Sony MDS-JB980

[M1JWR]

the king, supposedly, ive had mine for a lot of years with no problem, this is just a general observation, the 980 internally is a 780 in drag.

as net md is not b all and end all these days, i may try and dethrone the king, we will leave the es models out of this equasion.

the 940 and 930 models, the build quality of those are night and day over the king, the 940 only really lacks net md and the 930 lacking mdlp over that.

the 930 is even better inside than the 940, so in my book the 930 is the best one, no belts to bother with either, so if sp is your bag you cant loose.

all hail the new king, interesting to see what you all think

[BearBoy]

I'm not sure there is necessarily one right answer to "what is the best deck"? I think it really depends on your individual requirements and set-up.

I've got both the MDS-JB980 and MDS-JB940 and, for me and my set up, I favour the 980. Not because of NetMD (I've never used it on the 980) but because it has Type S and because the 940, whilst having MDLP, does not support the Group function. The 940 has more connectivity options (coaxial digital out and an extra optical in) and if you stick to SP then I doubt there is any reason to pay extra for a 980.

Interesting that you think the 940 is of a much higher build quality. The two machines look nigh on identical and when I had them open I don't recall noticing any massive differences (I didn't have them open at the same time though and wasn't really doing a proper comparison). I did notice that some of the circuit boards in the 980 are labelled "MDS-JB940" and "MDS-JE780". Looking at the user manuals, the 940 does weigh more than its successor (5.3kg vs 4.5kg). I might open them both up at some point and have a nose around :-)

 

[bluecrab]

Between the 930 and 940, I thought the 930 was superior in overall quality. Neither could truly approach the 20/22ES or especially, the 333ES. That 333ES would often "fool" me into thinking I was listening to a CD—in LP2 mode and using its own RCAs for output (it was part of a large stack of components). If you want to go by weight, then the 333 is 10.5 kg; the 20/22 ~7.5 kg. The 555ES, at 15.3 kg, might be the heavyweight. Nevertheless, it's all subjective and I agree 100% that "best" is contextual and relative.

[M1JWR]

yes the 980 has some bells and whistles over the other two, i know the 930 and 940 is higher build, they have exellent transformers especially the 930

the 980 has a rather meek iron core transformer, i was just on about the build really and how sony dropped back on that as the years went by

i diddent include the 920 as ive never owned one, just a bit of fun really. the es models are in a different league again build wise, agreed.

been working on one or two things recently, i bought a 440 for next to nowt, seller said it wouldent get past standby, yep i knew whats wrong with that

and had a punt, disc stuck inside , easy to get out on mdm7's, with that out (sharp md74)and a new belt its now in full working order.

have another cheap 470 on the way with the same problem

the other was a marantz cd63se bought cheaply because the seller thought the laser was shot, so did i at the start, looked at the laser area and there was something

there that shouldent be, a bit of the magnet that goes over the spindle that magnatises it to the wheel at the top part of the drive, all i did was remove it, there was no

way it was going back where it came from as 60 to 70% of the magnet is still there, cleaned laser and player is playing discs.

things to keep you occupied in lockdown.

 

[kgallen]

10 hours ago, M1JWR said:

things to keep you occupied in lockdown.

It is, but it's also rewarding isn't it. Look at the traffic on this site from the past couple of months. On the software side, there have been some exciting new projects and others have their SS installs working. On the hardware side, we've got a bunch of machines working (usually for nothing but a bit of time) and many of us have learned a lot about our machines and others along the way. We've still got some machines "in progress" but I predict we'll get there in the end, even if if means we have to source some replacement parts. The contributions from around the globe have been fantastic - well informed, knowledgeable and exceptionally well presented. And, if I might say, I've not seen any of the bitchiness and one-upmanship that I see on other semi-professional forums. Give yourselves all a big pat on the back. Keep it up people and keep sharing your experience and knowledge!

Kevin

[M1JWR]

your 530 still running kevin, if it is thats a result.

a fair few things coming up on that well known auction site just now with lockdown

some are feeling the pinch a bit, and go, i know ive got all that old hi fi stuff on the loft/cupboard etc

time to fire it up on fleabay, and away you go.

[kgallen]

530 still sweet as a nut! :-D (was using it yesterday so I’m not making it up!)

MD kit still seems, in the main, to be fetching decent prices. Some prices are of course ridiculous, but if you bide your time and pick your machines carefully as you say above, you can get some decent kit for reasonable money. 

[BearBoy]

On 5/9/2020 at 8:46 PM, BearBoy said:

The two machines look nigh on identical and when I had them open I don't recall noticing any massive differences (I didn't have them open at the same time though and wasn't really doing a proper comparison). 

To say I wasn't really doing a proper comparison is something of a massive understatement. In fact, I think I've got muddled here and have been mentally comparing the inside of one of my MDS-JB980s with the inside of the other (no wonder I thought they looked similar...)

I opened my MDS-JB940 up this evening to (finally) replace the loading belt and there is a lot more going on inside the 940 compared to the 980, including, as M1JWR noted, a much beefier power section. I suspect this must go some way to explaining the weight difference between the two machines.

Anyway, I've now got all of my decks fully functioning again :-) Next on the maintenance list is a portable that needs some attention.

[bluecrab]

7 hours ago, BearBoy said:

...

I opened my MDS-JB940 up this evening to (finally) replace the loading belt and there is a lot more going on inside the 940 compared to the 980, including, as M1JWR noted, a much beefier power section. I suspect this must go some way to explaining the weight difference between the two machines...

 

I once commented on the weight diff between the 940 and 20ES as a measure of quality. (I think that was elsewhere.) An opinion was offered that it's mainly because you could use the bottom panel of the 20ES as a bulletproof shield. Not the entire reason, of course, but not without some merit. ;-)

[BearBoy]

Haha. Yeah, some of Sony's ES components were built like absolute tanks. It's a shame they don't make anything like that anymore.

[M1JWR]

in the case of the 940, i was quite fresh with its internals as i had worked on one recently, there is a lot of surface mount components on the underside of the main board aswell as whats on top side, i had to do a, dont know wether you would call it a mod or a repair, on this one which is not uk tuned version, optical input 2 did not work, i replaced a thru hole cap that did not cure it , so asked on a forum with people more knowlegable than me the way to go from there, i was warm with that cap, it ended up with a wire link from the positive end of that cap to the positive end of the cap for input 1 as no power was getting to input 2,should be approx 3v, general thoughts were it was a factory error as no damage to the track was seen in any way.

yes much more inside the 940, only thing common internally with 980 is the mdm and thats not 100% either, the 930 has even better psu, so thats why it got the throne for me so to speak.

[sfbp]

just about all you have to do to turn coax into optical is supply the rail (supposed to be 3.3 on those old diodes). Life is easier since they started making 5V diodes, because 5V power much more available than 3.3, and can generally be found on the ribbon connector(s). That was the basis of my mod to do optical out for MXD-D5C (and D40 too)

[Perus]

I’m using the JB980 for playback and analog recording while the JE470 mostly for digital recordings - a combo that works great for me. Both needed new loading belts and some cleaning but apart from that very reliable. 
/Per

[M1JWR]

for any future refrence here was the circuit, you dont need to remove mainboard though you do have to unscrew it after removing back panel,

to get enough room for iron, as i say no visable fault with either components or board itself, c306 was the cap i changed but did not need to.

there maybe others out there with the same fault, taking it that it was factory error.

[freddyjollo]

weigh them? The 940/930 weigh much more than the 980. That must mean some thing? The NetMD of the 980 is dire, it is very slow compared to any portable. It therefore only has the "S" playback optimisation of long play modes to recommend it?

[M1JWR]

if you look at the power supply unit in a 470, its not much different to the 980, simple iron core jobbies

[freddyjollo]

A Sony JB980 just sold for £499 on UK Ebay. Absurd.  Any one want to buy my mint nearly unused, boxed one?

[M1JWR]

when i got my 980 it was about 15 years ago, net md was of "some" use back then and type s is different, but apart from that the build of the 920/30/40 blows it out of the water, and the price value, thats crazy, if i was looking for a deck now i wouldent go for a 980 with all that in mind, the 940 is catching up, thats why i would look at a 930, even though it hasent mdlp, and that isent everything is it, its a high build quality machine that does the job.

[freddyjollo]

6 hours ago, M1JWR said:

when i got my 980 it was about 15 years ago, net md was of "some" use back then and type s is different, but apart from that the build of the 920/30/40 blows it out of the water, and the price value, thats crazy, if i was looking for a deck now i wouldent go for a 980 with all that in mind, the 940 is catching up, thats why i would look at a 930, even though it hasent mdlp, and that isent everything is it, its a high build quality machine that does the job.

My first was a JB930  but due to its lack of LP I never used it so I sold it to some one here I think for approx £60 - but then I also  bought a couple for nice condition 940's for about that also.  How times have changed. Sony always made nice looking  and performing gear, I also have their DAB/FM/AM tuner ST-SDB900 the only shortcoming is that is aint DAB+ also.

[M1JWR]

my first one was a 930 in 99/2000 and i sold it to buy the 980, you are right though the 940 is an exellent choice, i have a ta f540e that i bought for next to nowt as it was down on one channel and i fixed that, and a tc k870es that i got again about 15 years ago when they were cheep, they are not now, it replaced a 611s that i had from new that was knackered.

[fourbanks]

On 5/9/2020 at 1:00 PM, M1JWR said:

the king, supposedly, ive had mine for a lot of years with no problem, this is just a general observation, the 980 internally is a 780 in drag.

as net md is not b all and end all these days, i may try and dethrone the king, we will leave the es models out of this equasion.

the 940 and 930 models, the build quality of those are night and day over the king, the 940 only really lacks net md and the 930 lacking mdlp over that.

the 930 is even better inside than the 940, so in my book the 930 is the best one, no belts to bother with either, so if sp is your bag you cant loose.

all hail the new king, interesting to see what you all think

i couldn't agree with you more. 😀 I've had 3 940's play up over the last 20 odd years including a new one albeit that was probably my fault and my other 920 / 930 not once apart from the display getting dim. 

[PhilippeC]

I have the 980 in Vietnam for me and the 930 for my brother in France. Il love them both. 

[Perus]

I recently added a JE480 as spare in case the drive dies in the JB980 🙂

 

Also, couldn't resist in commenting the "much beefier power" in models prior to the 980, IMHO its mostly beefier in weight and not so much else... 😎 

 

/Per