Topic: toshiba 3960 - flakier than 15 year old valley girl

[George]

my 4960 won't spin dvds/cds anymore.  it worked great for a couple of months tho.

I had this happen with mine once.  The chassis in the 4960 REALLY needs to be dampened, as it creates a lot of vibration.  Open the unit up, dampen it, then pull out the connecting ribbon and reattach it to the psb.  My guess is you will be golden.  Otherwise, the other answer is if the unit is still receiving power, there is a loose copnnection probably do to a bad solder joint somewhere.  I would take a look.  If it is entirely worthless to you, and you still have it, I will take it and fix it!

I am embarassed to ask this, since I've reviewed the Vinnie and Swenson mods, and searched audioasylum, headfi, and this forum for an answer, but...

How exactly does one "dampen" the chassis of a player?    I gather that it may/may not involve caulk and/or adhesive linoleum tile.  But where?  How?  Thanks!

I found this on google:  http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/t.mpl?forum=digital&m=85598&highlight=3950

Hit CTRL+F and run a search for dampening.  You'll read a comment about dampening "chasis with rope caulk." 

A person here:  http://www.audioasylum.com/scripts/t.pl?f=digital&m=85473

Discusses "I already applied the dampening mods to this Toshiba (sticky vinyl tiles inside the chasis)."  Not sure how they exactly they do it. 

This site discusses the 3950 (mentions dampening methods as well): http://www.audiosold.com/articles/toshmod.htm

Hope that helps a little!

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

The sticky vinyl tiles are probably adhesive floor tiles.  They'll dampen the chassis and sound barrier for transport noise.  Better than flooring tiles is the adhesive deadening material that the car audio guys use.  I think that is some kind of asphault panel with adhesive backing or a material like dynamat.

If you use this stuff, be sure not to cover the ventilation holes or block convection paths when the lid is secured.   I've read some posts where people said that they used too much and it had a bad effect on the sound.   I think that there are recommendations for size and placement of strips on some of the tweak pages.

[macdaddy]

you mean that toshiba is only $60 and it plays dvd-a..? i might have to get one of those...

so what is the consensus life expectancy of the unit..?

Quote from: gloco on March 28, 2005, 07:49:21 PM
DVD-A and SACD are outta here thanks to lack of public interest, so yeah, whoever bought into those formats is screwed royally.

screwed royally?  there are many great SACDs and DVD-As out there that imo are better than their redbook compliant siblings...while it is true that SACD and DVD-A have not taken off, the recordings that have been released in this format are fantastic...as a result, having a player that plays them is important to me.

qft.

[pfife]

I'm under the impression that the 3960 does not play DVD-A...  the 4960 does, but its a bit more expensive... $80 to $90

http://www.epinions.com/pr-Toshiba_SD-4960_DVD

[Chuck]

Is this 3960 a good choice for CD playback? or is it mainly for DVD playing?
I'm looking for a cheap, but descent quality CD player for my DAW.
One that has good analog outputs, since the amp I'm using now isn't digital.

[Ed.]

don't quote me on this, but i think i read once that the 3960 is bettery sounding than the 4960, however, the 4960 can do dvda/sacd playback where the 3960 can only do cd.  again, don't quote me, but i think both units can be modded to sound better.

I never had the 3960, but did have the 4960, and I must say that i'd try to use them for audio playback moreso than video playback.  I have an older samsung dvd player that i think the video was much better on, when comparing the two.  plus i absolutely hate the remote for the 4960.  however, my 4960 flaked out...but i think that might be partly my roommates fault and not the actual fault of the player.

[Chuck]

IS the 3980 the same basic transport as the 3960?
Can the 3960 mod be done in the same way on the 3980?

[Diamond_D]

don't take this for the gospel because I'm not familiar with the new models, but the thing that made the 3960's so attractive was the good chipset that was used in it (a Toshiba chip). After a while though, Toshiba quietly changed the chip in the unit to a bottom-of-the-line Zoran Vaddis 6 chip, without changing the model. It's quite possible then that the new models use this inferior chip, making it less of a steal at that price. This may or may not be true, and it's still a good price, but just a theory...

Also, the later  3960's with this chip are reported to have many more problems, so this might explain the original problems of the thread...

[Nick's Picks]

the 3960 sounded rediculously good on redbook playback.
it rivaled my $2k Musical Fidelity CD-PRE24's sound. 
When I bought mine ...I plugged it into the CD-PRE and did some A/B comparrisons of the transports and A/Ds.  I could hear the difference w/the transports, but I could not hear any difference running ananlog.
so, I sold the CD-PRE and was happy.

Now I have a new Toshiba love.
4-5 years ago when SACD and DVD-A were new, Toshiba decided to embrace DVD-A and went with that format for their flagship deck, the SD-9200.  This CD/DVD-A/DVD player costs over $2k new back then.  I think it pushes 40lbs.  BIG bitch...solid transport.  Quality stuff.  Stereophile gave it a class A rating.
So, you know its analog stereo performance kicks ass. 
The best part is...this sucker runs for $450-600 used now.
winky winky!

I use my Sony as a DAC, so in my world it will be passing redbook and DVD-A LPCM.  But if I ever go back to componants, or dont have a DAC...I know I wont really need one to get HQ sound from my playback.  The 9200 should take care of that end with style.  But'...we'll see.

I was going to go w/the Denon 2900 as they are in the same ballpark in terms of used price.  Did my homework for a week, and decided the Toshiba was a better choice for me.

Lots of them out there.
One on eBay now that is only $299 and has not been bid upon.  I think it ends today!!
Too bad I commited to someone on agon or I would have bought it.  $200 cheaper than the regular agon price.
FWIW...



Class A action for cheap.  I love it.

[Daryan]

Apparently the toshiba 4960 is a rebadged samsung dvd unit:  

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=100799&highlight=toshiba+3960

I know my music hall cd-25 is also a rebadged unit, let me see if i can find the link for that as well.  It seems that quite a few audiophile-like sources are coming out of China at rock bottom prices.  Too bad the shipping costs far outweigh the potential cost savings.

Music Hall is made by shanling out of China I believe.  You can easily get the shanling version much cheaper as well if you look around.  The onix player at av123.com is of the same breed, and mods, commercially speaking are coming from them and are availible from a secondary carrier on audiogon right now as well.   I believe this would be perfect for DIY as well, and if interested, I can find the instructions...though I am not sure it would be worth the time and cost seeing as it is CD only and the 4960 would be universal.

[Chuck]

the 3960 sounded rediculously good on redbook playback.
it rivaled my $2k Musical Fidelity CD-PRE24's sound. 
When I bought mine ...I plugged it into the CD-PRE and did some A/B comparrisons of the transports and A/Ds.  I could hear the difference w/the transports, but I could not hear any difference running ananlog.
so, I sold the CD-PRE and was happy.

Now I have a new Toshiba love.
4-5 years ago when SACD and DVD-A were new, Toshiba decided to embrace DVD-A and went with that format for their flagship deck, the SD-9200.  This CD/DVD-A/DVD player costs over $2k new back then.  I think it pushes 40lbs.  BIG bitch...solid transport.  Quality stuff.  Stereophile gave it a class A rating.
So, you know its analog stereo performance kicks ass. 
The best part is...this sucker runs for $450-600 used now.
winky winky!

I use my Sony as a DAC, so in my world it will be passing redbook and DVD-A LPCM.  But if I ever go back to componants, or dont have a DAC...I know I wont really need one to get HQ sound from my playback.  The 9200 should take care of that end with style.  But'...we'll see.

I was going to go w/the Denon 2900 as they are in the same ballpark in terms of used price.  Did my homework for a week, and decided the Toshiba was a better choice for me.

Lots of them out there.
One on eBay now that is only $299 and has not been bid upon.  I think it ends today!!
Too bad I commited to someone on agon or I would have bought it.  $200 cheaper than the regular agon price.
FWIW...



Class A action for cheap.  I love it.

Nick, are talking about the stock 3960 here?
Mine has just started getting flaky... It's randomly stop passing signal in the middle of a disc... 
Weird. I still like it though.

[George]

Apparently the toshiba 4960 is a rebadged samsung dvd unit:  

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=100799&highlight=toshiba+3960

I know my music hall cd-25 is also a rebadged unit, let me see if i can find the link for that as well.  It seems that quite a few audiophile-like sources are coming out of China at rock bottom prices.  Too bad the shipping costs far outweigh the potential cost savings.

Music Hall is made by shanling out of China I believe.  You can easily get the shanling version much cheaper as well if you look around.  The onix player at av123.com is of the same breed, and mods, commercially speaking are coming from them and are availible from a secondary carrier on audiogon right now as well.   I believe this would be perfect for DIY as well, and if interested, I can find the instructions...though I am not sure it would be worth the time and cost seeing as it is CD only and the 4960 would be universal.

Indeed.  I've been thinking about upgrading from my cd-25 to a universal player so i can enjoy some dvd-a and sacd titles out there.  I'm sure i'll take the plunge sometime this year as well as upgrade the headphone amp. 

[Daryan]

Seeing as I do all 24 bit, having a cd player only makes zero sense to me at the moment.  That said, those with lots of cd titles swear by them, and I have no doubt they make a differnce. 

Now, if I could just figure out how to set-up my new subwoofer, which weighs 90 freaking pounds, we will be in business!

[Nick's Picks]

Apparently the toshiba 4960 is a rebadged samsung dvd unit: 

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=100799&highlight=toshiba+3960

I know my music hall cd-25 is also a rebadged unit, let me see if i can find the link for that as well.  It seems that quite a few audiophile-like sources are coming out of China at rock bottom prices.  Too bad the shipping costs far outweigh the potential cost savings.



Music Hall is made by shanling out of China I believe.

other way around.
Shanling is made by music hall

[Nick's Picks]

yes, that was a stock 3960 btw.  I ended up sending it out for modifications...and then it sounded even better.