[MacDV] Sony TRV-900 audio dropouts

[Gregg Gorrie]

on 4/7/04 10:54 AM, R Underwood at rcundd at hotmail.com wrote:

> A few years ago (maybe five), I bought and have been using a
> Sony TRV-900 miniDV camcorder.  It worked great until about
> 6 months ago, when I started to notice audio dropouts during
> playback.  The dropouts are now so frequent that output is
> unlistenable.  Clues:
> 
> * I have used only Sony tapes in the camcorder.
> 
> * I have never taken the camcorder for maintenance.
> 
> * When I print to miniDV tape from FCP, the tape itself has
> fine audio.  (The camera drops different parts of audio on
> repeated playbacks of the same tape.)
> 
> * Playing a Sony cleaning tape repeatedly seems to help,
> but after a few seconds of clean audio playback the audio
> dropouts creep back in, increasing with frequency as I play
> more of the tape.
> 
> Does you have any troubleshooting suggestions or
> possible diagnoses?

Those cleaning tapes help with minor dirt and grunge, but after five years
there may be a buildup that the tape just can't get at. The other
possibility is head wear or misalignment. Five years is a long time for
prosumer equipment, especially if you use it a lot - they do wear out over
time. 

I would suggest taking it into a Sony repair depot. If you're lucky, the
machine might only need a professional cleaning and tuneup - if not, you may
be looking at new heads or a new camcorder.

In the meantime, I would avoid putting any valuable (irreplaceable) tapes in
the machine as the unit could be scraping the magnetic particles off the
tape (which might be causing the dropouts). Also, when a machine gets to
this point, chewing up tapes becomes a greater possibility.
-- 
Gregg