Sony TC-FX1010
(september 1981 - 1984)

Along the contemporary TA-AX8, this was Sony's last effort into assumed modernism.

Made possible by Sony's new Audio Signal Processing chip, as used on the "Liberty CD" system and a few other units, the A.S.P. allowed here four memory settings which comprised everything from bias to record level by way of Dolby/MPX settings, tape type or input/output levels - in 1981 all this was extremely advanced.

The cassette mechanism itself is made of 2-BSL motors and 3-S&F heads, very sturdy and solidly built which is present in most mid to upper-end Sony recorders of the times. The rest of the chassis is on par : aluminium sides and front frame, thick metal plates, careful shielding of the different sections - 8 kilos in toto.

The flat surface is in fact a single pad, rather thick, running the whole width of the control surface - if it still works very well after 25 years, it does yellow quite a lot !
Sound-wise, the TC-FX1010 is on par with any top-end deck of the time : not a TC-K777, sure, but close enough.

It is the FX1010 that started my interest in Sony when I discovered it in 1982 - it took me 23 years to own one :)