Introduced in 1992, the Marantz DD-92 was the company’s premium first-generation Digital Compact Cassette recorder. Positioned above the Marantz DD-82, it combined DCC recording and playback with backwards-compatible reproduction of conventional analogue Compact Cassettes. Analogue cassettes could not be recorded, but Dolby B and Dolby C noise reduction were provided for their playback.
The Marantz DD-92 used Philips’ Precision Adaptive Sub-band Coding system to record stereo digital audio at 384kbit/s. Digital sources with sampling frequencies of 32kHz, 44.1kHz and 48kHz were accepted automatically, while material received through the analogue inputs was converted at 44.1kHz. Error correction used C1 and C2 Reed-Solomon coding.
Tape travelled at 4.76cm/s, the same nominal speed used by the conventional Compact Cassette. Digital information was written across multiple parallel tracks using a stationary thin-film recording and playback head. The bidirectional transport allowed both sides of a DCC to be used without manually turning the cassette over.
Marantz equipped the DD-92 with its DAC-7 differential bitstream digital-to-analogue conversion system. This used one-bit pulse-density modulation together with a 20-bit, eight-times oversampling digital filter. Analogue-to-digital conversion used sigma-delta bitstream modulation with 18-bit resolution and 64-times oversampling. These figures described the deck’s conversion stages rather than the 384kbit/s PASC data rate recorded on the cassette.
The Marantz DD-92 differed from the Marantz DD-82 through its heavier construction and upgraded internal components. It used a shielded copper-plated chassis, die-cast side panels, selected passive components and oxygen-free copper wiring. These additions increased the deck’s width to 458mm and its weight to 13kg.
Cassettes were placed label-side upwards in a motorised loading drawer. The recorder automatically distinguished between DCC and analogue Compact Cassettes. Its large display showed recording and playback levels, operating mode, track number, tape direction, timing information, selected input and the status of its recording and playback functions.
Prerecorded DCC releases could contain album, artist and track information. The Marantz DD-92 displayed this information through its alphanumeric text display when it was present on the cassette. Timing options included absolute tape time, elapsed track time, remaining recording time and a conventional tape counter. Track access and programme control were managed through markers recorded separately from the audio. Start markers identified individual tracks, while Reverse and Next markers controlled how the transport moved between the two sides of the cassette. Markers could be inserted or erased without rerecording the programme material.
The Append function located the end of an existing recording and prepared the deck to continue recording while maintaining the recorded time and track sequence. When Append was used with a partly recorded cassette, the Marantz DD-92 replayed approximately ten seconds from the end of the previous programme before entering record-pause mode.
A Renumber function scanned the recorded markers and reassigned consecutive track numbers after markers had been added or removed. Automatic Start could create start markers during recording, while markers could also be written manually. Digital track information received from compatible sources could be used to generate track markers automatically.
Synchronous recording allowed the Marantz DD-92 to begin recording when a compatible CD player was started through the system-control connection. Record Mute inserted approximately three seconds of silence before returning the machine to record-pause mode. Analogue recording level and channel balance were adjustable from the front panel, while digital recordings retained the level contained in the incoming digital signal.
Playback functions included direct track selection, individual-track repeat, complete-tape repeat, Blank Skip and Auto Music Scan. Auto Music Scan played a short section from each recorded track before moving to the next selection. Audible fast search allowed recorded material to be monitored while the tape travelled forwards or backwards.
Conventional analogue Compact Cassettes could be played using Dolby B, Dolby C or no noise reduction. Track searching on analogue cassettes relied upon gaps between selections rather than DCC markers. Analogue cassette playback was also available through the deck’s digital outputs. The Marantz DD-92 included a digital monitor function that allowed its analogue-to-digital and digital-to-analogue converter stages to be operated independently. It could therefore perform analogue-to-digital, digital-to-analogue or analogue-to-digital-to-analogue conversion without recording to tape.
Rear-panel connections included stereo analogue inputs, fixed and variable analogue outputs, coaxial digital input and output, optical digital input and output, and Marantz system remote-control connections. The front panel provided a variable-level headphone output. The supplied wireless remote control duplicated most of the front-panel functions and included numerical buttons for direct track selection.
Features
- Digital Compact Cassette recording and playback
- Playback compatibility with conventional analogue Compact Cassettes
- 384kbit/s Precision Adaptive Sub-band Coding
- DAC-7 differential bitstream digital-to-analogue conversion
- 18-bit, 64-times oversampling analogue-to-digital conversion
- Copper-plated chassis with die-cast side panels
- Append recording and automatic track renumbering
- Automatic and manual programme-marker functions
- Optical and coaxial digital inputs and outputs
- Wireless remote control and system-control integration