MX-5050B: the plain B
What it is↑ TOP
The MX-5050B is the second generation of the upright line — the machine that followed the silver-face Mini Pro around 1978, with darker trim. It is not one transport but a split line: the 2H, 2L and 4L keep the first-generation AC hysteresis-synchronous capstan driving a belted flywheel, while the D-suffix models (2HD, 2LD, 4LD…) get DC-servo direct drive. The generation table on the History page reads it across: a plain-B 2H/2L/4L transport is closer to a Mini Pro's than to a BII's.
How to identify one↑ TOP
- Darker trim than the silver brushed-metal face of the first generation. The Identify page shows the silver-face markers this machine does not have.
- The rear plate, not the faceplate, carries the model: "MX-5050B" with the H/L and D suffixes. See the face badge.
- Belt or no belt. A 2H/2L/4L still has the belt-driven capstan flywheel; a D-suffix machine does not. The capstan is the tell for every generation — see what the first generation actually is.
Specifications↑ TOP
Not yet compiled. The site holds no MX-5050B factory paper, and it will not print figures it cannot cite. The first-generation figures on the Specs page describe the 2H/2L/4L transport but not its electronics.
Documents
Service training binder
Wanted
MX-5050B operation or maintenance manual
Either factory book for the plain B — 2H, 2L, 4L or the D-suffix machines. The B's paper is more common online than the Mini Pro's ever was, but none of it is held here yet, and this site will not link to a scan it has not checked.
MX-5050-B brochure (September 1979)
The September 1979 MX-5050-B brochure that still lists the Mark II-2 and II-4 — cited on the wider-family page from the worldradiohistory brochure scan, wanted here as an original.
Have one? Here is how to contribute.
Sources↑ TOP
- History: where the Mark I fits — the generation table and the capstan story.
- The wider family — Otari's September 1979 MX-5050-B brochure, cited from the worldradiohistory brochure scan.
Have one, or paper for it?↑ TOP
An MX-5050B operation or maintenance manual, the 1979 brochure in the original, or a rear-plate photo with the suffix legible would each turn this page from an outline into a reference. See how to contribute.