A "Copy Prohibit" indicator illuminates when recording a digital signal that contains the copy protect code. The Copy Prohibit code can be written to tape while recording by pressing the COPY PROHIBIT button.
The time display can be switched by pressing the COUNTER MODE button to show "Absolute Time," "Remaining Time" on the tape, "Program Time," or "Counter" time. Absolute time is recorded permanently on the tape and can be used with the Time Search function to locate a specific tape time, like 1:32:10. When the Time Search function is used, the "Time Search" indicator lights on the display, and the search time is entered using the numeric keypad. When in the Counter mode, the COUNTER RESET and MEMORY buttons can be used to set a "zero" point on the tape. When Memory is enabled, the tape transport controls can be used to search the zero point and begin play much like the "search zero" function of a reel-to-reel.
The Time Display also serves as the Date Display. Pressing the PRESENT button displays the current date. Pressing it again displays the current time. Pressing the RECORDED button displays the date the current program was recorded. Pressing it again displays the time it was recorded. As you scroll through the different Date/Time displays, indicators light up on the display to show you what you're looking at.
Other indicators on the display include TOC which lights up when a pre-recorded DAT tape with a Table Of Contents is used. You get a "Caution" light to warn of condensation in the unit. A "Coaxial Digital In" indicator lights when the input selector is set to Digital. "Skip," "Start," and "End ID" indicators light when writing, erasing, or detecting the ID's. You get a constant display of the current sampling frequency. Of course, you have your usual Program Number display and AMS (Automatic Music Search) number display.
The "Music Scan" indicator lights when the unit is in the scan mode. How long the unit will play the beginning of a program before the next Start ID is searched can be easily adjusted to as much as fifteen seconds. Pressing the REPEAT button lights the "Repeat 1" indicator, and the unit will play the selected program sixteen times before stopping. Pressing the REPEAT button again lights the "Repeat All" indicator, and the entire tape will play sixteen times.
The "Fade" indicator lights when the FADE button is pressed. This indicator also displays the present fade setting which can be adjusted anywhere between .2 seconds to 15 seconds. If the unit is in the Pause/Play mode, pressing the FADE button will engage the Play mode and fade the audio up to full within the preset fade time. Pressing the FADE button again will fade the music out and return the unit to the Pause/Play mode. When in Record/Pause mode, pressing FADE begins recording with the designated fade-in. Pressing FADE again begins the fade-out and return to Record/Pause. Many units offer the Fade-in/Fade-out function, but not all of them let you adjust the fade time. Because the fade time is so easy to adjust -- press FADE in the Stop mode, then press the FF and REW buttons -- the Fade function of the PCM-2700 becomes a handy tool for a lot of production tasks. Sure, you can fade things from the console, but this fader is digital, and perfect. If you master to DAT, then dub to cart, pressing FADE at the end of the spot as you dub eliminates a lot of noise that often ends up after a spot on a master -- tape hiss, clicks and pops, and other noises.
The "Margin" indicator on the display is a welcome feature. When setting levels, this indicator shows how much room, in dB's, is available between the last, highest peak level and zero dB. If zero dB is reached, the "Margin" indicator flashes to warn that you're overloading the input on some peaks. The display retains the last recorded peak until a higher one occurs, or the display can be reset with the MARGIN RESET button.
