GOOD NEWS NAKAMICHI LOVERS!
It is with honors that I present some new information about Upgrading your aftermarket Nakamichi CD Changer! I have successfully completed a Test using a Nak head Unit and a Sony 10 Disc CD changer and it works! A Nak deck can control a Sony (and probably others) CD changer from the H.U. controls!
So far tests have been completed using a Nak Head unit and two older Sony CD-A15 and CD-A30 10 disc changers. I will be continuing to test Sony models as they become available to me. I have high hopes of finding a 10 or a 12 disc changer with MP3 playback capabilities for those of us with Nak Head units!
Now don't get excited just yet. An external box will be required for this but making one is no big deal. While the Nak can control the Sony changer functions. The audio from the changer to the deck is on different pins. An adapter box to either break out the audio, or adapt the audio pin to pin will be needed. Details on constructing such a box to follow so stay tuned! If there is demand, i may make up a few extra boxes or cables.
It is with honors that I present some new information about Upgrading your aftermarket Nakamichi CD Changer! I have successfully completed a Test using a Nak head Unit and a Sony 10 Disc CD changer and it works! A Nak deck can control a Sony (and probably others) CD changer from the H.U. controls!
So far tests have been completed using a Nak Head unit and two older Sony CD-A15 and CD-A30 10 disc changers. I will be continuing to test Sony models as they become available to me. I have high hopes of finding a 10 or a 12 disc changer with MP3 playback capabilities for those of us with Nak Head units!
Now don't get excited just yet. An external box will be required for this but making one is no big deal. While the Nak can control the Sony changer functions. The audio from the changer to the deck is on different pins. An adapter box to either break out the audio, or adapt the audio pin to pin will be needed. Details on constructing such a box to follow so stay tuned! If there is demand, i may make up a few extra boxes or cables.
Well I have done some more testing and it looks like the sony is an exact pin out. The problem lies in my test head unit.
I have two Nak TD-45Z decks. One in my BMW and one that was in my Acura. I traded in the acrua this weekend and i yanked out the Nak before doing so and that is what i have been using for testing.
It seems that there is something different between these units. The one in the BMW only uses the 13-pin cable to connect from the changer in the trunk to the head unit. But the deck i pulled from my acura, doest transmit the audio through the 13-pin cable. there may be something wrong with the deck i dont know. but if i pull the audio off of the 13 pin cable and feed it in the CDC port on the back of the nak. everything works just fine!
And I cant plug the Sony changer into the BMW's Nak system as the gender is wrong. and i am NOT pulling that deck out, no way! what a major PITA that was to get it in there.
So i think i will rig up a gender bender to try. It may just be a drop in solution.
Now the hard part. finding a good Sony 10 disc changer to use. It seems all the new changers use Ai-Net and i cant seem to find a Ai-Net to 13-pin adapter just yet.....
Making progress...
Zc
I have two Nak TD-45Z decks. One in my BMW and one that was in my Acura. I traded in the acrua this weekend and i yanked out the Nak before doing so and that is what i have been using for testing.
It seems that there is something different between these units. The one in the BMW only uses the 13-pin cable to connect from the changer in the trunk to the head unit. But the deck i pulled from my acura, doest transmit the audio through the 13-pin cable. there may be something wrong with the deck i dont know. but if i pull the audio off of the 13 pin cable and feed it in the CDC port on the back of the nak. everything works just fine!
And I cant plug the Sony changer into the BMW's Nak system as the gender is wrong. and i am NOT pulling that deck out, no way! what a major PITA that was to get it in there.
So i think i will rig up a gender bender to try. It may just be a drop in solution.
Now the hard part. finding a good Sony 10 disc changer to use. It seems all the new changers use Ai-Net and i cant seem to find a Ai-Net to 13-pin adapter just yet.....
Making progress...
Zc
gooday mate,
I got CD700 that has non-stop problem on *MECHA ERROR*
and the Disc Changer for that cost me an arm and leg to get it.
Oh so does the repair for the CD700...
If so you have broken the da vinci code for the CDC controls by using SONY changer...
Please help us !!!
Phil (philcuore@gmail.com)
I got CD700 that has non-stop problem on *MECHA ERROR*
and the Disc Changer for that cost me an arm and leg to get it.
Oh so does the repair for the CD700...
If so you have broken the da vinci code for the CDC controls by using SONY changer...
Please help us !!!
Phil (philcuore@gmail.com)
Well i have done some testing and as it turns out. the older sony changewrs with the 13-pin connectors plug right in and work with most nak decks!
The Sony changers have a shot cable that extends from the changer with a Male 13-pin plug. These come with a long extension cable that plugs right into the back of the Nak decks. you must use that cable with a nak.
Nak Changers have a femal plug in the changer. the Nak cable has male plugs on both ends so you have to use the sony cable.
I have 3 nak decks here i used for testing. 2 of the 3 work as is with just the 13-pin cable. the analog audio is sent down the 13-pin cable.
One of the Nak decks would control the changer but wouldnt pass the audio. further testing revelaed that it is a issue with the radio. Either the deck is not working correctly or it was designed to work with a nak changer that has external RCA jacks on it like a MF-51.
So, if your nak deck only uses the 13-pin cable, you can plug a sony changer right into it.
I am still looking for a 13-pin ti Uni-link or Ai-Net adapter.
I have found that Kenwood changers have the power and ground on opposite pins! use caution when testing.
Zc
The Sony changers have a shot cable that extends from the changer with a Male 13-pin plug. These come with a long extension cable that plugs right into the back of the Nak decks. you must use that cable with a nak.
Nak Changers have a femal plug in the changer. the Nak cable has male plugs on both ends so you have to use the sony cable.
I have 3 nak decks here i used for testing. 2 of the 3 work as is with just the 13-pin cable. the analog audio is sent down the 13-pin cable.
One of the Nak decks would control the changer but wouldnt pass the audio. further testing revelaed that it is a issue with the radio. Either the deck is not working correctly or it was designed to work with a nak changer that has external RCA jacks on it like a MF-51.
So, if your nak deck only uses the 13-pin cable, you can plug a sony changer right into it.
I am still looking for a 13-pin ti Uni-link or Ai-Net adapter.
I have found that Kenwood changers have the power and ground on opposite pins! use caution when testing.
Zc
This might help you, from a freind of mine thats been doing nak since 1983.
His website is --> http://www.alexminassian.com/
His website is --> http://www.alexminassian.com/
Attachments
I'm bringing up another thread from the dead Because I love nak radios, and I discovered what a rich resource DIYaudio is for these radios.
I took the clarion pinouts and started checking voltages on my MB-100. +12V is Pin 2, so they are incompatible.
Mcintosh does read voltage at pins 10 and 12 though, so I suspect a clarion changer would be a direct bolt on. I guess that makes perfect sense.
I took the clarion pinouts and started checking voltages on my MB-100. +12V is Pin 2, so they are incompatible.
Mcintosh does read voltage at pins 10 and 12 though, so I suspect a clarion changer would be a direct bolt on. I guess that makes perfect sense.
Compatible Changers For Nakamichi Head Units
Hello Zero Cool,
I'm a "newbie" to this forum, but having more than 20 years hands on experience with Nakamichi Mobile products as a Car Audio Installer, I would be happy to further your quest for compatible cd changers. I can tell you that virtually all older (early to mid 90's) "Sony based" cd changers with 13 pin din plug will work with all Nakamichi head units equipped with CD changer controls. The list of compatible changers include Eclipse, Denon, Kenwood and of course, as you have already discovered, Sony 10 disk changers. Nakamichi has always designed their decks and changers for delivery of the analogue audio signal via external RCA interconnect as apposed to running it internally with the changer control wiring as most other manufactures do. There are several good reasons for this design, the first, minimal transfer of noise from control circuitry to audio, the second, gives the user the option of using higher grade interconnect cable for improved performance, third, most Nakamichi cd changers have a digital output in addition to left and right analogue outputs -this gives the user another option of using a higher quality external D/A converter like the Nak DAC-101, again for improved sound quality over the changer's built in converter. With a newer model Nak head unit like the CD-500, a digital input is provided, which mates perfectly with the digital output of a MF-51, thereby taking advantage of the better quality 24 bit D/A in the head unit. And finally, the last advantage of running an external audio signal that I can think of in this moment, is the possibility of using the "CD Input" RCA jacks on a Nak head unit as an axillary input for an external device like an iPod, if a cd changer is not being used in the system.
The only downside to all of these advantages, is not being able to just plug in a 13 pin din from an older changer and have it work without a modification. All that is really necessary to get these older changers up and running with any Nakamichi head unit that supports cd changer control, is to make a small incision in the cd changer cable, locate the left and right analogue signal wires, snip them and terminate with a pair of female RCA jacks. insulation of the left over wire ends, a tasteful bandage to the cable incision with electrical tape, and Viola! Simply connect any standard pair of RCA interconnect between your newly installed female RCA Jacks and the "CD Input" jacks of your Nakamichi head unit, and you are up and running! I have successfully completed this mod for dozens of customers over the years, so I can assure you that it works! For the very brave few who are willing to disassemble the 13 pin din plug and put it back together again, RCA pigtails can be soldered directly to pins 5 (right channel out), 9 (left channel out) and 7 (signal ground).
One must take care however, not to attempt this with newer Kenwood changers as the power and ground wires within the 13 pin plug are indeed reversed!! Danger Will Robinson, Danger!! This is a sure way of smoking your head unit!!
What lead me to your thread Zero Cool, was my own personal quest, and that of a customer, to interface an iPod directly with the 13 pin cd changer cable on Nakamichi head units, so that the head unit can control an iPod's various functions directly. I was thinking I might be able to adapt the Kenwood KCA-ip500 device, but since the power and ground connections are reversed, some research and modification will definitely be required! Interestingly enough, my research so far has enlightened me to the fact that not only are the power and ground wires reversed with the interface (and all of the newer Kenwood cd changers), all 13 of the pins are reversed, as in a mirror image, and when one looks at the function of each of the wires that are connected to all 13 pins, they match ie, left and right out, signal ground, data in, data out, reset, Acc etc. -whether the data protocols remain the same is unknown to me at this point in time, so I cannot speculate on the odds of compatibility between newer Kenwood changers and Nakamichi head units -even with mods to the pin configuration. Additional reasearch and experimentation will definitely be required! Hope this information will be of value to all of my fellow Nakamichi admirers!
Cheers!
Hello Zero Cool,
I'm a "newbie" to this forum, but having more than 20 years hands on experience with Nakamichi Mobile products as a Car Audio Installer, I would be happy to further your quest for compatible cd changers. I can tell you that virtually all older (early to mid 90's) "Sony based" cd changers with 13 pin din plug will work with all Nakamichi head units equipped with CD changer controls. The list of compatible changers include Eclipse, Denon, Kenwood and of course, as you have already discovered, Sony 10 disk changers. Nakamichi has always designed their decks and changers for delivery of the analogue audio signal via external RCA interconnect as apposed to running it internally with the changer control wiring as most other manufactures do. There are several good reasons for this design, the first, minimal transfer of noise from control circuitry to audio, the second, gives the user the option of using higher grade interconnect cable for improved performance, third, most Nakamichi cd changers have a digital output in addition to left and right analogue outputs -this gives the user another option of using a higher quality external D/A converter like the Nak DAC-101, again for improved sound quality over the changer's built in converter. With a newer model Nak head unit like the CD-500, a digital input is provided, which mates perfectly with the digital output of a MF-51, thereby taking advantage of the better quality 24 bit D/A in the head unit. And finally, the last advantage of running an external audio signal that I can think of in this moment, is the possibility of using the "CD Input" RCA jacks on a Nak head unit as an axillary input for an external device like an iPod, if a cd changer is not being used in the system.
The only downside to all of these advantages, is not being able to just plug in a 13 pin din from an older changer and have it work without a modification. All that is really necessary to get these older changers up and running with any Nakamichi head unit that supports cd changer control, is to make a small incision in the cd changer cable, locate the left and right analogue signal wires, snip them and terminate with a pair of female RCA jacks. insulation of the left over wire ends, a tasteful bandage to the cable incision with electrical tape, and Viola! Simply connect any standard pair of RCA interconnect between your newly installed female RCA Jacks and the "CD Input" jacks of your Nakamichi head unit, and you are up and running! I have successfully completed this mod for dozens of customers over the years, so I can assure you that it works! For the very brave few who are willing to disassemble the 13 pin din plug and put it back together again, RCA pigtails can be soldered directly to pins 5 (right channel out), 9 (left channel out) and 7 (signal ground).
One must take care however, not to attempt this with newer Kenwood changers as the power and ground wires within the 13 pin plug are indeed reversed!! Danger Will Robinson, Danger!! This is a sure way of smoking your head unit!!
What lead me to your thread Zero Cool, was my own personal quest, and that of a customer, to interface an iPod directly with the 13 pin cd changer cable on Nakamichi head units, so that the head unit can control an iPod's various functions directly. I was thinking I might be able to adapt the Kenwood KCA-ip500 device, but since the power and ground connections are reversed, some research and modification will definitely be required! Interestingly enough, my research so far has enlightened me to the fact that not only are the power and ground wires reversed with the interface (and all of the newer Kenwood cd changers), all 13 of the pins are reversed, as in a mirror image, and when one looks at the function of each of the wires that are connected to all 13 pins, they match ie, left and right out, signal ground, data in, data out, reset, Acc etc. -whether the data protocols remain the same is unknown to me at this point in time, so I cannot speculate on the odds of compatibility between newer Kenwood changers and Nakamichi head units -even with mods to the pin configuration. Additional reasearch and experimentation will definitely be required! Hope this information will be of value to all of my fellow Nakamichi admirers!
Cheers!
Hi all, I'm new here. I have a question: I have a Nakamichi TD 45z that works beautiful after 7 years, I had it on a 325e E30 BMW, and now I want to connect it to a 325is 89 with the premium sound system. I have it working on the car, but only on radio, I don't get any sound out of the aux or tape, I had an iPod connected to the aux on the 325e and tapes sounded great. What am I doing wrong? Someone told me that I have connected the wrong way and the amp is cutting off on aux and tape...... And that I should connect the remote on the HU to the remote un the car, but I can't find anything on that.
Any help will be greatly appreciated, I don't really want to part with one of the best head units I've ever had and if I get it working well keep it till it burns or i die.......
Thanks.
Any help will be greatly appreciated, I don't really want to part with one of the best head units I've ever had and if I get it working well keep it till it burns or i die.......
Thanks.
well I am back on this project a bit and google searching i came across my old thread ont he subject so i thought i would drop back in!
I did try and make a reverse cable that connected a Kenwood unit to the Nak by reversing the pins. no go. the protocol is not the same, presumably why the reverse pin out.
What i haven't been able to find is WHAT protocol the nak decks use. it is not M-Bus, or C-Bus, or any other standard bus i have found info for yet.
I might get farther looking for Sony or Denon Bus info so i will be digging into that further. Right now i have been side tracked by another annoying problem with these decks and that is the center frequency of the bass control. its centered on 100hz which is just too high for a bass control so i figured out how to modify the LF eq and i am about to get that done.
ALSO...of note. the whole reason i wanted to dig into this cd changer mess in the first place was 1- my CD changer does not like to read CD-R disc's. it reads store bought discs just fine. on another thread here someone suggested i try the older 650mb 74 minute discs as the track pitch they say is different then the 700mb 80 minute discs...well! i'll be darned. the older 650mb discs play just fine! but that was the reason i started digging into the changer protocols. that and 2- cause i do want iPod or phatbox control. but....
for now. I am hoping to figure out what the newest cd changer of any brand is that will work with the nak decks. maybe one will play MP3's or at least read any cd-r you throw at it.
back to the bench
Zc
I did try and make a reverse cable that connected a Kenwood unit to the Nak by reversing the pins. no go. the protocol is not the same, presumably why the reverse pin out.
What i haven't been able to find is WHAT protocol the nak decks use. it is not M-Bus, or C-Bus, or any other standard bus i have found info for yet.
I might get farther looking for Sony or Denon Bus info so i will be digging into that further. Right now i have been side tracked by another annoying problem with these decks and that is the center frequency of the bass control. its centered on 100hz which is just too high for a bass control so i figured out how to modify the LF eq and i am about to get that done.
ALSO...of note. the whole reason i wanted to dig into this cd changer mess in the first place was 1- my CD changer does not like to read CD-R disc's. it reads store bought discs just fine. on another thread here someone suggested i try the older 650mb 74 minute discs as the track pitch they say is different then the 700mb 80 minute discs...well! i'll be darned. the older 650mb discs play just fine! but that was the reason i started digging into the changer protocols. that and 2- cause i do want iPod or phatbox control. but....
for now. I am hoping to figure out what the newest cd changer of any brand is that will work with the nak decks. maybe one will play MP3's or at least read any cd-r you throw at it.
back to the bench
Zc
Re: Compatible Changers For Nakamichi Head Units
Does this work well the other way? I have a denon CD headunit (DCT-A100) and I'm looking for a compatible changer (DCH-470s seem a bit thin on the ground) I have a range of changer here (Sony CDX-91, Alpine 5959 and a Clarion 12 disc somewhere).
Any advice on making any of these work with the Denon?
GetThe Nak said:
Does this work well the other way? I have a denon CD headunit (DCT-A100) and I'm looking for a compatible changer (DCH-470s seem a bit thin on the ground) I have a range of changer here (Sony CDX-91, Alpine 5959 and a Clarion 12 disc somewhere).
Any advice on making any of these work with the Denon?
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