Sony TC-K770ES calibration and record/play test (with some Koto!)
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 25 мар 2020
- Decided to try a Sony TC-K770ES from the early nineties this winter. Overall it's a very nice machine with direct drive, dual capstan, manual tape calibration and lovely peak meters. Here I'm recording a Maxell UDI CD (quite nice type 1 tape, but flimsy and cheap shell) pushing the levels unnecessarily high. Somehow I find that very amusing.
Disclaimer: This is a very unscientific test made just for fun. The source material is of debatable quality, the sound card not very good for the purpose (it cannot handle the output levels from the line out, thus the output has been routed through a cheap Sony MiniDisc to bring the levels down but reducing the quality) and, naturally.. The result will be better with a Metal, sadly they don't grow on trees these days (and probably never did). :)
Story mode: The deck was in quite good shape when I got it, but I decided it was worth somewhat of an overhaul with:
New supply and take up pinch rollers (FixYourAudio)
New capstan and mode belt (Hi-Fi RetroParts)
Replacement of an SMD capacitor on the DD motor board
Cleaning and lubrication of the transport (TCM-200D6) and the heads (no lubrication)
Playback level adjustment (245 mV RMS @ CX20188 Dolby IC pin 21 and 22)
Minor REC-level, BIAS and calibration adjustment
Playback speed check (WFGUI, 3000-ish Hz, below 0.05% W&F DIN)
Azimuth check (audioTester 3.0)
Frequency response check (audioTester 3.0, almost flat 20 Hz to 20 kHz, Sony Metal XR)
Playback level, speed and azimuth was verified with the U04103-70C combined test tape (A.N.T. Audio). Alignment of the supply roller was made using a hobo style mirror cassette.
Thanks to the people at Tapeheads.net and "Cassette magnetic tapes and tape decks" on Facebook for providing a nice source of information and a place to discuss this very weird hobby of ours. :) 
Приколы
That tape just makes recording much beter then the source,
much warmer and thicker, just how i remember tape sound from
my teenager times when recording tapes was cool and creative
Thanks for showing nice Sony deck 🙂 nice demo 🙂
Sounds absolutely wonderful! I hope you still have this thing and are taking great care of it! I'm jealous you have such a great specimen!
The most interesting stuff of the whole video flashed by in about 5 seconds...
Then try this one instead: ruclips.net/video/2CwX7ZCPkO0/видео.html :)
Great comparison! I love stereo cassettes and how they sound. The sound is more richer from the tape. From the source is a little bit thin and flat.
Great video, great deck, great music !
Very nice tape deck also got one in new condition, the sound is phenominally better than TC-K A6 ES works best with Sony Nomal HX tapes
nice cassette sound
Very nice deck
Sony excelled themselves when they made these !. Their later 90s decks were made to a cost and were not as good. I have a TC-K 570 from the same period which was recommended to me when I bought it new.
woow excelent sound
i have this same one, except mine is faulty, the door wont open and it wont play tapes
What cable you using for recording trough headphones port? Nice deck anyway
thaks
i got sony TC-K690, wery nice and sound wery good to. But motor started to give weakness to turn capstan belt and cassete, loud noise even and get hot. ordered new motor and belts new too. But after all, these decks are perfect :)
Why isn't there more noise without dolly c ? This would totally sound different with my deck.
My deck is the Dolby S is it any better then Dolby C ?
I’ve got a sealed box, brand new TC-K870ES coming this week from a collector. It’s never been removed from its box or powered up. What would you recommend I do? Would it need a service? Belts? Crazy to think it’s 30 years old, I’m very lucky to find this
Wow, that's awesome! I agree, it's kinda crazy to find something that old brand new in its original box. I think a big CONGRATULATIONS is in order! :)
Considering the age and that rubber belts usually go bad-ish with time (even though the capstan belts on these decks seems to hold up quite well), maybe a minor service exchanging the mode belt and maybe the capstan belt?
But try it first? No real need to change anything if it works right out of the box.
P.S. The mode belt can be quite tricky the first time around, but there's a good guide over at Tapeheads if you do not wish to re-align the left (supply) pinch roller: www.tapeheads.net/showthread.php?t=30926
Great! How do you suggest to deal with the setting of REC LEVEL on TDK-SA?
Thanks! :) I'm not sure exactly what you mean, during calibration? Or just in general during recording?
@@SerafimSvensson Calibration procedure was understood. The question was in general so after calibration during recording.
On Sony's homepage I found the original operation-manual for the similar TC-K870ES (TC-K770ES not found) which answered questions.😊
R u plan selling it ?
Had one with matching 770 tuner 770 amp with amp 22es speakers sadly sold 😢😢😢
What's the difference between this K770ES and TC-222ES?
If I'm not mistaken the TC-K222ES-series (ESG, ESL, ESA) are JDM-decks (for the Japanese market), and corresponds with the TC-K850ES/TC-K870ES/TC-K890ES. So, a step up from the 750/770/790-series.
I own 890ES it looks almost the same , do you know the difference?
Honestly I don't know all the details, but to my knowledge the TC-K890ES is a better machine overall. Except in one area - hot recordings on type 2 and 4 are quite limited due to different heads (the 870 and 890 uses laser-amorphous for both rec and play, while the 700-series uses Permalloy) and the way Sony implemented these and the recording circuitry.
There are threads on the Tapeheads forum about this, and how to make hot recordings a bit better - matching the 900-series.
@@SerafimSvensson Thanks for your input and info .
How does this record with levels greater than 0db and going into the red zone without distortion? i usually record till peaks hit 0db. Here i see you are peaking at 8db.
Quite well actually, the 700-series from this era with its Permalloy heads are not too shabby for hot recordings with type 1 super ferrics and metal tapes. Be sure to check out my other videos, at least the TC-K750ES one (which is almost the same machine as this) where a Metal-ES is recorded really hot.
... But unless you're recording a metal tape, which has higher SOL (Saturation Output Level, usually measured at 10 KHz) than both type 1 and 2, keeping your recording level around Dolby level or 0 dB is most likely a better way to record, but not as much fun. 😉
Can you tell me how many people in the 80's or 90's knew about the calibration system and how to use it.I'm born in 1973 and I've discover it just 2 years ago watching similar videos in RUclips.In the 80's there wasn't RUclips or even the internet.thanks!
I was born in 1979, and during the 80s and early/mid 90s (while I was using cassettes) I didn't even know what that strange BIAS-knob some better decks had was for. :)
классная дека - у меня стоят 3 такие (требующие профилактики)
Mine is the 909 es
I will say run a brand new tape once only in this unit. Use a 2 head unit to test. Why wear the head by playing it
This is a recorder, this should ɓ restricted to that and abstain from any playback duties. This help preserve the heads.
Everything cool..I never record or listen using Dolby especially on HI END gears .too much INPUT level pal
DO YOU KNOW WERE: "E.S." STANDS FOR ?. "EXTREAMLY SONY." IN JAPAN IS A GROUP OF NINE SPECIALISTS. AND THEY CÁN DO WHATEVER THEY WANNA DO. AND THEN YOU GET SKYHIGH PRICES. AND MAKE SHURE YOU CLEAN THE HEADS AND CAPSTAN AS AND THE RUBBER ROL. AND DEGMATISEER THE HEADS TO. FOR A PERFECT RECORDING. HAS THE DECK: "DOLBY S. AND DOLBY HX-PRO ?."
ये डेंग बिकाऊ हैं क्या मेरे चाहिते कितने इंडियन रुपए में है
Minimum 2 laakh
न्यू ब्रांड में एक्स्ट्रा पार्ट्स के साथ में
सोनी कंपनी की कैसेट देख भारत में भी उपलब्ध कराएं
CD AND VINYL ARE BETTER THAN CASSETTE
Why thank you for enlightening me
Test fake
nah
why?