Oki FT 2020

The OKI FT 2020 is the first full-size recorder to be introduced by the OKI Electrical Industry of Japan. Nevertheless, it is perhaps the most fascinating machine ever to come out of the East. The fact that the company manufacture telephone and industrial radio equipment, as well as computers and radar apparatus, may well be responsible for their perfectionist approach to tape recording. The FT 2020 incorporates 47 transistors and 26 diodes, some of which are employed as switching devices, with the result that the piano-key controls which operate the tape-transport functions, glide into action without the force so often required on contemporary machines.