Topic: Is My TCD-D8 Broken?

[Rat6666]

I just bought a Sony D8 on eBay. It arrived a few days ago, and I've noticed something about it that seems odd to me.

The gray 32/44.1/48 kHz slider seems like it's broken. It slides freely in between the three selections with no effort, and does not lock into place like I figure such a switch should.

There is a headphone switch to the right of the frequency select switch that looks to be identical. This slider also has three positions, and takes a decent effort to switch between them. It sits firmly in place in each position, while the slider for the freq. select slides freely with no locking tendency.

This D8 was auctioned as "great condition" - the seller says the unit was in perfect condition when it was shipped, and it was packed very nicely with no chance of this happening in transit. I've asked him to help straighten me out and he's not being very cooperative... Therefore I shall turn to TS and see what the survey says!

I have not used the D8 yet, except to put batteries in it to open the tape door and turn the funky aqua backlight on. I don't have any DAT tapes to try it out yet.

So.... Is the switch broken?

Thanks in advance for the advice!

[Swampy]

Was the seller Daryan Lenz? You might have been lenzed, the switch is supposed to click into three positions...

[Rat6666]

No, the seller was a Jim Smith.

I will probably open up a PayPal buyer complaint if the consensus is that the switch is inoperable.

[Swampy]

Okay cool, did you email the seller yet about the problem?

[zhianosatch]

Yes, the switch is broken. It can be fixed easily - but at a small price - by Pro Digital. Maybe others, too... not sure. Total of $60something out the door to fix the same problem on an SBM-1 I borrowed.

[Rat6666]

Yes, I've emailed the seller - he insists it was in working order when it was shipped. I've notified him of the problem and am giving him another day or two to respond before I open up a buyer protection claim. I have 30 days from the date of payment to do that.

Grrrrr...

[zhianosatch]

If the switch was loose before, it certainly could have been knocked out during shipping. How well was the D8 packed?

[JasonSobel]

another thing to consider is how you're going to be using it.  granted, it sucks to have it broken, but if you're running digi in, then it doesn't matter where 32/44.1/48 kHz switch is, because the D8 will accept  and lock onto the digital signal, regardless of this setting.  if you're only planning on running digital in, then it might not be worth the effort/money to bother getting it fixed.

just something to think about...

[brandont_h]

My ex-girlfriend got a D8 while we were together, and her sampling rate switch was loose like you describe yours.  She just put hers in 44.1 (or was it 48. . . i forget now. . .) and taped it there with scotch tape.  The switch was still working, just really easy to slide.  Hers was from eBay as well.  Just offering this since it might be less hassle than lodging a complaint.  Although, I guess if you don't have DATs to test with, you probably have no way of knowing if it's loose or broken.  :/

[hoyt]

No, the seller was a Jim Smith...

That name doesn't sound fake at all....

Did you pay with PayPal?  Open up a complaint to them to if you did.  

--hoyt

[Swampy]

Was the seller Daryan Lenz? You might have been lenzed

I am now officially retracting this statement as it offened Daryan. I am sorry if I caused you any mental pain buddy

[chase]

FWIW, the opposite switch broke on my D8 recently, the AVLS/Volume/Lineout one.  I emailed Paul at ProDigital and this is what he said...

The problem could be the knob or the switch itself.  In either event, we can
replace the part at no charge if you're going to have the machine cleaned,
lubed, and aligned.  To disassemble and replace just the part without any
cleaning or alignment would be $35 plus parts.

The standard disassembly, clean, lube, and align is $75 plus parts.  The
knob is about $4, but the switch is part of an assembly which includes the
open, hold, volume, and AVLS controls.  This part is around $25.

Turnaround is about 4 days.

 So if you want to get your D8 cleaned and given a clean bill of health anyway, I'm sure he would give you similar treatment.  I assume that these switches are exactly the same as far as parts go.  I'm sending my D8 in tomorrow.  Good luck.