Hope this is the right forum section, technically it is a cassette deck after all. And yup, DAT again! A Sony DTC-690 DAT deck theoretically awaits me for 20€. Supposedly still functional. The years built: 1993-1994. Theoretically before the whole copy-protection annoyance. An image so you know which model this is is in the spoiler below: Spoiler Small rundown of its feature set on hifi engine. The shop I stumbled across it now has primarily younger people working there and since years overall the employees (basically all musicians) have no use for it at all due to the advantages of direct digital recording and HDD/flash storage. Now they want to sell it, but since nobody desires these things, they want to sell it for merely 20€. I'm intrigued and seriously considering a purchase next week when I'm close-by again. It has an optical input and output, meaning I could even copy my existing DATs over to minidisc or record on it by hooking my DVD player to it. As would be expected, coaxial input can be found too. Yet, here I am still considering it as my usable space for bigger devices is sparse and the only logical gap I found that I could cram it in could cause heat issues. Actually the original intent of purchasing my TCD-D8 was to do recording through it, and I use it for stationary listening purposes to spare my WMD-DT1 a bit, but the comfort of a deck is of course a higher one... So, Stereo2Go, I ask you: Should I buy it? Anyone used this deck and can give some insight on its reliability and functionality?
Definitely buy it ! Although I really understand your space considerations the convenience of a dedicated DAT deck in comparison with a portable one for recordings is not something to overlook , also if it works it will extend the life of your other DATs as they will be used less. It can be used for example to rewind the tapes you listen to your portables to prolong their life. It also looks so cool.
The price is nice The transport is very sensitive and picky, it doesn't like DDS tapes (longer than 60 meters/ 120 minutes) If you can test it before buying, try to FF and REW a 120 min. tape from start to end and watch if the transport struggles with it. I think it has the SCMS copy protection. It's a nice machine, I had a 670 but already sold it ...
Ah snap, you're right @HWTest , it does have SCMS. I checked the manual. Guess I mixed up dates, 92 introduced and not 95. No idea why I had 95 in mind to begin with! It will have to be a (mostly) blind purchase based on trust though, but I'll try to bring a DAT just to test the mechanism. Perhaps SCMS can be easily circumvented or was already, guess I'll have to ask next time. I realized I forgot to ask if I would get just the deck or also its equipment for 20. Well, still worth a shot, and be it just for listening purposes through speakers.
The SCMS is no problem now. I use an iRiver iHP-140 for recording from my DATs. SCMS prevents only direct digital copying from DAT to DAT.
Well, I've actually considered making backups of some tapes that way, but I guess one more step in the process won't be a big problem either way. I'll contact the shop soon to make the "maybe" into a "definitely" in order to prevent others from snatching it until I can buy and retrieve it. Thanks for all the input, I'm looking forward to it! I even found a place to put it as I was taking measurements this weekend, which would be directly below my vinyl turntable. It even matches its lower colour making for a sweet visual transition! Wish me luck that I'll be able to get it soonish.
Alright, small update: I reserved it and will purchase it on friday. No remote. I'll take the risk. I've seen one can get replica remotes for as cheap as 15€.
Update: I got it. I'm happy with it (when it worked), but it's not flawless, aka a little rebel. Further info below. First off we'll have some pictures. Once it stayed on after the first moment of rebellion: Test-run with tape inside (it ran from start to end and I tested skipping through tracks). During playback. I tested all display options. Visually, it's nice. Some tiny scratches here and there but I could easily make them invisible with some patience, likely not necessary since my vinyl turntable will be on top. However, upon first inspection, it refused to turn on. After repositioning and reconnecting on another spot, it did however. But slight bumps against it and shifting made it go off again - or on. At some point it was stable enough that nothing made it go off other than a change in position. So I tested the functionality, here a breakdown: Everything works fine, forward, rewind, title skip, pause, stop, play, etc.. It was connected to my setup through line out, works like a breeze too, very nice sound. Headphone jack is apparently dirty and the volume knob for it causes crackling noises and way too loud levels even at anything slightly above zero. Nothing I shouldn't be able to fix with some cleaning though. What happens right now: Suddenly refused to stay on in its position on its legs. It won't stay on for extended periods unless upside down. I put it on my bed to test and it will stay on. Carefully flipping it back on its legs will keep that up a while and after a few minutes it's off again. Moving the deck around in correct orientation will accelerate the issue of it turning off and staying off again. If it goes off, it's not fully off. Some current still seems to enter it, although far to weak to warrant any functionality. When casting a shadow on the display I can see that it glims just barely noticable (horizontal red stripes). It's not the external power cord, twisting and turning it didn't influence this in any way. Could it be the circuit board? Let's assume they knew of this (what I sincerely hope is a) loose contact but didn't bother to fix it as it's outdated, obsolete tech, the 20€ could still be fair as everything else seems fine. I could return it after testing it (their words), but I'm tempted to open it up as it's just 4 screws to lift the cover... I so hope it's no issue that might make this beautiful bargain purchase void.
Congrats for your purchase. At first is a good thing that while it is on it functions properly and sounds as it should. As HWTest suggested I would check all connectors also would check if the main power switch has erratic function and if there are loose PCB to chassis bolts.
I opened it up (what a struggle even though it's just 4 screws!) and this is the result... Images in spoiler to prevent excessive loading times for others. Spoiler Nice traces of heat development there. Apart from that that's the first glimpse. The "box" with the folded boards opposite of the tape mechanism is (from what I could gather) the PSU. There seem to be two main cables providing power to the mainboard and from there to the deck. However, both seem fairly rigid. Here a bigger top view: Angled: Another angle: There was one component I believe I've never seen before. I might have to take another look into the service manual to figure out what it does. This glass tube next to "power off": I tried flipping it into the position it works in but there was exactly 0 movements. Nothing. So I'm confused why that makes it work to begin with. All capacitors are (optically) fine, all connections/connectors seem to sit well. I tilted it and I see no moving cables or components. I'm puzzled. At most I could assume it's near the power cord where the black tape is... Any other ideas? Unfortunately I have no tools to measure powerflows with... which complicates things. And should I hit a dead end, I wouldn't know who to get this to for repair, most people here aren't familiar. In the very worst case I'll have to return it or sell it as spare parts. The only culprit I might see are the unknown glass tube component and the black taped cable part right behind the PSU on the left.
The glass component is the mains fuse (2.5 A) , it can be pulled off and then back again to make sure it has a good contact , ATTENTION : before make sure that the mains plug is pulled off from the wall socket , mains voltage ( 220 Volts) passes through this fuse ! The black part behind the fuse looks like a diode bridge rectifier , this converts the mains AC voltage to DC voltage to feed the circuitry of the player , obviously a critical part too. Two other points you might want to check : a) Another mains wall socket. b) Toggle gently the external power cord at the point where it enters to the player to see if there is interruption of power , maybe the cable is almost broken internally.
Thanks, those explanations and pointers are a great help! Yeah, I'm not touching anything under power and I always wait appropriate times before fiddling. With such devices I'll give it at least an hour, maybe I'm overly cautious, maybe not. Better be on the safe side. I did try different sockets all around the room and house, though the behaviour remained consistent. I'll give these a try, although another more urgent defect arised in my life, which is my PC (typing this over my laptop), so I'll have to fix that first before anything else.
I would suspect the power cable is broken somewhere. Is the cable fixed or is it removable? If the power cable is OK, the next suspect would be a bad contact, bad solder joint in the PSU or cracked PCB. Did you try to reseat all connector? You could inspect the PSU PCBs for cracks or bad solder joints visually, if you have no tools for measurements.
