Sony DTC-ZA5ES
(1995 - 2006)

The ZA5ES is a 4DD/2Heads design and Sony's last full-fledged consumer DAT recorder, introduced at the ES line's true turning point...

It is a good recorder, it is also reliable, has 4 DD motors, PULSE analogue-to-digital converters, Advanced-PULSE + SCORE 1-bit digital filter, has SBM, can record analogue sources at 44.1kHz... It just was a bit of a let down when one had a DTC-2000ES and the lavishness of the previous DTC-1000ES, DTC-1500ES and DTC-2000ES was over.

Comparing the internal componentry and structure just proved what happened between 1993 and 1994 at Sony - the ZA5ES really is cheaply built inside, really cheap. No copper-plating, lightweight chassis, small transformer...

Open these two pages in new windows to make a direct comparison :
DTZ-ZA5ES
DTC-2000ES

See what I mean ?