Sony DTC-57ES
Sony PCM-2300
(1991 - 1992)

The DTC-57ES (aka DTC-67ES in the US) was the replacement for the DTC-55ES (aka DTC-75ES in the US) which was a fairly troublesome deck and also Sony's first deck sporting the well remembered SCMS "feature". Besides being safer for one's recordings, the DTC-57ES added the date/hour/minutes/seconds recording feature.

Above in the lineup was the DTC-77ES (aka DTC-87ES in the US) ; below were the DTC-670 and the half-sized DTC-P7, the latter being also available under the Aiwa brand).
The DTC-57ES was also pared down to become the DTC-750, losing along the way its coaxial digital output, its optional "champagne" dressing and sideburns.

More importantly, the DTC-57ES had a professional version which added professional features like XLR i/os, better boards and mostly... defeatable SCMS.

Whether consumer (DTC-57ES) or professional (PCM-2300), three motors were at hand along a Crystal AK5339 for the a/d (in 1bit HDLC fashion) and four CXD-2552 for the digital to analog section. On standard tests, the DTC-57ES had better specs, linearity and s/n ratios than its professional brother :)

Although 44,1kHz analog recording wasn't yet offered (for the consumer version), let alone Super Bit Mapping, Sony sold plenty of DTC-57ES and siblings : Digital Audio Tape in 1991 still had a bright future.