bluecrab

I am planning on doing some DVD to MD recording from Mac to MD via optical out (although my question applies equally to Windows). Assuming the DVD outputs at 96kHz, will there be any noticeable difference in SQ if I set the computer's output to 48kHz and let the MD (MXD-D40) do the downsampling to 44.1, or should I just set the computer to 44.1 and let it do the downsampling? I will probably monitor the recording so I can set track marks, but that is another issue.

BearBoy, I pretty much think that technically speaking, a CD deck's quality would not be the critical factor in this context. That is what I meant about the XE500. You probably would want one, though, that is at least reasonably well-built. Doesn't have to be a tank or anything. Really all you're doing is passing along a bitstream. Now, it looks to me like the RDR-HXD860 has an audio output setting called "48kHz/96kHz PCM." I'm not sure what this means. If you were to play a CD (44.1kHz) with the audio out set 48/96, then what would be generated? 48? 96? Don't know. Your MD deck will accept 48 and then downsample it to 44. The HXD860's manual seems to indicate that the output would be 48/16 bit...kind of an LCD thing, I guess. In any case, 32/44/48 are the sampling rates compatible with MD. Be interesting to know how you make out. I suppose I ought to mention that even if this works, I'm not sure what effect the 980's downsampling of 48 > 44 might have on the quality of the recording. Worth a shot, though, for sure!

The C71 Din Unlock msg could be because the RDR-HXD860 has digital out (96?) that is not compatible with MD. I had that happen with a Philips DVD. That's all I am able to guess here. That said, even though I hear you about not wanting to buy another unit, you still may want to consider almost any CDP that has optical out. You will never even need to listen to the CDP. For example, I use a Sony CDP-XE500 to copy CD-Rs on an HHB BurnIT. The XE500 does a great job in that role and that is all it ever has to do. Wish I could offer more!

May as well add that the decks in the 9*0 series that support MDLP are JBS940 (Type R) and JBS980 (Type S, NetMD). SP-only MD units are not upgradable to LP. There are quite a number of decks that do support MDLP. The 920 is at least said to produce excellent playback SQ.

There is not too much I can add to sfbp's excellent analysis, especially lacking info about the source, although I see you say "my stereo." (FTR, I'm going with #2.) However, I would like to note the following: I have an MXD-D40 connected via optical digital to an iMac. The iMac knows when an optical cable is connected and immediately configures itself appropriately, although there is a setting where the sample rate can be modified. In any case, with everything set up as it should be, I will still get the C71 error on the D40 when pressing Record until the D40 actually receives an active signal from the iMac; that is, not just connected, but something is playing. Make SURE the 780 is set to optical input and that the source is, as noted by sfbp, 32/44.1/48kHz. Make SURE the source is not muted. Another slight possibility is a bad cable. This happened to me with a coax cable. I still have that bad cable and it still doesn't work. Never has happened with an optical cable, though.

IIRC, the CDP-991 has a CXD-2552 DAC, while the 980's is CXD-2664 (there could be a letter appended to either or both). So it's no surprise that the 980 might sound better. I do something similar with my Kenwood MD-9020 (AD-1855) and MDS-JA20ES (CXD-8735N); that is, opt. out from units with lesser DACs and so forth. That includes running opt. out from my MXD-D400 (Type S) through the JA20ES. Makes the 400's LP sound even better.

I actually don't use portables all that much—I do have a few, and I recently acquired an MZ-N510 to use with PC/SS. Although I've never owned any of the machines you note, I will say that the R3 sticks out from that list (not in a good way) because it is ATRAC 3, while the 30/35/50 are all ATRAC 4. That's a bigger gap than it looks like numerically. Since you have a Sharp deck, you could also consider an older Sharp portable.

Late to this dance, but relevant in some cases. I recently inherited a Dell Latitude E5400 Laptop with Windows 7. This particular Dell and a few other Dell laptops have the ability to output S/PDIF coax. You use, of all things a 7-pin mini-DIN connector that is actually an S/Video connector. If you have a Dell laptop, it's worth checking to see if you have this somewhat odd configuration available. The cable/connector isn't expensive and it most definitely works.

Although I don't use the Li batteries, it's an interesting subject, so I poked around just a bit. It seems that there could be "depends on manufacturer" element. I saw that here: http://www.powerstream.com/Storage.htm I can tell you this much: Here in the Boston, MA area, "room temp" in the summer can easily exceed what is meant by that standard and similarly, can drop below it in the colder weather. I wonder if non-Li batteries also degrade? If so, haven't noticed that.

I did get the S-Video cable that includes S/PDIF coax; it works fine and is sending that digital audio stream to an outboard DAC, cleverly designed as a Kenwood MD-2070 deck. There's also a newly acquired MZ-N510 sitting in a USB port, so on one side of the PC, there's coax audio out, while on the other side, Sonicstage. That odd-looking cable/connector on the left of the PC is the S-vid that also contains composite vid and S/PDIF coax.

Yes, it is a myth, if credible sources on the subject are to be believed. On a mundane level, you could ask why, if cold is supposedly so helpful for batteries, then wouldn't that be a benefit to car batteries in the winter?

That is no doubt correct (48kHz). Just to be on the safe side, I just did a test outputting a 48kHs signal from Mac to MXD-D40. Fine. (96 kHs failed, of course.) The Dell is W7. Where's the tester? I guess my best option is to buy one of those S-Video cables as in the link and see if it works.

Sorry to be unclear: I tried the JB940 > Cambridge Audio and it sounded fine, just not different. There have been some equipment (speaker) changes since then, so if I can dig up an optical cable, I intend to give it another go.

I had to look up the 8200CDQ. A ***** rating from Whathifi is a pretty good indicator of its worthiness. I would not be at all surprised if the Audiolab's DAC and superior circuitry does in fact give you an upgrade (not that the 940 is bad!). One way I improved MD sound was to route optical out from my MXD-D400 to my JA20ES. I mainly do this for LP2 and there is a noticeable upgrade in the sound. I had to replace a passive optical switch with a powered one—made all the difference. I tried a similar tactic with my JB940 going opt. in to a Cambridge Audio receiver, but didn't seem to make a big difference. I may just try that again and give it some longer listening time.

Yes, thanks, it does look like somehow, some way Dell incorporated S/PDIF into an S-Video connector. It looks to me like the S/PDIF part is coax (doesn't matter to me). So I am guessing that: 1) it'll fit on the E5400, 2) It'll output 44.1, and 3) it'll actually work. Be really nice if it does. Thanks for the response. Now on to the SS problems with MP3 files. For one thing, I first tried it with just importing a few iTunes .wav files over my n/w from an iMac. No issues there. These are files I imported into iiTunes from a regular ol' commercial CD. Tracks went right into SS and then onto an MD. Most of the iTunes files, though, are apple lossless (ALAC) and have to be converted to .wav. Easily done, although I don't know if that affects SS perception of such files. Mixed results. What also happens is that SS fusses about CD-Rs I made. Does SS follow SCMS restrictions? How does SS determine what is OK to x-fer and what is not? Anyway, I will probably get enough usable tracks in SS that missing a few won't be too big of a deal.

This is MD-related because it affects my audio out from Sonicstage, into which I have begun loading music files either from CD of from iTunes, with the goal of both creating MDs and playing music. SS for whatever reason won't always transfer a track to MD, so I either have to forget that track or copy it manually in realtime. I have a Dell Latitude E5400 running Win7. I was given this machine and have had pretty good luck getting things going, with the exception of digital audio out. The system's sound settings show digital output available and ready. If I set the sound output to digital, it is obvious that the signal gets routed that way, as I get a visual, graphic display showing output. However, the machine does not have any apparent port to send the digital signal to. I tried, a la Mac, to use the headphone out with a mini-optical cable, but although the cable fits in there, no sound gets routed that way. Tried with two portable MDs (DN430, S1) and neither worked. They do work when transferring with SS via USB. So, where the heck is that digital signal going? How do I get it? Any ideas? I saw a suggestion that it is somehow related to the S-video port, but that doesn't add up for me.

Correct, SS does not have 292. That is what I read here for years. When I finally started using SS a little while ago, that turned out to be absolutely true. SS offers what at first glance appears to be SP mode, but it is really just a compatibility trick. As for your other points, only you can decide which way to go. All three methods you note have pros and cons. If I were in in your position—and I think it's great that $$ aren't a big deal to...once was there myself—and knowing myself as I do, I would likely just replace the acting-up unit. Best of luck!

One other thing: Where the S707 is now confirmed as being very closely related to the S38/JE510, beware of the possibility of the S707's being subject to the self-turn-on problem. I do not know that this is the case, but it's worth a mention, IMO.

The 707's [very brief] SM says this: Model MDS-S707 is almost same as MDS-S38. As only the difference from MDS-S38 is described in this manual, please refer to MDS-S38 service manual (9-960-934-¹¹) for the information not contained in this manual. So it looks like sfbp has IIRCed correctly! BTW, with Sony, an MD model's being later chronologically is little guarantee it will have the same features of its predecessors.

Check your Downloads folder and see if the NetMD driver is there. If it is, you use Device Manager to install. For Win7, it goes something like this: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/update-driver-hardware-isnt-working-properly#update-driver-hardware-isnt-working-properly=windows-7 If the NetMD driver isn't in your C:/Users/seanm/Downloads folder, you may have your system set up to save elsewhere. But Downloads is a likely place. Once you locate the file, then you just follow the "to download and update a driver yourself" instructions from the above link. If the NetMD driver isn't saved anywhere (this seems unlikely, but possible), then there may well be an issue opening/saving. If I have not put this well or have made it too complex...or if it just does not work, then as sfbp notes, please add additional details. Thanks.

IE and other browsers can open files. Are you sure it is not doing so and saving the file somewhere? Here is an example of what I mean: http://www.browserguides.com/internet-explorer/how-to-open-a-local-file-from-your-computer (Of course, you could be having a real problem. IIRC, when I DLed the NetMD driver, it was opened by the browser, either IE or FF. I didn't think it had worked, but eventually located it.)

VERY interesting. The 230V could be overcome, of course. The rest...well, the "VERY slow transfer" slowed me down quite a bit, along with the other caveats. Ah well, another dream dashed by daylight. ;-)

The 333ES has the CXD9556AQ DAC So, I think, does the JB940. Compare to the CXD8735N-TP in the JA20ES and JB930. They all produce excellent digital output—suitable for CD. And they all are also good on the ADC side. Numbers aside, I run LP O.out from MXD-D400 > JA20ES. Excellent results. And I've made [O.out > O.in] [MD > MD] copies from the JA20ES <> D400. SQ better than I expected. RIght now, would not mind a JB980....NetMD enabled deck, I think.

OK, this thread was starting to bug me a bit, I admit it. Definitively, based on machines I have or have had: SP/LP + [opt/coax I/O] = JB940, JA333ES SP only + [opt/coax I/O] = JA20ES, JB930, Kenwood MD-2070 It would not surprise me much if other opt/coax I/O models are out there; these are just the ones I know. Units that also include LP are few. FWIW, the 333ES(Type R) is, IMO, so much better than the MXD-D400(Type S), that even without the Type S it sounds better in LP playback mode.

NO MDLP! I am sorry to say. For that I use either MXD-D400 or D40, depending on context. The Kenwood serves mainly as an outboard DAC for Internet radio via a laptop. However, when I have used it for MD playback...excellent SQ. Its specs are true. Its ATRAC 4.5 is what it is. I did try recording and it seemed like I got a very good recording, but sounding a bit different, somehow, from the Type-R Sony machines i usually use for that. I haven't really used the Kenwood enough for recording that I can conclude anything. I also find that its controls and settings take some getting used to, but that could be because I am so used to the Sony interface (varies from unit to unit, but there is a basic similarity). The Kenwood is full-featured, though, and looks good. Its power button feels a bit...I guess "loose" might be the word. I think that's just how it is, because my brother also has the 2070 and his is the same way. Not a really big deal, but a noticeably different feel from any of my Sony units. For whatever reason, the 2070 is starting to appear on eBay occasionally. Until I got mine late last year, you almost never saw one. But I had always been entranced by its pic on minidisc.org, so when I saw a like-new unit for $150, I bit. So far, I consider it well-spent money. They seem to be going for $150-225 now.