Topic: Sony PCM-M10 (Part 4)

[gdplusmore]

I purchased my  PCM-M10 at the end of June and only used it 2 times in July ...after seeing this thread I pulled it from the
draw and have the same clock issue...I bought mine from B&H ...I will call and ask if they will issue an RMA and replacement unit.

[Artstar]

Sony's service has dwindled since at least 15 years ago from what I can remember, when I had a WM-BF608 walkman whose audio output died in the left ear. I took it in to Sony Australia's service department to check it out (and thankfully before they had diagnostic fees to charge). When they got back to me with the quote, it was going to be $160. Hell no, considering the walkman cost me $250! It served me right for being a lazy electrical engineer who couldn't be bothered to fix his own prized possession.

I then bought myself the service manual for $20 and began my diagnosis, found a dry joint on the board, resoldered it and voila! A $20 repair job.

So I'm not surprised at their treatment of the issue outside of warranty which is why I'll be looking to diagnose the problem myself once I get my hands on a service manual for it. Once I have figured it out, I will let you all know the solution. Until then, hang tight.

[willndmb]

imo no one should be charged for a repair/replacement because its a defect

[rastasean]

imo no one should be charged for a repair/replacement because its a defect

 

[it-goes-to-eleven]

That is a steep diag fee for a $200 recorder.  Fwiw, the reports I've read on Edirol's service suggest they are far more reasonable.  I recall they've even done some stuff out of warranty.

I do a lot of field recording that is not a "show".  Having an accurate clock means I can tell the day and time of a particular recording, and match it to photos or video I shot.  That's fairly important.

[willndmb]

That is a steep diag fee for a $200 recorder.  Fwiw, the reports I've read on Edirol's service suggest they are far more reasonable.  I recall they've even done some stuff out of warranty.

I do a lot of field recording that is not a "show".  Having an accurate clock means I can tell the day and time of a particular recording, and match it to photos or video I shot.  That's fairly important.

you would still be ok as long as you set the clock
it doesn't reset right away, it takes a day or so
so although it is a pain you could still have the date/time on what you record

[it-goes-to-eleven]

There are a lot of times I need to start recording Right Now and don't have time to fuss with a clock. I haven't had to set the clock on my r09 in *years*.

It'll be interesting to see how Sony handles this.  It isn't an end of the world sort of problem, but it isn't insignificant either.  Especially considering their rather excessive diag fee.

[tgos3]

Here's the reply of Sony's Regional Service Manager for (West Coast) Pro Audio to my email requesting clarification of how my 'clock issue' problem would be handled.  You will recall I had sent him  a complete description of the failure modes, as well as the comments of other users here with the same problem, in multiple units,  including those who had previously contacted Sony with the same issue, and the comments of Sony  Product Operation Support regarding possible EPROM or clock oscillator problem source. His initial response to me had been 'we have never heard of this before, seems like an internal battery problem, send it to us' and I had again asked what it would cost for warranty service.

"[...] I have presented your situation to the sustaining engineer for the product and he has not heard of this problem either.  He did ask to verify that you were following the precise steps for setting the clock.  His comments:

"I have never heard of this as a problem but I have ran into this in the past and the problem was in not following the clock settings correctly.  After setting the clock the user must press the ENTER (Play) key else if they press any other key prior to pressing the ENTER key the clock setting will be aborted.  A proper clock setting must be executed in order for the unit to retain proper clock data."

Since the unit was purchased over 90 days ago, it is still within the parts warranty, but out of the labor warranty.  The labor charge would be $90.

Regards,

Steve
==========================================================

Words fail me.

TG

[it-goes-to-eleven]

Yeah, you all are just doing it wrong.   Your VCR is probably blinking 12:00 too

And if the clock is failing in the drawer, well, your kid must be playing with it.

Sometimes you need to kick companies to own up to their products' issues.

Suggestion:  make a video that shows you following the instructions exactly, with the clock subsequently failing.  Then you post it to youtube.  You might include the instructions in the video, etc.

Call it "Sony, WTF?"

[tgos3]

The Service Manager is consulting with the Product Manager regarding warranty repair coverage of this unit.  I told him there are a bunch of us with the problem, and even more of us watching, and the Internet is forever, and Sony has a chance to "make a lot of friends by handling this in a "top class" manner as they say in Morita-san's homeland"  I thanked him for his continued help.

Stay tuned

TG

[willndmb]

The Service Manager is consulting with the Product Manager regarding warranty repair coverage of this unit.  I told him there are a bunch of us with the problem, and even more of us watching, and the Internet is forever, and Sony has a chance to "make a lot of friends by handling this in a "top class" manner as they say in Morita-san's homeland"  I thanked him for his continued help.

Stay tuned

TG

[meursault]

I want a clear answer as I havent understood what I read from previous posts.
When the memory card is full and (using the cross memory feature) then the unit records in the built-in memory the audio files split.
I want to ask you if we lose some audio information at this very point and also if I merge the audio files in -lets say- audacity will I have a smooth result?
Thank you

[rastasean]

file splitting is seamless from internal to external memory without any issues. Yes, you can combine an internal recording with an external recording without any issues.

[su6oxone]

If you prefer to just use a memory card can you choose to just record to that and not use the internal memory (I think I read something about this somewhere deep in the bowels of these massive M10 threads)? 

[rastasean]

Yes, you can use internal or external memory and enable or disable cross memory recording.