if you've been using it heavily for those 15 months it likely is an optical pickup problem (though not necessarily the problem it is a likely possibility). I mean N707s aren't known to fail so quickly (N1s due to a design flaw in the pickup are, however--8-16 months often sees N1s out of commission.) As for the price of the pickup, as usual, an MD's pickup is usually worth more than your unit and if it isn't under warranty you're often better off picking up a new unit. As for your extended warranty being void, you've got to be kidding! It isn't void at all. First of all if you return it under the warranty, they probably won't even notice it has been "hacked", trust me, they won't. Second of all you can easily undo the hack and put it back to normal before you bring it in, just to be sure. Where did you buy your extended warranty from? If your N707 has stopped working and you're still in the [extended] warranty period, simply un-hack it and bring it it with the paperwork.

Arrgh! BACK FROM THE DEAD! That's what this thread is.... I started typing out an entire post about how a lot of the stuff on this poll is moot/incoherent regarding what we already know about Hi-MD. So there I was typing along about what is wrong with each poll choice and then I see it--the poll was made in JUNE 2003! The last post was SEPTEMBER 2003 and then someone brought it back from the dead again in DEC 03. The a few days ago once more! This thread must die! LOL! From a poll like this and the nature of the topic it is quite confusing why this one would come back from the dead but it has! No more!

Well no, it all depends really. You could have a product made in Maylay be better than one in Japan. The general rule is the opposite but it isn't necessarily the case. Furthermore good quality products can come out of Maylaysia, it all depends on the quality control and quality of parts used. Really there are SO MANY factors that go into play it isn't funny. Even things like the treatment of workers/salaries/benefits; management approaches/philosophies used at the plant; worker morale; and a slew of product and non-product related aspects that can affect the final product out the door. Sony knows that good products can be made in Maylaysia; and, by and large Chris is right it is cheaper labour and overall cheaper to produce in Maylaysia. This isn't to say all Sony products made in Maylay are "high" quality, but some are. Case in point: A lot of Sony ES home A/V gear is made in Maylaysia. In fact most of it is these days! The last couple years all the ES receivers were made there and this is the first year in a little while that one ES receiver (the $5000 flagship DA9000ES) is actually made in Japan again. All the other ES recievers are Maylay made. Of course the parts can also come from anywhere--Maylaysia itself, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, etc.--that is another big thing. I'm surprised that some N1s were made in Maylaysia though. However I don't think that directly co-relates to the N1s track record for failure. (I.e. I think just as many made-in-Japan N1s have failed as made in Maylasia ones have. Just speculation/opinion as I have no hard data, but I don't think the N1s problems were with manufacturing, it was a part design flaw if you ask me.) Just an interesting side note here.... While Sony has been making many portable MD recorder models in Maylaysia for some time (since perhaps the R70), portable player-only units have never seen Maylaysia much. The first Maylay made player was the E60 I believe and since only the very low cost units (300 series units) have been made there. Pretty much ALL other Sony player units including the E500/501/505 have been Japan manufactured...

Hmm, perhaps but I don't know that I would if I were "head honcho" One because you're going to be able to publish higher figures for battery life which will attract more buyers. Two because, well, there are lots of things you can cut costs on but you've got to draw the line somewhere and/or pick cost-cutting moves very carefully. IMO if they already knew one thing was going to be bad, why make it even worse? I understand the savings "multiply" but really thousands of dollars on millions of units--I don't think that is really a big deal... Edit: Another note about cost-cutting. If Sony's willing to cut costs on batteries which worsen battery times and make the units a little less appealing, who knows what else they've cut costs on, inside the players? I'm afraid to ask! Is one of these units going to be the next N1??? (To the N1s defence I just think it was poor design in that case and not a problem with part value/cost; but still, cheaping up internal parts might make for a short-lived unit.) Really? You're "content with the specs"? You're kidding me right? :rasp: I don't really care that much about battery life myself, but really were taking a step back to like R90 battery times it looks like--that is a big step back. I'm not saying it could have been prevented just they could have very easily made it look a little better using decent batteries. Can't complain too much though, you're right... Its new technology and offers a lot of features and benefits previously only dreamed of.

Well not really.... Any unit that uses an AA battery--well you're free to use another AA. The newer units with the NH-WM7AA have an NiMH AA but it is a "rip-off" NiMH cell because it is actually a AAA battery inside of an AA shell. We know this because of the low-for-an-AA capacity of just 700mAh. Upgrading this to a real NiMH AA of 2100mAh or so will give you about 3 times (!) the play/record times those units are rated for on the rechargeable. (Also it would be around the same time as the units are rated for using a "dry" (alkaline) AA cell instead.) The NH700/NHF800 are among those that use this battery. Really what they did was replace the NC-WM7AA (NiCd) AA with an NiMH but kept the capacity the same by using an AAA NiMH cell internally. To say the least this is pure cheapness by Sony. A real AA cell would probably cost the same or be a few cents more per battery. One part of it is that using a 2000mAh+ NiMH AA cell would have put the play/record times over the next unit up the NH900. They also cheaped up the battery on the NH900 though, using a 40% lower capacity NH-10WM gumstick; compared to the previously used NH-14WM. (In fact the REALLY old NH-9WM was even higher capacity than the 10WM! The 9WM hit a maximum of 1200mAh before the 14WM took its place.) So simply using Sony's own 14WM will net you better times in any unit that comes with a 10WM (this includes the NH900 and the older std. MD NF810 and N710). Really once again Sony is trying to save a few cents per unit here and they shouldn't be considering the already low battery life these units seem to have. As for other aftermarket batteries the answer is not really. The prismatic cell (in the Sony size) has pretty much topped out now at ~1400mAh. (A gumstick's technical name is "prismatic" BTW). Its been like this for years, it hasn't increased for the longest time. GP offers a "1450mAh" battery but that's just 50mA and its just a rating, a Sony "1400mAh" could just as easily have an actual capacity of 1450mAh as well. The extra 50mA, either way, isn't going to give you anything really. Sony's kind of screwing this one up x2 First of all the battery life is lower due to the new format/hardware (unavoidable) but secondly they are still trying to cheap-up the batteries used (using lower capacity gumsticks than they used to use before and using low-cap NiMH AAs instead of std. ones). This makes for a doubling effect of decrease in capacity, surely Sony should have tried to mitigate it by using higer cap batteries, but they didn't

The "BUS Audio IN" is for UniLink devices ONLY (i.e. CD or MD changers connected via UniLink). To make use of that input as an AUX input you will require an XA-300 UniLink AUX input adapter. The adapter has an MSRP of $100 US but frequently goes on eBay from $50-$80 US these days... The XA-300 features UniLink "pass-thru" (meaning you can still use a CD or MD changer with the XA-300 connected), and it has 2 analog inputs, one digital (but USB-only) input and also a headphones jack dedicated to one of the analog inputs complete with level control The USB input allows you to connect a laptop or PC via USB for sound output, which is a very nice feature if you can use it. It also has the 2, stereo RCA inputs for up to two other devices. Its a nice adapter and it's come down in price and gone up in availability in the last year, though some would say that paying that much for an AUX in adapter is a little much, especially when a lot of today's HUs have a built-in AUX input (though you probably won't find an MD one that does!). Just be advised that the input on the deck is UniLink audio input, without the XA-300 you can't input an external device besides the dedicated Sony changers. [Note that there used to be another AUX in adapter, the XA-107. This adapter can be used with that unit but it was discontinued when the 300 came out. The 107 only has one analog input and has "pass-thru", but it was even more rare than the 300... If you find one used, it'll likely cost you around the same as a 300 and the 300 is a far superior model.]

Japanese only, eh? There's no english at all in that one? Usually the "JE" (world) models will have a Japanese manual but with a small section at the end with English text stating you look at the diagrams in the rest of the manual. However the NE810 is probably Japan-only "J", and therefore has no JE manual available at all. In that case there may never have been a manual written for it in english at all and the best you can do is get someone to translate it for you But just as a question, what exactly are you wondering about that you need the manual for? Most units of a particular era will operate the same in most aspects so what works on say an N910 should also work on the NE810 (considering we're talking about a feature they both have)... If you're confused about a feature/function and have a question, perhaps you should tell us your question and maybe someone can help you out with it.

Slot-in recorders have been abanoned for the most part, particularly due to size/weight/complexity of the mechanisms... There have been a few slot-in players in the past, but still from a little while back now. The last Sony one was the non-MDLP E800 player AFAIK--that used a simple and very effective "Head-Loading Mechanism". Panasonic's newer models are kind of (what I call) "semi-slot-in" in that they kind of combine a slot in and clamshell load/eject procedure. Their players are like this but I'm unsure of their recorders. In any case all of the above are "manual" slot designs, none are powered. I don't know if your 702 had a powered or manual slot design, but these days no portable has a powered one. Really it is more complex and adds weight/thickness which are undesireable to most MD users and therefore no manufacturer wants to do it anymore. The E800's head-loader was very ingenious though and it is very easy to use and seems quite simple. I don't know why Sony abandoned it but they did--there hasn't been a model that used it since. Still, the mechanism used on the E800--I doubt one that simple could be used on a recorder because the OWH that must be above the disc creates some problems that could not be accomodated by the head-loading mechanism design. Ever since the MZ-E75 or so, however, the clamshell hasn't been so bad. The "pop-up" eject mechanism of most players and recorders since then is such that the lid only opens a small amount (perhaps 20-30 degrees; compared to the older units which opened a lot more) and it is very easy to load/unload discs into such units.

Well it is unfortunate you got a non-working R37, but I would imagine its too late now to do anything about it in terms of the seller, lol. These days a unit like that (though it does still have its good points like its LINE OUT feature), will probably go for around $50-$60 US on eBay I'm guessing (a working one I mean). As for the fixing of it, yeah it can be done but you should know a little bit about what you're doing before you attempt it. If you're confident you do you should look around the mindisc.org site for DIY repair info that has been left by others over the years for a variety of units. Even if info isn't there for your particular unit you can take the theory from the info you get and put it to work. All MD recorders have the same theory of operation and employ an optical pickup (laser), a MO disc spinning at CLV, and a record or overwrite head (OWH)... Can you still playback discs with the unit? Many times a unit with a non-functioning OWH can still playback discs but it can't record. If that is the case it may well be a problem with the OWH. The OWH must be precisely aligned with the pickup in order to work correctly and it must touch the disc properly when engaged and be free of dirt/debris. (So you could start with a cleaning but I doubt that would be the problem since it doesn't seem to work at all). If you're not using it for anything, you really can't make things worse (I mean if it is a paperweight now, having a dissassembled paperweight you end up throwing in the garbage isn't really a big deal.) Sometimes you might find it easy to repair and be very happy with the results. Other times you'll just get frustrated, make things worse and possibly end up junking it. Depending on if it can play or not, you could get a few bucks for it on eBay if you sell it as a broken and as-is unit; so you might want to try that route before you take the risk of potentially destroying it altogether. If you still wanted to use MDs you could get a newer [used] unit or a similar (or the same model) older unit to replace it and just use that. If you have other MD gear already you needn't even do that. All up to you really. But yes, it is possible to repair a unit, but it depends on what is wrong and if parts are in need of replacement or not. Anyway good luck!

Hi-MD would be the "new" format of MD you're referring to, and it isn't really the first "new" MD-related "upgrade" since your JE510... Hi-MD is the newest "edition" or "flavour" of MD and it is on the brink of being released (but hasn't been as of right now). Since your unit there have been a few improvements in ATRAC revision; I believe the JE510 is ATRAC 4.0 which isn't bad. (As jadeclaw said your unit was already 4th gen, much better sound quality than the "first" units that came out.) There were two improvements there after ATRAC 4.5 and then Type-R (Sony used a name instead of 5.0). Thereafter there was MDLP which used ATRAC3 (a different codec from ATRAC and not to be confused with ATRAC 3.0)--it doubled (LP2) or quadrupled (LP4) the normal (SP) play/record times. Of course the longer the playtime the lower the quality. Now Hi-MD adds higher capacity discs and an even newer codec (ATRAC3plus) to the mix, making for a slew of bitrates/formats available to record/play in. There's TONS of info out there, particularly on the minidisc.org main page--look at the Equipment Browser and have a good read of the various FAQs available as they have a wealth of knowledge As for compatibility, well, your JE510 would not be compatible with anything other than ATRAC (SP/SP mono) recordings, but on the plus side all newer units (like those with MDLP support and the even newer Hi-MD units) will be able to play/record in ATRAC (SP) and use your current MDs. As for what use your deck has--it's all up to you really. As Jadeclaw said you can get $50 or more for your unit on eBay if you want to sell it. On the other hand if you can make use of it, I'd say do just that. A lot of ppl still use SP for most of their MD useage and many ppl still own/use SP-only MD equipment (myself included ). You really should consider using the deck, MD is quite a versatile format in terms of editing features and has very good sound quality in SP. If you really have no use for it, however, I'd say sell it to someone that will.

Wow I can imagine how that could be pretty disappointing! To have pro/industrial deck fail in less than a year? Not too nice Was the unit brand new when you got it or was it already used? I would say to get a cleaning disc and clean the lens of the unit (or if you know what you're doing you could take it apart and clean the lens "professionally"). Its worth a shot. Depending on the environment its being used in (smokey, dusty, etc.) lens dirt/dust accumulation can be accelerated compared to a home environment. I know that the pro decks call for frequent cleaning based on hours of use as a matter of maintenance since they are usually used in "severe" conditions (relative to consumer gear). I'd say clean the lens and see what happens. Also where are the discs being recorded and are the MDs new or used and what brand are you using? I'd say clean them both (the E10 and E11 if you still have/use that one), and see if the problem clears up. I really wouldn't expect such behaviour from pro decks like that--it doesn't seem right.

Hey don't be so hard on yourself. If you do simple stuff before asking like a search and if you can't find anything and ask a question, I'm sure lots of ppl would be more than glad to help As for your question, yes, when you have a unit with a remote both the unit and the remote have separate (and independent) HOLD switches. Setting one only affects that particular peice (either the unit or the remote) the other is unaffected and will still operate provided its HOLD switch is not activated. As for the model number, I kinda have a question myself... Are you sure it is the NF520D? Last I knew it was called the N520, no radio and no D at the end. But it did look like it was a download only unit which would warrant the D at the end... But I've been away from MD news for a while, so it could have changed... But strange that you would consider the N520 (or NF520D whatever it actually is) when that unit is not a Hi-MD unit. I'd consider spending a bit more money and getting a Hi-MD unit. Simply because older std. MD units are coming to an end--the N520 is probably the last one you'll see I think. If you truly don't want/need Hi-MD then by all means; but if I were you I'd wait a little longer and put some more money in and get a Hi-MD unit...

I apologise if this has been discussed/posted already but I didn't see anything immediately in the news section or here so I thought I'd make a thread Anyway just looked at the battery life specs (links posted on the .org main page--looks like they were just put up today) and I thought they were a little lackluster. I guess we're back to the drawing board a bit with the new format... The times, even for the "old MD" modes aren't too great in comparison with older units. The Li-Ion actually doesn't look too bad though, in comparison with the NH900... Given the NH900 is using the lowly NH-10WM, but even boosting them (by 40% multiplication) to 14WM levels they still look below what the NH1 is rated for. Simply comparing the NH1 and NH900 it seems the NH1 hasn't suffered at all in terms of battery life like the N10/E10 did (due to a very thin Li-Ion). But comparing the NH900 to the N910, well, lets just say you don't want to do it--it really isn't a comparison! (Note that it doesn't really specify if the SP/LP2/LP4 times are from std MDs, std. MDs upformatted, or from true Hi-MD media...) Well these are still not overly "official" as of yet it doesn't look like so they may be revised to be lower/higher--I don't know. But all our praises of the high battery life on MD units (compared to MP3 players) might have to take a second seat for a while; at least until Sony (and perhaps other companies) start figuring out ways to conserve power on Hi-MD. Anyhow, thoughts anyone?

Yeah you can get an LCD one--I'm about 90% sure of that... I'm pretty sure the venerable RM-MC11EL will work just fine. Other than that you can use most of the other ones. That unit was essentially an R90 with a few less features and the R90 used the RM-MZ2S as far as I know. That remote is cross-compatible with the MC11EL so either should work. As for the backlight, there are only few units that cannot output the command codes for the backlight to work and I don't think the R70 is one of them--the backlight should work as well. Note however that the older remotes like that from the R50 and earlier won't work properly, if I recall correctly... Roland M.

Sounds like it might be useful for some people. The only thing I would be afraid of was somehow hitting the Overwrite Head (OWH) with the disc when pulling it out with it positioned. Since you seem to have no problems with doing it, it might not be that big a deal. But I'd at least be careful if you were going to try this. If the OWH becomes misaligned you can say bye-bye to recording capability or at least have "skips" in recorded material. Roland M.

Sorry guys, I've been away for awhile. I moved and then I had no internet connection for a while. Anyhow I see that the forum doesn't automatically sensor language and that it isn't really that nice to have curse words used (as the last person KevinP, pointed out). So I censored the language myself and would ask that people use alternative words where possible in the future. Thanks, Roland M.

I dunno about changing the bass level w/o the remote... Are you stuck in that mode no matter what? If so, you might want to look for a reset button on the unit somewhere so you can reset the unit to the defaults which would likely set the bass boost to zero. Or try disconnecting all power sources for a while, which might do the same thing. Other than that, if you've exhausted all the various buttons and menus (if any) on the unit to no avail. then there might not be a way to do it without the remote. I can't be certain as I have no experience with the unit but if it doesn't say it in the manual there probably isn't a way to change it without the remote.

Well needless to say you should have just cleaned the lens and NOT turned the screw! I dunno what that screw was for, but I'm thinking you might have done something to the Over-write Head (OWH), but then again you should be able to play discs okay if it was that. Check out the Equipment Browser on the main minidisc.org site and see if there is a service manual there. If there is then perhaps you can find out what you changed. Barring that, you may have to get it serviced professionally before it will work again! Which may mean you might be better off buying another unit. Also I'm moving this thread to tech support where, besides being the right section for this post, will probably get more attention there from others. If anyone has any other ideas to help him out, let us know! Roland M.

Correct... That 2-pin connector on the CD-ROM is a THIRD way to connect audio from the CD-ROM and that is the PCM output of the CD-ROM itself. I didn't want to confuse the matter with that though as those connectors have proven to be VERY non-standard in terms of cutting off parts of tracks and incorrect track marking if you use that output on some CD drives. However aside from that if you do enable "digital playback" in the Windows Device Manager, it does indeed disable the analog outs on the CD-ROM and the audio path is your latter description. Error correction however is not mandatory, that is another checkbox (that is located in Media Player or whatever software you are using). Most drives that are good at extracting audio data don't need the error correction done by the computer...

Okay, here is the difference. The "analog output" on the front of your CD/DVD ROM drive is a headphone jack and therefore has a headphone amp of some sort. Note that there are TWO ways that a soundcard may get sound from the CD-ROM. One is analog and the other is digital (PCM transferred over IDE/ATAPI and through the PCI bus). If you have a cable connecting the CD-ROM to the soundcard and you DO NOT check the "digital audio" box in Device Manager, then the soundcard will use the D/A converter in the CD-ROM and use it's analog output (that is what that small cable is for if you have it inside the PC). The other way is the digital way I mentioned. If you have that box checked in Device Manager then the CD-ROM switches off all analog output and does not utilise its own D/A converter (that is why you noted no audio from the headphones jack). Instead the raw digital audio goes over the IDE/ATAPI bus and through the PCI Bus to the soundcard. The soundcard then uses its own D/A converter and out goes the analog sound. Now if you do not get sound in "analog mode" out of the soundcard it simply means you don't have that analog cable connecting the CD-ROM to the soundcard. As for which one is better quality, if the soundcard is only a line-out level soundcard (as most are these days) I might tend towards the soundcard in digital mode. I would think the D/A converter is about equal in the soundcard as in the CD-ROM drive. But the CD-ROM has the added headphone amp to the signal path whereas the line-out level soundcard would not. It might also allow for a better (proper) level setting. By setting everything (CD, WAV and Master levels) in volume control to maximum, that should setup the proper full level output on the soundcard (assuming there is no amplifier in the soundcard). Plus using the soundcard would have all the audio coming out of one jack, you wouldn't need to switch around when recording from CD or audio files on the PC. The noise that is created in the computer is created mainly by the power supply as PC power supplies have no buffering or noise suppression like audio components do (that is a pity really). Anyhow since both the soundcard and the CD-ROM get power from the power supply I'd think the noise/interference from either would be similar. To test this out though you could do a test. One from the headphone out on the CD-ROM and one on the soundcard. Hook up your speakers or amplifier to either and play a silent portion (or silent track) on a CD and turn up the volume and monitor the background noise/interference in the silence (it WILL be noticeable on a PC). Whichever one sounds like it is less (soundcard w/"digital mode" or headphone out w/"analog mode") would probably be the better one to use. I do agree with the last poster in saying that analog recordings from the PC aren't the best because of the noise/interference created by the power supply and various PC components feeding noise into the power. The effect would only be really noticeable during quiet or silent portions where the MD might pickup on this background noise/EMI/RFI. It would be better to record analog CD Audio from a "regular" CD player like a portable CD player, or "home" component CD player/changer, through the analog line outs on those type of devices.

No, that sounds like a stereo (analog miniplug) but it MAY be an optical cable. Usually optical cables are referred to as Toslink and the connectors will either be standard or miniplug Toslink--also some cables come with mini-Toslink adapters. The cable length shouldn't be too long, but usually anything 15feet or less should work fine. There is no difference between optical cables which have a gold plating on the mini-Toslink end. There is no electrical signal, hence the name optical. It seems apparent that you have a confusion between analog and digital cables. Optical cables carry digital signals in the S/PDIF format (over Toslink/optical tranmission means). The headphone jack and analog out jack you refer to are just that--analog outs. They are not compatible with optical cables and they do not carry digital signals. If you are using a soundcard and you get no output from it when playing CDs, then you can do one of two things. You can set the CD ROM drive settings to enable "digital playback" in the Device Manager (assuming you are using Windows). If your sound card supports this it will get digital information from the CD-ROM drive and then the D/A conversion will be done via the soundcard and you will get the audio out the headphone jack. However if this does not work (or the "enable digital playback" is "greyed out") you have to make sure that you have an analog audio cable connecting the CD-ROM to the soundcard INSIDE the PC. Those are your two choices. But again you would not get a digital connection like that. To record to MD you would use a stereo miniplug cable (analog) instead. This is probably the cable you are looking at anyway.

No, no WAIT! The 6V might be too high for the MD. It probably won't be but just be careful... The Panasonic one I use that does charge the battery fine puts out 5.61V with no load... However the actual "4.5V" DC Aiwa adapter (which happened to be a 100V AC Japanese one in my case) actually put out about 8V when on the 120V AC North American outlet. Even using that adapter didn't do any harm to the MD. I just decided to find something with a little less voltage to prevent the unlikely case that battery would get too much charge. If you can measure the no load voltage of that RS adapter on the 6V setting and it is less than 8V then you should be fine I think, but just be careful. I doubt you could do any damage at the 6V setting but I would check what it actually is before going ahead, myself. As for keeping the adapter, I'd recommend it. You never know when you are going to need an adapter and for what you might need it for. It is always handy to have a universal one lying around just in case you ever need to use one. Roland M.

Strange that you should mention this because my Aiwa AM-F70 does not have any kind of end search (that is obvious I guess but wait till I get to the point...). However the AM-F70 has no means to "record over" an existing portion of the MD. In fact I only found out this feature even existed when I got my JB920 deck a few months ago! Since it couldn't be done on the F70 (my only recorder up to that point) I didn't think it could be done. Now the JB920 (and all the other Sony decks) don't have end-search either but they can "record over" a portion of a track/disc like you were using a tape recorder. My AM-F70 can't do this at all though! I would imagine that end-search is still included on the portables for the reason that you can [not] use it in order to use the "record over" feature. Though since the decks don't have it and can do the record over, I guess they might as well eliminate it and have the record over done like it is on the decks.

I know this is a bit late, but you can take a look at this thread for why the adapter probably would not charge the battery. It is because the voltage output when the universal(?) was set at 4.5V was not actually enough real voltage for the unit. I.e. The unit thinks it is still on batteries because the real voltage of the Aiwa adapter is slightly higher than 4.5V ("unloaded" that is). If you read this thread you will see that I used two identically rated Panasonic PCDP adapters (4.5V) on my AM-F70 and found only one would charge it although both would run the unit. Here is the thread... http://forums.minidisc.org/viewtopic.php?t...t=51&highlight=

Door switch must be broken, misaligned or sticking. There is a small switch that is pressed down when the door is closed and for some reason (likely one of the above listed) it isn't working properly. Shouldn't be too much to get it repaired but you might want to indicate that in your sale if you don't want to go to the hassle of getting it repaired and THEN selling it. If it is just sticking you could try to fix it by lubricating it or something or if it is broken and if you know what you are doing you could always buy the switch part from Aiwa and then install the new one yourself....