eastbayarb Posted December 24, 2012 Report Share Posted December 24, 2012 I am getting back into minidisc, and while I do have a Hi-MD portable (RH10). I actually prefer Special recordings I want to get a good Attack Type-R recorder deck. Iwant to use my PC to output sound to the MD's deck. What USB digital sound output interface should I get, and what software should I use to play back that can also enhance the sound? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted December 24, 2012 Report Share Posted December 24, 2012 Hmm... I assume you mean ATRAC. I wonder what would have happened if Sony had used ATTACK as a trade mark? Maybe they could have won the "war" with Apple.....There are lots of devices on Ebay. It depends on how much control you want. The "real" Sony device is called a PCLK-MN10 but that's only needed if you want to control (PS/2 interface) the various decks that support it, using M-Crew on your PC (won't work in Windows 64-bit native). I'm sure lots of people will have recommendations. There's one made in large quantities that sells for $15 or so, like this:http://www.ebay.com/itm/External-7-1-USB-Optical-Audio-Sound-Card-Adapter-New-/300450141661I have one. It works. But there are plenty of others, too. If you have a laptop this is what you need, most likely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastbayarb Posted December 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2012 Thanks for the recommendation. What software is reccomended for playing FLAC files ? When I record to an ATRAC Type R deck, can I later take the SP recorded discs and do the titling with my Hi-MD portable through SonicStage? Or if I had the PCLK-MN10, would I be able to have my PC do titling while recording on my deck? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted December 24, 2012 Report Share Posted December 24, 2012 Whatever your PC will play with is fine (or u can convert to wav). Yes you can title with mcrew, or the rh10. Only mcrew lets you do it during recording (like a deck). The biggest problem with PCLK-MN10 is finding one. If you can get one of the later md bookshelf models with usb you need only a standard usb cable since the pclk functionality is built into the unit. Hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim.hoggarth Posted December 25, 2012 Report Share Posted December 25, 2012 The biggest problem with PCLK-MN10 is finding one. I currently have a few in stock, if you are desperate for one. But they are not cheap, at around 50.00 GBP apiece. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastbayarb Posted December 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 I currently have a few in stock, if you are desperate for one. But they are not cheap, at around 50.00 GBP apiece. JimWell I have a Sony MDS-JB930, and if I were to get a PCLK-MN10, what software would I use to play back CDs or FLAC so my MD's can be recorded with track names and such? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted December 27, 2012 Report Share Posted December 27, 2012 Bad news, I'm afraid. The 930 just predates the time when the PS/2 interfaces were included, so pclk-mn10 wont respond to usb in this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastbayarb Posted December 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 I guess I will just get a CD player with s-link/control-a1 and do it that way. Seems only 5-disc changers and jukebox CD changers have that feature. Anyone know of a Sony CD player single disc unit with s-link/control-a1? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 Fine. But you started by saying you wanted sound from FLAC files on your PC. The MXD-D40 combo deck is usually reasonably priced on Ebay, and you can run it with PCLK-MN10. That's where I might start, in your situation, as it has optical input.http://minidisc.org/part_Sony_MXD-D40.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastbayarb Posted December 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 Why wouldn't the JB930 work with the PCLK-MN10? If it really doesn't, I guess I will just with use a CD player with s-link/control-a1 or just output FLAC from my PCB and title MD's later using the JB930's keyboard port. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 Good question. The basic reason being that they hadn't invented it yet. With the exception of the MDS-JB940, all subsequent models had either pclk or keyboard functionality but never both, I think. Special firmware and circuitry I shouldn't doubt. The mxd-d5c actually has two versions. One of each. I looked st the 940 circuitry and tried to understand it, but no one has ever actually reported it working with pclk, so it may be a delusion after all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastbayarb Posted January 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2013 So if I wanted to play FLAC files from my PC and output to my MD deck (I will record in SP), what software should I use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted January 5, 2013 Report Share Posted January 5, 2013 Whatever plays your files will simply output optical signal from the PC. Of course no titles. You can title with a keyboard on many units. As I explained, it seems that units will either accept keyboard OR m-crew (pc-link) but not both (and I do not mean simultaneously, I mean there is no way to switch a given deck AFAIK). But I was forgetting, you can still use SonicStage to do titling. Clear as mud? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilippeC Posted January 5, 2013 Report Share Posted January 5, 2013 My PC : - Winamp / foobar2000 - Asio4all or Kernel Streaming as Audio DSP output (to record 24bit-96khz tracks) - Wincue / Post Track Silence to get blanks between tracks - digital output (RCA digital ouput to RCA digital input of my Sony minidisc deck MDS-JB980) - sound enhancing : I have a Creative Platinium X-Fi sound card and also a USB creative Xmode X-Fi external sound card - MP3 sound enhancing : you can use the shareware DFX audio enhancer plugin (free version is quite enough) www.fxsound.com - record level : after noticing a lot of distorsion using lossless recent music with* the DFX plugin (which is more usefull with MP3), I decided to use everytime the ReplayGain component with foobar2000 during my recording (JB980 recording level fixed at +0.00db). And forget DFX if I use a lossless source during recording. (*) in fact X-Fi + DFX is too much with lossless tracks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastbayarb Posted January 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2013 PhillipeC, That sounds impressive. However, would using a Sony CD deck with Control-A1 connected to my JB930 MD recorder (to sync recording between CD and MD, and titling from CD's that support CD-Text) yield as good sound results? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim.hoggarth Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 Good question. The basic reason being that they hadn't invented it yet. With the exception of the MDS-JB940, all subsequent models had either pclk or keyboard functionality but never both, I think. Special firmware and circuitry I shouldn't doubt. The mxd-d5c actually has two versions. One of each. I looked st the 940 circuitry and tried to understand it, but no one has ever actually reported it working with pclk, so it may be a delusion after all. Hi Stephen. Just checked the JB940 schematic, and it looks like only the keyboard is supported. Two of the I2C connections from the main control processor are not physically wired up to the required pins on the keyboard DIN socket: IIC-BUSY and IIC-POWER, whereas they are in the MDS-S50. I assume but have not checked that these same connections are made on all other decks/bookshelf systems which support the PCLK-MN20. I have also checked the JB980 - no connections on these pins (pins 2 and 6 incidentally). What unit do you use with M-Crew? Is it the MXD-D40? That looks to be configured for PCLK only. Incidentally, on this model, the same I2C connection is used for inter-processor communication between the MD and CD controller chips. I have an S50 in stock now. Once I find time I will test it with both a PC keyboard and the MN20. I would love to know if it works with both. And if it does, whether appropriately connecting the IIC-BUSY (ie PCLK_DETECT) and IIC-POWER on a deck such as the JE780 or JB980 would enable PCLK features on these units. In the JB980 schematic, the system controller (IC1) has the I2C clock and data input lines pulled up to VSS through 100K resistors, and the I2C power and busy lines simply not connected. The connector to the 'keyboard' pcb even has the two unoccupied pins where these lines would need to be connected. I really do wonder... And a further aside: I see from the JB980 schematics that the USB feature was codenamed 'Unicorn'. I didn't know that before. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilippeC Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 PhillipeC, That sounds impressive. However, would using a Sony CD deck with Control-A1 connected to my JB930 MD recorder (to sync recording between CD and MD, and titling from CD's that support CD-Text) yield as good sound results? I don't have any external connector dedicated to synchronization of recording with my JB980 deck. I just make a playlist, push play and at the same time record on the deck. Titling must be done by hand (copy-paste tracks titles to Sonic Stage and a Net-MD connection) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 Yes, I use the MXD-D40, also the CMT-PX3 and the MDS-PC3. And the CMT-M333NT does it (M-Crew) via USB. I'll look again at the 940 schematic.I would be most interested (not for myself, just intrigued in a general way) if 980 and other decks could be tricked into doing PCLK. However the 980 has USB so I could use that if pressed (currently I have plenty of ways of doing titleing).Yes, it's cute when technological advances acquire internal names because they are secret. Hi Stephen. Just checked the JB940 schematic, and it looks like only the keyboard is supported. Two of the I2C connections from the main control processor are not physically wired up to the required pins on the keyboard DIN socket: IIC-BUSY and IIC-POWER, whereas they are in the MDS-S50. I assume but have not checked that these same connections are made on all other decks/bookshelf systems which support the PCLK-MN20. I have also checked the JB980 - no connections on these pins (pins 2 and 6 incidentally). What unit do you use with M-Crew? Is it the MXD-D40? That looks to be configured for PCLK only. Incidentally, on this model, the same I2C connection is used for inter-processor communication between the MD and CD controller chips. I have an S50 in stock now. Once I find time I will test it with both a PC keyboard and the MN20. I would love to know if it works with both. And if it does, whether appropriately connecting the IIC-BUSY (ie PCLK_DETECT) and IIC-POWER on a deck such as the JE780 or JB980 would enable PCLK features on these units. In the JB980 schematic, the system controller (IC1) has the I2C clock and data input lines pulled up to VSS through 100K resistors, and the I2C power and busy lines simply not connected. The connector to the 'keyboard' pcb even has the two unoccupied pins where these lines would need to be connected. I really do wonder... And a further aside: I see from the JB980 schematics that the USB feature was codenamed 'Unicorn'. I didn't know that before. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastbayarb Posted January 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 is it same or better quality audio to transfer FLAC files from a PC (via optical/coax) to my Mini disc recorder, versus going from CD deck to Mini disc recorder (via optical/coax)? Again, I have an MDS-JB930 recorder, and i record in SP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 There's only one way to find out.... try it. I'm not going to predict, as for various reasons one's predictions frequently turn out completely wrong in this area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilippeC Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 I have recorded a lot of MD with 24bit - 96kHz Flac tracks using my PC and my JB980 deck (--> hopely finally recorded in 24bit - 44,1kHz) all tracks downloaded illegaly* from Internet (*) I live in Vietnam, this is not that much illegal from there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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