Which unit to keep ?

[MD4ME]

Recently bought a MDS JE 510 and a MDS JE 480 in an auction, neither of which have manuals, which deck should i keep and why ?

[sfbp]

The 480, it's much more recent:

a. 510 spins the motor in record-pause mode and is known to fail as a result

b. 480 has Type-S playback - indeed it plays back MDLP which feature is completely missing from the 510.

However if you need digital (optical out) playback, then the 510 is your only choice unless you are willing to modify the 480 (there's a guide here somewhere).

The manuals are all here, poke around, and keep asking questions, we will have you flying. Welcome to MDCF!

[sector001]

as a side note, my ex 510 had the issue of turning itself ON...that was the only thing wrong with this deck.

[Hungerdunger]

480 manual here

510 manual here (Actually it's for the 500, but I believe this is essentially the same as the 510)

Edited June 7, 2009 by Hungerdunger

[sfbp]

The service manual for 510 is here which includes a slightly abbreviated form of the user manual. Certainly plenty of information

[bluecrab]

as a side note, my ex 510 had the issue of turning itself ON...that was the only thing wrong with this deck.

The 510 was my first MD deck. I had it connected in such a way that it could not turn itself on, but it still somehow committed suicide. It also has an older version of ATRAC (3.5?) that plainly doesn't sound as good as, say Type R. Still, it was a nice-looking deck, had optical out, and I mourned its passing when it died. I still have a fair number of MDs recorded on that unit.

[sector001]

^ in what manner did you hook up yours so that it didn't turn itself ON???

[bluecrab]

^ in what manner did you hook up yours so that it didn't turn itself ON???

You had to ask ;-)

I'm trying to remember and here's what I think:

I had the 510's power cord plugged in to the back of whatever receiver I was using at the time. The receiver was off. Not in standby, really off. And the outlet was switched. Thus, when the receiver came on, so did the 510. And when the receiver was off, there was no way for the 510 to turn itself on. This absolutely prevented self turn-on.

Nevertheless, one not-so-fine day I turned on the receiver and the 510 malfunctioned in whatever way they were reported to malfunction after the problem occurred, even though the problem never really occurred.

I currently have a similar setup involving an EQ. The EQ is off until the amp is turned on. The EQ doesn't seem to mind.

[sfbp]

Makes me wonder if the turning on wasnt something to do with IR. I had very annoying problems with cordless phones needing re-registering every few days and it is assuredly some other device with a remote that upsets it.

[MD4ME]

Thanks for your imput guys, i guess i feared you'd recommend the JE-480, which is a shame, cos the JE-510 is a beauty in pristine condition, in comparison the JE-480 looks rather bland and jaded. Oh well, looks aren't everything !

[darrencouch]

I have a JE-780, which is basically the 480 with optical out. It's a great sounding unit-ugly "pink-gold" coloring notwithstanding