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Change Language of Japanese MZ-RH1 Unit

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If you can get in, follow the instructions in the English language service manual. I think N. America is Region 01 (japan is either 20 or 23 IIRC). Page 19 "Set destination".

No worries about the volume cap as it doesn't apply in either venue, only to Europe. Mind you, the other distressing thing about this unit is that I blame my tinnitus on it ;( So maybe the French regulators were right to have the volume cap, sigh.

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On the topic of service mode, if you really cannot get in (and I wasted at least an hour trying with two different units), I wonder if it's worth posting the software that Sony supplied for EARLIER models to get in? Possibly some bright spark can figure out how to reconfigure it so that it will tweak the HiMD's into service mode. The only catch: this software was written for Windows 98 (!!!!) so whoever it is may have to find an old machine to get it up and running. I have exactly one machine that I can set back to Windows 98 (and I haven't for ages).

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So I've set the destination properly.

I tried both 81 and 01.

No noticeable change.

There's still Kanji on the remote display when I cycle through the Sound modes by clicking the Sound button.

Everything else was already in and seems to remain in English...

Any further ideas on how I can update the remote display?

I'd love to get this sorted!

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What was it before setting? Did you check the value by going to another value (read) and then re-reading the one you'd just set?

This is pure imagination, but I wonder if the SECOND value (0114) is the value for the remote? In the RH10 it's set to 80. But you might see what that setting is on your RH1. I can't check as it seems impossible for me to get into service mode.

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It was 3 - Japan. Yes, I've verified the changes are sticking.

It was hard for me to get into service mode as well, I eventually figured out the instructions were for buttons *on* the main unit and *not* the remote.

I like your suggestion to check out 0114. I'll try that now. Here's to hoping that doesn't brick the system!

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If 03 is Japan, makes me wonder if 02 is all-japanese where 03 is japan tourist model (combination of Eng and Jap). You could try 04 and 05 and see what you get. It occurs to me that somewhere they have to have a menu for French/German/Italian/Spanish..... do you get that with 81?

Beware that the buttons on the unit go dry rather sooner than later. Once they do, it seems almost impossible to use them.

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Does anyone have a Kanji remote? Is it DIFFERENT (you can look at all the symbols on a remote in service mode)??? Maybe all you need is a replacement.

The one thing I have totally failed to find is online versions of any service manuals in Japanese, ie for the domestic product. This is right across the range. So for example the EH series which are essentially unknown outside Japan, I have no manual. By the way, spend $50 and get yourself an MZ-EH70 (or EH-50) or a bit more for a MZ-EH930 so that you can avoid taking your precious RH1 into the nasty, dirty world :) Then you won't be asking us for repair help in a couple of years....

http://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/p522649982

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That's right, its hex.

Anyways, I believe I can live with just two pieces of text in Japanese.

Cross-referencing with the English user manual, these appear to be the sound output modes - surround or normal or etc. - with only two of them shown in Japanese anyways.

I'm hoping there won't be issues naming tracks, if not, I'm all set :)

Still waiting for my Hi-MD disc orders to come through before I can start recording my sets on MD, of course...

On another note:

Is there an MD device with the ability to record from *radio*?

I've seen a few MD's with radios on my research so far, but all of them seem to have the radio on the remote and cannot record from them.

One truly wonders how much pressure Sony came under with the MD format from the `Studios`...

They truly made it hard for the MD to replace tapes, no radio recording, no "second generation digital copies", etc.

Without so much `Studio inspired DRM`, the format would have probably lived on!

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The recent review of the CMT-M333NT (I have one) doesn't mention that this unit also records radio.

My own interest has been to record INTERNET radio, as it's generally better signal than FM. For that you need any MD unit as almost all of them have optical in, plus a sound card in the PC that outputs optical. My favourite is the Terratec, but there are plenty of others.

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So finally my HiMD discs have arrived. They are truly beautiful! Makes me remember why I loved these things in the first place.

Anyways, on to next problem then, shall we?

My mixer (Pioneer DJM 900 SRT) has a digital line out. But its a copper coax output! How that's digital, is kind of beyond me.

My HiMD recorder, of course, has an optical line-in. How do I convert from one to the other?

I noticed some converter boxes online. Is that the way to go, then?

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4 hours ago, mimarsinan said:

My mixer (Pioneer DJM 900 SRT) has a digital line out. But its a copper coax output! How that's digital, is kind of beyond me.

My HiMD recorder, of course, has an optical line-in. How do I convert from one to the other?

I noticed some converter boxes online. Is that the way to go, then?

I have got one of THESE , well, the opposite (i.e. optical to coax) so I could connect my MDS-JB980 to my PC's audio interface, which has a coax digital input. Very cheap but never had any issues with it.

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9 hours ago, mimarsinan said:

So finally my HiMD discs have arrived. They are truly beautiful! Makes me remember why I loved these things in the first place.

Anyways, on to next problem then, shall we?

My mixer (Pioneer DJM 900 SRT) has a digital line out. But its a copper coax output! How that's digital, is kind of beyond me.

My HiMD recorder, of course, has an optical line-in. How do I convert from one to the other?

I noticed some converter boxes online. Is that the way to go, then?

Coax to Optical is no biggie. That's inside every Sony deck with an opti-out. It's basically hooking the digital signal to the signal input of an LED. Coax, you simply connect it and the signal travels along the wire. Disadvantages of direct Coax connection:

1. Ground loops (optical of course isolates each end from the other)

2. Noise from variations in resistance

You can make your own converter (buy a transmitting LED and they give you a circuit with 1, 2 or 3 components such as resistor, capacitor). You can buy one. Or you can use a deck that has coax in and opti out (any of the 9xx deck series, plus some other European models too).

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  • 2 weeks later...

So I just recorded my first set today on the MiniDisc. Yaaay!

I'll upload it soon and share the URL. Setting track marks was the main point of the exercise, as it is very hard to spot seamless transitions after the fact (especially when mixing three tracks together).

But I could only use Line-In! My toslink cable did not fit the optical in jack.

I had even purchased a coax digital to toslink converter. Imagine my disappointment when the parts did not add up!

What is the actual optical in cable "format" that I need to use with this device? I really want to be able to record my next set purely digitally.

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https://cdn.head-fi.org/a/2905221.jpg

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61M7agKgoxL._SL1500_.jpg

The cable inside the MD is called a SPDI/F Toslink mini-jack.or a Mini Digital Optical SPDIF

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcQEd7ss6lQ

Note that you can use such cables also to connect the MD to a PC or a Mac with an optical out for your recordings. The settings of the sound card must be set at 24bit-48kHz maximum. A player like Foobar200 with the plugin Post-track Silence, plus Sonic Stage for the editing (needing Net-MD connection) can be used for a real time recording (real SP mode). Stereo Flac files or even Hi-Res audio files are the best for the best audio recording quality.

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6 minutes ago, mimarsinan said:

Do you actually have the Amazon ordering link or product name available?

Use this : toslink to digital, toslink, mini-jack, 3.5" etc

https://www.amazon.com/KabelDirekt-TOSLINK-Optical-Digital-Audio/dp/B00GZQWLF0/ref=pd_sim_23_6?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00GZQWLF0&pd_rd_r=6CA6V2SWV353H9PPVJR6&pd_rd_w=OhcRl&pd_rd_wg=AXldx&psc=1&refRID=6CA6V2SWV353H9PPVJR6

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So listening to my set on the MZ-RH1 itself, it sounds disappointingly flat:

https://soundcloud.com/djfuzuli/turner-dj-fuzuli

The various sound modes (virtual surround, etc.) make virtually no difference.

Is there a MegaBass setting for this device? I was unable to find one.

Even without AVLS, there's just no depth or richness to the sound at all.

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Hi mimarsinan,

I don't know about the sound quality of this "Turner - DJ Fuzuli" set but when I listen to it on my own system with my PC as source, it sound good enough to me. But electronic music can be good even as 192kbps.

The easiest test you can do is to record an original CD from your CD player : source with CD quality, and MD set to SP mode or, if your disc has been formatted in Hi-MD mode, MD set to Hi-SP).

If you listen only music from your PC or your Mac, the test recording has to be done with a lossless quality file as the source (using a good player like jRiver Media Center - there is a free version -or foobar2000 or any player reading lossless audio files). Even the PC player can be set with different listening parameters meaning that the CD player test is more reliable. Hi-REs audio files can be record using an analog connection or an downsample to 24bit-48kHz DAC setting.

 

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13 hours ago, PhilippeC said:

Hi mimarsinan,

I don't know about the sound quality of this "Turner - DJ Fuzuli" set but when I listen to it on my own system with my PC as source, it sound good enough to me. But electronic music can be good even as 192kbps.

The easiest test you can do is to record an original CD from your CD player : source with CD quality, and MD set to SP mode or, if your disc has been formatted in Hi-MD mode, MD set to Hi-SP).

If you listen only music from your PC or your Mac, the test recording has to be done with a lossless quality file as the source (using a good player like jRiver Media Center - there is a free version -or foobar2000 or any player reading lossless audio files). Even the PC player can be set with different listening parameters meaning that the CD player test is more reliable. Hi-REs audio files can be record using an analog connection or an downsample to 24bit-48kHz DAC setting.

 

I recorded it at full quality with PCM, and I don't believe the issue is with the recording, as it sounds great when played back on other devices.

However the MiniDisc itself is terrible at playing it; I remember my Sony Walkman's from the early '90s sounding better than this with earbud headphones.

Is there no MegaBass or similar option on this device then?

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Trust me.. PCM mode for transfers (not live recordings) is a waste of time, IMHO. Use Sonic Stage to create Hi-SP (you can set it up to concert automatically) and send that through USB.

Optical in works best with a deck. There's reasons for all this:

1. PCM uses a lot of power both on recording and playback. I've had endless arguments with one individual who was insistent he could hear the difference on his headphones. I didn't believe him.

2. Players and rippers all take a very variable subset of the "real" data on a CD (which is close to 20 bits in most cases, hence "oversampling"). To get 16 bits that sounds good, the algorithm is very special (read up about dithering). There are settings in Sonic Stage but I am not sure they make much difference.

3. ATRAC (and ATRAC3/+) is a 24 bit mantissa, 8-bit exponent logarithmic format. That's why a recording of SP can sound better than the original CD. Especially with Sony's ripper set to "High Quality" (which takes longer).

4. Sonic Stage can also generate Sony AAL (Atrac Advanced Lossless) which is a great source to:

a. regenerate a CD

b. make a nice listenable recording on MD with not too many bits. I suggest AAL with the lossy part being Hi-SP (256kbits/s).

AAL is a useful format because it's not protected by encryption. So no fuss with File Conversion Tool. Having said that one of the best ways to get lots of music onto a MD is to use a deck and record from optical at LP2 (132 kbps), and then upload that to the PC. I've uploaded a fair amount of LP4 (66kbps) this way and it sounds terrific.

More bits doesn't necessarily mean a better sound.

Oh yes, one more thing... SP doesn't transfer properly. You may as well use LP2 and get 2x as much music.

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8 hours ago, mimarsinan said:

I had actually asked another question:

Is there no MegaBass or similar option on this device then?

 

The MegaBass was only on some early units. Later on there´s a custom EQ that you can edit via the remote in this case. The Main Body of the RH1 got no Button to change the EQ.

Just try to hold the "Sound" Button on the remote to enter the Menu

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  • 3 weeks later...

So I made a 2+ hour recording in Hi-SP mode.

Couldn't get the digital line in to work, despite countless converters and adapters between the mixers coax and the units optical in. Ended up recording analog.

Now transferring the data. I must say the device sounds exactly like a cross between a floppy drive and a modern laptop hard drive.

It's remarkable. Will upload the set soon.

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3 hours ago, mimarsinan said:

So I made a 2+ hour recording in Hi-SP mode.

Couldn't get the digital line in to work, despite countless converters and adapters between the mixers coax and the units optical in. Ended up recording analog.

Now transferring the data. I must say the device sounds exactly like a cross between a floppy drive and a modern laptop hard drive.

It's remarkable. Will upload the set soon.

Coax-toslink adaptators could be not reliable. Sorry that it did not work for you.

Once the Net-MD arised, the MD has been forboded as the next floppy drive before Zip drive arrived with his big-in-hand 256Mb/1Gb disks. Sonny missed something there.

 

 

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