SONY TC-K222ESG

Commentary

This cassette deck was developed using the design know-how of the ESG series.

By installing a new mechanism, unpleasant mechanical sounds are suppressed and quick operation is realized.

It uses a closed-loop dual capstan system, in which the tape is held between two capstan sets centered on the head and pinch rollers, and tape travel is stabilized. This has many advantages such as improved wow and flutter characteristics, reduced modulation noise, and stable head touch.
In addition, the capstan drive employs a direct drive with a 3-layer linear torque BSL motor with less rotational unevenness. In addition, superior characteristics are obtained by a quartz lock servo and a zinc die-cast base that eliminates transmission of unwanted vibrations.

It uses power loading. If you put the tape in the cassette lid and press the operation button such as play or rewind without closing the door, the tape will be loaded automatically and enter the operation mode.

It is equipped with a cassette stabilizer. When the tape is set by power loading, the holding arm secures the cassette half and suppresses harmful vibration while the tape is running.

Using a 3-head system, the optimum head gap width for recording and playback can be set, resulting in better linearity and frequency characteristics than the 2-head system.
A simultaneous recording monitor is also available to monitor recording conditions in real time.

Equipped with a bias calibration function, the bias value can be finely adjusted within ± 20% according to the tape to be used by the built-in oscillator while observing the indicated value of the meter.
It is also equipped with a recording calibration function that eliminates differences in recording and playback levels due to tape sensitivity.

In order to maintain sound purity, the circuit layout follows the signal flow as closely as possible.

In order to realize pure signal transmission, single crystal ESC-OCC wire rod with high purity oxygen-free copper of 99.997% or more and with almost no grain boundary has been adopted important points.

Equipped with a CD direct IN terminal, there are two input lines together with the normal line input.

The head uses an LC-OFC wound laser amorphous head that takes advantage of the magnetic properties of amorphous magnetic alloys and employs an LC-OFC (linear crystalline oxygen-free copper) in the head winding of the original laser amorphous head. This reduces distortion due to capacitive reactances and reduces loss in the mid-range and high-range.

Equipped with the Dolby HX-PRO, the effective bias amount is controlled to the optimum value in 1/1000 second increments to prevent over-bias in the high-frequency range and improve linearity in the high-frequency range. This function works only during recording, so it is effective even when played on a deck without the Dolby HX-PRO.

Super-bias is adopted, and by shifting up the bias frequency greatly, the frequency difference with the music signal is expanded, and beat noise and intermodulation distortion due to interference between the bias frequency and the music signal are suppressed.

Equipped with Dolby NR B-C type.

Vibration control material with large internal loss is adhered to the chassis, and further vibration control material is inserted in the joint part of each chassis to suppress unnecessary vibration of the case.

The power cord with polarity is a cabtire cable made of OFC wire.

Uses gold-plated input / output terminals with low contact resistance and little change over time such as rust and corrosion.

By using the included wireless remote control, you can record in sync without connecting a sync cord to a CD player supported by Sony's remote control.

Equipped with FL tube adoption linear electronic counter with subtraction function of minute and second display.

Equipped with an auto-monitor function that simplifies the operation during playback.
If you press the play button, it will automatically switch to tape even if the monitor switch is in the source state.

It is equipped with a wide range peak program meter that displays real-time peak values in the range of -40dB to + 8 dB and also has a peak hold function.

Equipped with a display ON/OFF switch, three modes can be selected : all lights, counter only, and all lights.

It is equipped with an automatic music sensor (AMS) function that can quickly find the beginning of the previous or next music. In particular, the ESG series has been improved in usability by one touch operation.

Equipped with an auto tape selector that automatically detects whether the tape being used is type I (normal), II (high position), or IV (metal).

Equipped with an autoplay function that automatically starts playing after rewinding, and a memory play function that starts playing from the position reset to counter 0.

Timer recording and alarm clock playback are possible by combining the separately sold timer.

Equipped with a Rec Mute function with auto-space that automatically mutes for approximately 4 seconds.

Model Rating

Type	Stereo cassette deck
Heads	Playhead x1 1 Recording Head Erase Head x1
Motor	Linear Torque BSLD. D. Motor : 1 DC Motor : 2
Signal-to-noise ratio	56 dB (EIAJ, Dolby off, peak level, Metal-S cassette) 72 dB (Dolby NRC, peak level, Metal-S cassette)
Frequency characteristic	15 Hz ~ 21 kHz ± 3 dB (EIAJ, Metal-S Cassette)
Frequency range	10 Hz ~ 22 kHz (EIAJ, Metal-S Cassette)
Wow and flutter (EIAJ)	± 0.04% Wpeak 0.024%WRMS
Distortion factor	0.5% (EIAJ, Metal-S Cassette)
Power consumption	19W
External dimensions	Width 430x Height 135x Depth 350 mm
Weight	6.7kg
Attachment	Wireless Remote Control RM-J701