Zoë Blade's notebook

PCM-F1

PCM-F1 tech specs

Sony PCM-F1 and SL-2000
Sony PCM-F1 and SL-2000

  • Released: 1981
  • Company: Sony
  • Type: Portable recorder (digital audio processor)
  • Length: up to 120 minutes[1]
  • Bitrates: 1233.568 kbps, 1234.8 kbps, 1409.792 kbps, 1411.2 kbps
  • Sample rates: 44.056 kHz[1][2] (colour NTSC), 44.1 kHz[2][3][4] (PAL)
  • Sample resolutions: 14-bit, 16-bit[1][2][3][4]
  • Tracks: stereo[1]

The PCM-F1 was a digital audio processor released by Sony in 1981. It encodes audio from analogue to digital, and decodes it back from digital to analogue. By connecting it to a videotape recorder, such as Sony's matching SL-F1 Betamax recorder, you can digitally record audio and play it back. And while you're at it, a TT-F1 radio would complete the rather stylish set.

Recording at the standard 14-bit sample resolution might well be the smarter choice, as the leftover bits are used to add error correction, in case there are any dropouts on the videotape.[5]

It's now very much obsolete — even my Edirol R-09 can do much the same thing using handy SD cards, and it's far more portable, even with its built-in pair of microphones — but it's pretty historic as using the exact same sample rate and resolution that would later be used by CDs... and for a consumer looking to record in that format, it was basically the only option.

Notable users

References

  1. "Select recording and playback tape speed, βI or βII, with the record mode selector to make the optimum PCM recording and playback. We recommend using a video tape not longer than the L-500 tape." "PCM-F1 manual" Sony, 1982, pp. 11, 23
  2. "PCM-F1 service notes" Sony, p. 1
  3. "Digital Recording" Mike Skeet, Electronics & Music Maker, Oct 1982, pp. 37—39
  4. "Home Recording With Digital" Mike Skeet, Home & Studio Recording, Dec 1983, pp. 32—34
  5. "Sony PCM-F1 Digital Audio Converter" J. Gordon Holt, Stereophile, Sep 1982
  6. The Sound of the Machine: My Life in Kraftwerk and Beyond Karl Bartos, 2023, ISBN 978-1-915841-19-3, p. 434

Reviews

Features

Downloads

Documentation

Digital audio processors: PCM-F1

Stereo recorders: DA-1 | HD-S1 | PCM-F1 | R-09

Sony: CD | DAT | MiniDisc | NW-A45 guide | PCM-F1