TK> Pioneer was the first with CD pro-gear, yes, variable 
 TK> speed....worked with
 TK> it...big buttons, sturdy, reliable etc... :)
I recall a US semi-custom vendor being the first to offer that, I think based
on some third party transport with custom controls and packaging.  
Pioneer hasn't done much with pro CD gear in the US.  I do recall them
dsiplaying all sorts of interesting esoteric level prototype stuff at AES
conventions, but hardly what they've US retailed.  
Technics was quick to offer a pro CD unit with variable speed, but it was a 
big
kludgy desktop thing.  Sony's early pro-CD stuff seemed costly but pretty
decent, while Studer made expensive boat anchors.  I suspect the Germans 
tuck
to spec's so tightly that their units malfunctioned too easily on marginal
disks, making high end consumer stuff better for some broadcast uses.  
I still remember in the late 70's (at AES-NYC) Pioneer demo'ing a laser CD
transport for audio or video, with separate interface boxes, while JVC demo'd 
a
capacitance pit video disc system, and RCA showed off its piezo stylus video
disk system.  I sort of liked the JVC system, as a cost-performance 
compromise,
but RCA entered some good marketing deals (like with Radio Shack, and maybe
Sears), and was the only one to move product within that era.  Of course, the
product was such a junky idea in practice that it took about one year for 
people
to realize how useless a record player with 6 MHz response was if you used it
much, and that died off quickly.  
Terry
--- Maximus 2.01wb
---------------