Let's Fix: Tale of a Sad Sony MZ-N707 Portable Minidisc Recorder

Подписаться 23 тыс.

Просмотров 9 тыс.

50% 1

My buddy Chad sent me his well used and loved MZ-N707 to repair. It will turn on but wont play discs, so let's get right into trying to get this little guy fixed so he can continue using it. What's really cool is Chad is a musical artist and still uses MD's to this day to record and produce music! Hopefully I didn't bite off more than I can chew this time ...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've posted a link for Ebay purchase referrals. If you use the link below then I get a small kickback from your purchase (it will cost you nothing, I just get paid for referring customers).
ebay.us/J8FqJg
Special thanks to Eric Skiff for freely providing the music used in this video off his album Resistor Anthems. His music can be found at ericskiff.com/music/
Visit my site: www.diytronics.blogspot.com
My RGB Gameboy Backlight Controller is now available at www.roarkesretrocorner.com!!!
Use the code SJM (all caps) to receive 10% off of your order!
ICStation Affiliate Link: www.icstation.com/index.php?ai...
Code: sjmics
Discount Amount: 15% off
Max Use: 1 (one for per user)
Amount Limit: 300
Consider supporting me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/sjm4306

Наука

Опубликовано:

31 май 2021

Ссылка:

Скачать:

Готовим ссылку...

Добавить в:

Мой плейлист

Посмотреть позже

Комментарии : 77

@azwris Год назад

I came to this video because a Mini Disc device is sad and I wanna support it psychologically!

@Zulf85 3 года назад

Wow, this one had quite a few surprising steps to it. Thank you for always uploading your process on this stuff!

@krisnadiimam4556 3 года назад

that is a lot of work... great job!

@hirogarimusic 3 года назад

Great breakdown and rebuild. Load of work for you but must be very satisfying in the end. I am not sure I would ever want to go that far. 😅

@chadb6964 3 года назад

It was satisfying for me!! Can't wait for it to arrive in the mail.

@subliminalvibes 3 года назад

Great job, Dude! Your methodical troubleshooting and thorough testing will see you far on any project. Keep up the great work. 👍😎

@sjm4306 3 года назад

Thanks!

@pootnannies 3 года назад

wow you went above and beyond! good job!

@CBitsTech 3 года назад

Another epic repair. Coincidentally, I realised today that my silver N707 has a problem with the stop button the more often does a forward skip. I'd really like a nice blue one, but prices have gone crazy lately.

@sjm4306 3 года назад

Thanks, yeah prices have been ... prohibitive recently lol. I'm glad I got my blue and black n707's when I did (I think I paid around $30 a piece a few years ago). How things have changed.

@chadb6964 3 года назад

Sorry but that one has a loving home! If I come across another I'll let you know. Church out my other comment on this video and you'll know how to reach out to me

@rcboosted 3 года назад

I wonder if there was a mechanical event that misaligned the overwrite head that also severed the ribbon cable. Once you repaired the severed connection it's still misaligned since you tested the head and it has good impedance. Awesome repair none-the-less!

@sjm4306 3 года назад

Possibly, I don't know its past history. I've seen so many different cases of damage to the overwrite head, it's easily the most delicate part of md recorders.

@carcuev Год назад

Very nice, and very instructive I have just seen this video, and I have the same problem you had (no sound from output jack) and since I do not have hot air gun for resoldering the sound controller, I have just put on the chip some plus minus thick adhesive so whenever I close the case it will press the chip down and it seem to be working (I don't know for how long :D ) but I am afraid I have no tools nor the skills for resoldering that little puppy.. thx ;-)

@Zenodilodon 3 года назад

This repair is Murphy approved!

@Allia_Lov 10 месяцев назад

Omg this was amazing, Have you ever thought on taking on the challenge of one of the Panasonic recorders?

@sjm4306 10 месяцев назад

Thank you, glad you enjoyed the journey. I'd be up to tinker with a panasonic one day, currently I only have sonys and one or two sharps.

@DanielFSmith 2 года назад

A couple of things about the overwrite head that were going through my head: Headphone cable is sometimes a coil around a former. I didn't see a close up of yours, but the coil can add inductance (headphones only want 20kHz of bandwidth, otherwise they start picking up radio.) The stress-relief loops in the extension cable had quite a lot of non-aligned area, which can add inductance. Headphone cable is probably higher resistance than copper tracks, but shouldn't be a big effect.

@sjm4306 2 года назад

Given the short lengths of wire used the increased inductance of stranded wire over flex pcb is negligible compared to the inductance of the overwrite head electromagnet itself which it's in series with.

@DanielFSmith 2 года назад

@@sjm4306 I wasn't able to find actual MiniDisc numbers, but did find an MO paper listing an inductive head at 20nH. I've seen other patents that say

@claytonpozzer Год назад

Hello! great video! Have you any LCX-5R or LCX-4R optical unit for my MZ-N707 and MZ-R500? Thanks!

@sjm4306 Год назад

Sorry, I only have the ones inside my currently working players. Parts are getting scarce with the only practical source being buying another broken md portable to scrap parts from.

@chadb6964 3 года назад

I wish I could explain why it's so damaged. I had left it with someone for a short while and when it was returned I put it in a drawer for a dinner time while I was recovering from a traumatic brain injury. When I pulled it out a few weeks ago it wasn't working. I wish I knew what my buddy did to cause all that damage but my guess is he tossed it in a backpack unprotected or in a bag with some drum stands. I'm sure it wasn't done on purpose and I doubt he even knows he broke it. Wish I knew. Either way, I know one guy who isn't borrowing my car next week!!!

@PE1JAS 2 года назад

Dear Sjm What an amount of videos! Chapeau for this repair. Did you do any Sharp minidisk repair? For mine can't read the toc and there is I think one other video with that as a topic.. Hope to hear, goodluck!

@sjm4306 2 года назад

I only have one sharp md portable recorder in my collection and I received it basically brand new in box with no issues so I haven't needed to do any repairs on it yet. From what I read though, toc errors for sharp units are commonly caused by cracked worm screw gears that prevent the motor from driving the laser sled up and down properly. They do sell plastic gear replacements though so it's repairable if that's the issue.

@PE1JAS 2 года назад

@@sjm4306 thanks anyway; I’ll have a look and open mine first. I’ll let you know!

@catatonia1 2 года назад

Hi, Great video! I have a newly purchased mz -n707 that powers up but when I put a disc in it just continuously spins and does nothing else. I read one of your replies to another with same issue suggesting gently moving the laser sled with toothpick? Could you explain to me where/how to do this? Can this be done without dismantling? I'm very new to MD's Scored 2x Sony mds-je530 & mds-je630 (not working) and a bunch of minidiscs in an auction only recently which sparked my interest in this world of minidiscs that I had somehow missed. Appreciate any advice, Cheers

@sjm4306 2 года назад

Thanks, glad to hear you enjoyed it. So to use a toothpick to gently move the sled towards the outside tracks you just open the lid like you are inserting a disc. Then press the tip of the toothpick on the metal part of the laser sled near the center spindle motor (don't go anywhere near the lens or you can easily permanently damage the optics). Applying slow pressure towards the right side will cause the sled to click as it jumps the worm screw (this is ok). Once it's out far enough you can close the lid without a disc and it should try to read if anything is there, give it a minute. After open the lid and see if the sled has returned to the center position or if it is still where you left it. If it returns then you know the sled motor is working, if not then either the motor or sled is stuck and needs to be relubricated.

@InsideOutElectronics 3 месяца назад

Hey! Nice Vid. Any idea what is happening with 2 MD boards I have ( MZ-N610 and MZ-N410 ) They do not power up at all When connected bench PSU and Play button pressed, current super quickly jumps up t0 170 mA and then shutts down, no activity on the screen I assume this is power issue and PMIC shuts down after something up stream is shorted..... But board somewhat functions because PLAY-PAUSE-ENTER button is connect straight to Main Controller ( big ass chip ) that issues command to PMIC to start when button pressed ! Any idea?

@sjm4306 3 месяца назад

Sounds like a short to me. Aux power works so dsp boots and runs but as soon as it tries to switch something on that directly shorts the power rail and pmic goes into short circuit protection.

@zipbornman 2 года назад

So I've got the same N707 and also only get audio if I press the Aux cord downward... do you think this would be the "headphone amp chip" as you find at min 13:00 or the physical headphone jack itself or its connection? any idea would be great!

@sjm4306 2 года назад

I'd first inspect the jack solder joints for cracking, then test continuity with a multimeter using a 3.5mm audio aux cord to make sure the contacts inside are clean, and if all that looks good then it's likely the amp chip solder joints that are cold and need to be reflowed.

@fencal2 3 года назад

Hey awesome video! was great to see how you diagnosed and fixed the problem. I was wondering if you could give me some advice? I have a mz-n710 that powers up but when I put a disc in it just continuously spins and does nothing else.

@sjm4306 3 года назад

Can you hear the laser sled moving at all (an easy test is to open the lid and carefully use a toothpick to push the side of the laser sled so it goes to the outer part of the rail, then turn it on and the motor should bring it back to the center near the spindle, if it doesn't then that's definitely a problem)? Secondly, it's possible the laser itself if aging/burned out. May sound weird but can you get it to play a disc if you place the unit on one of it's sides/upside down? This is a trick that will tell you if the laser/focus mechanism is getting weak.

@fencal2 3 года назад

@@sjm4306 I can here the laser sled moving when trying to use it. I have previously opened it up and moved it out and it does move back. I have also replaced the laser with one from a spare unit (that did work) and that didn't change anything. Placing it on a different size doesn't do anything either it just spins for a while then powers off

@sjm4306 3 года назад

When you replaced the laser did you do any recalibration through the service menu?

@fencal2 3 года назад

@@sjm4306 I did yes but that made no difference either it generally had an error of NG 336 (it had this error before)

@natsuremiaki8166 Год назад

Great class. I have one of those 707 that when recording it detects the microphone sound showing the bars but when playing back the sound was not recorded. Can you give me any repair tips?

@sjm4306 Год назад

Recording problems either boil down to laser or magnetic overwrite head problems. If it erases discs but cant record then it's the magnetic head, if it cant erase or write discs at all then it's the laser dying.

@natsuremiaki8166 Год назад

@@sjm4306 Thanks a lot for the feedback. Apparently it's recording, but when playing back, no sound comes out. where can i buy one of these magnetic head?

@sjm4306 Год назад

That's the biggest problem, new old replacement parts are really hard to find/expensive now. Your only practical option now is to scavenge from another player that is sold as broken with a different issue. The alternative of repairing the original head depends on the cause of fault. If the ribbon is damaged you can solder splice wires to fix the break or if the head magnet wires are damaged you can rewind and solder them (though this is very difficult unless you have the hands of a surgeon and very good tiny soldering skills).

@irtehtree Год назад

I don't suppose you could tell me where you can find those screws? I have a working unit but I'm missing 3 of the 4 screws from the front cover.

@sjm4306 Год назад

This post says M1.4 (metric, but doesn't mention length so you'd have to measure your remaining one screw with calipers) community.sony.co.uk/t5/portable-audio/md-n707-mini-disc-player/td-p/3782140

@Synthematix 2 года назад

The firmware settings in my MZ-N1 are messed up, causing an NV ERROR and some discs not to read. the service manual states that all soldering should be done at max 270C

@sjm4306 2 года назад

NV is non-volatile memory, basically all the calibration settings from the factory. The firmware itself is not user accessible in any way except by using a special program over usb on a computer. Usually nv can only be modified or wiped by entering the hidden service menu thru the unit itself. Did anything happen shortly before the player started acting up or did it just randomly show the error? Assuming the nv chip itself is fine and not the cause you'll have to recalibrate the nv by using a never burned blank md and a factory pressed md (nonrecordable album). Instructions to enter the service menu and access the recalibration routine are in the service manual pdf for your model which can be googled and downloaded.

@sjm4306 2 года назад

Iirc you can just run the blank recordable disc calibration to at least get it to read recorded discs.

@dcash7018 3 года назад

I just pulled the same unit out from storage and have a short screen read then it fades out to nothing.

@adro90 Год назад

Hello! I just bought one of these and it was missing some screws, do you know where I could get some replacements? Wondering if I should send it back or keep it because it works fine ..

@sjm4306 Год назад

If you got it for a good price and it works perfectly I'd just keep it as you will likely end up spending much more finding one in better condition. As for replacement screws, you can try searching for an assorted small screw set (like for eyeglass repair). I unfortunately don't know the exact size though.

@adro90 Год назад

@@sjm4306 thanks for the response! I got it for $90 so I’m trying to decide if that’s a good deal or send it back within the return period, considering all the buttons and everything works fine and it came with a disc that it plays with no problem.

@adro90 Год назад

Hello! Sorry to bug, so I finally got it going and it plays back fine but when it comes to recording.. I record through my MacBook “web minidisc”, it finishes.. shows all tracks on the track list but when I disconnect it “TOC EDIT”s then doesn’t play.. turns off and when I hit play button again it says “blank disc” .. any idea what could be wrong??? I’m hoping it’s not the laser that you mention as I have NO knowledge of soldering ..etc. T.I.A.! 🙏

@sjm4306 Год назад

This is a super common problem, the good news is your laser is fine, the bad news is your magnetic overwrite head ribbon is likely damaged. Also bad news is to repair it you will need to solder, and very fine wires at that.

@adro90 Год назад

@@sjm4306 uff 😪 I saw someone ask if you repair but that was over a year ago, do you still take repair orders? I’d be more than happy to pay through PayPal and cover shipping etc. 🙏 unless it’s just better to buy another one all together..

@skygarden 2 года назад

11:25 - big no-no: removing ribbon without soldering The Blob? do you mean de-soldering? what do you mean? great vid tho!

@sjm4306 2 года назад

There are two exposed solder pads in the middle of the laser ribbon. The laser itself is sensitive to static damage so you are supposed to solder the two pads together with no power to the device before disconnecting the ribbon so even if you accidentally zap the ribbon contacts the laser is protected. Then when you are done the repair you plug the ribbon back in and remove solder from the pads. I didn't do this in the vid bc I was sure to be careful and have an esd strap but it's good practice to follow proper protocol.

@unitedunitedunited_ 3 года назад

Possibly the most common md player

@sjm4306 3 года назад

It's definitely one of my favorite workhorses.

@azwris Год назад

I am looking for an MZ-RH1 overwrite head. Any ideas or suggestions?

@sjm4306 Год назад

I believe the other mz-rh models use the same head, just verify the part numbers with service manuals first.

@azwris Год назад

@@sjm4306 Thank you for comment though Sony is not providing them anymore in my country. I will continue the pressure but I don't think I will achieve something positive out of it.

@sjm4306 Год назад

I've found many available for free through google, so long as they aren't used for commercial profit I dont see any issue downloading a scanned pdf.

@azwris Год назад

@@sjm4306 I'm not talking about the manuals. I was talking about the actual spares.😉

@sjm4306 Год назад

Ah, sorry I misunderstood. New spares have been pretty much unobtanium for a few years now so the only practical source is scrapping another md model with something else wrong.

@JustTrizIt Год назад

Out of all the Sony minidisc players, which two are your favorites? Thanks

@sjm4306 Год назад

Mz-n707 and mz-r900

@Matowix 3 года назад

Can i ask u a few things about it I just brought one

@sjm4306 3 года назад

Yeah ask away

@jklh37 3 года назад

How does one get you to repair an item?

@sjm4306 3 года назад

I accept repair jobs on a case by case basis, just shoot me an email at sjm4306@gmail.com

@JustTrizIt Год назад

Sent a email about repairs. Spam may catch it though dice it’s a first email . Thanks

@mechstud420 Год назад

How much do you charge for repair?

@sjm4306 Год назад

It depends on what exactly I am fixing and how difficult the fix is. If you shoot me an email at sjm4306@gmail.com with any details/pics on what you want fixed I can provide an estimate.