Sony TC-900

General Impressions

These were a small very portable machine that ran on A/C or 4 D cells.

The TC-900 was released in 1964 and was on the market for 3 years.

Reel size is 3" and speeds are 3 3/4 Ips and 1 7/8 Ips. As it is a half track mono machine, I'm sure Sony intended these as voice recorders.

Controls are basic with the familiar single tape transport lever, an on off switch, tone and volume controls.

This introduced the "Sony-O-Matic" system for automatic recording level.

Solid State electronics were a big selling feature. Sony claimed a 20 hour cell life - in their dreams!

My red example was found in a junk shop. The original receipts were present as was the microphone and carry case. Tapes were from a well known local environmentalist. These were also available in black and blue.

These sort of machines were something of a bridge between large heavy machines and compact cassettes for voice and field recording.

Overall quite a nice machine.

Additional Information

Bias Frequency
-kHz
Rewind speed
-
Inputs
line: input sensitivity: 0.06 V, impedance 100k Ohms
microphone: low impedance
Outputs
line: greater than 10k Ohm impedance
Dimensions
222 x 114 x 216 mm
Weight
2.2 kg (with cells)