The following is the text from a Philips' sales leaflet for the DCC 730:

PHILIPS DCC: THE COMPATIBLE DIGITAL RECORDING SYSTEM

The DCC 730 records and plays back music digitally, using a new design audio cassette, running at normal Compact Cassette speed. High quality digital registration is achieved by Precision Adaptive Sub-Coding (PASC), which is optimally matched to the actual characteristics of the human ear.

Features of the DCC deck include direct digital recording with full 18-bit resolution, fast access to any music track thanks to Turbo Drive wind and rewind, sophisticated record editing and title recording.

Besides the new DCC cassettes, the DCC 730 also plays your existing - and valuable - collection of analogue Compact Cassettes. This autoreverse, full logic deck knows when you insert a Compact Cassette, and automatically switches over to its analogue playback head. Playback sound quality is high indeed, and there is a choice of Dolby B or C Noise Reduction.

DIRECT DIGITAL RECORDING

A choice of optical and coaxial digital inputs allows direct recording from CD, satellite radio, or any other present or proposed digital audio source. Direct digital recording preserves all the sound quality of the original source, and no record level setting is needed.

"SET-AND-FORGET" LEVEL SETTING FOR EASY DIGITAL RECORDING FROM ANALOGUE SOURCES

For analogue inputs, record level setting is easy because of the ample room within the high dynamic range of the DCC system, and it is made easier by the DCC 730's Up/Down record level setting keys.

What's more, the optimal level for each source (CD, tuner and so on) only needs setting once, at which time it is automatically stored in memory. Thereafter, the DCC 730 always selects the memorized level at the same time as the recording source.

"APPEND" KEY FOR AUTOMATIC RECORD SEARCH.

The Append key is a powerful tool for setting your deck up for recording. Sequential pressing of this key takes your first to the start of the cassette, and then to the end of the last recorded track.

Append allows you to find and directly verify (Append-Play) and desired position to start a new recording. In record pause mode, you can then monitor the source to ensure error-free recording. Further, Append guarantees correct sequential recording of track numbers and playing times.

RECORD EDITING

With the edit key, you control the way music programs are recorded and the way tracks are numbered.

Edit lets you record a single program on both sides of a cassette, or separate programs on the two sides, always with the option of rewinding automatically to the start of side A.

FULL 18-BIT SYSTEM

The full 18-bit resolution of the digital recording and playback circuits preserve all the dynamic range and resolution of the original music, without introducing the slightest hint of distortion. This, together with advanced PASC coding and decoding algorithms, which mirror the actual characteristics of the human ear, ensures superb digital sound quality for listeners.

State-of-the-art sigma-delta A/D and bitstream D/A converters safeguard the integrity of the analogue line inputs and outputs.

SPEEDY ACCESS WITH TURBO DRIVE

The DCC 730's Turbo Drive mechanism gives you far faster access times than a regular cassette mechanism. In conjunction with the DCC track finding system, this very quickly finds and locks on to any music track or the blank recording area.

TITLE RECORDING

The DCC 730 reads and displays the text information from pre-recorded DCC cassettes, such as album and track titles and the artistes' name. What is more, the Title Recording feature lets you use either front panel or remote control to record the titles of tracks that you record yourself (Maximum 40 characters). On playback, you will see each track title scroll into the deck's 14-character display when the track starts to play.

When you search through the tracks, you immediately see the titles on the display, so that you know for sure when you have found the one you want.

PERSONAL PRESETS

You can set up the DCC 730 in a choice of operating modes to save you trouble later on. Via the Presets key, the deck can be set for Autoplay (when a cassette is loaded) and Autostop: coaxial digital, optical digital for analogue inputs can be selected individually for the four sources (CD, Tuner, Aux 1 and Aux 2).

ADVANCED PHILIPS TECHNOLOGY: THE DDU 2113 DRIVE UNIT

Heart of the DCC 730 is the high-performance DDU 2113 Drive Unit. Only 61mm high, this incredibly compact assembly contains the thin-film record/playback head unit with 2 x 9 digital and 2 analogue tracks, all digital circuits including the PASC encoder/decoder, the full logic controlled autoreverse mechanism with Turbo Drive and full record and playback control, and a smooth, motorized tray loader.

REMOTE CONTROL

The remote control handset supplied controls virtually all deck functions, including direct track selection and title recording with the alphanumeric keys.

DCC 730 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION

Digital Compact Cassette playback:
Frequency Ranges : 20 Hz - 20 kHz (fs = 44.1 kHzl
Amplitude linearity: ±0.05dB
S/N ratio (A weighted):³105 dB (1 kHzl
Dynamic range: ³100 dB ll kHz)
THD+N :³90dB(lOkHz)
Channel separation: ³110 dB (1 kHz)
Wow and Flutter: Quartz Crystal Precision
Digital Compact Cassette recording (line in):
Frequency Range: 20 Hz - 20 kHz
Sample frequency: 44.1 kHz
Amplitude Linearity: +O.ldB
S/N ratio A weighted): ³100 dB (1 kHz
Dynamic range: ³92 dB (1 kHz)
THD + N: ³85 dB (1 kHz)
Channel separation: ³100 dB (1 kHz)
Digital Compact Cassette recording (digital/optical in)
Perfect Digital Recording.
Sample frequencies: :32 kHz (e.g. satellite, tuner)
: 44,1 kHz (CD)
: 48 kHz
Analogue Cassette: Playback only
Frequency Range: 40 Hz - 16 kHz (CrO2)
S/N ratio (A Weighted): 55dB (CrO2)
Dolby B/C: Improvement B: 10dB; Improvement C: 18dB.
Signal also supplied to digital outputs.
INPUTS
Analogue: impedance 50 kOhm
Digital coaxial: acc. to IEC 958
Digital optical: TOSLINK
OUTPUTS
Analogue: 2 Vrms
Digital coaxial: acc. to IEC 958
HEADPHONE
Load impedance range: 32 - 600 Ohm
Output impedance: 170 Ohm
Output voltage: Max. 5V Rms (L and R)
Frequency range: 20 Hz - 20 kHz
MICROPHONE
Microphone impedance range: 200 - 2000 Ohm
MISCELLANEOUS
Remote Control: 20 key RC-5 infrared
Mechanism: 2 motor metal deck
Tape-speed: 4.76 cm/sec
Display: 14 characters FTD
CABINET GENERAL
Material/Finish: Metal and polystyrene
Dimensions: 435 x 90 x 300 mm (w x h x d)
Accessories: Remote control, cinch cables (2x), digital connection cable