I've two second hand Sony PCM-701ES', which have already been quite heavily modded by someone else, and I'm trying to work out if I want to keep the mods or not - and if they tapes are compatible with each other.
I know it's got the Audio and Design CTC conversion (anyone got any info on this?), the other is externally original but has a mod board of some sort hidden in the bottom.
The CTC unit also has a 9-pin D connector hanging out the back with no marking, which inside goes to a little PCB with a single DIL chip and a load of diodes, installed on self-adhesive pillars. It says "Audio Maestro" on the PCB, the top of the chip has been tipexed so I don't know what it is.
I know it's got the Audio and Design CTC conversion (anyone got any info on this?), the other is externally original but has a mod board of some sort hidden in the bottom.
The CTC unit also has a 9-pin D connector hanging out the back with no marking, which inside goes to a little PCB with a single DIL chip and a load of diodes, installed on self-adhesive pillars. It says "Audio Maestro" on the PCB, the top of the chip has been tipexed so I don't know what it is.
The 9 pin connector was probably used to connect to a PCM to SPDIF convertor made and sold by Whistlewood. This provided a very useful digital audio output.
Whistlewood are no longer around and I can't find the website or archive any more. I have reverse engineered their convertor so if you do want to go down that route I can give you more information.
Whistlewood are no longer around and I can't find the website or archive any more. I have reverse engineered their convertor so if you do want to go down that route I can give you more information.
Thanks - I'll try and take some pictures of the inside over the weekend, and see where the other side of the bridge PCB goes to. I am interested in getting stuff onto a computer by some means - either SPDIF or by building an adaptor for the SDIF2 output.
pcm
hi i am bit of a noob on forums and i in no this is an old discussion but i have a a sony pcm 701 es with CTC mods.
I talked to friend in BBC radio and they said the mods were put on to bring it up to broadcast standard. The mods are basically just and upgrade from consumer input output to balanced xlr etc.
He also seemed to remember they were used for putting digital audio onto tape(dubbing) and also used for live audio recording on to beta as it was cheaper and longer than other tape formats.
i don't no if that is right or not but may be of some use.
hi i am bit of a noob on forums and i in no this is an old discussion but i have a a sony pcm 701 es with CTC mods.
I talked to friend in BBC radio and they said the mods were put on to bring it up to broadcast standard. The mods are basically just and upgrade from consumer input output to balanced xlr etc.
He also seemed to remember they were used for putting digital audio onto tape(dubbing) and also used for live audio recording on to beta as it was cheaper and longer than other tape formats.
i don't no if that is right or not but may be of some use.
SPDIF
I have a PCM 701 too, and want to add a SPDIF interface. But I can't get any useful message from the link (http://web.archive.org/web/20020610180925/whistlewood.co.uk/pcm/701.html), and I can't get the circuit diagram, the IC's model.
What can I do?
I have a PCM 701 too, and want to add a SPDIF interface. But I can't get any useful message from the link (http://web.archive.org/web/20020610180925/whistlewood.co.uk/pcm/701.html), and I can't get the circuit diagram, the IC's model.
What can I do?
The Whistlewood circuit used a 74HC4046 pll to regenerate the master clock and then a CS8402 to produce the SPDIF output. The archived web page shows how this was wired into the Sony PCM units.
Thank you very much, it is very important to me, would you provide a circuit diagram ? Or more information for the small PCB?
Thank you again!
Thank you again!
Hello all!
I am an owner of a PCM-501 ES and would be very greatful if I could get any information on the spdif out mod.
All the Best!
I am an owner of a PCM-501 ES and would be very greatful if I could get any information on the spdif out mod.
All the Best!
Whistlewood mod for Sony PCM F1/501/701
Me too, i'm looking for the Whistlewood S/PDIF circuit diagram for the Sony PCM-F1/501/701, or Sony PCM-601 circuit diagram.
Cheers
Me too, i'm looking for the Whistlewood S/PDIF circuit diagram for the Sony PCM-F1/501/701, or Sony PCM-601 circuit diagram.
Cheers
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=106425
Hi,
Came across this when I was trawling for something else. As the designer of the "Audio Maestro" mod (actually, it should be Sound Maestro - see Computer Music Journal, Volume 12 No. 2 - Summer 1988, Products of Interest) I can tell you what this is. A bit of history. Back in 1984/5 the York Electronic Studios (YES) group of composers comprising Richard Orton, founder of the Electronic Music Studio at the University of York, UK, Trevor Wishart, Andrew Bentley and Tom (now Archer) Endrich set up the Composers Desktop Project with the aim of making mainframe computer music facilities available on a desktop computer (for more info see http://www.composersdesktop.com/history.html). I was the hardware designer that provided the way to allow an Atari ST computer to send audio into (and get audio out of) a Sony PCMF1 type recorder which was used in order to keep the costs down and to provide a convenient, cheap, bulk storage for audio (we also developed a very early form of what was effectively a RAID disk system for audio storage, Martin Atkins writing the high level Sound Filing System, me the low level drivers). Audio Design, a British based Pro Sound manufacturer took on the technology (and provided much needed support for the CDP in the form of the then very expensive 500mb hard disks) to form the basis of their "Sound Maestro" stereo hard disk based recording and editing suite. The chip you are talking about broke the clocks and data streams out of the PCM701 in a form that could be communicated with the hardware of the Soundstreamer (re-package as the SoundMaestro rack unit) and thence to the Atari computer. It is designed so that if nothing is plugged into the back of the PCM701, the PCM701 will function as normal. Last I heard, there was still at least a couple of SoundMaestro systems in use - that was in 2003, well over a decade after production ceased of both the SoundMaestro and the Atari ST.
Hi,
Came across this when I was trawling for something else. As the designer of the "Audio Maestro" mod (actually, it should be Sound Maestro - see Computer Music Journal, Volume 12 No. 2 - Summer 1988, Products of Interest) I can tell you what this is. A bit of history. Back in 1984/5 the York Electronic Studios (YES) group of composers comprising Richard Orton, founder of the Electronic Music Studio at the University of York, UK, Trevor Wishart, Andrew Bentley and Tom (now Archer) Endrich set up the Composers Desktop Project with the aim of making mainframe computer music facilities available on a desktop computer (for more info see http://www.composersdesktop.com/history.html). I was the hardware designer that provided the way to allow an Atari ST computer to send audio into (and get audio out of) a Sony PCMF1 type recorder which was used in order to keep the costs down and to provide a convenient, cheap, bulk storage for audio (we also developed a very early form of what was effectively a RAID disk system for audio storage, Martin Atkins writing the high level Sound Filing System, me the low level drivers). Audio Design, a British based Pro Sound manufacturer took on the technology (and provided much needed support for the CDP in the form of the then very expensive 500mb hard disks) to form the basis of their "Sound Maestro" stereo hard disk based recording and editing suite. The chip you are talking about broke the clocks and data streams out of the PCM701 in a form that could be communicated with the hardware of the Soundstreamer (re-package as the SoundMaestro rack unit) and thence to the Atari computer. It is designed so that if nothing is plugged into the back of the PCM701, the PCM701 will function as normal. Last I heard, there was still at least a couple of SoundMaestro systems in use - that was in 2003, well over a decade after production ceased of both the SoundMaestro and the Atari ST.
Re: pcm
The Audio Design CTC mods did two things (both in the analog domain). One was to provide balanced inputs and outputs. The other was to correct the 11 uS error there is between the two channels of the 701, whose ADC's were clocked in such a way as to effectively delay the samples of one channel by half a sample period w.r.t the other. This didn't matter if you were playing back on a simlar machine (as the DAC's were also so clocked) but if it played back on another machine where the converters were clocked simultaneously, the time misalignment screwed up high frequency stereo imaging and also resulted in treble roll-off if the recording was taken to mono, a common requirement even now for broadcasters. Iirc, CTC stood Coincident Time Correction, or something similar and it used 11uS analog (!) delay lines (based on networks of R's, L's and C's). Note I was not the designer, so I have no specifics. If you have one of these machines, make sure that you have the CTC switch set correctly for any tapes you play on it. If they are not labelled, just mono the two channels and, listening to the high frequency noise content of the resulting mix, chose the setting of the CTC switch which gives the brightest result.
dlut said:
The Audio Design CTC mods did two things (both in the analog domain). One was to provide balanced inputs and outputs. The other was to correct the 11 uS error there is between the two channels of the 701, whose ADC's were clocked in such a way as to effectively delay the samples of one channel by half a sample period w.r.t the other. This didn't matter if you were playing back on a simlar machine (as the DAC's were also so clocked) but if it played back on another machine where the converters were clocked simultaneously, the time misalignment screwed up high frequency stereo imaging and also resulted in treble roll-off if the recording was taken to mono, a common requirement even now for broadcasters. Iirc, CTC stood Coincident Time Correction, or something similar and it used 11uS analog (!) delay lines (based on networks of R's, L's and C's). Note I was not the designer, so I have no specifics. If you have one of these machines, make sure that you have the CTC switch set correctly for any tapes you play on it. If they are not labelled, just mono the two channels and, listening to the high frequency noise content of the resulting mix, chose the setting of the CTC switch which gives the brightest result.
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