SONY WM-DD series buyer's guide (2024)

Given a trend I have seen going on, I have decided to make a guide for people which have not bought a DD walkman, but are interested to do so. All parts needed to repair these walkmans can be found at https://www.fixyouraudio.com/.

NOTE 1: WM-DD9, WM-DD1, WM-DD10, WM-DD11, WM-DD22, WM-D6, WM-D6C, TC-D5, TC-D5M, TC-D5Pro, TC-D5Pro II do not use a center gear type mechanism and their problems are different than those mentioned here.
However, even these will need new rubber, mech lubrication and Dolby adjustments as a minimum. Will do a separate thread covering the D6/D6C as those have a lot of common problems as well.
Unfortunately new rubber for the TC-D5 and related models is not available at the moment, which from my point of view makes them worth even less, as some have rubber so degraded that's beyond any repair.
NOTE 2: WM-2 and WM-5 (belt driven) share all of the problems mentioned, with the exception that some early WM-2s (no clear correlation with serial number at this point) have a full plastic center gear that does not break.
The WM-5 (at least some of them which use CE brand capacitors) also have capacitor leakeage.

There are a couple of things that you should be aware of before buying:
1. All DD walkmans have a cracked center gear in 2021. This is a fact, it's not a problem that some units have and other don't. All have this problem and it's the first one that absolutely needs to be adressed.
It is to be mentioned A LOT of sellers do not tell about this problem, selling the device as in perfect working condition, asking for 400+ euros. Avoid those at all costs, because you will regret your decision later on.
2. Most DD walkmans will need a new capstan ring as well. Not all sellers and people who repair these replace this part, even when the rubber has cracks. Not replacing this rubber ring will result in increased wear on the motor bearings, as the rubber becomes hard over time.
Even if rubber is still good, in most cases it will have an indentation mark if walkman was not used for a long time. So replacement will be needed in most cases.
3. All DD walkmans need a complete relubrication of the mechanism when replacing the center gear. Just replacing the center gear alone is not enough to call such a walkman repaired/refurbished. Not cleaning and lubricating rotating parts will result in increased wear and increased wow&flutter.
4. Buttons not latching is a common problem on DDs, caused by old grease. Cleaning these parts is recommeneded, even if buttons are working.
Details here: https://stereo2go.com/forums/threads/sony-dd-series-play-ff-rew-buttons-not-latching.7524/
5. When installing new center gear (https://www.fixyouraudio.com/ version), it is necessary to sand the retaining ring and the gear until the two surfaces become flat. Failing to do this will result in periodic gear noise and increased wow&flutter.
Details here: https://stereo2go.com/forums/thread...-wobble-problem-and-solution.7387/#post-53936
6. Bent pinch roller brackets are common on DDs, causing azimuth instability. Something that needs to be checked and adressed if it's a problem. This is a not so obvious problem which many won't even notice if not knowing about it before.
Details here: https://stereo2go.com/forums/threads/wm-dd-azimuth-instability.7590/
7. Motor position needs to be checked and adjusted if necessary. This influences the wow&flutter figure. Flywheel thrust play also needs to be checked and adjusted if necessary.
Details here: https://stereo2go.com/forums/thread...tments-applies-to-d6c-tc-d5m.7377/#post-53799
8. The plastic slider spring must be adjusted by bending it downwards, otherwise the pin holding the spring will break and the unit will not play a tape anymore.
9. In units without a quartz lock, tape speed must be adjusted with a 3kHz test tape. On units with quartz lock, there is still an adjustment to be done, with the PLL disconnected. Usually it needs to be adjusted to 3090Hz (this adjustement influences wow&flutter).
10. Dolby levels are always off on these units and need to be adjusted with a 200nWb/m ANSI calibration tape for proper Dolby decoding. Note the DD30 and DD33 Dolby levels are not adjustable, but they are correct on these units.
11. In some cases, the head may need lapping if pittings are visible in the head gaps area.
12. Azimuth may need adjustment if the pinch roller bracket was bent or if the lock paint was tampered.
13. DD1/DD10/DD11/DD22 will need capacitors to be replaced, as they are leaky in all these models.
14. Volume potentiometer needs to be cleaned to get an operation without crackling sounds.
15. Sometimes, the small reel gear (attached to supply reel) is broken and must be replaced.

See Also

- The Walkman ArchiveThe Best Sounding Sony WalkmanSONY DD repair guide - The Walkman Archive

I think the 15 points are enough to convince you that DD walkmans are not the kind that just work and are in perfect condition after decades from production. This is just not going to happen, no matter how lucky you get.
There are sellers which buy these cheap and sell them at 2-3 times the price without doing anything on them. I am aware that some of you may have a different opinion about this practice and that's ok.
That is why I'm not going to say "this is good" or "this is bad", but rather make you aware of the reality. Then it is your choice what to do with your money and how much you want to spend.
Buying one refurbished is the way to go if you're not confident you can do the repair yourself. But even then, you should look for sellers with positive feedback and prefferably to those who describe what was done to the unit exactly, no just vague statements.
If you can do the repair yourself, be sure to check all the aspects mentioned in this list and not just replace the center gear.

In the case you buy with the intention to send it for repair, you should closesly inspect for things like missing screws on the cover. This usually indicate someone without knowledge has opened it before and there is a chance other parts are missing inside.
Those can be repaired, but the cost will be higher if parts other than new rubber or new gears are needed.

Of course, last but not least, you should pay significantly less for a unit that is meant to be sent for repair or for repairing it yourself.
Many sellers do not make a difference between refurbished and as-is, trying to speculate as much as possible, stating the device is working flawlessly (which by this point you should realise it's a gross lie).