Sony

Explore Sony vintage synthesizer equipment in the Vintage Technology Archive.

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• BVU-200B — Sony BVU-200B U-matic VCR — the ¾-inch deck behind early Sony PCM digital audio mastering, $9,500 new, used with PCM-1610 and DAE-1100.
• DAE-1100 — Sony DAE-1100 digital audio editor — $45,000, 343µs edit accuracy, SMPTE time code, PCM-1610/U-matic based. The machine that made digital editing real.
• PCM-100 — Sony PCM-100 (1979) — professional 14-bit digital audio processor, 2.643 Mbits/sec, designed for use with the DAE-1100 editor. A little-documented mid-line Sony PCM.
• PCM-2000 — Sony PCM-2000 — Sony's first professional portable DAT recorder (1988). 9 lb 4 oz, AES/EBU I/O, 44.056kHz recording, ~$8,600 launch.
• PCM-3324A — Sony PCM-3324A — second-generation DASH 24-channel digital multitrack, 2X oversampling, upward-compatible with the 48-track PCM-3348.
• PCM-3348HR — Sony PCM-3348HR — 24-bit, 48-track DASH digital multitrack recorder at the heart of Sony's OXF-R3 system. Used on Peter Gabriel's Up and in Dreamhire's rental fleet.
• PCM-601ESD — Sony PCM-601ESD (1986) PCM digital processor — F1 features plus digital I/O, $1,400, 14/16-bit, OVC control. A VCR-based mastering box.

Other Models

• BVE-500A — Sony BVE-500A broadcast editing console — BIDIREX search dials, Decision Prompter lamps, control-track editing for U-matic and 1-inch decks.
• BVH-1000 — Sony BVH-1000, the one-inch non-segmented helical-scan broadcast VTR RCA marketed in 1978 — SMPTE-conformant, Dolby-ready, built for the racks.
• BVU-110 — Sony BVU-110, a portable 3/4-inch U-matic VTR that working facilities kept in service for years. Documented in Mix facility listings and rental catalogs.
• BVU-200 — Sony BVU-200 U-Matic VCR — the deck Sony's PCM-1600 digital audio adaptor was built around, used in early CD mastering rooms.
• BVU-200A — Sony BVU-200A U-matic editing VCR — the 3/4-inch deck broadcasters like CNN ran 24/7 in the edit bay.
• BVW-75 — Sony BVW-75 Betacam SP VTR — the broadcast-standard replay deck found by the dozens in 1990s post houses and emulated by rival gear.
• DAE-1100A — Sony DAE-1100A digital audio editor — RAM-based cueing, 10-step crossfades, 160W processor. The McDonald's cash till of CD mastering.
• DAE-3000 — Sony DAE-3000 digital audio editor — 16-bit/44.1kHz U-Matic-based CD mastering controller, 12s jog memory, .999ms crossfades. The machine London mastering houses ran daily into the mid-'90s.
• DAE-D5000 — Sony DAE-D5000 CD premastering workstation — a dedicated-hardware editor with real faders, 24-bit, and PQ coding for the PCM-9000 era.
• DAQ-1000 — Sony DAQ-1000 cue editor — the PQ subcode generator at the heart of '80s CD mastering. Period-documented, spec-thin, and inseparable from the PCM-1630 chain.
• DDU-1510 — Sony DDU-1510 digital preview delay for disc-cutting lathes — 12-bit analog preview, 40–55kHz, 90dB dynamic range, used in pro mastering rooms.
• DEC-1000 — Sony DEC-1000 (1979) digital editing controller for PCM-1600/U-Matic systems — memory-buffered search dial, 90.8 µs edit accuracy, seven-step crossfade.
• DMR-2000 — Sony DMR-2000 — a U-matic VTR built for CD mastering alongside the PCM-1630. Period studio listings place it in Townhouse, Soundmirror and Lion Studios.
• DMR-4000 — Sony DMR-4000 U-matic VCR — the tape transport behind the PCM-1630 CD-mastering chain. Workhorse of 1980s mastering rooms, fragile media and all.
• DMX-R100 — Sony DMX-R100 digital console — Sony's best-selling console ever, 1,200+ units, 99 snapshots, touch automation, 5.1 in v2.0.
• DRE-2000 — Sony DRE-2000 digital reverberator, 1981, $15,000 — 16-bit, non-volatile memory, 0–9.9s reverb, hand-held remote. A studio workhorse hiding in plain sight.
• DTA 2000 — Sony DTA 2000 digital tape analyzer — the PCM-1630 error-checking box of the CD mastering era, with its famously discrete 2/4/8/16-sample thresholds.
• OXF-R3 — Sony OXF-R3 Oxford digital console — 5-band parametric EQ, four EQ types, GML8200 option, 32-bit fixed-point DSP. The console whose EQ became a Pro Tools plug-in.
• PCM-10 — Sony PCM-10 — Sony's first digital audio recorder, a 14-bit non-linear processor at 44.056 kHz needing a VCR to record. $3,000 in 1980.
• PCM-1600 — Sony PCM-1600 two-channel 16-bit digital audio processor — >90 dB dynamic range, 20 Hz–20 kHz, U-matic storage, the first practical digital recorder.
• PCM-3102 — Sony PCM-3102 — two-channel DASH digital recorder, quarter-inch tape at 7½ ips, 48/44.1 kHz, built at Sony's MCI plant; first units went to NHK.
• PCM-3202 — Sony PCM-3202 (1985): a Twin DASH 15 ips two-track digital recorder built to feed the PCM-1630 CD mastering chain.
• PCM-3324 — Sony PCM-3324 — the 24-track DASH digital multitrack that set the studio standard. Period reviews, Apogee filter upgrade, and PCM-3324S successor.
• PCM-3324S — Sony PCM-3324S DASH 24-track digital multitrack — fourth-gen Sony, 48-track via machine pairing, 1–370ms crossfades.
• PCM-7000 — Sony PCM-7000 (1991) — professional DAT series with timecode editing, 4-head transport, 175x shuttle. The deck that made DAT a studio format.
• PCM-7010 — Sony PCM-7010 professional DAT recorder — four-head confidence monitoring, fader start, modular broadcast deck from Sony's 7000 series.
• PCM-9000 — Sony PCM-9000 magneto-optical mastering recorder — 16/20/24-bit, up to 100 min per disc, ~$40,000. Sony's bid to replace 1630 tape.
• PCM-M1 — Sony PCM-M1 portable DAT recorder — pro-grade, 20% smaller than the TCD-D100, defeatable SCMS, 48/44.1/32 kHz. A fragile collectible for DAT diehards.
• SBM-1 — Sony SBM-1 Super Bit Mapping A/D converter — a $549, ten-ounce outboard converter for TCD-D7/D8/D100 DAT Walkmans that beat their internal converters but stamped SCMS copy flags on every recording.
• TCD-D10 PRO — Sony TCD-D10 PRO portable DAT recorder — balanced XLR, AES/EBU, four direct-drive motors, 4 lbs. 7 ozs., pro field deck.
• TCD-D7 — Sony TCD-D7 portable DAT — 1-bit converters, 20 Hz–22 kHz ±1 dB, $629.95, a pocket-sized deck that rivaled studio machines.
• TCD-D8 — Sony TCD-D8 DAT Walkman — 48kHz/16-bit portable DAT recorder, 4-hour AA battery life, 7-pin digital I/O, $899 in its day.
• VSU-3310 — Sony VSU-3310 Van-Sync Controller for the PCM-3324 DASH multitrack — ±12.5% varispeed and standard sync referencing in a rack-mount accessory.