Astonishing Sony XDRF1HD Tuner
- Thread starter pbda
- Start date
pbda
Super Member
I'd be very interested in having someone mod my unit, to allow it to force analog reception and to extend the preset memory retention. I'll PM you with further details.
autoexer
G.A.S. man
another option would be a small computer UPS for the tuner
did HD defeat mod-pretty easy
I recently got my 2nd Sony and did the mod to switch off HD/force analog reception. If you have an iron with a small tip and have experience soldering crowded circuit-boards, it's very easily done and works great. Now to acquire the little battery for the proper memory fix.
And because I bought another early unit (6?mos ago) I'll see if the new unit runs cooler. phil
I recently got my 2nd Sony and did the mod to switch off HD/force analog reception. If you have an iron with a small tip and have experience soldering crowded circuit-boards, it's very easily done and works great. Now to acquire the little battery for the proper memory fix.
And because I bought another early unit (6?mos ago) I'll see if the new unit runs cooler. phil
Snade
humble AK member
Yes, I would too. Punker X asked how much would I be willing to pay to mod a tuner I paid $90 for. Probably not much more than 50 bucks, but that's just a quick thought.
Snade
PeterFCassidy
Nikko+Apt-Holman = OMG!
Ooops! Accidental Showdown Between XDRF1 and Gamma V
Tuned in late after daily chores to the Hatch Shell broadcast of the July 4th Boston Pops concert. The Sony has been left on for about three weeks now and the rig was already warm. The little guy, even with dipole futzing wasn't getting great sound out of WCRB-FM, now transmitting out of Lowell. The sound quality was noisy and thin. OK, let's see what the Gamma V can do with 99.5. I pulled the RCAs from the Sony and plugged them into the Gamma V and tuned to WCRB. With the rabbit ears, wow, the station might as well have been next door and, dang, but this live broadcast sounds like I was on the lawn, tympani, bass drum and lower strings and brass all beautifully present. I do appreciate my new HD tuner but it's nice to know the museum piece has not been displaced for the merely new.
Tuned in late after daily chores to the Hatch Shell broadcast of the July 4th Boston Pops concert. The Sony has been left on for about three weeks now and the rig was already warm. The little guy, even with dipole futzing wasn't getting great sound out of WCRB-FM, now transmitting out of Lowell. The sound quality was noisy and thin. OK, let's see what the Gamma V can do with 99.5. I pulled the RCAs from the Sony and plugged them into the Gamma V and tuned to WCRB. With the rabbit ears, wow, the station might as well have been next door and, dang, but this live broadcast sounds like I was on the lawn, tympani, bass drum and lower strings and brass all beautifully present. I do appreciate my new HD tuner but it's nice to know the museum piece has not been displaced for the merely new.
I found a similar situation recently. I had left the Sony on for an extended period while I was out of town. Upon returning I found the performance to be quite lacking. Simply turning it off and then back on seemed to restore the performance. I didn't give it a chance to cool down; just a quick on off was all it took.
Hardly a scientific analysis but I'd be interested in others experiences in this regard.
JimB (just north of the Charles)
dshoaf
That high voltage buzz
OK, I'm in with one received about 2 days ago. It now sits beside the Mac MR-77 that just came back from Terry Dewick's alignment shop after a full restoration. Looks good, sounds good...now how does it compare?
Sony: Far better quieting and more sensitive than MR-77, especially in HD mode.
MR-77: Broader sound staging. Stability of the sonic image is pretty much equal to the Sony (suspect a limitation of the transmitted signals.
HD mode observations: sonic quality appears to be dependent on the engineering on the transmitter side of things. The big NPR university station here seems to do a good job in HD while another, smaller, university station's HD signal sounds more like their 64K internet stream. In this case, their analog signal into the MR-77 beats the pants off anything through the Sony.
No mods - yet - to the Sony. I do note a small rolloff of high frequencies with the Sony compared to the MR-77, primarily affecting spacial cues in recordings such as reverb and echo in classical music performances. I'm hoping the top-end filter mods mentioned in other threads will help this.
One last observation: I'm sorry, but the Mac has it all over the Sony in the good-looks department. No comments on the cost differential, though.
Anyway, thanks to all for another fun adventure and project.....
Cheers,
David
Sony: Far better quieting and more sensitive than MR-77, especially in HD mode.
MR-77: Broader sound staging. Stability of the sonic image is pretty much equal to the Sony (suspect a limitation of the transmitted signals.
HD mode observations: sonic quality appears to be dependent on the engineering on the transmitter side of things. The big NPR university station here seems to do a good job in HD while another, smaller, university station's HD signal sounds more like their 64K internet stream. In this case, their analog signal into the MR-77 beats the pants off anything through the Sony.
No mods - yet - to the Sony. I do note a small rolloff of high frequencies with the Sony compared to the MR-77, primarily affecting spacial cues in recordings such as reverb and echo in classical music performances. I'm hoping the top-end filter mods mentioned in other threads will help this.
One last observation: I'm sorry, but the Mac has it all over the Sony in the good-looks department. No comments on the cost differential, though.
Anyway, thanks to all for another fun adventure and project.....
Cheers,
David
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dshoaf
That high voltage buzz
Hi Ron! Good to see you here. Would _love_ to have an MR-88, for sure!
Not sure the radio stations around here are as good, though. And I do understand about the filtering algorithms relationship to signal strength. The Sony does well with them.
On to some mods now.....that's part of the fun of the hobby and why I collect old Mac gear, btw.
Cheers,
David
Haven't forgot about those looking to have the mods done. I've done all but the active filter on mine. I went to assemble one today and figured out I was missing a part, so had to go back and place yet another order. This week I've been testing the memory backup. Right now it's somewhere between 13 and 24 hours of back up with a 1.5F super cap.
Here's a picture of mine. I've wired a blue LED in with the Forced Analog switch on the back. When in HD the LED is lit from underneath. With taller feet for cooling it's a nice indication of where the switch is set. In Analog the light is off. That's is where I normally keep the switch when listening.
Here's a picture of mine. I've wired a blue LED in with the Forced Analog switch on the back. When in HD the LED is lit from underneath. With taller feet for cooling it's a nice indication of where the switch is set. In Analog the light is off. That's is where I normally keep the switch when listening.
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