gloco,
NT is literally a digital microcassette, developed and only marketed by Sony. The format itself is 32kHz, 12-bit, which Sony says offers a 10Hz-15kHz frequency response, 80dB+ dynamic range and S/N ratio. Tape runs at 6.35mm per second, and the head drum rotates at 3000rpm for playback. Track pitch is 9.8 um.
NT (non-tracking) refers to the system's design, in which tape is guided solely by the head assembly. Therefore, there's no need for any kind of guiding mechanism within the cassette itself. I think the longest NT cassette runs for 120 minutes.
There were only two NT recorders, the NT-1 and the NT-2. After the NT-2's release it's rumored that Sony disbanded the development team and let everyone go. The NT-2 is either still in production, or still available from stock, not sure which.
Here's a catalog page of the NT-2. From the supplied remote and earbuds you can sort of approximate its age (launch Nov 21 1995). The MSRP in Japan was 128,000 yen. The NT-2 was also sold in the US, I think for close to 1,000 bucks.
http://www.sony.co.jp/sd/products/Mo...rary/NT-2.html
Here in Japanese, a data page of the NT-2 brought to you courtesy of Sawada Denki.
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~LP1S-SWD.../dat/sony/nt2/
Some NT-2 features:
- two-mode digital AGC (speech/music)
- display shows: tape counter, amount of tape remaining, L/R level meter.
- date stamp
- Can be connected for DAT/MD/CD recording via external "station" attachment
- unit has line-in, line-out, mic-in, adaptor in.
size: 22x112.8x63mm, 155g empty, 210g when in use.
The difference between NT-1 and NT-2 are mostly in features. NT-2 has mega bass, remote, AVLS, line-in/out on the unit, and so on. Despite these changes, which seem to be music-oriented, it seems that the NT format neither do track marks, nor very speedy with FF/REW.
Edit - here's the URL from Sony USA. MSRP is a whopping $1699.95.
http://www.sel.sony.com/SEL/consumer...es/index.shtml