Sony

Sony established itself as a powerhouse in professional audio with groundbreaking digital recorders and studio effects that set new industry standards. Their DASH recorders, like the Sony PCM-3324 and Sony PCM-3348, became essential tools in major studios during the 1980s and 90s, renowned for pristine sound quality and unmatched reliability. Simultaneously, Sony’s entry into digital effects with units like the DRE-2000 reverb and DPS series cemented their reputation for innovation, offering versatile reverb, delay, modulation, and filtering options that became go-to choices for both studios and broadcasters.

Sony also developed digital audio processors, such as the PCM-1630, to facilitate CD mastering, as well as DSD-based recorders designed specifically for high-resolution audio mastering. Sony’s expertise culminated in the Sony DPS-V77, a “best of Sony” effects processor, and the Sony DRE-S777, an advanced convolution reverb that captured real-world spaces with astonishing realism. Together, Sony’s recorders and effects processors became synonymous with high-quality, professional-grade audio, shaping the sound of a generation and leaving a lasting legacy in recording technology.

Released in 1987
The Sony PCM2500 DAT Recorder took over from the Sony PCM-1630 Series Recorders and kept the DAT format alive for years to come in the studio, (with many successful albums having been mastered to it) but DAT as a format, failed to succeed in the domestic market.
Released in 1987
The Sony MU-L021 is a professional stereo compressor limiter designed for use in studios. It features a built-in noise gate, transformerless balanced circuits, and variable control of key parameters. It is rack mountable and ideal for professional applications.
Released in 1988
The Sony MU-E041 is a professional-grade parametric equaliser featuring four-band EQ with independent control, boost/cut level switch, and transformerless balanced input/output circuits.
Released in 1989
Sony PCM-3348 DASH Multitrack Digital Recorder was the State-of-the-Art Digital 48 Channel Recorder offering Professional Quality, Performance and Reliability.
Released in 1990
Released in 1990, the Sony MU-D100 recorder features a design aesthetic that matches the Sony MU-R201, while offering advanced editing capabilities and a highly durable mechanism for professional use.
Released in 1991
The Sony DPS-R7 was the first in a new digital effects line up from Sony, its success spawned a number of other effects using the same architecture as the DPS-R7. The Sony DPS-R7 is an excellent digital reverb that still stands up today, with its full bandwidth and excellent reverb algorithms, it is hampered only by its truly awful interface if you wish to program it.
Released in 1991
On the back of the success of the Sony DPS-R7, Sony developed and released the next processor in the line-up, the DPS-D7 Digital Delay with audible improvements. Sony didn’t just add in the new algorithms and release it, they also chose to make the DPS-D7 use a higher sampling rate of 48kHz to improve the bandwidth even further than the DPS-R7.
Released in 1992
After a digital reverb and a digital delay, the next logical choice for Sony was a modulation processor, and that is exactly what they delivered with the Sony DPS-M7. With the new Sony DPS-M7, Sony continued to improve the sonic characteristics of the internals, with the DPS-M7 showing even better noise floor performance than even the DPS-D7 that preceded it.
Released in 1992
After the digital reverb, digital delay and then a modulation processor, what could Sony release next? A dynamic filter, which lacked the appeal of the first three effects in the DPS line up. The Sony DPS-F7 is suited to keyboard players more so than studios, as it generates rather interesting effects for keyboards including vocoder and synthesiser. Having said that, creative engineers could find great use for this effect in their racks.
Released in 1994
The Sony K-1203 Super Bit Mapping Processor was a digital processing unit that was unique to Sony, and it enabled conversion of higher than 16-bit signals to 16-bit without audible loss.
Released in 1994
A year before releasing the Sony DPS-V77, Sony decided to offer a more affordable multi-effects processor in the HR-MP5, a half rack sized processor. The Sony HR-MP5 is not what one would hope for if looking for a ‘Best of Sony’ and probably was not intended to be that. Aimed at home recording studios rather than topflight studios, Sony had great success with the HR-MP5.
Released in 1994
In the realm of embracing budget-friendly digital 8-track recording, Sony took a collaborative approach instead of crafting their own system. Opting to partner with Tascam, the result is the Sony PCM-800, essentially a Tascam DA-88 with a touch of rebranding.
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