Sony TC-WA8ESA, TC-WA7ESA, TC-WE805S, TC-WE705S, TC-WE605S User Manual

Ster eo
Cassette Deck

3-810-716-11(1)

Operating Instructions

TC-WA8ESA TC-WA7ESA TC-WE805S TC-WE705S TC-WE605S TC-WR550Z TC-WE505

 1996 by Sony Corporation

3-810-716-11(1)

WARNING

To prevent fire or shock
hazard, do not expose
the unit to rain or
moisture.

For the customers in the
United States

This symbol is intended to alert the user
to the presence of uninsulated
“dangerous voltage” within the
product’s enclosure that may be of
sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk
of electric shock to persons.

This symbol is intended to alert the user
to the presence of important operating
and maintenance (servicing)
instructions in the literature
accompanying the appliance.

Owner’s Record

The model and serial numbers are
located on the rear of the unit.
Record these numbers in the spaces
provided below. Refer to them
whenever you call upon your Sony
dealer regarding this product.

Model No.
Serial No.

INFORMATION

This equipment has been tested and
found to comply with the limits for a
Class B digital device, pursuant to Part
15 of the FCC Rules.
These limits are designed to provide
reasonable protection against harmful
interference in a residential installation.
This equipment generates, uses, and can
radiate radio frequency energy and, if
not installed and used in accordance
with the instructions, may cause
harmful interference to radio
communications. However, there is no
guarantee that interference will not
occur in a particular installation. If this
equipment does cause harmful
interference to radio or television
reception, which can be determined by
turning the equipment off and on, the
user is encouraged to try to correct the
interference by one or more of the
following measures:

- Reorient or relocate the receiving
antenna.

- Increase the separation between the
equipment and receiver.

- Connect the equipment into an outlet
on a circuit different from that to
which the receiver is connected.

- Consult the dealer or an experienced
radio/TV technician for help.

CAUTION

You are cautioned that any changes or
modifications not expressly approved in
this manual could void your authority
to operate this equipment.

For the customers in Canada

CAUTION

TO PREVENT ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO
NOT USE THIS POLARIZED AC PLUG
WITH AN EXTENSION CORD,
RECEPTACLE OR OTHER OUTLET
UNLESS THE BLADES CAN BE FULLY
INSERTED TO PREVENT BLADE
EXPOSURE.

NOTICE FOR THE
CUSTOMERS IN THE UNITED
KINGDOM

A moulded plug complying with BS 1363
is fitted to this equipment for your safety
and convenience.

Should the fuse in the plug supplied
need to be replaced, a 5 AMP fuse
approved by ASTA or BSI to BS 1362, (i.e.
marked with 2 or @ mark) must be
used.

If the plug supplied with this equipment
has a detachable fuse cover, be sure to
attach the fuse cover after you change the
fuse. Never use the plug without the fuse
cover. If you should lose the fuse cover,
please contact your nearest Sony service
station.

IMPORTANT

If the plug supplied is not suitable for
the socket outlets in your home, it
should be cut off and an appropriate
plug fitted in accordance with the
following instructions.

The wires in this mains lead are
coloured in accordance with the
following code:

Blue: Neutral

Brown: Live
As the colours of the wires in the mains
lead of this apparatus may not
correspond with the coloured markings
identifying the terminals in your plug,
proceed as follows:
The wire which is coloured blue must be
connected to the terminal which is
marked with the letter N or coloured
black. The wire which is coloured brown
must be connected to the terminal which
is marked with the letter L or coloured
red. Do not connect either wire to the
earth terminal in the plug which is
marked by the letter E or by the safety
earth symbol Y or coloured green or
green-and-yellow.

WARNING

To prevent shock hazard, do not insert
the plug cut off from the mains lead into
a socket outlet. This plug cannot be used
and should be destroyed.

2

3-810-716-11(1)

Welcome!

Thank you for purchasing the Sony
Stereo Cassette Deck. Before operating
the unit, please read this manual
thoroughly and retain it for future
reference.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Getting Started

Unpacking 4
Hooking Up the System 4

About This Manual

The instructions in this manual are for
models TC-WA8ESA, WA7ESA,
WE805S, WE705S, WE605S, WR550Z
and WE505. Check your model number
by looking at the rear panel of your tape
deck. In this manual, the TC-WE805S is
the model used for illustration
purposes. Any difference in operation is
clearly indicated in the text, for
example, “TC-WA8ESA/WE805S only.”

Differences among the models

The seven models covered by this
manual are distinguished by their
features, as listed in the tables below.
Check the tables to verify the features
available on your tape deck before you
start operating it.

Model WA8ESA

Feature

Pitch control
High-speed

fast-forwarding
and rewinding

Dolby S
CD synchro-

recording

Model WE605S

Feature

Pitch control
High-speed

fast-forwarding
and rewinding

Dolby S
CD synchro-

recording

•

•

WA7ESA

WR550Z

WE805S
WE705S

•

•

•

•

•

•

WE505

•

•

Playing a Tape 5
Recording on a Tape 6

Advanced Playback Operations

Locating a Track (Multi-AMS/Auto Play/Memory Play) 8
Creating Your Own Program (RMS Play) 9

Advanced Recording Operations

Adjusting Bias and Recording Level Calibration Automatically 11
Adjusting the Recording Level Automatically (Auto Rec Level) 12
Fading In and Out (Fader) 13
Dubbing a Tape 13
Recording on Both Decks in Succession (Relay Recording) (TC­WA8ESA/WE805S only) 14
Recoding the Same Source on Both Decks (Simultaneous Recording)
(TC-WA8ESA/WE805S only) 15
Recording Your Own Program (RMS Dubbing) 15
Inserting a Blank Space During Recording (Record Muting) 16
Synchro-Recording With a CD Player Through a Control A1 Cable
(TC-WE805S/WE705S/WE605S only) 16

Additional Information

Precautions 18
Notes on Cassette Tapes 18
Cleaning 19
Troubleshooting 20
Specifications 21
Glossary 22

Index 22

Of the seven models, only the TC­WA8ESA and WE805S are capable of
recording on both decks. Relay
recording and simultaneous recording
are therefore featured on these two
models only.

Convention

The following icon is used in this
manual:

Indicates hints and tips for

z

making the task easier.

3

3-810-716-11(1)

Getting Started

Unpacking

Check that you received the following items:

• Audio connecting cords (2)

• Connecting the tape deck to a CD player eqipped with
a CONTROL A1 connector (TC-WE805S/WE705S/WE605S
only)

For information on connections through the CONTROL
A1 connectors, refer to the pamphlet included with this
manual.

Hooking Up the System

This section describes how to hook up the tape deck to
an amplifier or a CD player equipped with CONTROL
A1 connectors (TC-WE805S/WE705S/WE605S only).
Be sure to turn off the power of each component before
making the connections.

Tape deck

Ç

ç

to an AC
outlet

REC

OUT

TAPE

IN

Amplifier

to a
wall outlet

CD player

CONTROL

A1

Setting the voltage selector (only on
models supplied with a voltage selector)

Check that the voltage selector on the rear panel of the
tape deck is set to the local power line voltage. If not,
set the selector to the correct position using a
screwdriver before connecting the AC power cord to
an AC outlet.

VOLTAGE

220V
240V
120V

Connecting the AC power cord

Connect the AC power cord to an AC outlet.

Where do I go next?

Now you’re ready to use your tape deck.
For basic operations, go to pages 5 to 7; for advanced
operations, go to the sections starting from page 8.

ç: Signal flow

Hookups

• Connecting the tape deck to an amplifier

Connect the amplifier to the LINE IN/OUT connectors
using the supplied audio connecting cords.
When connecting an audio connecting cord, be sure to
match the color-coded cord to the appropriate jacks on the
components: Red (right) to Red and White (left) to White.
Be sure to make connections firmly to avoid hum and
noise.

Tape deck

Amplifier

Ç

LINE

OUTIN

L
R

TAPE

REC OUT IN

L
R

L
R

ç

ç: Signal flow

4

3-810-716-11(1)

Basic Operations

Playing a Tape

32 4

Basic Operations

POWER

DIRECTION MODE



RELAY

Aa

ØON øOFF

PITCH CONTROL

+–

• See page 4 for hookup
information.

• You can use either deck for
playback.

z To adjust the pitch (Pitch

Control function) (TC­WE805S/WE705S/WE505
only)

ØON øOFF

PITCH CONTROL

+

–

Push in the PITCH
CONTROL button to activate
Pitch Control function and
turn the control clockwise to
raise the pitch or counter­clockwise to lower it.
You can adjust the pitch
during playback on deck A or
normal-speed dubbing (but
not during RMS play or RMS
dubbing).

z To play a tape recorded

with the Dolby NR*
system

Set DOLBY NR to ON and
select the same position that
the tape was recorded in—B,
C, or S (unavailable on the
TC-WE505).

z You can connect the

headphones to PHONES

* Dolby noise reduction

manufactured under license
from Dolby Laboratories
Licensing Corporation.

“DOLBY“ and the double-D
symbol a are trademarks of
Dolby Laboratories Licensing
Corporation.

RESET

g

RMS/START

(AMS) (AMS)

0

p

CLEAR BACK FRONT

PAUSE

REC MUTE

PRr

§

COUNTER

MEMORY

RMS

SET CHECK DISPLAY DECK A DECK B A+B REC HIGH/NORMAL

– RMS +

)

ª·

ON FILTERONOFF

REC

DOLBY NR

AUTO CAL(STARTP)

0

p

BCS

RESET

(AMS) (AMS)

ª·

PAUSE

REC MUTE

PRr

START(DECK BP)

DUBBING A B

)

§

MEMORYAB

REC

AUTO REC LEVEL

4

3

2

1

0

FADER ARL

π SYNCHRO

PHONES

Turn on the amplifier and select the tape deck position.

1

Press POWER, and then press §

2

and insert a cassette.

With the side you want to play
facing you

Set DIRECTION MODE.

3

To play back

One side only A
Both sides continuously* a
Both decks in succession* RELAY
* The deck automatically stops after playing back five times.

Press ·.

Set to

4

The deck starts playing. Adjust the volume on the amplifier.

Do not press POWER or § while the tape deck is operating.
If you do so, the tape may be damaged.

To

Stop playing p
Start playback from the reverse side ª
Pause

Fast-forward or rewind
Increase the tape fast-forward or

rewind speed (High-Speed Fast­Forwarding and Rewinding
functions) (TC-WA8ESA/WA7ESA/
WE805S/WE705S only)

Press

PAUSE P. Press the button again to
resume play.

) or 0 when the deck is stopped
) or 0 again during fast-forwarding

or rewinding

§ after stopping playingTake out the cassette

5

6

7

8

9

10

Basic Operations

5

3-810-716-11(1)

Basic Operations

Basic Operations

Recording on a Tape

245

POWER

DIRECTION MODE



RELAY

Aa

ØON øOFF

PITCH CONTROL

+–

3

• See page 4 for hookup
information.

• Recording is possible on
both decks A and B on the
TC-WA8ESA and WE805S,
but only on deck B on all
other models.

• See "Dubbing a Tape" (page

13) to make a copy of the
tape.

RESET

g

RMS/START

(AMS) (AMS)

0

p

CLEAR BACK FRONT

PAUSE

REC MUTE

PRr

§

COUNTER

MEMORY

RMS

SET CHECK DISPLAY DECK A DECK B A+B REC HIGH/NORMAL

– RMS +

)

ª·

ON FILTERONOFF

REC

DOLBY NR

AUTO CAL(STARTP)

0

p

BCS

RESET

START(DECK BP)

(AMS) (AMS)

ª·

PAUSE

REC MUTE

PRr

DUBBING A B

)

§

MEMORYAB

REC

AUTO REC LEVEL

4

3

2

1

0

FADER ARL

π SYNCHRO

PHONES

5

Turn on the amplifier and play the program source you want

1

to record.

Press POWER, and then press § and

2

insert a cassette.

With the side you want to record
facing you

6

7

8

9

10

Set DIRECTION MODE.

3

To record on

Only one side A

Both sides* a

* Recording stops when the tape reaches the end of reverse side.

Press REC r.

4

· lights up for recording on the side facing you. If it doesn’t,
press · once.

The tape deck automatically adjusts the recording level (see
page 12). After the AUTO indicator lights up continuously,
stop playing the program source. If you wish to adjust the
recording level manually, see “To adjust the recording level
manually” on page 7.

Do not press POWER or § while the tape deck is operating.
If you do so, the tape may be damaged.

Set to

6

3-810-716-11(1)

Basic Operations

E

z To protect recordings

against accidental erasure

Break out the record-protect
tab(s) (see page 18).

z The Dolby HX PRO*

system automatically
works during recording

Distortion and noise in the
high-frequency response are
reduced to produce high­quality sound that can be
enjoyed even during
playback on other tape decks.

Press PAUSE P or ·.

5

Recording starts.

Start playing the program source.

6

To

Stop recording
Start recording from the reverse side ª twice in Step 5
Pause PAUSE P. Press the button again to

Take out the cassette § after stopping recording

Use these switches (controls) to perform additional
operations

SET

MS/START

(AMS) (AMS)

0

p

CLEAR BACK FRONT

PAUSE

REC MUTE

PRr

§

COUNTER

MEMORY

AUTO CAL(STARTP)

RMS

SET CHECK DISPLAY DECK A DECK B A+B REC HIGH/NORMAL

– RMS +

ª·

REC

(AMS) (AMS)

)

0

p

DOLBY NR

ON FILTERONOFF

BCS

Press

p

resume recording.

RESET

MEMORYAB

DUBBING A B

START(DECK BP)

)

ª·

PAUSE

REC MUTE

REC

PRr

§

AUTO REC LEVEL

4

3

2

1

0

FADER ARL

π SYNCHRO

PHONES

5

6

7

8

9

10

Basic Operations

* HX Pro headroom extension

originated by Bang & Olufsen
and manufactured under license
from Dolby Laboratories
Licensing Corporation.

“DOLBY“, the double-D symbol
a and “HX PRO” are
trademarks of Dolby
Laboratories Licensing
Corporation.

REC LEVELDOLBY NR

To record with the Dolby NR system

Set DOLBY NR to ON, and select B, C, or S (unavailble on the TC-WE505)
before you start recording.

To record FM broadcasts with the Dolby NR system

If the FM reception is unsatisfactory, set DOLBY NR to ON FILTER (multiplex
filter) (see page 22).

To adjust the recording level manually

After pressing REC r in Step 4 on page 6, turn
REC LEVEL so that the peak level meters reach
the recommended level for the corresponding
tape type. After completing the adjustments,
stop playing the program source, then continue
the procedure from Step 5.

–10–20–

30

–

∞

dB

L
R

For type I or
type II tape

For type IV tape

a

–

4

+

+40

8

7

3-810-716-11(1)

Advanced Playback Operations

Locating a Track (Multi-AMS/ Auto Play/Memory Play)

You can locate the following/previous tracks within a
range of 30 tracks (Multi-AMS: Automatic Music
Sensor) or the beginning of a tape quickly (Auto Play).
You can even locate a specific point anywhere on a
tape (Memory Play).

RESET MEMORY RESET

COUNTER

RESET

POWER

DIRECTION MODE

Aa

ØON øOFF

PITCH CONTROL



RELAY

+–

MEMORY

g

RMS/START

SET CHECK DISPLAY DECK A DECK B A+B REC HIGH/NORMAL

(AMS) (AMS)

0

p

CLEAR BACK FRONT

PAUSE

REC MUTE

PRr§PRr

§

0 / )0 / )ª / ·

Note

Check the direction indicator of the deck you use. When you
locate a track on the reverse side (when ª lights up), press
the button(s) in the parentheses.

RMS

– RMS +

ª·

REC

)

AUTO CAL(STARTP)

DOLBY NR

BCS

ON FILTERONOFF

RESET

START(DECK BP)

(AMS) (AMS)

0

p ª·

PAUSE

REC MUTE

MEMORYAB

DUBBING A B

)

REC

3

2

1

PHONES

AUTO REC LEVEL

4

0

FADER ARL

π SYNCHRO

5

6

7

8

9

10

Notes

• The Multi-AMS function may not work correctly if:
— the blank space between tracks is less than 4 seconds

long.

— there is a passage of low frequencies or very low

volume within a track.

— the signal strength of the left and right channels are

very different.

• The Multi-AMS function is inoperative on a deck
whenever the other deck is playing, recording (except
during dubbing), or in pause.

• Even if DIRECTION MODE is set to a, the deck stops
when the current side reaches the end during Multi-AMS
operation.

• The tape counters are reset to “0.00” (TC-WA8ESA/
WA7ESA/WE805S/WE705S only) or to “0000” (TC­WE605S/WR550Z/WE505 only) when you turn off the
tape deck.

To locate

The beginning of the
next or succeeding
tracks
(Multi-AMS)

The beginning of the
current track
(Multi-AMS)

The beginning of the
preceding tracks
(Multi-AMS)

The beginning of a
tape (Auto Play)

A particular point on a
tape (Memory Play)

Press

) (or 0) as many times as you
want during playback.
For example, to locate 2 tracks
ahead, press twice.

0 (or )) once during playback

0 (or )) as many times as you

want during playback.
For example, to locate 2 tracks
behind, press three times.

MEMORY on the deck being used
repeatedly until “M” disappears in
the display . Then press 0 (or

)) while holding down · (or
ª).

MEMORY on the deck being used
repeatedly until “M” appears in the
display. Find the point you want,
then press RESET to reset the tape
counter and to memorize the point.
To locate the memorized point and
start playback, press 0 (or ))
while holding down · (or ª).
(Press 0 or ) to stop at “0.00”
(TC-WA8ESA/WA7ESA/WE805S/
WE705S only) or at “0000” (TC­WE605S/WR550Z/WE505 only). )

8

3-810-716-11(1)