I have a California Audio Labs CL-25 DVD player. Its uses the PMD-100 and BB1702 combo. I have been having issues with it lately dropping the audio output. Usually I can power it off/on and it will run fine for the rest of the day. I finally hooked an external DAC up to the digital out from the back of the CAL and when it started dropping out I switched over to the external DAC and it was playing fine. So I assume that there is no issue with the transport section on my player.
I happened to have an HDCD in the player this time when it happened and noticed that the HDCD front panel LED was dropping out in sync with the music dropouts. I went ahead and took the cover off and measured all of the voltage regulator outputs on the DAC pcb and they are all good. I then replaced all of the electrolytic caps associated with the buffer/filter section (around the PMD-100), I had some spares so it was rather quick and painless. But, the problem is still occurring.
It appears that the digital signal is not making to the PMD-100, or the PMD-100 itself has an issue. I do NOT have an o-scope so I am kind of shotgunning the repairs on this thing for now.
I have a couple of questions. Can anyone tell me if the digital signal that is fed to the rear panel "digital out" the same digital stream that is sent to the PMD-100? Also has anyone ever heard of a PMD-100 failing before. Right now I am more inclined to to replace the buffer chip that feeds the PMD-100 first due to the fact that PMD-100 chips are pretty expensive.
Thanks for any assistance or ideas!
I happened to have an HDCD in the player this time when it happened and noticed that the HDCD front panel LED was dropping out in sync with the music dropouts. I went ahead and took the cover off and measured all of the voltage regulator outputs on the DAC pcb and they are all good. I then replaced all of the electrolytic caps associated with the buffer/filter section (around the PMD-100), I had some spares so it was rather quick and painless. But, the problem is still occurring.
It appears that the digital signal is not making to the PMD-100, or the PMD-100 itself has an issue. I do NOT have an o-scope so I am kind of shotgunning the repairs on this thing for now.
I have a couple of questions. Can anyone tell me if the digital signal that is fed to the rear panel "digital out" the same digital stream that is sent to the PMD-100? Also has anyone ever heard of a PMD-100 failing before. Right now I am more inclined to to replace the buffer chip that feeds the PMD-100 first due to the fact that PMD-100 chips are pretty expensive.
Thanks for any assistance or ideas!