Sony TC-D5 Pro II Cassette Recorder

Pulled from storage. Purchased Used on eBay in late nineties for remote vocal recordings but never used.

The TC-D5 Pro II was the last new model in this long running series. Although similar both mechanically and in appearance to the original TC-D5 the Pro II included upgraded electronics to raise the performance level to that which broadcasters and other professional users would require.

The obvious outward sign of this was the fitting of two balanced XLR type microphone connectors, these used transformers for balancing (later Sony models achieved a similar effect electronically, a technique that doesn’t always work as well) and were matched for use with high quality microphones. Inside much of the amplifier circuitry had been made DC coupled, this required a new type of DC-DC converter that produced both positive and negative supplies.

The ferrite head was retained but its appearance had changed, it was now fitted with a metal shield to reduce hum pick up but still remained exceptionally wear resistant. The continued use of a ferrite head meant that recordings needed to be kept below 0dB on the meters to avoid distortion (the limiter was useful for doing this) and that Metal tapes could still not be used.

One of the few changes made to the outside of the machine was that the pressed metal parts were now in “camera finish” rather than flat matt black.

The TC-D5 Pro II remained in production long after the other variants had been discontinued and proved popular despite its very high price.

Owners Manual: www4.uwm.edu/psoa_er/manuals/sound/TC-D5M.pdf

The Sony TC-D5 Pro II was often used buy jazz musicians to record live nightclub performances. Often, these recordings were transferred directly to disc cutting lathes and production cassette duplicators.

The 6V 400ma Power Adapter is not included.
Supplied: 2 size D Batteries.