Just keeping this thread fresh.Any ideas guys on how i go about replacing my CDRHD 1500 CD drive.Is it as easy as fitting a standard pc cdr drive?
Many thanks for any help
I have the CDR-HD1300 model which came before, but the problems will be the same. Although the power and data connectors on the drive, and its basic size, are standard, there are two potential issues. One - the plastic bezel on the disc tray is a non-standard part, so you may have trouble getting the tray in and out once installed. And two, it's possible that Yamaha have been awkward and programmed the player to only "talk" to one manufacturer and type of drive.
I personally wouldn't go about trying to swap the CD-RW drive unless I was able to replace it with one of exactly the same type.
Does that help?
Thanks JohnF that's useful to me should i need to replace with the same drive.What i'm really after is if knowing if i can fit a standard PC cd rw drive regardless of fitting in fact, and still have it function.Just a back up in case the drive fails - getting a couple of cheap pc drives would put my mind at rest if indeed it's possible to use pc drives.
Thanks for any additional help people
If you are familiar with PC-type ATA/IDE connections, then one way of finding out would be to get a PC drive, try it and see - at your own risk of course! I see no reason why that should cause trouble, the worst I would expect is that it wouldn't work, but I'm not about to try it right now data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Might just give it a go, the worst i can imagine is that it doesn't work and i want to know either way.I'll report back with my findings when indeed i attempt this.
Cheers
Hi
I bought the CDR HD1300 a 4½ years ago and it is still going. Lots of niggles in comparison to all these mp3 and streamers such as accessing the CD that you want or naming albums and tracks can be time consuming
Couple of questions
Does anyone know if any Yamaha amplifiers that has a remote that does the amplifier and CDR1300
I have been told that the 80 GB HD can be upgraded but anything above 137 GB will just be a waste as it wont be used. Is there any way round this and how difficult is it to upgrade
Thanks
I bought a CDR HD1300 some 4 years ago, paying full retail price for the machine, and spent a lot of time recording favourite tracks from CDs and vinyl records in my collection - all purchased legitimately.
I found the user interface very limited, and ease of use poor, but appreciated what the machine could do. It enabled me to make high quality recordings of many tracks. And after a while I began to understand the user interface.
The main limitations (in my view) of this unit centre around the fact that Yamaha, for copyright protection reasons, do not provide any means of copying the hard-disk, for example for back-up reasons, other than writing CDs. Even though it was four years, I had not written more than a couple of CDs. Another serious limitation related to this is that there is no way to export the files on the HDD to a computer, for example, so that the user can edit recordings from vinyl in software that removes pops and clicks, and then write CDs.
The main way that I used the machine was random play, since it was a great way to play tracks from my selection.
One night, recently, after we had some people over, my wife wanted to turn the machine off. Not being technically ept, she didn't know to simply stop the CD unit playing, and to stop it she turned off the power at the button on the front panel, while the unit was playing. Bad move.
Next morning, when I went to play some tracks, I found the error message "drive check". On checking the manual, I found that means that there is a problem with the HDD. In my review of the manual, I found an important Caution buried on page E-76 of the manual where it says, in a box at the bottom of the page "IMPORTANT. Never turn off power of this unit during playback. The data on the HDD may be damaged."
There are two obvious problems with this. The first is that Yamaha has, in my view, an obligation to draw this to the attention of consumers, probably with a red sticker on the cover of the manual, or on the unit itself. Given that the consequences of turning off the unit while it is playing are so serious - likely complete loss of all of your recordings, title information etc - Yamaha surely should do more to tell us consumers about the problem. On page i of the manual (third page in after the safety cautions) Yamaha provide a list "Caution: Read This Before Operating This Unit" which unfortunately doesn't list this problem.
The second is, surely Yamaha has the technical expertise to design the machine so that a consumer cannot damage the HDD simply by turning the machine off while it is playing back.
I asked my IT support team to have a look at the HDD to see if they could at least recover the files using file recovery software. They found that the files are written in a proprietary format using proprietary Yamaha software, and that there is nothing they can do to recover my files.
I took the machine to the dealer from whom I bought the machine. They commented that 'everybody knows that HDDs fail sooner or later' and that has probably happened with this one. They have sent it off to a specialist service centre, but they are not hopeful that I can recover the files. Most likely I will have to put in a new HDD and start all over again.
One of the limitations if I do so is that I will only be able to put in a HDD that is less than 137 GB, since that is the upper limit of the machine.
I asked the dealer "Well how are we supposed to back-up the HDD to avoid total loss of the data?". He said simple, write it to CDs as the machine is designed to do. However, it would have been nice if Yamaha had made it clear in the manual that a user should take care to do that, since there is no other way to back up the HDD. He said that a better solution these days is to purchase a turntable with USB connection to a computer, or a pre-amp with USB connection (he recommended the NAD PP3).
Clearly, whatever its other strengths (and it has many), the CDR HD1500 has some fundamental design flaws that should at least be drawn to the attention of users. Unfortunately Yamaha choose not to do this (they must know about the problem) and in so doing let the user down badly.
One last caution. The manual (downloadable on-line) has never been updated, and does not provide details of suitable replacement HDDs. They do provide a HDD Installation Manual for the CDR-HD1300, but it recommends only 40GB and 80GB hard disks, not the 120GB HDD that my machine is fitted with. Something of an oversight.
Frankly, I am amazed that a leading consumer electronics company like Yamaha could allow this to happen. I am VERY disappointed in them.
An update: The service people called today with a quote to fix the HDR-CD1300. Apparently it needs a new HDD and a new CD burner. They said that the price of the genuine Yamaha spares is A$2062 - this for a unit that cost A$1300 new!! They told me that they could fit aftermarket parts at a cost of $445.
Also, they weren't able to offer a solution to recovering the 1000s of lost files on the HDD, but said that there must be a way to do it. I would appreciate any guidance on this, particularly as to what format the files are, and what software is needed to read the files.
After thinking about it, I asked them not to proceed to fix the unit. I can still use the unit as a CD player - it is a good CD player. However, I have found (to my cost) that the basic philosophy of the Yamaha HDR-CD1300 is flawed. What is the use of a HDD based unit where you cannot back up the HDD drive. As the service guys said, everybody knows that HDDs fail.
I am looking at the alternative of using a NAD PP3 amplifier to feed signal from my Rega 3 Turntable into my computer. I can hold the files on the HDD, and use software to clean up the pops/clicks etc, and record CDs using a burner and burning software. I can also apparently play tracks on my computer by connecting to my stereo system.
Note that I am not technically very ofay with all this, and may be saying silly things. However, I would appreciate any informed guidance.
As the unit notes CD protection, the CDs are basically your backup/original. If you could back it up, then you could copy the tracks and this unit is very anti-that. Some people have actually praised the unit for that! I see the issue however, especially the time making albums and audjusting db to level out all tracks - I used to do that! data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
I have one myself with an 80GB drive which hardly ever got used my dedicated transport is better sonically, so I decided to settle with quality over flexibility and dediced not to do the cable mod etc. It's a very good burner however, although I don't burn that much either! If you want a replacement, I have been thinking of selling my mint one as I do most of my burning on the PC now. You reminded me I need to think about this! data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
There is a way to make a backup ! I've found a little program with which you can exchange data through a pc. Just take the harddisk out of the CDR-HD1500 and put it in an extern usb-hdcase and make your copy to another harddisk.
The other way around I just rip cd's through my pc to an external HD (and keep this one as master) and after that I put them all to a HD that was formatted on a CDR-HD1500.
THe program is called 'Yamaha_CDR-HD1500_Assistant'.
Lots of succes.