57ES Successor
After Sony did not seem able to fix my 57ES, they offered me a new 59ES, and although I did not like its cosmetics as much as the 57’s, I thankfully accepted. Alas, the 59ES turned out to display the exact same problems as its predecessor: failure of the take-up reel resulting in loose tape in the mechanism. Sometime later, after I had abandoned the format, Sony found the culprit and one could have the 57 or 59ES repaired at a service center and the problem was apparently no more. The 60ES apparently has the aforementioned fix built in so should not have the problem. Incidentally, I worked a lot with the professional PCM7030 and 7050 at my workplace and these proved to be utterly reliable machines.
Hi Christiaan, dat ik je nu weer tegen kom is door de DTC-59ES, leuk te zien dat je door gegaan bent in A/V. Was eigenlijk aan het onderzoeken welke DAC er eigenlijk in gebruikt wordt en of een DAC magic wel een upgrade zou zijn, want ik gebruik mijn DAT nu als DAC…
Hi Amnon, long time no speak! The DTC59ES is a good DAC but you can certainly get better quality as well as a more natural sound. However, that does come at a price. The DAC Magic is not really better I would say, but rather quite different in its presentation. The Sony is quite synthetic-sounding for my taste and the DAC Magic can sound a little more natural. But on the whole, you might not even be that impressed with it compared to the Sony. I recommend you figure out what kind of sound it is that you want and then find a DAC to match. Do check the DAC reviews that I have done on these pages:-) BTW if you still use the Vifa speakers then they will form a bottleneck in terms of resolution and if that is what you’re after, then upgrading the speakers would be more sensible than upgrading the Sony.
LOL, you remembered… Yes, still using the Vifa Carat’s….
I was using the DAC from the Squeezebox Duet (Wolfson, not the Burr Brown) and already the difference between that and my Sony DAT DAC (I believe a 1 bit DAC) was immense… That is what got me interested in DAC options. Like Topping DX3 Pro + for it’s versatility. I will check your reviews out, but I think that they are more high end than I need.
Thanks Christiaan
:-). Fair enough! In my view, the Squeezebox Duet DAC is really low-end. And even its SPDIF output sounds soft. The Topping DAC is great at the price but to be honest, I still regard it as budget level. If that is the area in which you are looking then I can be of little help. But in the end, your ears are the judge!
I suggest you look at the entry-level Denafrips which has really surprised me. But it may still be more costly than what you are looking for. Holo Audio and Audio-GD are also interesting. Have a nice DAC-hunt! Best, Christiaan
I have the 59ES and I listen to it through Teufel Ultima MKII speakers, and the DAT dewck sounds fantastic. Maybe the coloration of the sound comes from the speakers? I also have Edifier S1000W speakers, and they give great neutral sound.
Gentlemen, I have owned the Sony DTC-690, DTC-59ES, DTC-60ES, DTC77ES and DTC-A8. And I can tell you, no matter the machine, with one, two, or four motors, they all have mechanical problems. Over the years, my decks have had issues, but this should be expected for the number of years they have existed. I mean even BMW’s breakdown. the format has given me many decades of enjoyment. The sound does vary from machine to machine I find the 77ES and the 60ES gave a very natural and smooth open sound. A higher-end DAC (S.M.S.L.) gave a three-dimensional and distinctive voice instrument location between the speakers. I have often wondered why Sony makes a machine with all metal parts in the tape drive mechanism. Most problems that exist, with these decks, 80 percent of the time come from plastic parts that wear out or break. Being these parts are small, how much more would it cost to do this, and take these decks to a higher standard? They saw the need to add additional direct-drive motors to its ES line, so, wouldn’t a few more updates make sense?
Indeed, they all seem to get takeup reel issues at one point or another. Interestingly, I have never encountered these issues with Sony’s true pro machines such as the PCM7030. In the post-pro and broadcast world where I used to work for almost 2 decades, these have been abused on a daily basis, but have proven indestructible. Please note that this not apply to models such as the PCM2800 which are essentially consumer machines with a “pro” look.
Hi Christiaan, I replaced the SMD capacitors in the head amplifier of my DAT, they all perish in the end. However, I am not using it anymore. I have upgraded to Bower and Wilkins XT8 and am amazed by the low they are capable of given their slender footprint. And only two day ago, I got myself a Sony CDP-557esD. Now that’s built like a tank weighing 18 Kg… I love how it looks on the inside and mine had been sitting for 20 years in a cupboard. The display is nice bright evenly and the disklc tray operation smooth as can be. Lucky as it might be hard to find a replacement k190a laser unit if it dies. But man did they built thing beautifully back in 1987. I only need to spray the headphones volume pot. I will open it up and do some maintenance and replace the two belts for good measure. Two Burr Brown 18 bit DAC’s, first (consumer) 18 bit player ever.
Anyway, wanted to give you an update. Also very content with my Topping DX30 Pro Plus.
Take care.
Hey Amnon, nice hearing from you again after all this time! I still recall enthusiastically recording a bunch of tracks from your 80’s and 90’s CDs on your DAT recorder, only to find the playback had lots of dropouts on my own deck which, I think was a Sony 57 or 59 at that time. I still listen to transfers of some of those tracks, and they only sound real to me with the drop-outs in place:-). By the way, I later owned a JVC XD-Z505 that has a twin in Philips guise, and although it looked simple, it never gave me any trouble. I sold it when transitioning to MD. The entry-level Sony MD decks were fantastic but, alas, trouble found me again with the top-class MD decks that I had to send in for service twice. I agree those classic Sony ES CD players are really nice and very reliable. They also make great transports. A friend of mine has a Sony/Philips museum and I heard many of the CD players, all refurbished, of course. I have to say, most of them are much better than we collectively give them credit for.
The drop.outs, is exactly what strated to happen on my DTC-59ES. It’s sounded a bit like tape track misalignment, to be corrected with the tape in or tape out coaster, but at that time I didn’t have my scope yet and I should have left it alone. The cause for the dropouts are tye SMD capacitors om the head amplifier board. After replacing those, the dropouts disappeared. I would be happy to fix that for you for old times sake. Let me know if you would like to do that or just meet up.
Hi Amnon, my deck was practically new at that time, so I think the dropouts were the result of misalinment between the two decks, and with my luck at that time, probably my deck was to blame! I have no owned a DAT recorder in a very long time, but thanks for offering!