From the original Otari promo' material:

The MTR-12 Mastering Production Recorder is designed to be the most advanced available for the audio professional. Whether you consider yourself an artist, an engineer- or both, these superlative machines will deliver the performance necessary for your most challenging audio requirements today, and tomorrow You'll discover that the MTR-12 makes sense for the way you work with audio - that these are truly "intelligent" machines that will quickly become a dependable and powerful extension of your expertise.

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/master/mbrs/recording_preservation/manuals/Otari%20MTR-12%20Series.pdf