Sony TC-FX1010

Alongwith the contemporary TA-AX6, this was Sony's last effort into assumed modernism.

The FX1010 is a "Computerized Self Control System" recorder, the computer thing being possible with Sony's new Audio Signal Processing IC, as used on the SYSCON353CD system and a few other units.

The A.S.P. allows four spots which can keep up to ten positions/settings in memory from bias to record level by way of Dolby/MPX settings, tape type or input/output levels, auto calibration, auto attenuation, 3-step MOL balance, timer settings or self tape/source monitoring... it's all there and all in memory. All this was extremely advanced in 1981.

The cassette mechanism itself is a two-motor / three-heads, very sturdy and solidly built which is present in most mid to upper-end Sony recorders of the times or a bit before : the capstan BSL motor is the same as that of the TC-K60.

The rest of the chassis is on par : diecast aluminium front frame, thick metal plates, careful shielding of the different sections - 8 kilos in toto.

Most visible and impressive are the flat surfaces which are in fact one single pad, rather thick, running the whole width of the control surface. If it still works very well after 25 years, its original grey color does turn 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.