Sony TC-399 Tape Recorder (1978-82)

"The TC-399 has large-sized VU meters which indicate the average level of complex musical waveforms. Other features include high performance Ferrite and Ferrite heads, tape bias and equalization switches to obtain the maximum characteristics according to the type of tapes, and a tape tension regulator to reduce wow and flutter."

Sony's other Volks-RtR.

Not a supersonic masterpiece but, superceding the TC-377 and TC-378 old timers, the TC-399 was the last of the Mohicans but outside Japan-only : this was an export item for those who weren't hot on the TC- D5 or the EL-D8 and/or those willing to buy in 1979 a black-repackaged TC-366 encoder originally developed in... 1969.

The drive is more or less equivalent to the aforementioned TC-377 or TC-378 - more than less that is.

Simple and reliable recorder with contoured F&F heads, VU meters with an added peak LED, mic/line mixing, bias & eq settings and a DC playback amplifier.

And then some: the 399 balance in verrrrrry large numbers.

The R-7MB reels shown here are the uncommon black ones - these nevertheless command high prices on eBay, not to mention the really rare red R-7MB or the really really rare orange R-7MB. Even the common silver R-7MB costs!

Speaking of color, the TC-399 was also available in silver, seemingly only in the US.

Given the TC-378 ancestor it was after all normal and less technoid looking, too"