NAKAMICHI MJ-5.16si SCSI

[pneffkell]

I have 2 NAKAMICHI MJ-5.16si scsi drives. These drive are 5 disc cd-rom changers. I would like to work build a DIY cd transport with one of these units but I am new to the DIY electronics community. I would be willing to provide on of the drive to someone if they would be willing to work on this with me. I don't want to do this using the SCSI interface because I don't feel that it will provide the optimal sound. My thought it that this should be a stable platform for a DIY CD plays as its manufacturer is best known for its Audio components. Anyone have any interest?

 

[motherone]

It doesn't look like this drive outputs a TTL level SPDIF signal, so the odds are you will not be able to use it as a transport without a host computer with a SCSI interface. I don't think this is neccessarily bad, since you can always output the bitstream using a soundcard like the C-media 8768, and then connect your favorite DAC to it.

I don't know about the internals of the drive, but this is my guess based on a quick googling of it. If you really want the spiffy 5disc nakamichi changer action, you may just want to look for one of their 5 disc CD-Changers for audio -- I have one and it does have a SPDIF output on it. If you don't care about the changer mechanism, but do want to build your own transport, I recommend looking at the older NEC CD-602ish drives -- they have a small backlit LCD, controls, and a TTL level SPDIF output.

 

[wheijke]

I was thinking the same today, these have analog out so some kind of DAC should be on board. Impossible to find a service manual even now in 2012!
Wouter

 

[wheijke]

I opened one unit and found on the PCB a Sony CXD3000R ("CD Digital Signal Processor with Built-in Digital Servo and DAC") which does offer digital out on pin 60