Sony MZ-R30 minidisc problems

[Damo]

Hi,

Dug out my Sony MZ-R30 minidisc recorder of 19 years old. Still boxed and mint. Going to use it for recording comedy gigs now (with permission) but having issues with digital dubs from CD. Using the official Sony mini optical to optical lead but it just won't put track markers on at the same point as the CDs. It definately used to but this was with differentkit but tried it on the Arcam, my PS3 and a basic Sony BDP player via a coaxial to optical converter. It either put no markers on or randomly does them.

Any ideas? Could the cable be at fault or is it the recorder? I use the Synchro Rec mode but is that the fault?

Been looking at 2 new old stock MD full size decks but don't want the same issues

[lovejoy]

Were you using a coax to optical converter when you did it with the old kit? If not, that would be where my suspicions lie..

[Damo]

Hi

Tried direct (via Arcam BD player and PS3) and using the converter on a Sony BD player.

[lovejoy]

That's an odd one. Never had an issue like that in all of the MD recorders I owned (and had a couple of Sonys). Does it make any difference if you take it out of synchro record mode and just hit record and play on the CD at the same time?

[Damo]

Not tried in non Synchro. Guess thats my next check.

Hoping it works as sounds fabulous via my Yamaha EPH100s and just got a mic and a few more new blanks.

[Damo]

Does anyone know how to reset the recorder to its default/factory settings?

[Virtual-Symmetry]

http://www.minidisc.org/manuals/sony/service/sony_MZ-R30_service_manual.pdf

I still use my old Sony 'MZ-R900' MD player for when im walking to work inner morning. Was very expensive when i first bought that.

[Damo]

Thanks.

It doesn't mention about a factory reset function in there. Hoping it may be cable related but seriously doubt it.

[Damo]

Well...borrowed the Technics DVDA10 DVD player I bought my late father a while back (not a bad machine got for a clearance price of £200 in 2004). All is working well so is it that modern BD players don't bother with the same ID tags or is it a setting on my BD player (set to Bitstream on all outs??)?

[lovejoy]

That seems likely. Have you tried setting the output to PCM rather than bitstream? Bitstream is there to take whatever encoding is there on the disc and send that direct to the SPDIF/TOSLINK out. Mostly meant for DTS or Dolby encoded tracks. You should have more chance of getting the track markers output if you switch to PCM output from your BD player. It wouldn't surprise me if support for track markers was dropped altogether from BD players though.

[Damo]

I've set everything to PCM and will try later. At least I know the recorder works fine now :)