Help: MCD201

egay

egay

New Member
I've had this player for about 4 mos now and i'm loving every 'bit' of it.

However, it seems too picky with discs: it does not play many of my CDRs and sometimes would not read some SACDs the first try :confused: ... but my main issue is that it "mis-tracts" some of my SACDs but never my CDs; and then it just freezes, again, on some SACDs.

My local dealer said that it could be my supply and adviced me to use an AVR, which I did, but did not solve the problem.

Has anyone here experienced the same?

I'm thinking that some discs could be poorly manufactured that the 201 simply rejects them...

Ping: Ron-C :worried:

TIA,
egay
.e.
 
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Unfortunately, there were some glitches within older versions of the
MCD201 firmware. You should check your unit to see what version of firmware you have, or contact Mac to help you find this out. You will probably have to upgrade to the most recent and final version of firmware in order to clean most or all of these issues up...
 
bradleyc said:
Unfortunately, there were some glitches within older versions of the
MCD201 firmware. You should check your unit to see what version of firmware you have, or contact Mac to help you find this out. You will probably have to upgrade to the most recent and final version of firmware in order to clean most or all of these issues up...
Click to expand...

Oh, thanks Bradley - so it could be the software, huh?!
I'll check with them and report back :wave:

.e.
 
I don't know if you have a warranty, but mine did the same thing when I first bought it 2 years ago. It would randomly freeze up and some CD's it just would not play (about 1 in 10). McIntosh actually took it back and provided a new unit which has worked flawlessly since. I have heard that upgrading the firmware has solved these problems sometimes too. There is a lot on this site about problems with these players but since my exchange there has not been a hiccup. I would call McIntosh tech support line.
 
Thughes, Esweter: yes i have a warranty and i just emailed McLab; i also contacted my local dealer and am waiting for some feedbacks.

Thanks for these pointers :wave:

egay
 
I have had a MCD201 with similar problems. We have exchanged the drive (Raymedia RL-S881) a couple of times, I had the latest firmware (which was then version 015). The third or fourth drive finally worked more or less but was extremely noisy.

Many owners of 201s have had similar problems. It seems that this drive (a converted PC drive) was a faulty design, aka a lemon. I don´t think that the firmware alone was responsible. It seems that this was the reason why the 301 was born (which uses a different drive from a different manufacturer).

If you are lucky, an exchange of drive or unit (better!) will cure the problem.

But think about giving up on the 201 and going for the 301. It will be better for your nerves. I have the right to say this because I have spent one year trying to get my 201 fixed.

Search this forum and you will find.
 
I traded my 201 for a 301 and never looked back -- except now I would like a 500, but not for any flaw in the 301. I like the 301 a great deal.
 
If your unit is only 4 months old under warranty it probably has the most recent firmware version. It wouldn't hurt to ask Mac to exchange your 4-month old player for another new unit. I've been told by Mac that the MCD301 is much higher build-quality with better transport with dual-laser, but sounds very much the same as your 201. I had to exchage two MCD201 units to get a solid one, the third unit is a real charmer without any glitches yet after well over one year. Still makes me nervous waiting for something to go wrong, so ordered MCD500 from my dealer yesterday for build and sound quality upgrade. Can't even imagine hearing better sound than a properly functioning MCD201:music:
 
bradleyc said:
If your unit is only 4 months old under warranty it probably has the most recent firmware version. It wouldn't hurt to ask Mac to exchange your 4-month old player for another new unit. I've been told by Mac that the MCD301 is much higher build-quality with better transport with dual-laser, but sounds very much the same as your 201. I had to exchage two MCD201 units to get a solid one, the third unit is a real charmer without any glitches yet after well over one year. Still makes me nervous waiting for something to go wrong, so ordered MCD500 from my dealer yesterday for build and sound quality upgrade. Can't even imagine hearing better sound than a properly functioning MCD201:music:
Click to expand...

Firmware upgrades fixed the SACD issues on my 201 but it wouldn't play CDRs any more so I too traded for the 500. The 500 is certainly more revealing but I still regard the 201 as more musical. There was still lots of detail but poorly engineered pop sounded better on the 201 than on the 500.
 
Thanks a lot, everyone, these had been very helpful indeed!

I'm still waiting for McLab and my local dealer to answer my question, otherwise, i'll just bring the unit to them and ask for a "service unit" - preferably a 301 or a 501 :D

The 201 serves me very well as it clearly bettered my Krell Std2 and my old Wadia 6i... bringing this to my dealer means i'll have no SACD for a while... wow:scratch2:

greets from Manila!
.e.
 
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