kgallen Posted August 16, 2021 Report Share Posted August 16, 2021 (edited) I've collated this data on Sony MDS-series decks with information that I know is of interest. Includes: MDM type, optical pickup type, ATRAC version, ADC chip and DAC chip/chipset. Interesting to see regarding ADC/DAC chipsets, some extra effort was made with the 920, 930, 940 models (notice that the DAC was often supplemented by a "current-pulse" chip), but Sony gave up on the "final" x80 family and just used the AK4524 vanilla. The 480 actually got a "downgrade" to a cheaper AK4552 chip. For me it looks like the 940 was the "pinnacle" aside from the very high-spec JA machines. In the early-to-mid years, Sony designed and used their own CXD2564 DAC and then CXD8607 ADC/DAC as I understand the off-the-shelf offerings of the time were not good enough spec-wise. This was commented on in some of the interviews with Sony design staff that can be found on minidisc.org (for example this interview). I'm sure others have also been compiling similar data, so feel free to combine/contribute decks I've not included (for example the MDS-S series - I had some incomplete data, so removed from my table before posting here). I do fancy digging through the data for the JA machines though... Sony_MD_part_data.pdf Edited August 16, 2021 by kgallen Correct 320 DAC/ADC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearBoy Posted August 16, 2021 Report Share Posted August 16, 2021 Nice work Kevin. I started doing something similar a while back but gave up when I encountered discrepancies that I couldn’t easily check. I’m not at home at the moment but seem to recall the Service Manual for the MDS-JB940 listed two different CXD ATRAC decoders? Although it that case it was fairly obvious the Type-R one was correct. Similar to the MDS-JA20ES Service Manual we’ve been discussing recently… Speaking of which, someone over on the Tapeheads thread has posted a photo of the inside of their MDS-JA20ES confirming it has the Type-R chip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kgallen Posted August 16, 2021 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2021 1 hour ago, BearBoy said: I started doing something similar a while back but gave up when I encountered discrepancies that I couldn’t easily check. I'm not even sure why I started it... but it seems to have taken up most of the day! Now, what was I supposed to be doing... (consults long list of "house" jobs...!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearBoy Posted August 16, 2021 Report Share Posted August 16, 2021 🤣 Well, I’m glad you did find the time. I’m certain it’ll be a really useful resource and with all the knowledge on here I’m sure we’ll be able to expand it and clarify any potential anomalies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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