The WMD-DT1 oddities thread

I decided to open a thread to collect some infos about the WMD-DT1 DAT Walkman by Sony.
It has some strange design decisions and some other oddities that I hope to figure out with the help of you all.

What's known:
Body case:

• Theoretically two people can listen to it through the headphone jack and remote at the same time.
• Battery compartment door is fragile and might suffer due to the springs and batteries pressing against it from the inside. Handle with care! Not in use for longer periods of time? Remove the batteries so it's less stressed.
• The open mechanism can be potentially fragile too albeit not as much as the battery door. Just don't open it too abruptly.
• The Japanese warning on the side of the device says that the device mustn't be placed or left in hot spots (e.g. car in summer) as it might affect its functioning negatively (possibly permanently too).
  
• While most of it is a metal case, DAT drives are consisting of many tiny elements. Needless to say: Do NOT drop! Things might shift or get loose breaking it or glitching and causing a tape-chaos.

Remote:

• Remote's metal piece meant to attach it to your clothing can bend easily if not handled with care.
  
• Adapter for Sony's proprietary to regular 3.5mm jack for the remote has a weighty head piece and thin cable. It's better to stabilize it or only use it for special occasions. Same adapter is also in use for some MD Walkman remotes in case a spare one is needed.
• Mega Bass (x2) and AVLS are only accessible through the remote and reset if power was cut for too long. Take care of your remote. Obviously battery life can be extended when not using these functions and not rewinding.
• The battery empty symbol only flashes once the battery is actually about to be empty. Before you don't see its current state.

Other:

• It can at least play DDS-1 types provided they were recorded with a DAT recorder.
• Only playback-only DAT Walkman by Sony (with a window).

Useful links (to be expanded):

• The YouTube video in the following spoiler (click to open):
  Spoiler
• http://www.datrecorders.co.uk/wmddt1.php
• Suggestions of fixing the battery door the simple and non-ugly way other than a rubberband: [1]

Currently unknown/hard to find issues/info:

• Is the Open writing double-sided, so on the rubber as well as on the plastic of the battery compartment? I didn't dare to rub it off at that part to see whether there's really nothing beneath it on mine where the rubber is also slowly getting off on the edges (didn't take long, is a thin layer it seems). Maybe another WMD-DT1 owner on here can help with that. Do people use stickers to get it back on? Which font is it if so and where and how do they do it?
  
• In this tweet there's an early and a late model. The tweet isn't exactly clear whether the late model contains a gap on its case or a very very early one. Clearly one seems to be rid of the rubber, does it (in any way) relate to the open-writing question?
• This tweet seems to be a (weird) solution to the battery door issue. Any info on what parts this was made of?
• A custom case?

I'll update the above lists if I find out more things.

If you have more infos, let's collect them here for those who wish to own one at some point.

 

Hehe, thanks for posting this! The one on the photo shows precisely the mindboggling Open-writing below the rubber. Clearly the layer of rubber on this one is completely missing/rubbed off, yet the writing still remains.
It isn't one with one of those strange gaps near the door-shelf/button too (like mine). Is this the one you might get, if so, could you ask your friend whether he reattached the writing or if it was below the layer? I think of all the things I've read about it this seems to be the greatest design mystery.

I hope you'll get it soonish, it's a beautiful device.

 

So I used Google Translate and to verify the translation asked a friend (who speaks Japanese).

This tweet shows an early and a late model.
It's not 100% clear from context which one is supposed to be the older one though, the way the tweet is written it seems to refer to the one with the gap being the "initial lot"/prototype production line. Can anyone verify this? Old advertisements seem to contain that design too, so it might be.

It's also unclear whether this is simply a design decision for style or if the gap actually helps stability or the open mechanism in some way. I couldn't find out anything else about it other than that the battery door on that particular model in the tweet is fixed, whether that's a production fix or a selfmade fix, I have no idea. Considering the aforementioned likeliness of the prototype comment, it might be just a user-fix.

 

I've always wanted one of those in my collection, but too expensive. What's the sound quality like?

 

To summarize in one word: Phenomenal.

To go into details: Very pleasant to listen to, especially if you managed to record from WAV or FLAC files on a DAT before (of course through a different device, the WMD-DT1 is a pure playback walkman after all).
It's definitely a fair way to say it's got crystal clear audio, sounds very balanced to me on three different pairs of headphones. If you desire more bass, you can turn on bass boosting once or twice through the remote at any time. There's barely any background noise and playback is very stable. Only very rarely you'll have a short moment of a break during playback. Ever since I got mine in January, those were I believe only 3 or 4 in total and only when actually walking with it somewhere. The only kind of what could be called background noise I noticed is when you stop the tape and use the remote to change volume or got no tape inserted, I believe it could be the rotating helical scan head. Very very very silent though and I didn't hear this at all during playback, so I believe it's more of a no sound/pause-thing.
The engine is of course noisier than analogue tape players and some minidisc walkmans, resulting in a charming constant buzz sound coming from the device. You won't hear it outdoors, and likely won't hear it with headphones in either unless you hold it close to your ears.
It's certainly portable hi-fi in my opinion.

Note that you can also play a track on loop with a button of the remote.

PS: I don't have the original headphones that came with it, the closest thing are minidisc walkman headphones with the same minijack as the WMD-DT1's remote. However, I wouldn't be surprised if the sound was tweaked for these. With the minidisc walkman headphones the audio sounds fine/ok. To use own headphones you either have to connect the proprietary jack to 3.5mm/default jack adapter on the remote or use the 3.5mm jack on the side next to the remote connector. Using one doesn't exclude the other.

 

Now I really want one!

 

Saw an interesting, visually appealing fix to the battery hatch issue this model often suffers from:

I mean, it looks pretty fine, compliments the design. Anyone recognize what kind of material this is? A wide rubber band perhaps or cloth? If cloth, makes me wonder how it it is kept closed.

 

Hi everyone,
Just a note: I have a couple of these and it's really not too hard to solve the battery compartment issue. Get a cassette plastic holder and cut it so that a long strip can go where the latch mechanism was (about 1.5cm long). leave a little right angle from the box to catch the plastic hook on the door - like a hockey stick. File down the bottom a little to fit and fine tune height of catch with filing (sandpaper will do). Glue in with JB weld. Works every time! Pics of a done one attached. Looks messy but this is just the magnification...

 

Alex K Dat 3 by alex kirkham posted Sep 11, 2024 at 11:02 PM

Alex K Dat 2 by alex kirkham posted Sep 11, 2024 at 11:02 PM

Alex K Dat 1 by alex kirkham posted Sep 11, 2024 at 11:02 PM

 

it has held so far in two of them. and closed it looks entirely original. you just have to pull down the catch when closing and when opening...