I have a PCM-2700 with less than 500 hours that still works great, the FL display shows its age but it's still bright enough. It's a areat-sounding machine that has a load of really useful features.
Assuming this is the last video of the year, I must thank you for the superb content. I have learnt so much watching your channel and a couple of others. Best wishes for 2022 - Mark in the UK
I remember these from my CBC days. There was a version of these that allowed you to digitally edit DAT material from one machine to another via a timecode punch-in controller. One worked as playback only and the other allowed you to punch-in record the edit information for a seamless edit. Much like editing video tape back in the day. We used it primarily used for classical music editing at that time.
That's right and there were controllers that would sync multiple playback machines. I forget how many could be synced but I had a friend with a recording studio. When they did session work they would run 2 dat a master and a safety copy for each session. The master was locked up and the safety went in the playback machines. As they played the safety copies in sync a new session was recorded again producing a master and safety. Once all the sessions were done all the master sessions were loaded into multiple playback decks and all were synced using time code. Time code for dat is a strange animal. 100 frames over 3 seconds. So 33, 33, 34, 33,33,34 ect. They then made their mix tape. I believe he had 8 players and 2 recorders in his setup. So 16 channels, with each session a stereo track which was great for drums and acoustic instruments. Been a long time. He ripped all that stuff out and put in Qbass probably 20 years ago now.
@@12voltvids Then came the open reel digital formats from Sony and Studer that were "sexy" machines but were subject to dropouts if there was any dust or tape flaws. Being open reel it was difficult to keep the tapes 100% pristine and the heads had to also be pristine with no tape residue. Expensive and fussy quickly replaced by multiple DA-88 and DA-98 units which used hi-8 cartridges. Generally more reliable than the open reel digital formats but they had their problems as well. Hard Disk and SD memory are much better as there are fewer moving parts and dust is not as much of a problem. But I'll always have a soft spot for the open reel analog and hi-quality cassette formats. Too bad that the Elcasette never really caught on as it seemed a viable middle ground between the reel and cassette formats which with added noise reduction could have been a winner if not for the 8-track cartridge and the improvement of compact cassettes at that time. We can only guess at what the next "Big Thing" in audio will be in the future.
I modified one of these to operate as a SDIF-2 to S/PDIF converter to go between a PCM1630 (Umatic based professional PCM system) and a modern digital recorder.
Older equipment will always need some maintenance with fresh grease, new belts and capacitors. At least it keeps us occupied and pays some bills. Have a great New Year Dave.
How do you feel about applying a light wipe of MG Rubber Renew on square belts before using ? I find the grip is improved by doing this. Though not on flat belts only square ones min .6mm thick
This one survived the past 31-32 years nicely. Even the SMD electrolytics were just open, but not pissing on the board. This set probably had a similar price to a new car back in the day. Does this model also have that magnetic clutch which always breaks? Or they eliminated it with the two direct drive reel motors? I mean it probably still have reel clutches but no need for the plastic teeth on the perimeter because there is no pendulum gear to interface with.
Well done dave 😀 It really didn't take long for you to get the dat recorder singing again. it seems like the cap death is speeding up. Nearly time to purchase another bucket of value caps 😞 If i havn't already said it, ihope you and your wife have a better 2022 😀
Keep this in mind. I already know where to look based on past experience on similar models. When I zero in on a fault relatively quick, it is because I have had a similar problem in the past. When I haven't worked on similar models before and it is the first time I have seen the fault it will ususlly take me quite a bit of time tracking down the problem. Even though this was the first PCM2500 I have ever looked at, the circuit isn't that much different than other models.
Hi, I have a set of 2500A & 2500B. It seems my 2500A got a problem very similar as this one. When I turned power on the FF motor spin a while then stop. Both error indicator light on. Also, the caution display on screen flash. No response when I pushed Open/Close button. The tray loading system won't work including all gears or motors. So, should I fallow your method to check Servo Board at bottom first? Or any suggestions to help me to solve the problem. I would be appreciate for your reply. Regards, John Lu
Very nice unit some revisions of the 1541 are worth more than others and the phillips sa ic is also another one that i think many regard as good quality .very nice dat deck i could have bought a nice sony dat deck from our local charity shop was priced at just £40 uk i had a look on ebay and all tapes were expensive at the time now they seem cheaper needless to say it sold quickly and was no doubt worth far more than the charity shop was asking .
Thank you for the video on this Sony 2500 DAT tape loading problem. Mine has the exact same issue. I bought it new in 1988. Knowing that it’s an issue with the CAPS on the small transport board. Could I send you just the small board and have new CAPS installed for me? Is that possible? Paul
@@12voltvids ok got it. What would you charge if I send the entire 2500A unit (not the B) and I have you replace the belts and the 4 CAPS, I’m having no luck finding the correct replacement belts online. Just a ballpark price, I know it would be more obviously if you had to do more work.
@@12voltvids I did a lot of searching today for the belts. According to the service manual parts list, although it’s missing 2 pages, I see two different sized belts, and I have their dimensions. Gonna reach out tomorrow to a couple sources to see if they can source or make them.
Mine will be the 13th view, it was uploaded 1 minute ago according to the YT main page. This is my earliest view ever, and maybe the first 'first' comment 🙂. Happy New Year, Dave!
It fell on a ground trace, and yes it was picked off before I put it together. That was actually an editing fuckup, because I normally wouldn't have ever allowed that to be shown. I did see it right after the shot and cleaned it up but that shot should never have made it into the cut.
Yeah ads are irritating, but you have bugger all to do with Limu Emu and Doug turning up. Some people need to grow up, and pay up like an adult. Fussy babies need a nappy change. Anyway great videos, and wish I'd seen these before my housemate sold his Sony ES DAT recorder. He still has his Tascam unit though, superb machine.
It handles the auxiliary data recorded on the tape. Required to record but not required to process signals as when i made the recording the audio was plugged in directly. Will not enter record without it.
I wouldn’t send my equipment to you for repairs, Looking at the video of how you handle it, it’s just a nightmare, The front panel was slammed onto the table, Where there’s a bunch of all sorts of bolts lying around and rosin residue, I think it was quite unpleasant for the owner of this equipment to watch with this, Like a knife to the heart, When he spent so much time packing this equipment so that God forbid it would not be scratched. Treat this comment with understanding, clean your table of all rubbish and lay at least some piece of rubber on it. Thank you 😥
Opinions are like assholes everyone has one. I am busy enough that I don't need your work. All my clients are thrilled that their old equipment is back to life again. And no i don't scratch customers gear. My bench where i actually do the work is swept every time i put something new up
@@12voltvids What was to be expected, Well, which of us is an asshole, I just commented on the fact that I saw in the video, You think in your opinion That the client should be happy since you repaired his old device, You are a professional master But Be a little lenient with the equipment your customers, I'm not your competitor, I'm just a subscriber who likes to watch your videos.
@@AS-ws7ie i don't damage equipment never have. If it's mine i don't care about it because most has been given to me and i do the repair as a demo and after it is finished i dispose of it.
@@12voltvids Well God bless you, I wish you success, And successful promotion of your channel, I will be glad to watch your new video Thank you good afternoon, I apologize if my comments caused you inconvenience
Thank you again dave for all your hard work making all your videos and the running of your channel , hope you and your family have a great new year.
I have a PCM-2700 with less than 500 hours that still works great, the FL display shows its age but it's still bright enough. It's a areat-sounding machine that has a load of really useful features.
Assuming this is the last video of the year, I must thank you for the superb content. I have learnt so much watching your channel and a couple of others. Best wishes for 2022 - Mark in the UK
I will probably do one this afternoon to be posted before the year ends. Just have to decide on what to do a video on.
OMG! Thank you for posting video. I just acquired the Sony DTC-1000ES which looks exactly the same as this on inside and out, and it has issues.
I remember these from my CBC days. There was a version of these that allowed you to digitally edit DAT material from one machine to another via a timecode punch-in controller. One worked as playback only and the other allowed you to punch-in record the edit information for a seamless edit. Much like editing video tape back in the day. We used it primarily used for classical music editing at that time.
That's right and there were controllers that would sync multiple playback machines. I forget how many could be synced but I had a friend with a recording studio. When they did session work they would run 2 dat a master and a safety copy for each session. The master was locked up and the safety went in the playback machines. As they played the safety copies in sync a new session was recorded again producing a master and safety. Once all the sessions were done all the master sessions were loaded into multiple playback decks and all were synced using time code. Time code for dat is a strange animal. 100 frames over 3 seconds. So 33, 33, 34, 33,33,34 ect. They then made their mix tape. I believe he had 8 players and 2 recorders in his setup. So 16 channels, with each session a stereo track which was great for drums and acoustic instruments. Been a long time. He ripped all that stuff out and put in Qbass probably 20 years ago now.
@@12voltvids Then came the open reel digital formats from Sony and Studer that were "sexy" machines but were subject to dropouts if there was any dust or tape flaws. Being open reel it was difficult to keep the tapes 100% pristine and the heads had to also be pristine with no tape residue. Expensive and fussy quickly replaced by multiple DA-88 and DA-98 units which used hi-8 cartridges. Generally more reliable than the open reel digital formats but they had their problems as well. Hard Disk and SD memory are much better as there are fewer moving parts and dust is not as much of a problem. But I'll always have a soft spot for the open reel analog and hi-quality cassette formats. Too bad that the Elcasette never really caught on as it seemed a viable middle ground between the reel and cassette formats which with added noise reduction could have been a winner if not for the 8-track cartridge and the improvement of compact cassettes at that time. We can only guess at what the next "Big Thing" in audio will be in the future.
It has the famous TDA1541A DAC chip. It’s a nice built unit
Fantastic job, I read all the posts below me and I'm still amazed on how you can zero right in on the problem. Cheers. Happy New Year.
I modified one of these to operate as a SDIF-2 to S/PDIF converter to go between a PCM1630 (Umatic based professional PCM system) and a modern digital recorder.
Older equipment will always need some maintenance with fresh grease,
new belts and capacitors.
At least it keeps us occupied and pays some bills.
Have a great New Year Dave.
Wishing Happy new year to you and your family sir.
Freat job Dave. Happy New Year.🕛😁
That’s a really nice looking unit.
It is.
How do you feel about applying a light wipe of MG Rubber Renew on square belts before using ? I find the grip is improved by doing this. Though not on flat belts only square ones min .6mm thick
quality workmanship, that's why it weighs a lot
This one survived the past 31-32 years nicely. Even the SMD electrolytics were just open, but not pissing on the board. This set probably had a similar price to a new car back in the day. Does this model also have that magnetic clutch which always breaks? Or they eliminated it with the two direct drive reel motors? I mean it probably still have reel clutches but no need for the plastic teeth on the perimeter because there is no pendulum gear to interface with.
Well done dave 😀
It really didn't take long for you to get the dat recorder singing again.
it seems like the cap death is speeding up.
Nearly time to purchase another bucket of value caps 😞
If i havn't already said it, ihope you and your wife have a better 2022 😀
Keep this in mind. I already know where to look based on past experience on similar models.
When I zero in on a fault relatively quick, it is because I have had a similar problem in the past. When I haven't worked on similar models before and it is the first time I have seen the fault it will ususlly take me quite a bit of time tracking down the problem. Even though this was the first PCM2500 I have ever looked at, the circuit isn't that much different than other models.
Hi, I have a set of 2500A & 2500B. It seems my 2500A got a problem very similar as this one. When I turned power on the FF motor spin a while then stop. Both error indicator light on. Also, the caution display on screen flash. No response when I pushed Open/Close button. The tray loading system won't work including all gears or motors. So, should I fallow your method to check Servo Board at bottom first? Or any suggestions to help me to solve the problem. I would be appreciate for your reply. Regards, John Lu
Very nice unit some revisions of the 1541 are worth more than others and the phillips sa ic is also another one that i think many regard as good quality .very nice dat deck i could have bought a nice sony dat deck from our local charity shop was priced at just £40 uk i had a look on ebay and all tapes were expensive at the time now they seem cheaper needless to say it sold quickly and was no doubt worth far more than the charity shop was asking .
Happy 2022 david 😀
Thank you for the video on this Sony 2500 DAT tape loading problem.
Mine has the exact same issue. I bought it new in 1988.
Knowing that it’s an issue with the CAPS on the small transport board. Could I send you just the small board and have new CAPS installed for me? Is that possible? Paul
Can't test if only board sent.
@@12voltvids ok got it. What would you charge if I send the entire 2500A unit (not the B) and I have you replace the belts and the 4 CAPS, I’m having no luck finding the correct replacement belts online.
Just a ballpark price, I know it would be more obviously if you had to do more work.
I don't even know where the belts are available from anymore. Most of my sources have closed up shop.
@@12voltvids I did a lot of searching today for the belts. According to the service manual parts list, although it’s missing 2 pages, I see two different sized belts, and I have their dimensions. Gonna reach out tomorrow to a couple sources to see if they can source or make them.
Mine will be the 13th view, it was uploaded 1 minute ago according to the YT main page. This is my earliest view ever, and maybe the first 'first' comment 🙂. Happy New Year, Dave!
Stayed up late just to hit the upload button.
Damn Dave! That blob of solder that felt of your iron at 31:01 can cause lot's of problems, hope you removed it?
It fell on a ground trace, and yes it was picked off before I put it together. That was actually an editing fuckup, because I normally wouldn't have ever allowed that to be shown. I did see it right after the shot and cleaned it up but that shot should never have made it into the cut.
Yeah ads are irritating, but you have bugger all to do with Limu Emu and Doug turning up. Some people need to grow up, and pay up like an adult. Fussy babies need a nappy change. Anyway great videos, and wish I'd seen these before my housemate sold his Sony ES DAT recorder. He still has his Tascam unit though, superb machine.
So essentialy the 2500B is doing what a DI box would do.
It handles the auxiliary data recorded on the tape. Required to record but not required to process signals as when i made the recording the audio was plugged in directly. Will not enter record without it.
That's what we call a drop kick
Kickdrop?
I wouldn’t send my equipment to you for repairs, Looking at the video of how you handle it, it’s just a nightmare, The front panel was slammed onto the table, Where there’s a bunch of all sorts of bolts lying around and rosin residue, I think it was quite unpleasant for the owner of this equipment to watch with this, Like a knife to the heart, When he spent so much time packing this equipment so that God forbid it would not be scratched. Treat this comment with understanding, clean your table of all rubbish and lay at least some piece of rubber on it. Thank you
😥
Opinions are like assholes everyone has one. I am busy enough that I don't need your work. All my clients are thrilled that their old equipment is back to life again. And no i don't scratch customers gear. My bench where i actually do the work is swept every time i put something new up
@@12voltvids What was to be expected, Well, which of us is an asshole, I just commented on the fact that I saw in the video, You think in your opinion That the client should be happy since you repaired his old device, You are a professional master But Be a little lenient with the equipment your customers, I'm not your competitor, I'm just a subscriber who likes to watch your videos.
@@AS-ws7ie i don't damage equipment never have. If it's mine i don't care about it because most has been given to me and i do the repair as a demo and after it is finished i dispose of it.
@@12voltvids Well God bless you, I wish you success, And successful promotion of your channel, I will be glad to watch your new video Thank you good afternoon, I apologize if my comments caused you inconvenience
@@AS-ws7ie they didn't.
...interesting!!! i have a PCM2300 with a similar issue. load the tape and that's it! ... any advise ? thanks