Teac MD-CD1

Name: Teac MD-CD1
Brand: Teac

The MD-CD1 is a Tascam MiniDisc deck and CD player in one rack-mount unit, sold under Teac's professional Tascam line. The surviving documentation makes that much clear. The owner's manual covers both an MD deck and a CD deck, and the model name matches the dual-format layout. Past that, the record is muddier than you'd expect for a machine that stayed in production long enough to spawn at least one revision.

The confusion starts with the name. Sources attribute the same product to both TEAC and Tascam, and the model number appears as "MD-CD1," "MD-CD1MK3," and "MD-CD1MKIII." The material available here doesn't settle whether the base MD-CD1 and the MKIII are the same machine or separate variants. Most of the concrete technical detail that survives is explicitly attributed to the MKIII, not the original. The MKIII added a sampling rate converter, so you can digitally record signals at 32 kHz or 48 kHz in addition to the 44.1 kHz that MD uses. It also added CD-to-MD dubbing and RS-232C serial control, which let two units be linked for data exchange. A third-party interface, the SL906-1, was built to start and stop two MD-CD1s from a Yamaha O1V96V2 fader via MIDI. These were working machines in studios and broadcast racks, not home hi-fi curiosities.

The manual documents a thorough spec sheet. The MD side is a full MiniDisc recorder with Stereo/Mono/LP2/LP4 record modes, magnetic field modulation overwrite, ATRAC compression, and a 44.1 kHz sampling rate. The CD deck plays CD, CD-R, and CD-RW discs as well as MP3 files. The MD side records 74 minutes in stereo, 148 minutes in mono or LP2, and 296 minutes in LP4 on a 74-minute disc. Analog connections are RCA at -10 dBV, digital I/O is optical TOS (EIAJ RC-5720) in IEC60958 Type II / S/PDIF format, and there's a Mini DIN 6-pin keyboard jack. The CD section measures 20 Hz to 20 kHz ±0.5 dB with a signal-to-noise ratio above 100 dB, dynamic range above 100 dB, THD under 0.004%, channel separation above 90 dB at 1 kHz, and wow and flutter below measurable limits. The MD section is close behind: S/N above 98 dB on playback and 95 dB on record, with THD under 0.004% playback and 0.006% record.

It's a 19-inch rack unit, 483 × 94 × 308 mm and 5.8 kg (12.8 lbs). It runs on 120 VAC/60 Hz in North America or 230 VAC/50 Hz in Europe and draws 18 watts. It shipped with an RC-MC1 remote, two AA batteries, a power cord, a rack-mounting kit, the manual, and a warranty card. An optional LA-MC1 balanced analog input/output board could be fitted for balanced-system use. The manual's troubleshooting section refers to the unit once as the "CD-MD1," an apparent typo.

Production years, original price, and market values aren't documented in the sources available to us. The few eBay listings that surface are for the MKIII variant, not the base MD-CD1, and they're asking prices rather than sold data. Treat any figure you see as a starting point, not a market. If you're hunting one, confirm which revision you're looking at before you buy, because the spec sheets don't cleanly separate them.

Type: Rack-mount MiniDisc deck and CD player (Tascam professional line)
MD record modes: Stereo / Mono / LP2 / LP4; ATRAC compression; magnetic field modulation overwrite
MD recording time: 74 min stereo, 148 min mono/LP2, 296 min LP4 (74-min disc)
CD formats: CD-DA, CD-R, CD-RW, MP3
Analog I/O: RCA, -10 dBV; headphone jack 20 mW + 20 mW into 32 Ω
Digital I/O: Optical TOS (EIAJ RC-5720), IEC60958 Type II (S/PDIF)
Control: RS-232C serial, Mini DIN 6-pin keyboard input
Dimensions / weight: 483 × 94 × 308 mm; 5.8 kg (12.8 lbs)
Power: 120 VAC 60 Hz (US/Canada) or 230 VAC 50 Hz (UK/Europe); 18 W