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In Reply to: Hey John, still enjoying your HLD-X9 player? posted by Michael on July 30, 2003 at 13:59:53:
Soundlabs Group in Melbourne & Sydney do digital mods and have lifted the sound on several players here. I sent them the HLD-X9 but they could not decipher the circuit without a diagram to know what to do best. They now have the circuit and will fit in an Audiocom superclock. Not that the audio is bad, just it could be better. But the picture is, as you say, superb, a lot better than on many DVDs.Did you ever track down a translation of the owners manual?
Follow Ups:
Hi,
I just had my Rotel RCD-1070 & DPA Enlightment DAC mod with the superclock II & better quality diodes by Leon of Soundlabs (Leon has been very helpful and knowledgeable). To say I 'm delighted with the sonic improvements is an understatement and it's only been the 3rd day with the mods. BTW the Black Gates caps are already on order from the US........
I guess I have caught the "bug" to upgrade my Pioneer DV-533k DVD player with the clock as well (LC Audio clock this time). Leon has mentioned that some of his customers who had this done to their DVD players not only notice the sonic improvement but the picture quality has improved as well!!! Just wondering what your experiences are, if any?
Thanks.
Has anyone had to have their HLD-X9 repaired yet? I finally purchased one that was in fantastic cosmetic condition. Unfortunately, it did not work when I received it, it may have been damaged during shipping from China to California. Anyway, the unit powered up using the 110v-to-100v converter but all it would do is give me a "U1" error message. The player has been with a Pioneer authorized repair facility for three weeks because Pioneer won't reply with pricing, or availability, for the laser pickup. If anyone has any constructive suggestions I'll love to hear them. I've waited and waited to finally buy the ultimate laserdisc player and now I can't even use it! POO!
This is just a follow up to my original post. I took it upon myself to contact Pioneer about ordering a laser pickup for the HLD-X9 (the NEW repair technician says that it isn't the problem anyway). I was able to purchase the item and it was at my door the next day. Unfortunately, the ORIGINAL repair techician made more money going on house calls so he wasn't working on my player at all, he just used the excuse that Pioneer wasn't responding to him, which was not true. The only reason that I wanted to post this is to note that Pioneer was VERY responsive and I am very impressed with their customer service!!! I have this whole issue resolved so I really consider the topic closed.
They put an LC Audio clock in the Meridian 800 and that did improve the audio but I did not notice any video improvement. As my previous ranting post says, the biggest video problem experienced here is poor software, or poorer than it should be.I'm VERY impressed with the work that Soundlabs Group do and am an enthusiastic supporter of their mods. My previous feeling about mods were that if the manufacturer could improve the product, they would have done so meaning mods were a waste of dollars. No more, I'm converted - I've heard the light!!!!
Three different times I tried to get the owners manual translated but for one reason or another I could not. By the way, if you have not done so by now you might want to order the service manual for the HLD-X9 player from Pioneer. I ordered one but it is unfortunately on backorder. Stacey Spears, I believe, had a SDI output added to his LD player. I bet that is a pretty impressive upgrade to the HLD-X9 player.
Hi MichaelNo more problems thanks. It was caused by an incorrect setting on the video processor feeding the projector and was nothing to do with the player. I guess it took 2 years to sort out the multitude of video setting possible with this Barco VSE40-808s projector combo.
As I changed over from composite to s-video the 5 inputs (2 composite, 2 s-video & a component) on the Barco VSE40 became inadequate so I fitted an 8 pole s-video switching card to the Meridian 860. 5 of these are used (4 VCRs + a PAL LD player) but I left the HLD-X9 connected direct to the VSE40.
Using XP TDK tape and JVC s-video recorders (one with a hard drive recording capacity) I'm getting film quality on time shifted satellite broadcasts of good material. The set up here really quickly shows up deficiencies in broadcast video quality. I guess HDTV is better than the best I'm getting at present but I doubt if it will be the quantum jump it should be judging on the variable video quality of present broadcasts.
I can understand why s-VHS has never had wide appeal. TDK EHG tape on a good recorder can yield fine recording that is not much poorer than s-VHS on most broadcast material. I can detect the difference when it is pumped up onto a 8 ft wide screen but the difference on most TVs would be difficult to see. So why pay more for a recoder and for tape if you cannot see any difference? It is surprising the s-VHS recorders were produced for as long as they were.
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