As a further refinement, the Sony version included a magnetic ring and sensor coil built into the bearing hub so that the capstan speed could be read out directly. The capstan flywheel was driven directly by a bevelled pulley attached to the motor shaft, friction being provided by a precision rubber tyre set into the rim. Disc drive took as its basis the layout used in Uher's iconic 4000 Report open-reel portables of the early nineteen sixties. The most important of these was to replace the belt drive to the capstan with an arrangement known as 'disc drive', taken from the TC-D5. Good though it was, some improvements were nevertheless necessary to elevate the performance of the TCM-600 transport to proper 'professional' standards. It was this mechanism which formed the backbone of the WM-D6 of 1982, the original Walkman Professional. Further refinements included automatic stop in playback mode and an effective fast forward/rewind arrangement with cue and review. A precision-turned brass flywheel was used to keep the speed stable, aided by a smaller but faster rotating flywheel turning in the opposite direction to cancel the inertial effects of the machine being carried. This was the world's first personal stereo cassette player, the machine which would achieve global fame as the Walkman a year later.Īt the heart of both models was an excellent transport mechanism driven by a servo-controlled ironless core motor, via a crossed belt. Despite being the smallest cassette recorder on the market at the time, the Pressman is remembered only for one thing – it formed the basis of the 1979's TPS-L2. The machine's origins lay in the TCM-600 (TCM-100 in some markets) 'Pressman' model of 1978, a pocket-sized mono model intended for newspaper reporters and business people. One of the reasons for the success of the WM-D6C was its impeccable pedigree. In the fast-moving world of Japanese hi-fi, that was quite an achievement.

Although it was based on technology which preceded any Walkman, it was never bettered and remained in Sony's personal cassette line-up almost to the end.

That's right, in some respects it beat even the top Nakamichis of the time – despite being smaller than a paperback book. Not only was it the ultimate Walkman, but by virtue of its superb engineering happened to be one of the finest sounding cassette recorders that money could buy, full stop.

To any nineteen-eighties audiophile, the Sony WM-D6C – the 'Walkie Pro' to its friends – was one of that decade's most iconic products.

D6c specs