Sony PCMR-500 DAT, a good machine?
Chris Meijer
The Sony PCM-R 500 seems a good one to replace it with. But just before
buying I wonder....
Do you know this machine?
Is it as legendary as it's older PCM-brothers?
How many hours of Rec/Play did you use it up till now?
Is the tape-transport system really good (4 Direct Drive)?
Is it a good and reliable one (sweat, temperature, humidity, smoke....)?
How are the A/D D/A converters?
What tapes do you prefer? Normally I use Ampex/Quantegy only.
Any complaints or ideas for improvement?
Should I wait for 24 bit machines (like Tascam has)
Since when do they sell this machine?
Does anyone prefere another DAT machine (priced in the range of
$1500 - $2000)?
I would be much obliged....
Chris Meijer, Compact Studio, The Netherlands.
Jay - Atlanta Digital
<vacc...@xs4all.nl> wrote:
The Sony pcmr-500 is a whole different beast from the older sony low and
mid level machines. It's a hell of a lot better. The best price I've
seen on one so far is $1199, and at that price, it can't be beat. I've
had wonderful luck with mine, and heard nothing but good things about it
from others.
as to your specific questions:
transport really is great; use it everday in commercial mastering studio;
sounds good inthe A/D department - balanced ins and SBM can be toggled on
or off, I use Apogee tapes, but also like HHB; 24 bit DATs are probably
not going to be all that common - regular DAT is industry standard; the
machine was new at last year's AES; I don't prefer anything in the
1000-1500 price range.
- Jay
Atlanta Digital
www.promastering.com
J. Wesselius
as well as SP/DIF in/out, balanced analog, full SMPTE timecoded etc. etc.
asking $ 1250,--
Chris Meijer wrote in message <6urd1e$qcq$1...@news2.xs4all.nl>...
Ty Ford
Sony PCM-R700 DAT machine
Hi Chris,
I reviewed the 700 earlier this year for Radio World. Maybe the review will
be helpful
Regards,
Ty Ford
DATs confidence.
Ty Ford
Baltimore, MD
Confidence recording, the ability to hear what you've just recorded while
you're recording, a split second after it hits the tape, is a wonderful
feature. How many times have you mixed to DAT only to find that it didn't
stick to the tape? How many minutes and hours have you spent listening to
DAT playback to make sure there weren't any glitches? How much is that time
worth to you? If, over the life of the next DAT machine you buy, you figure
it's worth $1K, then take a step closer and consider the Sony PCM-R700 DAT
machine ($2,695). If your time and your friends envy are less important,
consider the PCM-R500 ($1,695).
According to Sony's Courtney Spencer, other than confidence recording and a
front panel Key Protect switch, both the PCM-R700 and R500 are the same.
"Both offer SBM (Sony Bit Mapping) and four direct drive motors. The R500 is
the only DAT in the 'popular price' category with four direct drive motors.
It's a more expensive implementation. You can't tell the difference from the
outside, but if you watch how direct control of the spindles effects how the
tape is handled, you'll see that it's better than using spindles, belts and
wheels.
SBM is a single-ended process that's been around for a while. During analog
recording, it shifts the noise of the signal up the audible frequency
spectrum to an area less likely to be heard by most humans. A good test of
SBM is to jack up the monitors and compare how a signal sinks into the noise
floor as it fades, with and without SBM. From my CD player to unbalanced
analog input of the R700, the difference was negligible and the sound
quality and separation were quite good.
OUT BACK
The R700 supports balanced analog inputs and outputs with individual level
tweeks, unbalanced analog inputs and outputs, an digital I/O that's
switchable between AES/EBU and coaxial SP/DIF (IEC). In addition to the
wireless remote that comes with the R700, the optional RM-D750 allows
programmable playback by ID number. An eight-conductor, parallel port DIN
jack with pin-out assignments in the manual can be wired for simple stop,
start, rewind, fast forward, pause, start ID write, fader start and
condition lights. An industry standard IEC power socket finishes off the back.
OUT IN FRONT
The front panel is cleanly designed and extends past the sides of the
chassis to form rack-mount ears with holes. Beneath the front panel power
switch is a three-way switch for wired, wireless or no remote operation. The
Key Protect switch renders all but the Auto ID, Repeat, Skip Play,
Open/Close and Stop buttons disabled. It's not really tamper-proof, because
the switch is rather evident on the front panel and the Stop and Open/Close
buttons will definitely stop playback. You don't need the switch to lock-out
record, you could do that by simply opening the record-safety slot on the
DAT tape itself. To me, it makes more sense to hide the switch and have it
disable all of the transport controls.
The headphones and level control are next. There's more than enough clean
power for AKG K240 headphones, unless you're in a VERY LOUD environment. The
headphone amp has more guts than my Panasonic SV-3900, which distorts my
K240s at high gain levels.
The four Start ID buttons; Auto, Rehearsal, Write and Erase, three Skip ID
buttons, Counter Reset and Renumber button are self-explanatory, as are the
main transport controls. When the machine is stopped, the Menu button allows
access to copy protection, record mute, Auto ID threshold, blank time,
incoming start/skip IDs on the SP/DIF port, incoming Q codes from the
SP/DIF port, incoming start/skip ID on the AES/EBU port, Date/Time display
enable, Track time display enable, hours of operation and about half a dozen
other parameters.
A builtin clock lets the R700 record the day of the session in the subcode.
When toggling through the Mode button during playback, the date of recording
is displayed. The Margin Reset buttons allows you to reset the peak display,
which shows how close to 0dB and "over" the signal has come. The Shuttle/jog
and Data wheels are concentric and easy to navigate. Want to get to a
particular ID number? Dial it up from 1-99 on the data wheel and hit play.
The final switches determine balanced or unbalanced analog or digital input,
standard or long-play (12-bit, 32KHz, half-speed) mode, 44.1KHz or 48KHz
recording (standard 32KHz is supported through the digital inputs only), SBM
and a pair of center-detented analog record level controls.
Detented positions on the Sony inputs matched well with the detented fader
and master positions on my Mackie 1604, leaving a snug but comfortable 2dB
before "over". Adding comp/limiting to the Mackie main buss inserts pushed
the DAT into "over" until I dropped the gain structure a bit. The meters are
easy on the eyes and show average and peak hold. Emphasis will be recorded
if it is present.
Nine screws hold the cover in place. The interior layout is uncluttered and
you can easily get to the headstack with or without a tape in the transport.
A small arm with something that looks like a thin but firm plastic squeegee
makes contact with the spinning head at various times to keep the head
clean. This undocumented feature decided to show off when I had removed the
cover. After turning the unit on, I was serenaded by an unsettling rasp for
a few seconds, as the squeegee contacted the DAT head. A few seconds later
the arm moved the squeegee away from the head and silence was restored. The
other obvious noise the R700 makes is the Ka-Click it makes when put into
play or play/record.
The R700 manual suggests not using tapes over 120 minutes in length due to
problems with improper tape threading, incorrect writing and erasing of
start IDs and sound distortion. I'm still carrying around enough analog
voodoo to keep me from using anything over 90 minutes.
The manual also notes that Start IDs must have a minimum of 18 seconds of
tape between them, 36 seconds in long-play mode. This is twice the amount of
time I'm used to. It may or may not appeal to you. Like most DAT machines,
the R700 allows you to write and erase Start and Skip IDs and automatically
renumber cuts on a tape. If End IDs are important, you'll need to get the
optional RM-D750 remote control. The manual states no provision for
post-striping Absolute time on a DAT tape that already has audio on it. This
may not be an issue unless you are working with DAT tapes recorded on an
older DAT machine that doesn't record Absolute time.
When transferring digital audio using AES/EBU protocol, the R700 Auto ID
feature writes Start IDs at user-set audio threshold points down to -60dB.
With straight digital transfers, the R700 needs a Sony PCM-2600, PCM-2800,
PCM-R500 or PCM-R700 to transfer Start or Skip IDs. If the IEC (SP/DIF) port
is used, Start/Skip IDs can only be digitally transferred to and from
PCM-2300, PCM-2700 or PCM-2700A machines The R700 will also detect Q codes
from CD players during SP/DIF transfers.
IN CONCLUSION
With or without he SBM, the R700 sounds good. The confidence recording heads
and four direct drive motors make a compelling case for the R700. I also
like the idea of being able to record the date of a session on the tape
itself. The price is high, but falls in line when you put it in context with
the features offered.
Ty Ford may be reached at www.jagunet.com/~tford
Gary Hobish
>> The Sony PCM-R 500 seems a good one to replace it with. But just before
>> buying I wonder....
>>
>> Do you know this machine?
Bought one last month, so far VERY pleased.
>> Is it as legendary as it's older PCM-brothers?
MUCH Better than the earliest Sony machines. IMHO, the PCM-2500 was a great doorstop, and the DC-10 was unreliable and sounded like crap.
>> Is the tape-transport system really good (4 Direct Drive)?
Yes.
>> Is it a good and reliable one (sweat, temperature, humidity, smoke....)?
Haven't had any problems yet, but you should apply common sense (especially regarding smoke) to ANY use of such gear.
>> How are the A/D D/A converters?
Best I've heard in a DAT deck. Outboard converters can be better, but only at a cost at least equal to that of the R-500 itself.
>> What tapes do you prefer? Normally I use Ampex/Quantegy only.
Good tapes, but consider that the tape inside them is made by Sony. (The Quantegy mechanism is, however, very good and well-manufactured.) I've been using Maxell data-grade tapes, which have also been flawless and cost half as much.
>> Should I wait for 24 bit machines (like Tascam has)
When it comes to moving 24-bit files around, I prefer to burn CD-R data discs of the original files.
>> Since when do they sell this machine?
About a year.
>> Chris Meijer, Compact Studio, The Netherlands.
I bought mine from Terrapin Tapes. Great prices and service. I paid $1025 for mine, including ground shipping, from them. They are at http://www.ttapes.com/dat_decks/ .
Gary Hobish
Armin Hammer Productions
San Francisco
--
http://www.wenet.net/~ghobish
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-- Eros, "Plan Nine From Outer Space"