MZ-N505 Play back. No sound.

[volvonate]

I just recently got a MZ-N505 second hand. And when I put a disc in it reads it, then starts playing, it even has the bar up top showing the levels. BUT there is no sound coming from the player.

I know that the disc's are good because I have a MZ-NE410 and the discs play just fine on those. 

I dont have the remote for the MZ-N505 but I did try another remote I had. 

Does anyone have a clue as to what the issue might be that I can not get sound out of this player?

I have also tried other headphones for the player as well. 

 

[kgallen]

I have a similar issue with the same model. The headphone jack is very dodgy. I have to insert the headphone plug (no remote) just right to get any sound, but even then it’s an unreliable connection.

Could yours be similar?

I followed the Service Manual to open mine up and resolder the headphone part of the connector. This maybe helped a bit but it’s still not good. I couldn’t find a replacement part (combined 3.5mm plus remote) anywhere (or my google-foo deserted me).

Kevin

[volvonate]

Thanks for the reply. I will keep that in mind. 

Anyone else know of something?

[sfbp]

Good morning!

A while ago one of our most experienced (read: has the largest actual variety of players, somewhere between 50 and 100 I believe) users did a survey where the sound of different units was surveyed. His conclusion: the N505 is right at the bottom of the pile. Part of the reason, at least, was the cost-cutting nature of its construction - it's one of the lowest priced models ever to hit the market.

Do yourself a favour and pick up something else while the going is good. You're in the Southern US, so I would suggest perhaps something like this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/SONY-MZ-NF610-Type-S-Net-MD-Walkman-MiniDisc-Player-Recorder-Blue-Works/333513305581

Even better might be a Hi-MD model, even if you only use it in NetMD mode, for two reasons:

1. The sound quality (of NetMD) is better and decoding more reliable
2. Transferring to the unit tends to be more reliable as a function of power, since the original NetMD devices can NOT get any power through the USB connector.

Here's one of the most reliable models in that class:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sony-Walkman-MZ-NH700-Portable-Minidisc-Recorder-Player-With-Accessories/223893965159

In addition you get the HiMD formats, which more than doubles your effective disk capacity on existing MD blanks.

Hope this helps. BTW, the fact that both these are in Canada is pure happenstance. Most of my own purchases were made in UK and US. I'm sure cross-border won't be a problem even in the age of the great plague.

[kgallen]

Interesting to know! I was after a power supply for my B10 and it turned out cheaper to buy one in a bundle with the N505 (although the N505 wasn’t listed as faulty...!).

I did do the ‘upgrade hack’ on the N505 but as you say this doesn’t make up for cheaper build quality!

Hack: http://minidisc.org/mzr700_to_mzr900.html

[sfbp]

One reason you might have trouble with the 3.5mm stereo jack would be if the voltage provided within the unit is too low? What about doing a power adjust on the mainboard?