bluecrab

It's a couple of months later (and more) since I ran the the E10 direct to my my Kanto TUK powereds. Since then, I have added a Cambridge Audio DACMagic 100 to the mix. It has a Wolfson WM8742 chip for its DAC, and I have the E10 connected to it via coax. For me, at least, the DM100 exceeds both the E10's AK4524 and the TUK's own DSP in how it sounds. Yes, MD decks have long been renowned for their DACs, but this is a new level of detail I'm hearing. (I'm allowing for the TUK's AMT tweeters.)

I have used them both ways, CD > MD & MD > CD, the latter to enable ripping the result into iTunes. This was a project that took about two years. I even have a folder in iTunes devoted to that effort: "MD/CD Heaven." The editing abilities of minidisc completely surpass those of CD, where there isn't much you can do post-recording.

"...what CD players people have paired up with their MiniDisc decks." Just a few days ago, I used my MDS-E10 to edit a minidisc (needed some dividing for track marks), and then copied the MD to CD-RW via coax to my working-when-it-feels-like-it Aiwa XC-RW700 standalone recorder. Ultimate destination was iTunes, per spousal request. I'd created the original MD from cassettes and vinyl—contra dance and barn dance tunes from US & UK. The E10 is also connected to a Cambridge Audio DACMagic 100, which brings out its finest qualities.

Nice, thanks. (Saved.) I am more than a little surprised to see so many units share the AK4524. And I was thus inspired to check what DAC my MXD-D400 has—seems to be AK4584VQ.

EIGHT+ years later and I find in this thread (courtesy of SFBP) confirmation of what I want to know: the DAC in the E10 is the AK4524 (also in the SM). Today I began using the E10 as both a player and a DAC. Its RCAs are going into a pair of Kanto TUK powered speakers. I have tried optical and USB (from Macbook Pro) direct to the TUKs, but I think the E10's DAC to its RCAs is the best-sounding of the three connections. I was listening to an MD played this way and was absolutely, positively floored to find that the source disc was LP2! I hadn't thought to even consider that until I saw the label on the disc. Playing from iTunes also sounds great through the E10.

Not quite the same, but interesting and helpful: https://www.dutchaudioclassics.nl/the_complete_d_a_dac_converter_list/

Very good, yes, and it even has Type S, and can play MP3 CDs. Copies to LP @4x. Dual-line display for CD and MD. A couple of "could be betters": Lacks monitor function; that is, requires an MD inserted to "monitor." Playback SQ is good, but there are better decks for playback. Of course, this can be resolved by using its optical out. At one time, I had two of these and two MXD-D40s.

I have lost track—not that I was keeping a record—of all the CDPs I had paired with MD decks. All of the CDPs had optical and/or coax out, and that's what I used. The pairing I fancied the most was probably CDP-XA20ES > MDS-JA20ES. Now...well, I have my MXD-D400 if I need to copy from CD to MD.

Thanks, and same to you. One thing though...seems that what Firefox actually does is add a security exception. Oh well, I have nothing to hide here.

Working normally on Firefox 96.0.2. No security warnings at this time. [Long exhale.] Although how weird is this?: Congratulations! You've increased your rank to Rookie! Just now Well, I guess it's always OK to get a fresh start. (And it turns out that FF is enabling HTTPS per my Prefs; otherwise, I would get a warning.)

Monitor mode, yes. My guess is that as this is a kind of pass-through, the signal remains unchanged. Perhaps a schematic would depict the path. As to during actual recording—that is, output via opt/coax while a disc is inserted, not monitoring without one—not sure I tried that. I will note that my HHB BurnIT CDR exhibits that same behavior with monitoring.

I have attempted to copy a Copy Prohibit MD from the E10, via optical out. Also tried by monitoring an protected digital incoming and passing through. Neither worked, even when the Copy Bit is set to Permit. But I wonder what the output signal would look like during actual copy-bit-permit recording. It's more or less academic to me at this point, but interesting. I feel like the non-pro E10/12's ignoring the copy bit setting but keeping it intact is a bit nasty, although helpful, I suppose, in many cases. I seem to recall having read that Sony's so-called semi-pro PCM-R300 DAT deck had that same "feature."

Thanks, Kevin. Very GTK. Should I ever need to replace my E10, this information would be critical. It's nice to have both MD & CD (HHB) decks that can defeat SCMS, as I still have some MDs & CDs that have it. Now if only the E10 could strip SCMS on output... 😉

This stuff about E* series pro vs. non-pro is news to me. My E10 (bought used from a musician) is decidedly Pro and says so. And discussions elsewhere regarding the E* series haven't revealed that lack of SCMS control. But since the subject is now out and about, I'm going to ask around a bit and see if that issue has been encountered somewhere.

Right. I'm sure by now the receiver's insides are furry, but kitty is a rescue...can always get a new receiver if things went awry.