Conference cookie::notes$archive:cd_v1

The player you are referring to is the Sony CD version of a Walkman.
In the December issue of Stereo Review there was a review of this
little technological marvel.  SR gave nothing but extremely good
comments about it....including such things as the units ability
to withstand shocks.

Of interest to you though, is the fact that the "guts" of this
player is the same as the car stereo unit that Sony also advertises
in the same issue!!!!!


				Jeff

I saw and advertisement in the back of audio magazine selling it for $218.00.
The palece was in braintree mass and it was offered by mail order.  It may be
available over the counter but I do not know for sure.

Jim Pappas

There is a note earlier in this file which talks about
installing the portable Sony in a car.  The guy told what he
had to do to make it work with the car battery.  I am sorry,
but I don't recall the note number.  Look for a discussion of the
"walk-disk".

Carl

THERE IS A 12VDC ADAPTER FOR THE CD WALKMAN, BUT IT MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE
IN THE STATES YET. I KNOW IN JAPAN IT IS. THERE IS ALSO A N A.C. ADAPTER
FOR HOME USE.



JEFF

	The car adapter has been available at least as long as the D5 
(I believe that it is used for other Sony products as well). It lets you
run the D5 of the cars power supply, but does NOT integrate it into your
existing car stereo system. Also, it is illegal to drive with headphones
on, so you can park and listen or use something else in place of the
headphones. 

	I have built my own portable power pack for the D5. It runs fine
off an 8V 2.5 Ah gell cell pack that I have, but I am having trouble
finding the connector that Sony used for the D5 power jack. At first
glance it looks like a typical jack, but the center pin is smaller in
diameter than the standard plug at Radio Shaft et al. The standard
connector only works if you keep a finger on it pressing sideways to
keep the center pin in contact. If you take a good look at the pin on
the AC supply that comes with the D5, it has a split lug that grabs the
center pin, rather than just slip fitting over it. As a result, I have
not been able to get a solid connection to the unit. If anyone knows 
where to get a plug that fits like the Sony plug, please let me know.

Radio Shaft sells several different sizes of coax connectors. I bought the
one I am using for my car set-up there. It fits perfectly. I can't remember
the size, I just bought 2 or 3 different ones and used the one that fit best.
Also, you can buy a 12V adaptor at Radio Shaft that comes with adaptors for
several different connector sizes and one of them will fit. I bought a adjustable
regulator IC and built my own regulator. I built a small switch box which
contains the regulator plus a switch for selecting the CD player or my
cassette/radio. The D-5 fits nicely into the glove box but I usually just
set it on the seat, much more convienient there. I also mounted a stereo
pot in the box so that I can control the volume of the D-5 when using the
line-out jack. However, I have found that there is no difference in the
sound if you simply take the headphone output and run that into you power
amp. Be aware however that if you do install a switch to select either the
D-5 or a radio/cassette, you must switch all three wires, ie the ground as
well as the left and right channel outputs. I found that you get a nasty
ground loop if the D-5 ground and the radio/cassette ground are connected
together. Also, I have had zero skipping problems with the D-5 in the car.
Even over really bumpy roads.

I have been using the Radio Shack 12V to 6V or 9V converter for 4 months now,
and I have not had a problem with the center pin thing.  I think that it is a
pretty standard "coax" connector.  Although, I have been told that I sould use
a special protection type of converter, I have not investigated one yet.

I also am making a metal shelf in the car to mount the D5 on.  If you look at
it closely, you'll notice that the feet have a lip on them, thus if I use holes
in the metal shelf the same size as the O.D. of the feet, it will provide a real
secure connection between the shelf and the D5.

Where can I get a Sony power converter?  Does anyone know?

Brian Lambert

	The local dealer that I bought mine from (in Chicago of course) 
has them. I don't believe that the unit is specifically for the D5, but 
is just Sonys power converter. Someone else in our office bought the D5 
with the converter, and it seems to be a multi voltage converter, switch 
selectable to 6, 7.5, 9, 12, and possibly other values as well. I seem 
to recall that it was $35, and figured that I could do better from 
parts. Besides, unless you can integrate it into the car stereo system, 
which I can't do without replacing the whole thing, you can't use it 
while driving in the car anyway. For now I will be happy with a portable 
power pack. I'll check Radio Schlock for the connector (I get the 
willies just thinking of walking in to the place).

I saw the car unit of sony...

It looks pretty nice, and has several functions on it. Main problems I have
been able to detect were 3:

1.	The price... 599$	:-)

2.	No ampli in it...this means an additional price for eventually
	buying an ampli..

3.	Lifting one of the corners (The unit was not fix) for about 1 inch,
	and letting it "fall" would cause a "head jump" like a normal
	turntable...I guess that this would happen all the time when
	driving, and even more on roads like I have seen in Mass.

The unit wich was exposed, costed near to 1000$, including a 6 band fader
and two good speakers.

I will wait, until other constructors issue that kind of unit, to get it
at lower prices.

Norbert	(GVASA::CASELLINI)

FYI, I just got a Service Merchandise catalog advertising the D-5 for
$227.87 (available 3/15/85).

If anyone is interested I am ordering some D-5's from
Nippon and the price is $180.00 -- want one, send mail.
mike

Speaking of the SONY car unit, I just bought a CDX-R7, which is thier CD/FM/AM 
unit.  Yeah, it needs an external amp, and yeah it's pricey.  But, it sounds 
excellent!  I've only had it skip once, when I hit a minor cavern, and I've 
been testing it out on some pretty lousy roads.  I think getting dropped from 
an inch onto a table is probably a lot more jarring than sitting in a dash.

						     
							- JP

    Caveat emptor - or something like that...
    
    The following is based on my experiences over the last 4 years as
    a member of DEC 5 1/4" winchester disk development teams. I have
    no emperical data to back up how a car reacts to shock. I have
    intuitively applied my experience with disks and what I know about 
    structure and mass to the following comments (read I'm not necessarily an
    expert).
    
    
    A 1" drop to a hard surface will generate somewhere in the vicinity
    of 30-50g depending on the rigidity of the surface and squareness
    of the impact (rattling around from one corner to another lowers
    the peak a lot).  The peak vertical G forces in a car would tend to be 
    much lower than the table top drop due to the mass of the car, current
    condition of your aveage New England highway and design of the shock 
    absorbing suspension/tires.
    
    The biggest problem a CD player is likely to encounter in a car
    is vibrating stimulated by the shock of bumps and potholes. Every
    servo system (CD players servo both for focus and track following)
    has a resonant frequency (sometimes several) where its ability to
    track is diminished.  Avoiding shock and vibration inputs thru very
    rigid mounting to the cars mass or very good isolation (like setting
    it on a seat or other high compliance surface) should be effective 
    methods of reducing shock and vibration inputs. Something in the
    middle - like hanging it on metal straps, resting it on the dash,
    etc. would probably be the worst case.             A well designed
    servo system will have already identified the sensitive frequencies
    and taken steps within the unit to counter them.  I suppose a part
    of the tracking ability of each CD player depends upon how successful
    the designer was at identifying the resonances, compensating for
    them in the design and then how close each production unit matches
    the design model.
    
    Walt  

    Well I'm on my fourth CDXR7.  The first one was stolen and worked well
    until then.  (The thief was after my Passport, and saw the CD player). 
    
    The second one (a refurb) didn't load CDs at all when installed.  I got
    a refurb one since I couldn't find a new one and refurb was $100
    cheaper.  Back to the store for another refurb. The second refurb one
    worked for about 2 months, when it quit working (load a CD and it spits
    it back out).  After a lot of panic (I was due to leave for Colorado
    [2100 miles] two days later), I got the Sony repair shop in Westwood
    Mass to repair it while I waited.  It lasted about two weeks this time.
    This time it would not play if a CD was left in it overnight, but would
    recover if left without a CD for about 24 hours. 
    
    Now I have another new one that has worked flawlessly for about two
    weeks.  The store said that they have made a number of design changes
    in the CDXR7, and the new one does in fact load and unload quieter. 
    
    As I have said before it doesn't skip unless you take a bone jarring
    bump.  All three working units seemed to be about the same in this
    respect; the newest one may be a little better. 
    
    Does anyone have the new Alpine (by Sony) AM FM CD player out there?
    

    I have an Alpine 5900 in my car.  This is the predecessor to the
    7900 (which has the FM radio).
    
    When I first had it installed, it had a problem ejecting disks.
    Sometimes the eject button acted like a pause button instead. 
    The dealer swapped units on me and everything was fine.
    The unit worked flawlessly - I couldn't make it skip on the bumpiest
    roads I could find (but then the car's a Volvo wagon so there's
    a fair bit of mass involved to dampen the shock).
        
    Now however as you would expect it's acting up.  The manufaturer's
    warranty ended today.  It is skipping on disks that it used to play
    just fine.  The skipping is not related to road shock.  The disks
    in question play just fine on my other players.  There are no visible
    scratches on the disks that it skips on.
    
    I guess I get to start the take it in to the dealer garbage.  What
    fun.  At least Alpine has an 800 number for service problems.
    
    Steve Glaser

    I have the Alpine 7900 Tuner/CD unit.  I'm quite impressed with
    the sound quality and performance of both the CD and FM.  The FM
    is very graceful about fading stations, which I didn't expect as
    they don't tout the tuner in this unit as highly as some of their
    others.  It may be somewhat less sensitive than other tuners that
    I have had, but I am having antenna problems and can't verify that.
    I have had it for only a month, but haven't seen any CD
    transport related problems.  I have never had it skip or sound
    strained.  Major potholes may cause skips, but my unit seems to
    mute the FM in this case, too.  (???)  If you reprogram your FM presets a
    lot, the human interface might not be to your taste--but 2 banks
    of 6 buttons (plus one bank of six for AM) is pretty generous.
    
    re. 13: Why do you say that this is "Alpine by Sony?"  I assume
    that the transport and CD circuitry probably is, but the rest?
                              
    	Eirikur Hallgrimsson
    

    Re: .15
    
    Try blowing any dirt off the laser lens assembly before taking it
    in for service.  You may save some money.
    
    						-Dave

    re .16: Both of the Alpine CD players are manufactured by Sony (at
    least this is what I have been told by the Alpine dealer).  If you
    don't mind my asking, what did you pay for your unit?  I think it
    looks better than the Sony - I haven't operated one so I can't tell
    if it is easier to operate than the Sony.  I found the FM muting
    to be a little overanxious - but then I have a very long run from
    the antenna to the tuner pack.