The 1976 Sony TC-229SD Cassette Deck (unrepaired)

[@svenschwingel8632]

What a beautiful "iron pig" that is. The 70s and early 80s had such great gear from Japan. And although it is just equipped with a standard ferrite head, the features are quite impressive and allowed a sneak peek at the future of cassette decks. Just a few years later, Sony made serious business with their front loaders, offering three heads, calibration and whatnot.

[@fhwolthuis]

Very nice design, I love the shape of the play buttons etc.

[@SDAF13]

40 лет и все еще дает шороху ) 40 years old and it still give sound for us )

[@nsfeliz7825]

my father used one just like it when he worked at an fm radio station in the 80s.

[@dhanapalp9323]

Sony Deck awesome model, excellent product of SONY. Like it.

[@s8wc3]

I have a TC-199SD and the soft eject is pretty cool. It's some twine wrapped around a propellor looking thing. Some WD-40 helped greatly with the noise.

[@VintageElectronicsGeek]

Nice deck, will be nice to see it fully function again!

[@MsMadLemon]

What a beautiful cassette deck! I like the push button solenoid controls, like mine has. I hope you manage to get this up and running soon.

[@CanonPanasonic-ProUser]

Own one, made my own wired remote by changing Amphenol 11p (for Sony RM-30) to an DIN 8p connector. Plastic box with 5 keys (Amazon). Cable is a CAT 5/6 cable with 8 wires. Works fine. Next step wireless controle with 4 relays with RF transmitter.

[@DrCassette]

Interesting project! 👍

[@reinhardtpaulsen6600]

very nice 70's vintage deck you got there!

[@pranabkishoremishra9987]

Very nice set

[@remake5678]

Good review ! Thanks !

[@iamrichrocker]

very well presented..you know your stuff...look forward to the reapir..thx

[@MichaelBeeny]

Great heads on this deck. Ferrite, never ever wares out. It was often said that the standard metal heads sounded better than ferrite but tended to be very soft and ware was a common fault and decks a couple of years old lost all the HF. A replacement head was the only solution. Very common to use ferrite erase heads but ferrite record/playback heads mainly used on up market decks only.

[@marekmaslak8040]

Nice flea market prey,and for 5 bucks,its like they gave it away for free.good video,I have the TC K22 from SONY.

[@jeremytravis360]

I still have one of these and an Elcassette EL7 three head machine. I still use it with my TA5650 amplifier and ST5950SD tuner.

[@DrCassette]

Oh wow, you have a very impressive stereo system there!

[@jeremytravis360]

hat's what happens when you work in the Hi Fi trade. I did get rid of the EL7 Elcassette because I saw the limitations and I have a few reel to reel machines anyway. @@DrCassette

[@DaXande135]

1:24 Die rote LED als Indikator dafür, ob der Timer auf Aufnahme ist, oder nicht, ist tatsächlich ein garnicht so dummes Feature :D Ich hatte bei meinem Deck die Aufnahme-Timer Funktion ausversehen eine Zeit lang eingeschaltet und als ich das Deck in angeschaltenem Zustand an den Strom angeschlossen habe, habe ich damit eine Aufnahme ruiniert...

[@brianrb84]

Would love to see a repair video on this unit. I love old technology.

[@joseburbano3697]

La tengo pero cuando le doy play se dispara que daño puede tener?

[@jeremyclayton-travis1991]

I have one of these decks which matches my TA5650 amp and matching Sony Dolby ST tuner. They are great decks but a lot of demand is put on the belts to both engage the transport mechanism and deal with auto stop via the tape counter. It's what I call Sonys Tank era where they built things to last. I am looking to buy a TC766-2 reel to reel to match this system.

[@vwestlife]

This is one of several decks I've seen with separate positions for "low" and "normal" bias. Is "low bias" the same as normal bias on other decks, and what it calls "normal bias" is designed for FerroChrome tapes? That's what the switch positions seem to indicate.

[@HammondDirk]

I am also a bit puzzled by that: I know Normal, High and Metal bias (the last one didn't exist when they designed this deck), maybe FeCr, and for Equalisation 70µs and 120µs, I'm wondering what they use for FeCr here, maybe that had not been defined by then?

[@HDXFH]

Love the build quality, AC motor, tape speed should always be reliable

[@killmore75]

Like the upside down VU meters!

[@cool4rocknroll]

Do you have this rare 1976 Model Sony TC-229 SD Cassette Deck hooked up to a amplifier? While you was playing the test recording sample from the cassette? I don't see no amplifier hooked up or anything of that sort? That's why I asked this question? Thanks.

[@DrCassette]

Of course this was connected to an amplifier.

[@cool4rocknroll]

Okay. I figure it would be. Thanks for the kind response. I appreciate it. Keep up the good work. Nice antique cassette deck. I recently bought a 1980 Sony TC-K71 Cassette Deck (Silver Color) from a decent owner from eBay. It looks good as new. Japanese knew what they was doing. When they made good quality top of the line.

[@steadfastcoward]

Wish we had thrifts like YOURS...

[@DrCassette]

This was a very lucky find at a flea market.

[@steadfastcoward]

I was very lucky to find a friend who had a Pioneer CT-F1250 with little use and well maintained myself but I guarantee that wasn't cheap.That reminds me that I need to fix my TC-K4A!

[@ElitJapanAudio]

[@sesioramadhan5137]

i have TC-K15, I've done the azimuth adjustment properly and clean it also. but still, kinda muffled for the HI frequency. what brand/type of azimuth head you suggest for my deck, IF one day i have to change it??

[@DrCassette]

I suggest not to mess with it any further as you don't quite seem to know what you are talking about. "Azimuth heads" do not exist. Azimuth is an alignment property of any record and playback head.

[@svenschwingel8632]

Usually, adjusting the proper azimuth needs a reference tape and a 2-channel oscilloscope for the X-Y graph. If you don't know what you are doing (you need a service manual at least), you could very easily throw the head or entire tape path out of alignment which would then require special tools/gauges to correct. If the highs are muffled on your own recordings, there could exist several reasons. First would be wrong equalisation (e.g playing back a Type I on Type II position) or wrong noise reduction setting. The pb head could be in need of degaussing. Or the pb head is simply worn out. Lots of stuff can go wrong with these older machines.

[@jcabb1]

I had the tc-k6 which had problems when it was new, it stayed in the playback mode & could not get it to stop.

[@halitmarmaris]

Thank you from Turkey 👍

[@seeyouinmist3924]

ahhh, its just the belts, no sweating

[@DrCassette]

If I recall correctly, this cassette deck needs new belts and rubber idler tyres. Even after all these years I still haven't repaired this cassette deck, it is still there waiting...

[@jhyrkas]

@@DrCassette I hope the repair video is coming soon.

[@gmodderr]

I also saw one of these at the thriftshop, didn't buy it though because they didn't accept card, and when I got back there with cash, it was already gone.

[@rah8864]

Hi greetings, I have some old cassette decks and I'm setting a challenge for myself; would it be possible to convert these cassette decks onto two full tracks recording providing using only blank cassettes? would it be a matter of just wiring the rec/play head accordingly? The idea is to have a cassette deck version of the open reel professional mastering machines. Any suggestions welcome. Many thanks

[@DrCassette]

No, this would require a special record/playback head. Normal heads are active on only one half of the cassette tape. All you could do is try to find a head out of an Autoreverse cassette device that does not flip around to play the other side (for example a Walkman). Those are four track heads that you could wire up to fit your needs, but those heads are probably optimized for playback, so they won't give very good quality recordings.

[@rah8864]

DrCassette, many thanks. I'll try the heads from an old 4 track desk mixer

[@DrCassette]

That could work. That heads should also be fine for recording.

[@stonex55]

i have a tck-15 and it sounds a little muffled or like its lacking treble compared to my technics deck, what should i do ?

[@DrCassette]

First try cleaning the heads. If that doesn't help, you can carefully (!) try to adjust the azimuth.

[@sesioramadhan5137]

same here, I've done the azimuth adjustment properly and clean it also. but still, kinda muffled for the high frequency. what brand/type of azimuth head you suggest for my deck, IF one day i have to change it??

[@Naitoraven951]

Pretty nice deck!! Hope you repair it soon! But, i had to say....how many wires there is on the circuitry ? :0 Geez!

[@georgethorne8432]

Hi dr cassette, I have the same problem on my cassette deck, where the take up spindle will not turn. How do I fix this?

[@DrCassette]

+George Thorne You are funny. How am I supposed to know when you don't even tell me what brand and model your cassette deck is !?

[@vintagecameras9623]

good work my friend

[@marvinmartian7281]

This is a super of a cassette deck

[@MrJohn1861]

Hi, interesting video. I have just acquired one of these. Would you please do a follow up video as I’m sure that I’m not the only person who would find it interesting. All the best. Keep up the excellent videos.

[@Dakshana1]

I think it is unrepaired. If you can buy a Sony deck TC-K5 goes same a the deck you demonstriat. If you can buy broken TC-K5 replacements will be there.

[@wiegerspaan1195]

I own a TCK7II, which is almost the same and has the same problems. Are you going to show us how you solve things?

[@DrCassette]

+Wieger Spaan There will be a repair video eventually, but I have a lot of equipment in need of repairs, and not much time to take care of everything. It will be a while.

[@haddless]

I have exactly the same issue on my Sony TC-229 too. Please can you tell me what the issue here in your video is and how to resolve it. I’m guessing that it will require new tires but don’t want to spend money on something if I’m assuming incorrectly. Great video by the way

[@DrCassette]

The belts and rubber idler wheels need to be replaced. Please refer to the Sony service manual for further info. This is very important, because a lot of Sony equipment requires rather specific repair procedures or else other problems can occur.

[@craigdavidson2278]

Have TC-61 circa 1980/1 great cassette deck and I only paid €25

[@HDXFH]

Nice old deck

[@simonbauer169]

hi kannst du mal deine ganzen audiokassetten mal zeigen und noch etwas zu jeder kassette sagen Danke und bitte

[@DrCassette]

+Simon Bauer Nein, da ist momentan absolut keine Zeit für da.

[@johne2082]

I had one of these, but it chewed up so many of my tapes that I threw it out. Sony repair centre could not fix it either.

[@DrCassette]

That's strange, you'd think the Sony repair centre knew their stuff.

[@Halterung01]

I have no idea what kind of pinch rollers lead you to think this, pinch rollers can be (and should be) cleaned with alcohol. Just don't soak them. Just dunk a cotton swab in isoproyl alcohol, put the deck in play mode and lightly hold it against the pinch roller (on the right side, so the cotton swab won't be pulled by the capstan). Make sure you don't apply too much force as you could deform the pinch roller in the worst case. Just lightly press against the pinch roller for 2-3 rotations, then move the cotton swab to the other part on the pinch roller that wasn't treated yet. Afterwards it helps to clean the roller up a bit, nobody want residual alcohol on their tapes. It is so effective and on brand name pinch rollers it is totally safe.

[@DrCassette]

Cleaning the pinch roller with water is total nonsense. Alcohol works very well and does not hurt the rubber. Yes, it will react with the rubber and it will minimally change the surface, but this effect is desirable as it improves traction in the mechanism. In fact dried out pinch rollers that cause the tape to mistrack and get wrinkled in some cases can temporarily be restored with alcohol.

[@RWL2012]

Don't reply to me or anything, just remove your offending comment and hope I won't notice...

[@johne2082]

I took it back to Sony repair centre over 20 times but they were not able to fix it.

[@DavidBerquist334]

Looks like you have a weller soldering iron its same one i use at my job its a good one

[@DrCassette]

Yes, that's a Weller soldering station. The best soldering iron I have ever had.

[@カセットデッキ]

日本名 SONY TC‐K7

[@RanFuRe]

Hi! Do you plan to make a repair video on this machine? I inherited this model from my father. It is basically still in mostly working condition, but it sounds terrible. I guess it has the "worn out belt" thing going on, you mentioned. I would like to restore it to fully working condition. Not that I have that many cassettes, but this deck has sentimental value to it, as it was the centerpiece of our stereo during my youth. I know next to nothing about audio equipment, much less how to repair it, so I would much appreciate such a video :)

[@DrCassette]

I do plan to make a repair video eventually. But at the moment I have too much other stuff going on...

[@RanFuRe]

DrCassette No worries, I'm not in a hurry =) I'm looking forward to it!

[@fgtujhxf85]

What happened with the vlogs on the other channel? Btw, this deck is awesome!

[@DrCassette]

+Борис Борисов The vlogs are Private. Not sure what I will do in the end.

[@RWL2012]

Have you repaired this yet?

[@DrCassette]

No, not yet...

[@CanonPanasonic-ProUser]

Almost looks like my Sony TC K6

[@felixcabello2819]

Hi. What's the song's name?

[@RWL2012]

I'd like to know this too.

[@speidi1]

Very nice deck. Where's the metal tape position? lol

[@DrCassette]

+speidi 1. This deck is from 1976. Metal tape was first available in 1979.

[@MichaelBeeny]

+DrCassette Metal tape was very expensive and few people used them. They needed a very different bias setting and EQ. Very few decks would give good results simply because they did NOT have the correct bias and EQ. This one did however and gave very good sound. On most material it was quite hard to tell a recording from a live input.

[@waroonh4291]

+DrCassette fe-cr tape type iii, not a metal type iv - type iii is very rare tape.

[@shadowshop1]

hi this is very like the sony el5 i have one not working

[@robertmattison1282]

Don't understand why they added a soft eject to this deck. Just some else that can go wrong. I like deck where you physical have to place the cassette into the deck. I hope people will re-watch your video, it the only way to educate yourself. And learn the technical language. Did you make a video on how to clean a noisy P.O.T without replacing it,

[@DrCassette]

+Robert Mattison The direct load and lock type mechanisms were not popular back then. Cleaning potentiometers has been part of many of my other repair videos. Trivial, really.

[@snoopdoggdankkush9285]

do you like depeche mode

[@DrCassette]

+snoop dogg dank kush I do like their 80s and 90s music. The most recent tracks not so much.

[@snoopdoggdankkush9285]

yeah

[@snoopdoggdankkush9285]

my favorite song by them is everything counts

[@DrCassette]

Mine is "And Then" from their 1983 album "Construction Time Again".

[@snoopdoggdankkush9285]

i like that song very much too

[@DavidBerquist334]

thats a nice one

[@simonbauer169]

okay nicht schlimm