backlight, sound quality, size, controls

no 44.1K, SCMS, transport reliability, battery life, inaccurate db meter, proprietary digital hookup.

Good machine for it's day but with flaws: the loading mechanism is very fragile, mine has required realignment several times, and a head replacement under moderately light use. Pretty good DAC's and ADC's on board, the onboard
pre-amp is so-so (esp for mic's) the outboard digital hookup could have been done better (hard to find too) Best in stealth applications.

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tcd-d8,

Description and specifications: digital audio tape recorder/player. 5 1/4"" x 1 1/2" x 3 1/2". Weight 1lb 1oz . power ac down to 6 volt dc or 4 "aa" batteries.sampling rates 48,44.1,32khz. Frequency response: 20-22khz (48khz) 20-20khz (44.1khz), 20-14.5khz (32khz). All sweeps at -/+ 1 db. Long/standard play signal to noise ratio >87db. THD less than .008% @ 1khz,22khz,lpf,line in. Wow and flutter less than +/- 0.001% w.peak. mic impedence input 4.7kohms,line in 4.7kohms. All manufacturers claims.

Ok enough with the numbers now. What is this DAT all about? It is about "portable" "project" studio recording,on-site impromptu recording. A mastering DAT in a pinch. Although keep in mind the dreaded "SCMS" is ever present. With the outboard Sony SBM-1 A/D processor,you have one very serious high end recorder. It will come very close to the DTC-2000es SBM DAT...for in this case, $2800.00. You only of course pay half of that and get 90% of the sound quality. Not bad really when you consider all this fits in a brief case ready to roll with mics. It is easy to see why "NPR" correspondants like these.
Small,and a battery life that runs 4 hours. Most other portable DATS' only do 2 hours. I needed a portable that would still sound good,record meetings,music,and play anywhere,car included with the proper adaptors,power,and cassette. The D7 filled the ticket nicely. Even without the external processors,the D7 sounds good enough. Better than any cassette walkman obviously,better theoretically than mini-disc,at least the early ones anyway. More portable than a CD unit. Tapes fit in a pocket just fine. Tapes are easy to get too. With the optional digital input cable,cloning a CD couldn't be easier. Naturally this unit isn't going to put my other gear out of work. My Tandberg for example still sounds better than this D7,but I can't take the Tandberg anywhere I want like the D7. So,for now,the D7 is it for fidelity,portability,flexibility when and where I need it. A terrific buy at the time with no regrets. The D7 has been replaced with the D8,essentially the same,but with some differences. a 100 model is available too. It is one of the smallest DAT machines you can buy today. A minidisc is in my future,but the
D7 will stay in my stable of recorders for many years to come.

note: car cassette adaptors,gone through 2 so far,and one dead dc adaptor for th e car died too. The D7 keeps on going. So accessories not withstanding,the D7 goes on and on. V.C.

Review of Sony TC D3 Deck.
Old model now replaced by the TCD 3,beautyfull blue backlighted display, good sound overall and was high marked by Hifi Choice for its performance,but suffers from serious unreliability problems.Service was unable to fix it properly.To bad !

Amazing little machine saves the day for my surprise recording need for my multimedia project dropped on my lap. Once again, the TCD-D7 does the job just fine. A renewed stronger faith for this little gem.

Rugged given the complexity associated with the miniaturization of r-dat. Keypad well thought out and easy to operate by touch. Hold feature a stealther's dream.

expense of proprietary 7-pin digital cable

This deck has never let me down in spite of some hard knocks. One should take care loading and unloading tape--mine ate one when I was casual about this process. So far, never a problem with a 90 meter tape. Strongly recommend use of the 8" microhone extension cord from soundprofessionals.com, or homemade equivalent. $15 is a lot less than what you'd have to pay to get the input jack replaced should misforune befall it. (Wish I had used one on my D-6)

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analog recording walkmans: d-3 and d-6