A magnetic playback apparatus and method with which a PLL phase-locked to played-back data operates stably even when the magnetic tape on which the data is recorded is transported at a high speed of several hundred times the recording speed. During high-speed playback of a magnetic tape, the speed of the magnetic tape is detected and using this tape speed information the free-run frequency of a PLL 2 is corrected in correspondence with the azimuth angles of magnetic heads HO, HE. The rotational period of a drum servo 3 is also corrected using the tape speed information.