i have just bought a tc-d5 proII.

at the moment i prefer the d6c. the sound of the d5 isn't as clear/detailled as the d6c.

perhaps i need to replace the head.
are there changes to be made to get more detail from the d5?
perhaps these are technical questions.

What's the condition of the TC-D5? Try to clean and demagnetize the heads. It may also be a case of the azimuth alignment on the play head being out. If you record on the TC-D5 does it play back properly? I've found that not all cassette decks play / record in a way that is completely compatible with others. Maybe it's the design of the heads on the different decks. I'm still trying to figure this out.

Stan, Greg is spot on, not sure if you've made any progress with this but you can do a lot worse than clean & align the heads correctly.

Any updates/pics?

gregory:
the condition of the d5 is good. the rec-volumeknob isn't much used.
the highs and mid's sounds mudded.
the low's are far better than a d6c.
the speed of the tape is ok.
this month, i will sent the d5 to a tech.

noticed another problem this weekend, when connected to a 6v 1amp adaptor + line+out to stereo, it makes a humming sound.

i have a d5m now. this one sounds more clear in mid/high.

i think the pro2 needs calibration.

Always liked the look of these.  Sony reached the pinnacle for the portable cassette format with this no expense spared model.

i agree,
the build quality of these is the best i've ever seen, even the d6c looks cheap.

i'm curious about the pmd 430. build quality seems to be less, but better sound

Build quality of the Sony seems much better but the Marantz units seem to function well.  I have the larger PMD 360 which has never let me down but the smaller 430 & 222 units look fun.

It's interesting that the BBC got rid of their D5's in favor of Marantz 650 & 690 DAT units rather than Sonys.

i don't know exactly about portable DAT. i thought the fostex ones were the portable industry standard. stelladat seems to be nr 1, but expensive.
i do know that the rack units of many broadcasts were not sony's, perhaps panasonic?
 still, i have a sony pcm 7010 and a d100.
never use those 2.

last question:
why the big price difference between, 800 for 5m and 1500 pro2?