Volume hack for MZ-RH1 *PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK*

[littlecx]

switch on the machine, switch the "hold" key, and while pressing 'T MARK', press FF FF FR FR FF FR FF FR Pause Pause.

1.) Press the 'Vol +' key to enter the Manual mode.

2.) Press the 'FF' key five times to select the item number 0113.

3.) Press the 'Vol +'/'Vol -'key and set the value to 01(US/Canada), original is 81 which is euro, 05 (Hong Kong/Taiwan), 03 (Japan). (Same as NH1)

4.) Press the 'Pause' key on the unit to set the change.

5.) Press the 'Stop' key four times.

6.) Remove battery.

just edit some typo.

[Norick]

Looks like that Super Nintendo cheatcode we used to do to enable the superturbo feature in Street Fighter 2

Thx, I'm going to try it on my unit.

[Christopher]

We were aware of how to do this and contemplated releasing it to the community, but the Euro RH1 comes at 4.8mW now compared to the 5mW worldwide. The difference would be extremely hard to tell, I imagine.

[littlecx]

We were aware of how to do this and contemplated releasing it to the community, but the Euro RH1 comes at 4.8mW now compared to the 5mW worldwide. The difference would be extremely hard to tell, I imagine.

i got the euro unit and i can tell it is EASY to tell the difference. the numbers r only for reference.

[dogville]

i got the euro unit and i can tell it is EASY to tell the difference. the numbers r only for reference.

Guys, explain better please. Those who own a European model tell us if it is worth doing or not?. For 0,5 mw I'm not sure if it is worth doing it. Please tell us if you succeeded

cheers

Edited June 24, 2006 by dogville

[Tunster]

I've just done it to my unit and done it quite sucessfully. You only get a little boost, but its enough to make me happy now I have the full 5mW+5mW .

[littlecx]

Guys, explain better please. Those who own a European model tell us if it is worth doing or not?. For 0,5 mw I'm not sure if it is worth doing it. Please tell us if you succeeded

cheers

it's not only louder, the clarity seems also improved.

[dogville]

it's not only louder, the clarity seems also improved.

If volume affects "clarity" in this case, there's something wrong . Sorry but I wouldn't understand that 0.5 mw affected to sound quality.

regards

[littlecx]

If volume affects "clarity" in this case, there's something wrong . Sorry but I wouldn't understand that 0.5 mw affected to sound quality.

regards

i dunno why but i am not the only one sopt this. it can be because the amplifier drive the phones better without any limitations...just guess...

and the number doesn't mean anything other than telling u sony has implemented the vol limitation. wat is always true is that u need to listen urself and see the difference.

Edited June 24, 2006 by littlecx

[The Low Volta]

... and that one should always be wary of placebo-effects

Edited June 24, 2006 by The Low Volta

[Mr_Bass_Man]

We were aware of how to do this and contemplated releasing it to the community, but the Euro RH1 comes at 4.8mW now compared to the 5mW worldwide. The difference would be extremely hard to tell, I imagine.

If those figures are to be believed, that is less than 0.2dB change.

A change of 1dB (very roughly 20%) is about the limit of what most people can readily determine reliably.

I'm with the Low Volta and his "placebo effect"!

Edited June 24, 2006 by Mr_Bass_Man

[dogville]

I think this post should be always at the top of the page.

[Tunster]

I think this post should be always at the top of the page.

....all stickified. Hopefully a mod/admin will come along soon and do it.

[jaylen]

lol Sticky a placebo effect?

[littlecx]

the capped vol of rh1 is not placebo effect nor psychological factor. it is a fact that certainly at least affect some users such as me. i played the unit, discovered the problem, found the hack all by myself.

those never crank the vol >20 or got a pair of god-gifted ears that don't tell the difference never need the hack of course.

and please don't take the number ie. 0.5mW seriously, it's just another p.m.p.o.

Edited July 5, 2006 by littlecx

[nevermore]

Little question, some of you say this "isn't worth it" ... is this because the difference is this minimal or does doing this carry risk/change anything besides the volume? Even if the difference is minimal (even if it can't be noticed) I'd do this, out of general principle that I don't like the idea of a crippled (however little) unit. If it carries any risk or change anything else though I wouldn't bother.

[alexis]

Hi Guys!

Do not forget that the volume limitation is not the only limitation of foreign models. The region of the player is actually a much more important issue, because it determines which character set the player is able to edit (Roman/Japanese). So a region hack is also of interest for those who bought their models from Japan and want them to be able to edit MDs using roman characters.

[The Low Volta]

you need to enter the service mode which means that it is dangerous as changing anything not meant to be changed there could kill the unit...

so as the difference is minimal (unlike with 1st and 2nd gen) and the risk of ruining the unit is real MDCF decided not to promote the hack so we/they wouldn't be stuck with a bunch of ppl with faulty units or even worse, blaming us for it

so as with all hack, if you follow the procedure to the letter you should be ok, but remember: it is absolutely at your own risk and with the RH1 it is not really worth it IMHO (just buy some decent efficient headphones and it already is more than loud enough)

[Richard]

Hi Guys!

So a region hack is also of interest for those who bought their models from Japan and want them to be able to edit MDs using roman characters.

I'm not sure if this is actually the case as all JP models can display roman characters anyway. And because the RH1 only displays menus (and no titles) on the unit in english, this would not really be a requirement. The display of characters on the remote is determined I believe by the model of the remote (and how the characters were entered using the software).

If I use a kanji-capable remote on my euro NH900 I can still display kanji on the remote regardless of the fact the unit doesn't display them.

[Ishiyoshi]

So a region hack is also of interest for those who bought their models from Japan and want them to be able to edit MDs using roman characters.

One can edit using Roman characters just fine with Japanese version of the RH1 - no "region hack" is needed. (I've the Japanese version of RH1B.) Note: this so called "region hack/volume hack" is not a hack - it's merely a set of regional destination codes (published by Sony within the Service Manual) that you can use for the unit in question. By the way, we have the RH1 Service Manual for download since end of May '06.

[dogville]

you need to enter the service mode which means that it is dangerous as changing anything not meant to be changed there could kill the unit...

so as the difference is minimal (unlike with 1st and 2nd gen) and the risk of ruining the unit is real MDCF decided not to promote the hack so we/they wouldn't be stuck with a bunch of ppl with faulty units or even worse, blaming us for it

so as with all hack, if you follow the procedure to the letter you should be ok, but remember: it is absolutely at your own risk and with the RH1 it is not really worth it IMHO (just buy some decent efficient headphones and it already is more than loud enough)

Completely agree with low volta. I think it is too risky and the difference would be scarcely noticed.

regards

[nevermore]

One can edit using Roman characters just fine with Japanese version of the RH1 - no "region hack" is needed. (I've the Japanese version of RH1B.) Note: this so called "region hack/volume hack" is not a hack - it's merely a set of regional destination codes (published by Sony within the Service Manual) that you can use for the unit in question. By the way, we have the RH1 Service Manual for download since end of May '06.

Uhm, where exactly in the manual can I find this? I'm searching through it now, I'd feel better changing the setting if it was in the manual, thanks

[Ishiyoshi]

Uhm, where exactly in the manual can I find this? I'm searching through it now, I'd feel better changing the setting if it was in the manual, thanks

Page 19 of the Service Manual. But do remember, as Sebastiaan had pointed out - "it is absolutely at your own risk."

[nevermore]

Thanks, I just did it, I don't notice any change but then I rarely play on full volume (though I do occasionally put it on full, I have the habbit on putting it around the max level of avls). More about the principle of the matter for me, I don't care what silly european laws say, I don't want my equippement crippled even in the slightest because people who pass these laws say it should be, if I want to kill my hearing by playing megadeth on full volume it's my choice and my right

[alexis]

A little more about MD regions

* You can display, but not edit, roman and japanese characters using any device.

* You can edit english roman characters using a japanese model.

* You cannot edit all european roman characters on a japanese unit.

* You cannot edit a text that has been entered on a foreign machine, even if it uses the common subset of english-only roman characters.

* The character set used on the remote is dependent on the region of the player.

Try the following to make an example:

Take an american or european unit, title any track "TEST", put the MD into a japanese and try to edit this track. You get a "CAN'T EDIT". This is because of the region. That is why it is useful to change the region of foreign devices to keep them compatible with other units of the same region.

All this is based on my own experience with an RH-1 (japanese), an RH-10 (american), and an MC40ELK remote (chinese).

[jaylen]

you need to enter the service mode which means that it is dangerous as changing anything not meant to be changed there could kill the unit...

so as the difference is minimal (unlike with 1st and 2nd gen) and the risk of ruining the unit is real MDCF decided not to promote the hack so we/they wouldn't be stuck with a bunch of ppl with faulty units or even worse, blaming us for it

Exactly the reason why I questioned this thread being stickied. The RH1 is becoming very popular and there are a lot of first-time MD users who are getting that unit without any prior MD or MD-hack experience. Yeah, MDCF the forum (not the original poster) would get blamed for any hacks gone wrong and the MD format would lose more users. The trouble and wait that people go through to get the RH1 and the amount they pay for it may not be worth the risk.

dogville: I think it's ironic that you agree with this view now. You were the first one to suggest that this thread be stickied.

[Richard]

I don't think there's any danger of this thread being pinned for the forseeable future, for the very reasons Chris, Ishii, Volta, Jaylen et al have outlined.

[dogville]

Exactly the reason why I questioned this thread being stickied. The RH1 is becoming very popular and there are a lot of first-time MD users who are getting that unit without any prior MD or MD-hack experience. Yeah, MDCF the forum (not the original poster) would get blamed for any hacks gone wrong and the MD format would lose more users. The trouble and wait that people go through to get the RH1 and the amount they pay for it may not be worth the risk.

dogville: I think it's ironic that you agree with this view now. You were the first one to suggest that this thread be stickied.

Don't get me wrong Jaylen . I guess it is a good guide for those who want to hack it. It's a nuisance to be up and down the page to find the post. As for mine, I thought it over and the best thing to do, IMHO is not to change anything, except at your own risk. I think as well that the forum shouldn't be blamed for sticking it. It's absolutely the owner's responsibility if the machine spoils .

cheers

[mercury_in_flames]

so, the consensus is that althought the uk RH1 is capped, you wont see much difference with the hack?

[KJ_Palmer]

That pretty much sums it up greg - there was certainly no audible or any other difference on my UK RH1 when I applied the hack. Sony seem to have done the right thing - in trying to keep both the punters and the French Authorities happy...

[dogville]

That pretty much sums it up greg - there was certainly no audible or any other difference on my UK RH1 when I applied the hack. Sony seem to have done the right thing - in trying to keep both the punters and the French Authorities happy...

So, if there's no difference or hardly any, I do wonder why on earth this European (French) directive is so absurd? . I don't really understand how we can allow such stupid politicians handle our lives. 0,5 MW WILL SAVE OUR EARS

Edited July 7, 2006 by dogville

[jaylen]

I think as well that the forum shouldn't be blamed for sticking it. It's absolutely the owner's responsibility if the machine spoils .

Exactly, I agree. But, you know how a majority of people are. The minute things get screwed up, whether due to their own fault or not, they like to find someone to blame for their misery. Perhaps the first post should be modified with a "PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK" or have some kind of disclaimer stating that the forum and original poster are not responsible for a mucked-up RH1 if you choose to do the hack. It may get people to realize the seriousness of entering service mode. This thread has gotten a little long (and may get longer) that I can see some people, especially if they're new to the format and the forum, just going to the first page and not reading the follow-up comments about the risks and (questionable) benefits, as well as stormshadow's helpful notes on regional differences.

[bobt]

Well said, I have found an efficient phone will do more for volume ((and BASS) you know who) than a hack will do.

If you really need mega volume, get a subwoofer jacket and onboard external amp LOL

Bob

[KJ_Palmer]

Remember, though that the 'hack' was originally used to add 'high level' features that the top models enjoyed to lower end machines (eg. R700 to R900). Even with the RH10 and RH910 the hack was needed to add the basic feature of the Custom equaliser. The only thing the RH1 hack is (supposedly) to increase volume and as it's by such a small amount (probably) it's really not worth it.

[poken]

nothing

[1kyle]

Actually you'll probably get a much better effect and certainly more satisfaction by using superior headphones rather than fiddling about to get a really measly 0.2 db (if that) improvement in volume.

I think I'm with Volta on this on "the Placebo" effect.

Why ALL units weren't made standard at +0.5mw +0.5mw I don't know --- There's actually nothing in the EU directives about mandating a volume limitation anyway.

The EU Commission (I know from personal experience) wastes a lot of time and money debating totally pointless subjects but the volume cap has actually never either been on the agenda or passed in any EU wide legislative body.

I wouldn't risk damaging the unit for this measily improvement in volume.

Cheers

-K

[jonny mac]

We were aware of how to do this and contemplated releasing it to the community, but the Euro RH1 comes at 4.8mW now compared to the 5mW worldwide. The difference would be extremely hard to tell, I imagine.

There I was thinking the EU were the only folks dictating what you can & can't do with your MD unit. Whenever past hacks have been released it's always been strongly stated that if you mess up anything whilst in service mode then it's on your head, not the board's. People need to understand the risks & that it's their responsibility should anything go wrong. I find the above statement very condescending, as if the people here are not capable of judging things for themselves.

I don't mean to get anyone's back up with this, perhaps it's just the way it was worded, but I think it's a bad precedent that things like this are withheld from this community because you can't get everyone to sign waivers that the board won't be held responsible.

However, I don't imagine there would be any noticable difference between 4.8 & 5 mW of output, though I echo the sentiments of other in that, if I had an RH1, I would hack it anyway just because I wouldn't want to have a unit I knew to be crippled, however minorly.

[Avrin]

First of all, it is not 4.8 mW and 5.0 mW. The manual says that European models have only 4.5 mW. But the difference seems actually bigger, and the result of the hack is quite easily discernible.

[Richard]

There I was thinking the EU were the only folks dictating what you can & can't do with your MD unit. Whenever past hacks have been released it's always been strongly stated that if you mess up anything whilst in service mode then it's on your head, not the board's. People need to understand the risks & that it's their responsibility should anything go wrong. I find the above statement very condescending, as if the people here are not capable of judging things for themselves.

I don't mean to get anyone's back up with this, perhaps it's just the way it was worded, but I think it's a bad precedent that things like this are withheld from this community because you can't get everyone to sign waivers that the board won't be held responsible.

Jonny, I'm not quite sure what the relevance is of quoting this post 10 months on. The fact that this very thread exists confirms that ultimately Chris or other members of the admin team have no issue with this info being in the public domain. Chris was simply saying that he was aware of the info prior to the original poster, stating it, but that he personally didn't give that info out as he didn't think it necessary. I think that is entirely his discretion - why should he be under any obligation? But as I say I can't really see the point of this discussion as the info has been up on the site for 10 months.

[syko]

I found this hack a GOD SEND.

I previously owned an NH1 that had an output of 5mW+5mW, which is the standard in Australian terms. I found the volume control on that unit perfect with my $100 earphones, which do unfortunately asks a bit more from the unit's amplifier than the original earphones supplied (probably vol 20 on my expensive earphones is equivalent to vol 17 on the supplied ones). I found I listened to my music around volume 18, and experienced no "clipping" until around vol 28 with heavy bass (it's insanely loud there anyway so I don't go there, if at all). You must realise though that with these HD amplifiers, they do not distort as such, but it cuts the volume down for that split second where it would otherwise distort. It's terribly abrasive to your ears if you have loud bass as the volume fluctuates as much as the bass booms - like someone playing with the volume knob turning it up and down.

Now with my new RH1, I was extremely happy with this unit (bought a week ago). I listened, I liked, until I reached volume 20... I noticed my music was a little quieter as usual, so I turned up to around 23 to suffice. To my utter disappointment, I experienced horrible volume fluctuations when bass was driven through my earphones! I consulted the manual and made a horrible discovery... the unfortunate European units still had their power levels gimped (at 4.5mW). Now I thought, "Oh! I'm in Australia so I shouldn't have this problem!" Wrong! It seems that Australia too is now shipped with the European model which had a 4.5mW output. I actually found this fact extremely hard to swallow and I was extremely disappointed, nearly depressed. It was an excellent unit, but not even living near Europe, I (and other Aussies) were forced to suffer a drop in power output. Depressed for the fact that I thought I had a perfect unit, but I found the drop in output power a flaw I cannot overlook. I spent a lot of money on the unit!!

It may not sound like much, but here's an experiment to prove my point. Find the largest headphones you can find and plug them into your unit (RH1 of course!).

- If you have a 5mW output, you shouldn't experience any volume fluctuations until around volume 27. Also it still should be at a only medium-loud volume since the unit's amplifier cannot really supply enough power to drive your large headphones.

- If you have a 4.5mW output however, you will suffer volume fluctuations around volume 23, and turning up the bass will exacerbate the problem (if your bass is +10dB @100Hz, you can't turn up past 21).

If you have relatively sensitive earphones, you may consider me crazy for having volume up around 20. If I were using stock earphones I'd think the same, but I've got really expensive earphones I'd really rather use instead (Sony NX1 if you're wondering). They are less sensitive so therefore I must turn up my volume to suffice. I said 5mW offered the best volume range for my earphones, but 4.5mW doesn't cut it at all.

I'm extremely happy now that my unit is finally on par with all my other MiniDisc units (5mW). Out of all my units (5 of them), I considered the RH1 the worst, simply because of this 4.5mW output - that was how much it affected me. I'm sure you'd hate it too if you bought a portable audio device at a very high price (for your wage), only to realise it cannot provide the power to drive your favourite head/earphones.

So in concluding:

- European models all have a capped 4.5mW output, not 4.8mW.

- The volume difference between 4.5 and 5mW is not really discernable to the untrained ear between Vol 1-15 (Vol 15 @ 4.5mW ~~ Vol 13 @ 5mW).

- In the 4.5mW unit, the volume never really rises above 25, so 25 is nearly just as loud as 30. It is even quieter if bass is involved. (Vol 25 ~~ Vol 30 @ 4.5mW ~~ Vol 22 @ 5mW, if you're lucky). **

Most importantly:

- The effects of this power cap is most felt when using relatively large ear/headphones that require a lot of power to drive at respectable volumes.

- As a sound recording engineer, I can tell you this volume increase is not a placebo effect. (If you can tell the difference between 128k and 160k mp3 audio then you're into music as much as I am!)

(Oh alright, I'll write up a simple table)**

4.5mW and 5mW equiv.

Vol 10 = Vol 11

Vol 15 = Vol 13

Vol 20 = Vol 17

Vol 22 = Vol 19

Vol 25 = Vol 19-20

Vol 30 = Vol 19-21

- The range (eg 19-21) denotes that the volume fluctuates that much when driven at that volume. Imagine how annoying it is.

** This is assuming you're playing a properly normalised track.

I love this site. I have no objections to these hacks being readily available on these forums. Keep up the great work!