[leon]

More fodder for discussion

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/do...5/kenwood3.htm

Kenwood have said they're "working" with Sharp on "1-bit" amps, and specifically mentioned portable use. Apparently, though, these are not Sharp clones. The amp here is rated 4.3+4.3mW @16ohm, as opposed to Sharp (5+5@32) and Sony (5+5@16). With gumstick: 40/57/64-hour play on the Q77/55, 36/52/57 on the Q33.

Kenwood used to procure parts from Matsu****a and Sony for the past few years, and they probably continued to use some of the parts in these MDPs.

The Q77 comes with a foldable speaker/cradle, and you can use the speakers without the AC adaptor (will play 10 hours SP on rechargeable). The Q55/33 have foldable stands but not the speakers. Also: The Q55 comes with both clip and earbud phones.

The remote does 2 lines of text display (Q77 and Q55 does 2 lines in Kanji too), and you can pick any combination to go into those 2 lines (#/time, title, group title, disc title, play mode, kenwood logo). Note Kenwood has reverted to a clip that goes on the cord

EQ is bass/treble only, there's also - guess what - surround effect. The Q33 doesn't have surround. All three have aluminum casing.

The Q33 ships late September, the Q77 ships early Oct, the Q55 ships mid October. Estimated street price: Q33 20,000 yen, Q55 25,000 yen, Q77 26,000 yen.

 

[Mystyler]

I love this time of year - so many more MD units out!

BTW, didn't Kenwood used to clone Sharp units? This seems like a home-grown unit, unlike most previous units.

 

[Watchdog]

I've found it difficult to purchase portable MD units in Canada with the exception of Sony.

If I want to purchase Sharp, Kenwood, Aiwa or Panasonic, where can I buy these units?

 

[leon]

Mystyler,
I used to have a Kenwood L5, when I opened it up I saw an Sony ATRAC chip (forgot the chip # but it's version 4.5), and the pickup/spindle look 99.9% like the one from my Panasonic MJ75 (which used Sanyo's ATRAC).

Kenwood's put out 6 or so players since the L5. They are very similar in size, some of them share the bottom casing/buttons too. They probably bought the digital amp from either Sharp or Sony, and put it in their players

It's like the Ford Mustang - no matter how they change the exterior you somehow get the sense it's the same chassis from the 70s (and it is) Sorry, American reference

The cloning of Sharp models stopped... AFAIK recording with a boombox/ stereo system is prevalent in Japan, and PMDRs are relatively non-mainstream. Kenwood's been buying ATRAC for those products from Sony... Type-R too.

Watchdog,
You might have to resort to "mail"-ordering on the Web.

 

[Mystyler]

leon,
Kenwood has purchased Type-R from Sony??
I also thought that the Panasonics used Sharp's ATRAC...

 

[leon]

If you've got it, flaunt it.. so this is what I remember:

Panasonic has bought entire MDP chip packages (ATRAC decoder, micro-computer, pickup driver, etc.) from Sanyo for the first 2-3 years. The MJ35 may have been the first Panasonic player to use Panasonic's own microprocessor. For a while they were a mixture of both, but I think current Panasonics would have no "foreign" content by now. Panasonic MDRs have always been 100% developed by themselves.

Those Sanyo packages were promoted on the Web by Sanyo's semiconductor subsidiary; Panasonic did the same with their own ATRAC chips, so the IC # was easy to find/match.

Kenwood uses Sony components often, and even cloned a hi-end Sony deck in 1996 if I'm not mistaken. e.g. the DMC-J3 had Sony's ATRAC 4.5. I suspect the J3's mechanism was Panasonic - there was a Matsu****a logo on the pickup motor

By the time MDLP was launched, Sony's own MDLP-capable chips also had Type-R, and it seems that they sold these chips to Kenwood and Onkyo, among others, for their first MDLP products.

 

[Mystyler]

Well, I'm not going to argue there!

So you are saying that newer Kenwood/Onkyo units have Type-R capability? Are the advertising this, or have I misunderstood you?

 

[leon]

Okay, it is not *confirmed*, but certain Kenwood, Onkyo and JVC home equipments are thought to have entirely-Sony-made mechanism and chips.

Onkyo has been advertising a "high-speed" ATRAC for over a year now, and it's thought by most people to be Type-R in marketing disguise, because Onkyo said somewhere that the "speed" increase is double. And that sounds like Type-R.

 

[Mystyler]

You know your stuff, leon.

Got any good links? (besides minidisc.org - been there 1+million times!)