NEW Revox B77 MKIII: The Frankenstein tape recorder?!

[@annebokma4637]

I love my B77 II, hardly ever use it, but does get regular maintenance. Every time I look at it I think of my dad, he bought it and used it a lot. This beautiful machine will stay in our family for a long time to come

[@HaraldEngels]

Nowadays it is just a luxury eye-catcher. The sound quality of reel to reel tape recorders is simply analog greatness.

[@sebastiansekinger5070]

My B77 is a trusty, reliable, dependable machine. I bought it second-hand years ago. It didn't cost me much, but has provided many hours of listening pleasure. I know these machines are not everyone's cup of tea, but I don't think they deserve the slagging off that some people are giving them here! Are they worth £16,000........of course not! They never meant to be a a Studer, Nagra, Otari or Ampex! Are they a solid machine............well I think so. They may not be as pretty as some of the spectacular looking Japanese machines, but for me, they are like a classic Land Rover, they do the job!

[@Spock105]

And you will find nearly all the parts for that machine in stock if it ever fails. this youtuber is always bragging of his possessions ( f.i. his Studer is so much better than the B77 and he does this with so many other things like his cartridge etc ) Might think about ....it is thanks to us who watch that he can buy that stuff .

[@VINTAGEAUDIO1963]

But for Me , they are Mercedes Benz 600 SEL.

[@utube4andydent]

Revox B77 mk 2 maybe one of the best reel to reel machines to edit tape on. That’s before editing on a DAW was made common.

[@teashea1]

I have decided to purchase one. They look excellent for my needs.

[@anadialog]

Great. I am glad for you. My message is that for much less you can get much more. That’s all.

[@MagicMaus29]

There is a lot of money in the "resto-mod, special-limited-edition-market". The car industry has proven. Tape recorders will never be consumer products again. The market is therefore more than 'manageable'. But there are always customers who are willing to pay (almost) any price, simply because they love collecting. So if you know in advance, that you might can sell a few hundred devices at best, but never a thousand, then you can set the price accordingly so, that it is worthwhile. If they were to offer the machine for half the price, the sales figures would only be slightly higher... but the profit margin would be significantly lower.

[@walterfranco2593]

It’s pure aesthetics………for fun!!!!! you can combine it with a Mcintosh system and enjoy your Lifestile while cutting roses and drinking Champagne😂😂😂😂

[@anadialog]

😂

[@urs1714]

the B77 is a great sounding and beautiful machine. I have a MKII 15ips and it sounds really good. It’s expensive but people also spend that much on a mountainbike, guitar or other stuff. Also, it’s made in Germany. So if you have the cash and you want a beautiful new reel to reel, why not.

[@anadialog]

Because for the same cash you can get one the best machines ver built by Otari, Telefunken, Studer or ATR. And still have money for some tapes!

[@urs1714]

@@anadialog sure you can, but not new. I have an Otari and it's a great machine but I personally think the Revox is much nicer looking, easier to work on (as in repairs) and sounds just as good. But that is just my personal opinion.

[@stackoverflow8260]

I hope that this is not October fooling 😬. I am with you in this assessment. I have an A810(butterfly heads, 3 speed) and an RS1500. I have been meaning to get music on tape but have not been successful so far.

[@mr.george7687]

Everyone thought I was crazy for buying a TEAC 3300s New for $650 back in the 70's.Still have it & use it.

[@robertbrumbaugh4634]

I got a Tandberg 64X in 1968 for $600. Fantastic machine. Great response and extremely low Wow and Flutter, high S/N ratio. I'm thinking on replacing the capacitors and rubber belts and rubber roller and using it again.

[@preservedmoose]

@@robertbrumbaugh4634 $600 in 1968 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $5,436.22

[@dyna66]

TEAC X10 for me. Still have it and use it.

[@annebokma4637]

Buying quality pays itself in the long run and in resale/insurance value

[@joerosen5464]

@@robertbrumbaugh4634 I also owned a Tandberg 64X about 35-40yrs. ago. NOT a fantastic machine. A "Could have been a fantastic machine"... The "X" in the model # referred to its then cutting edge "Cross Field" head arrangement, a feature that few machines ever had because you both needed an extra head to implement it, but also a larger & more sophisticated head block to mount all those heads & keep them in perfect alignment. I think Roberts, & therefore Akai, were the only other companies that made Crossfield machines. The Crossfield arrangement extended high frequency response (all other things being equal), but otherwise there didn't seem to be much of anything more to commend it. Like the Roberts Crossfield machines, one of which I also owned, Tandberg tried to cut other costs to offset all the extra ones incurred by the extra complexity & added head. So in order to keep costs competitive & reasonable, they cut some serious corners by using LOUSY, EL CHEAPO, Single-motor transports. So congratulations to you if your 64X has "extremely low wow & flutter", because NONE of my single motor transport open reel machines that I ever owned even met the criteria of having less than obvious & PLAINLY AUDIBLE Wow & Flutter...even when brand new! I very quickly learned to avoid, like the Haemorrhagic Plague, ANY tape deck that relied on a single motor; with all their attendant stone-age & high-effort mechanical levers & complicated Rube Goldberg linkages! And are you implying that it still maintains its 'extremely low wow & flutter" even with its original belts, idlers, & pinch roller??? I think you'd have been lucky if it had only "barely acceptable" levels of wow & flutter during the first year or two of ownership, or up to about 300 hours or so of use, and whichever came first!🤨 My Tandberg 64X sounded AMAZING.🤩 As long as you ignored all the HORRENDOUS wow & flutter. And that was just during playback! Just considering the mere idea that you would both record AND playback a tape of solo piano music on one of these mechanical travesties makes me seasick! I was conflicted for a short time as to what to do with my 64X. The all-Valve electronics might have been the very best I've ever heard from a tape recorder. Easily in the very top 5 of a VERY long list of the hundreds of tape decks I've heard over my several decades in Audio. I really liked the low-effort & ergonomically clever "Joystick" transport control, too. But with the Mickey-Mouse transport & flimsy construction of the Tandberg, its fate in my hands was sealed once I opened up the cabinet to inspect the insanely kludged & overcomplicated transport worthy of the stupidest efforts from N.V. Philips, which meant that I had to come to the conclusion that it was a masochistic waste of time & therefore, HAD TO GO! Now, that was back in the 1980's, before the Internet & the revival of interest in vintage valve components. Tandberg was in & out of bankruptcy every 10 minutes, depending on whether they could sucker the Norwegian government into another handout that they depended on to survive for much of the latter part of their existence (as I understood things, anyway). So the possibility of finding replacement parts was definitely grim; & given their niche status & a questionable demand for anyone to reverse engineer & supply replacement parts, I wonder how much, if any, of the rubber parts you'd be able to find even now. And then you have to hope that there's still life in the motor, & that none of the myriad of metal sliding parts aren't worn, rusted, or otherwise developed play in them. And given what I remember from the crowded complexity of the transport, even taking it apart to clean off all the old grease & then relubricate everything & reassemble correctly, I think you might need a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering. Or else you spent a couple of decades working for Patek-Phillippe. You know, just for some experience working on extremely finicky mechanisms of similar insanity. Somehow, I think the most likely outcome is that common sense will prevail & it will remain in the closet, attic, or damp cellar where it lives right now. As for me, I finally found my Valve open-reel Holy Grail. A ReVox G36. 3 Motors, GENUINELY "extremely low wow & flutter", sturdy build quality, intelligent mechanical design, a decent spare parts ecosystem, & zero 🐂💩! 🤗

[@kirilstoykov8254]

The prices of quality audio equipment from "those years" compared to the average salary in Europe or America at that time (the golden years of hi-fi) will give us the same result ..... 16000€ Greetings from Bulgaria! 🤘

[@FLH3official]

Interesting remark, even if I'm not sury of your calculation, but yes we need to relativize things and time (and money). At leat to think about.

[@anadialog]

No, not for a Revox. Those prices were for pro machines like a A80 and apart from that TODAY for €16.000 you can get two pro machines!

[@FLH3official]

@@anadialog Let's consider a B77 HS in 1980, roughly 2,000/2500 $, its means, roughly again, 9,500$ today. Not 16,000

[@kirilstoykov8254]

Guys, here is a rough estimate for the price of Revox B77mk2...Manufacturer: Revox Model: B-77 MK II Years of manufacture: 1982 - 1998 Manufactured in: Germany, Löffingen Colour: Silver / Grey Remote control: optional Original price approx.: 2'300 DM Option dust cover: 100 DM Option remote control: 250 DM Option retrofit unit for slide projection: 500 DM. With an average wage during this period in western Germany of around 900 DM per month, it turns out that this machine costs about 3/3.5 wages. It's almost the same now! Greetings! PS. Buy vintage hi-fi while the prices are normal!

[@kirilstoykov8254]

@@anadialog or Otari….😂

[@wasiuuu1]

cant believe no one can make nice affordable tape machine today especially when we can make so much in electronic world

[@dubdoodle7191]

This so called new B77 consists of them acquiring used units on the cheap, and resto-modding them with a paint job and minor internal electronics revisions.

[@dozo99]

@@dubdoodle7191 You know this for a fact? please name your source.

[@sytiravajous]

These machines are very hard to build and they probably don't have a large department or employees to whip these out. So what you're mostly paying for is assembly effort of arguably just a few people. It'd be another story if reel recorders were in style again and they had a massive workshop like Behringer.

[@audiobuff77]

There should be a way to manufacture them with the basic consumer grade materials.

[@dubdoodle7191]

@@audiobuff77Of course these can be mfg'd but that's not the question here. They are simply acquiring used units, resto modding them and reselling for huge $$$. There's only 2 Co's in the world mfg'ing magnetic audio heads for Studer/ ReVox & they're in Austria & Italy. The QC isn't quite the same as Studer ReVox standards either

[@ludwigreiser4053]

You're absolutely right!

[@pedrojmorais]

It's a lot of money!!!! I've a used PR99, it has an electronic tape transport with zero return and address location, but the electronic boards are IEC for NAB all the boards have to be replaced, also is a 320nWb, so the price is in the two switches in the front. For that the entire electronics are different, way different. When I calibrated it back in 2000 with BASF 911 at 7.5 IPS it has a drop of 1 dB and 1,2 dB from 18 to 20 kHz, at 15 IPS was flat, completely flat 0 dB on the entire scale. It has a total of 18 electrolytic capacitors from input to output (one tantalum at the output for acoustic tuning, if replaced the sound is very muffled down) and one can't hear any difference from tape to source on CD recording. I used it to recordy friends top notch vinyls. It replaced my DAT for vinyl recordings, CDS we're done in the PC. It needs a complete refurbishment, I'm thinking of it...

[@annebokma4637]

If it doesn't mean selling a kidney I would refurbish if I were you. Sounds like an amazing piece of gear

[@joerosen5464]

@@annebokma4637 The "18 electrolytic capacitors from input to output" makes me question the actual fidelity to source of this machine. Assuming that indeed, these are the ones in the signal path & not the sum total of the electrolytic capacitor complement of the entire machine, INCLUDING THE TRANSPORT. But I would assume that a machine like this could EASILY have 30,50, even 70 electrolytic capacitors in the transport logic alone; so "just" 18 in the signal path sounds "reasonable". Given the typically grainy, ugly, vaguely metallic, "etch-a-sketch" sound of the electronics in other ReVox & even Studer machines (A77, B77, A700, A-80) that I've heard, I find it hard to believe that somehow the PR99 is miraculously so much better than those others. Or that the input signal is sonically indistinguishable from the output one through this machine. Although I would agree that it still sounds better than any DAT Machine or Computer Work Station... Just because a machine has a really flat frequency response, doesn't mean that it sounds like MUSIC. Because there's so much more to good audio design, never mind state of the art audio design, than that. But if you think that nothing sounds better than a mid-70's Japanese receiver, & that a Technics SL-1200 is the best turntable you ever heard, then maybe the PR99 is sonically perfect for you after all. In which case, I wouldn't bother spending any time or money on anything until it breaks. After all, it's perfect just the way it measures, right? 🤧

[@addygrubber5351]

i hope it has switchable IEC and NAB capacity. The A77 has, even though the MK1 and Mk2 B77 didn't.

[@anadialog]

Yes, it does

[@ghcaudio]

❤❤❤

[@TheSoundrookie]

Hi Guido. Would be awesome if someone made a machine affordable for most people. That would really get the marked going. Wouldn't matter if it was a knock off of an older model. They knew how to make stuff back then. All the best from Denmark.

[@anadialog]

They are complex machines and parts are not available so nobody can expect a “cheap” solution but neither they can hope that people buy a normal machine with old parts with a premium price tag.

[@thetapeshack2595]

@@TheSoundrookie that’s a rookie remark! Sorry couldn’t resist. These weren’t affordable back in the day either. The market is for rich audiophiles, rich people who like to show off wealth and perhaps a recording studio. That negates pretty every single subscriber to this channel and most people who visit KZbin. Rich people don’t waste their time on YT…they are too busy making money! Sounds like your market is only the secondhand stuff.

[@TheSoundrookie]

@@anadialog Hi Guido. Mate, you're usually better to read between the lines. Of course it's not gonna happen. Just as no one is gonna make a halfway decent cassette deck/player. My comment was not to be taken literally, but rather to make people think and highlight how hopeless the thought of a come back for tape in fact is. Both R2R and the cassette format are basically dead, and what we see are just the last convulsions - The Revox being part of that. A few insanely priced R2R's and a pile of cassette players which without exception is pure junk to lure money from the nostalgia people is what's left, and it's not gonna change (except it will die out too). Greed is the ruling factor - Not keeping anything alive. It's not even worth wasting a minute on, because it is attention they don't deserve. I can easily understand that you get outraged when you see a stunt like the one Revox is pulling here, but that is unfortunately to be expected. "Squeeze money out of fools while you can". But it's not worth your time or energy. Spend the energy on keeping the old machines running as long as possible. And thank God there's a lot of them out there, because mass production back then kept the prices fair and within the range of common mortals. Forget the scams of today. As long as our gear lasts and RTM supply us with tape we'll be good. As always; Vintage rules. Stay cool and awesome.

[@klinkske]

you can probably have a mint B77 mkII refurbished with gold details for that money. ANd enough money left to buy a old roadster to go pick it up once it's done.

[@FLH3official]

I mainly agree with you. At 3 grands a brand new B77 mk3 hi-speed coud be interesting but 15, well... 'cause at 1500 I can have a fully revised B77 MK2 hi-speed and with 3 grands I can have a refurbished/revised PR99. For now I'm happy with my B77MK2 hi-speed I bought for 600.

[@pradesmastering]

I Bought a Revox A700 2-track 3-speed. What do you think?

[@baddriddimworkshop]

wow, that's so cool !

[@Volker-v5x]

I don't understand he had not contacting REVOX direct to get more inside informations. REVOX is a very good and open company.

[@anadialog]

What info do we need? They made their choices and published the info they wanted. If I was interested I would have gone further but to me it seems a true rip off. Insane price for a modified consumer machine.

[@Volker-v5x]

Yo are complete wrong on this. Your assumptions are wrong. Again REVOX is the best source to talk about review machine etc. After that it is best to come up with your video. just how I believe in serious talking.

[@Spock105]

@@anadialog stop bragging about your Pro machine and downgrading consumer machines , you are finding yourself too much important

[@tiborlelkes5885]

@@anadialog például kérj tölük egyet kipróbálásra!!! aztán pofázz!!!

[@christtian1]

Very true. I prefer my Studer A810 as well which has cost me once 1.500 Euros and has been fresh overhauled with parts for about 400-500 Euros.

[@Spock105]

yes ....but he can not compare an older Studer which will be very good , to a new B77 with specs that have not been released . A new A810 at the time was about 22000 dollars which with inflation today would be 56000 dollars when you take the latest version from 1989. ( so you bought very cheap , nice ) You get another NEW machine the likes of an ATR10 and you will have to pay 32500 dollars , and will it be so much better than the new B77 ?

[@martyjewell5683]

In the early 1980's getting my first R2R deck was a challenge. Yeah, there were decks from Technics and the big boys; Revox, Uher and Studer. But they were outta my budget. The Pioneer 701 was overpriced (and had volume controls on the back, WTF?) and Akai's 4000 offering had only one motor. There were precious few "quality" budget decks available. I finally chose the Teac X-3 and have used it since 1982, no regrets. Not everyone has several grand to shell out for a tape deck.

[@CapitanHarlockisback]

16 THOUSAND EURO for a refreshed B77 to play tapes that simply don’t exists? There should be more audiofools than I was aware of.

[@FLH3official]

If you buy such machine, full track 15ips, for playing sounds recorded by others, yes, I agree with you. Personnaly I've such a machine (not this "new one", just a B77 15ips) but I'm a musician/composer, I don't use it for audiofoolish things, I use it for music recording, tape effects, etc... It's great for that (tape saturation/compression, tape loops, etc...). And 16 grands for that is insane.

[@dubdoodle7191]

80% of ReVox RTR enthusiasts are DIY'ers that are very familiar with inner workings. This is intended toward the 5% within the 20% of those that don't restore their ReVox RTR's. So that's about 27 people world wide lol. This business plan is the worst I've ever seen in the audiophile product space LMAO !

[@inforobob]

You are uninformed. Their are plenty of high quality two track tapes being produced. Check Acoustic Sounds, The Tape,Project, Horsch House, and others.

[@CapitanHarlockisback]

@@inforobob Plenty, like 2 or 3 hundreds? At outrageous prices? I see.

[@inforobob]

@@CapitanHarlockisback It's quality over quantity if you buy from the legit sources. Also, it is labor intensive and a niche market so that always means "high" prices. I have several and they are indeed wonderful

[@TebbieBear]

I agree on every point. I would be interested to know what shortcomings you found in the B77 that you owned. I have a Teac and am wanting to upgrade a bit. The B77mkII was/is on my short list currently. But I'm not sold yet.

[@anadialog]

I did not like the sound that much, not many features and the transport was kind of flimsy. Plus very ugly and plasticky for my taste. All in all, decent but not comparable to a pro machine (obviously).

[@TebbieBear]

@@anadialog Ok, Thanks a ton for the info.

[@joerosen5464]

​@@anadialogI couldn't agree with you more; both in terms of your reply here as well as everything you've said in the video. The last good ReVox was the G36, which I own. In its day, it had a class-leading 3-motor transport & SUPERB sounding valve electronics; all for $500USD! Which was as cheap or cheaper than a single-motor Ampex, which were inferior in EVERY way. I sniffed around the newer models back in the 80's, from the A-77 to the B-77 to the spiffier A-700. They all sounded DISGUSTING to my ear; the epitome of grainy, harsh, dry, & no-resolution transistor sound! As good as the valve ReVoxes sound, the transistor ones have to rank as the complete opposite! The only thing equally awful sounding that I ever owned was an Otari MX-5050; like a transistor ReVox, DON'T open one up to see just how appallingly cheap & badly-designed the electronics are! TEAC machines are also incredibly mediocre sounding, with Akai being a bit worse again, especially the ones with the "GX" heads. Only Pioneer seemed capable of making good sounding transistor machines; be it the RT-1010/1020 series or RT-700 & 900 series (I also own an RT-909). But like a ReVox 77, Pioneers are also unreliable & lacking in durability; with initial quality-control ALWAYS being a real problem with Fry-An-Ear, be they open reel OR cassette decks (& their cassette decks all sound like 💩, too). Studers are gloriously overbuilt mechanically. There is NO comparison between their quality & the dreary 💩iness of a transistor ReVox. However, my experience with Studer is that the electronics, & their sound, are as dry, grainy, & singularly AWFUL as a much, much cheaper ReVox! Even the Studer A80, "legend" that it supposedly is, has audible grain & a very dry & skeletal tone quality. Or more accurately, a complete lack of any. I have yet to hear a transistor open-reel machine that sounds as good as any of several Luxman, & especially later Nakamichi, cassette decks! The electronics in the Dragon are mind-bendingly better than any other tape recorder I've ever heard in ANY format, although their LX-series machines are also in the same exalted league. When a cassette deck running tape half or a quarter as wide, at speeds ¼ to ⅛th of open-reel, STILL manages to sound better (& ALOT better!) than any home, "pro-sumer" (Fostex SUCKS! And TRASHCAM isn't any better than consumer TEAC), or Professional Open-reel tape deck it's time to recognize what A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME getting back into open-reel is! If you want to spend €600 on a Horch House mastertape dub of The Yahoo Good-time Jug Band's first & only album, & play it through a $20,000 machine with 💩y sounding Japanese vintage receiver quality electronics, go knock yourself out! But if you REALLY want to hear the analog state of the art, you go to VHS Hi-Fi (or Beta Hi-Fi, if you're a stubborn masochist who's also willing to settle for second best. Welcome to the Sony Universe!🤮). Fisher/Sanyo made the best sounding consumer machines I've tried. But when you step up to the Pro level, JVC & Panasonic suddenly prove that, if given enough money, they can design good sounding electronics as well!🤑😐 Then there's Panasonic's mid-80's MII (M2) format, the very last Pro Video format prior to Digital taking over everything (& ruining almost all of it, which is what Digital does best👹) which ONLY uses metal tapes and ONLY runs at one, high, speed. But the less said about gold-plated unobtanium the better. Regardless of which of the 3 "Video" format machines chosen, their rotating head, helican scan FM "Hi-Fi" (& they AIN'T kidding!🤯) Audio performance SMOKES any fixed-head technology not only sound-wise but also specs-wise. How does up to 8hrs. of uninterrupted audio grab you? With an S/N Ratio better than 80db, & up to 90db? Or Wow & Flutter of...ZERO. As in: CD Player ZERO??? And finally, a SMOOTH, FLAT, frequency response within +0,-1db from 20-20kHz!!! And remember: these are ANALOG formats, & there's nothing "Digital" about their sound except maybe the flatness of response & the complete absence of ANY pitch instability, EVER! My $350 in 1992 Sanyo VHS Hi-Fi, still working like new, has such high fidelity & resolution that I can make recordings off THE FINEST High-End Audio systems (think: Solution, Spectral, LAMM, Acoustic Signature, Linn Sondek, Michell Gyrodec, Dynavector Karat & ART-2022 cartridges, QUAD & Mur-audio electrostatic speakers...THAT kind of "High End"!) & play them back with such a minimal loss of detail & fidelity that if you're not paying the closest amount of attention to the proceedings, YOU WON'T NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE!😳🤪🤯 There's no fixed-head tape recorder out of the HUNDREDS that I've ever heard (& my own collection is well over 50 machines 🧐) that even come remotely close to the fidelity of those VCR's with their analog FM technology (Frequency Modulation, as opposed to AM, or Amplitude Modulation). And just like the analog(y) between AM Radio & FM Radio, that's the kind & degree of difference in sound quality experienced between the tape formats that use them!🫡

[@RetroPanic]

Just saw the Maschine in Switzerland Life at high end zurich. The price is high for shure

[@alex1520]

I'll stick with my full restored (both electrically and mechanically and with NEW heads) B77 MKII - It cost me about $4000 to fully overhaul a very worn out B77 MKII by a professional here who has been servicing Studer, Revox and Nagra for decades. I paid about $1000 for the unit itself on ebay - in total, expense wise, all thats still WAY cheaper than $17k for a brand new MKIII - What I do wonder though, is if this rebirth of the B77 will result in more spare parts becoming available or their costs coming down... I havent seen the specs of the MKIII though, maybe it has better specs like lower W&F? I havent looked - I hope there's a good reason to warrant that eye-watering price for the MKIII

[@weaverhchrist]

I agree with you 100%! 1st of all I've owned A-77s (sound better than the "B"version) and A-700s which sound way better so why would anyone buy this deck when the company that owns Revox builds pro decks that are far better sounding machines for less money?

[@matele901]

The A77 will not win a beauty contest but it sounds so much better than any version of the B77.

[@Rudolf_Edward]

16.000 euro's for a machine that probably has new and better components. But the difference is likely negligible due to the tape properties. If you can do maintenance on your own machine like I do on my B77 MKII HS, I think you are better off. For that price I can overhaul my machine with a gold-plated cabinet. I still like the B77 though. It is built like a tank and easy to service. But the same applies for the A77 HS 2TR I own (1972). The recordings on that machine compete with the B77. If you know your way with bias adjustments on your favorite type of tape, those 'old' machines sound beautiful.

[@anonymex22]

Also don't know if you aware but you said around 85db of dynamic for RTR, don't know from where as it's more around 58db-72db pushing the recording level high, but tascam can reach over 100db (93db without over gain) with their dbx system which can be used with little mode on every deck, don't know if really useful thought above 3.75ips, the little noise coming from 7.5< IPS at high level is very appreciable and more than 60db for most music is useless!

[@anadialog]

Tape has difficulties with extreme high frequencies but the dynamic range can be as good or better with a compander

[@anonymex22]

@@anadialog absolutely, unfortunately those DBX are as rare as high end new cassette deck! Plus as mentioned, 60db of dynamic way sufficient for anything, but classical, and again, classical aren't fair, they use a room dynamic instead of instrument real dynamic, because no acoustic instruments have greater dynamic than 30-40db... Short, you could record at lower level for most music and get ride of the high pb at high level! This said, that's not mandatory, as i can record at -10db 3.75ips get good high and low noise. This said, DBX unit should clearly be bring back, this would make all rtr better than digital in dynamic spec and allow use of 3.75ips with very good output! Review confirm that the transparency of DBX is excellent

[@anonymex22]

@@anadialog haha, just found the dbx 140&150x to restore but, i will confirm that digital better perception is just because noise free, however continuous signal noise free, will detroy it without any doubt!

[@anonymex22]

@@anadialog that's curious that you never experienced a dbx for vinyl real time expanding! 115db vinyl!!!

[@anadialog]

@@anonymex22 I have, I also mentioned it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mnfcd6GBe5hmrNE

[@AncarMolleur]

No matter the appearance or the metal parts of the kislux bag, I believe that as long as you are not a professional, you will never see any difference .

[@uwhanna]

Disregarding the price for a moment, there is nothing inherently 'better' about 'new' parts or a 'new' design. 'New' does not logically or necessarily equate to 'better.' Actually if you think about it, taking battle-tested components from the previous release for this updated version makes tons of sense for reliability, etc. At any rate, this unit is priced for the well-to-do who want something unique. A very niche product these days. The Master Tapes Collection is interesting and not entirely out of reach. Overall super cool machine in 2024.

[@anadialog]

I may agree with you…until Insee the price tag. Asking that kind of money and replacing some components seems almost like cheating IMO because your expense in r&d and parts is quite inferior to a company that tried to put on the market a new project and there are and I take my hat off to them.

[@thetapeshack2595]

@@anadialog okay put you neck on the line then…how much do you think it should market for?

[@budgetaudiophilelife-long5461]

🙋‍♂️GUIDO , I HOPE THAT ALL IS WELL WITH YOU AND THE FAMILY 💚💚💚

[@anadialog]

All good thanks! Hope yours is good too!

[@anonymex22]

16000$ today is not so expensive, last time we considered new high quality cassette deck compagnies didn't produced them because of the price which would probably get around 4000$. that's a shame. Everything you can compare it to is the used marked or the balfinger like compagnies whose avoid 30000$ the deck. Less fortunate of us will go for used one and pray that the refurbishing price will not double the invoice. The more fortunate will have analog audio design, balfinger for again more than 30000$ and this one for half the price! Fabulous news, and happy to see a new model from revox even of some part are from the already very good MK2! Let's see the spec and reviews! Stop dreaming the reel tapes goes for 800$, new head for 2400$, don't expect anything below 10000$ for a new reel to reel deck. Hope the fortunate will go for it...

[@thetapeshack2595]

Dear Guido, You said this was an initial reaction and it sure was! I mentioned on Tapeheads about paying thousands for a new reproduced cassette deck like a Dragon or similar and everybody scoffed and said it will never happen but a few would pay this price. But it has happened in R2R. People will pay this price. This equipment is intended for the rich people in the world. Not gen Z kiddy curious about tapes, not people who can only afford used kit from ebay, not for newbies to Open Reel. The price of tapes alone means anyone using this format and wanting new products must have deep pockets. I suspect 99.9% of your viewers do not fit this part of society. Now let’s see you get the proper info from the Revox manufacturer, I.e. a video of the internals inc full electronic inspection. Oh, no you cannot do that though. My point being, the product needs to be reviewed by a proper technician and properly compare against the MK II!

[@anadialog]

No there is no point in investigating further nor purchase this even if your daily hobby is to burn money in the backyard. No point when you can get much much much better at half the price. Anyone understands that and the group of people that only want new is not going to find confort here because it is not new…it’s Frankenstein tech!

[@Ashen2501]

16k EURos should bring us a machine, CNCed from a solid gold.

[@anadialog]

😂

[@faisalalkhenini9333]

B77 mk2 is great machine , I bought it same year released in 1981 from REW shop in Tottenham court road in London , price that time was 600 pound which is equal to 15k dollars today .

[@michaelturner4457]

Actually £600 in 1981 is equivalent to about £2,200 today. $17000 is quite a premium for something that's had the caps and belts changed, and some lubrication.

[@Spock105]

@@michaelturner4457 Actually the new price of the B77 was about 2000 pounds which makes it 7500 with inflation today.

[@sibfox]

The price is absolutely insane. There are still thousands of Mark IIs in existence, and I have seen them for 300-350 euros. You would have to be insane to spend 16,000 euros on such a rudimentary machine.

[@FLH3official]

At 350 for a 7,5/15 it will not be pristine, you'll realy need some work on it. At around 1000 you can find something ready to run.

[@sibfox]

​@@FLH3official The HS model would be somewhat more costly; local prices are low, but eBay has insane prices. The B77's drawback is that it's a very basic device with very basic tape handling capabilities. Although there are much better machines out there, B77 is inexpensive and should remain so. 16K euros for MKIII is just silly.

[@FLH3official]

@@sibfox I've bought my B77 HS some years ago on my domestic equivalent of craigslist so I'm not aware of the curent prices, but I agree with you the B77 is a simple machine (quite reliable) and it's not supposed to be a posh thing for hi-profile fortunate fews.

[@sibfox]

@@FLH3official I completely agree. I currently own the B77II, PR99III, Fostex E-2, Tascam BR-20D, and a few other devices. The B77 is dependable and has a great sound, but it simply cannot compete with the Br-20D or Fostex E-2. It is a machine that was designed to be dependable, reasonably priced and... simple.

[@karenjobagy5822]

What is insane is forty grand for a LP12!!

[@VinylsFinal]

My tascam 32 does an equally good job in both recording and playback at 15ips. I've got better things to do with 16k.

[@audiophileman7047]

I agree that a new machine is very exciting, but I'm not willing to pay that kind of money for the very exciting. I have the money, but it's just too expensive. Since I have the technical knowledge and skills to refurbish a machine, I plan to rescue a good old dilapidated machine from the junkyard. 💪👊

[@anadialog]

One of the problems is that it is not truly “NEW” but the message implies otherwise

[@stephenchen1420]

Little different from refurbished machines by J-Corder/Technics, Sonorus/Studer & United Home Audio (UHA)/Tascams. Metaxas Audio Systems are the only manufacture I know making new decks, based on teh Stellavox.

[@alex1520]

To those who are saying these are just B77 MKII's with a fresh paint job and a couple of extra buttons - wrong - v=NZtSWwvw9RE -- all the audio boards have been redesigned from the ground up, there are also no more electrolytic caps in the audio circuitry, they have taken advantage of advancements in electronics to completely redesign and modernise a lot of things - film capacitors are used now which dont degrade like electrolytics do. Still too much money for me though.

[@anadialog]

Chassis, motors and heads are old (i.e. the most important parts of a machine). Of course there are electronics inside, but it is not a true new machine, hence the correct meaning of the title of my video. Here you can see the old and new parts at a glance: revox.com/media/pdf/18/a0/52/Revox_EN_B77-MKIII_USPs.pdf

[@teashea1]

Are you saying these are used machines that are refurbished? They are not.

[@anadialog]

I am saying what they have stated, that they are using old parts and new parts.

[@JakePurches-Base2music]

It was the electronics that needed to change, not the machine itself. The B77 amplifiers are nothing much to talk about. Frequency response could be a lot better - the heads are good for it.

[@robbo1700]

Revox B77 MKIII only for the happy few.....

[@macdaniel6029]

When you said "expensive" I thougt something like 1000 or maybe 2000€. But 16.000€? That's just insane. R2R machines are a novelty item, mostly for collectors. I have a few from the 50s to 80s but mostly because I like them. I rarely use them, maybe 1 or 2 times per year.

[@Fluterra]

2000EUR?! What planet are you living on? Clearly not this one. When you say ‘novelty’ that implies low volume, which means the price goes up, not down.

[@frankgeeraerts6243]

If I remember ... " Jazz in the pawnshop " was recorded on a REVOX taperecorder ! A REVOX A77 ...........No one complains about the recording ............. Agree that the pricetag of the MKIII is way out of proportion ...........i restored several Revox machines and upgraded them with succes ...........I like my PR99 ( that no technician and repair shop could repair ) .........even tapes ( Maxell ) recorded 4 decades ago still sound ( very ) good..........

[@clivemorris4845]

Nagra!

[@frankgeeraerts6243]

@@clivemorris4845 Yep , thank you , then it was the other record in the church....memories are what they are.

[@anadialog]

As others have pointed out, yes with 2 Nagras IV-S. Cantate domino is a very simple (i.e. easy) recording done on a Revox A77 with only two microphones.

[@lucabattanta9246]

so they buy old b77 and changing some parts but they call it mkiii and ask to the clients 16000 €. Do I understand well ? No thanks, I can buy a top notch Studer, Otari or a nagra with adaper!

[@alex1520]

They are new builds -- watch v=NZtSWwvw9RE -- all the audio boards have been redesigned from the ground up to take advantage of advancements in electronics components and circuit design, electrolytic caps have been removed and replaced with all film caps in the audio path, improved heads that are made from a harder metal that last longer. While eyewateringly expensive, they ARE new builds and not refurbs of old MKII's like many think they are.

[@scottstrang1583]

I thought they were making brand new machines.

[@alex1520]

They are -- watch v=NZtSWwvw9RE -- all the audio boards have been redesigned from the ground up to take advantage of advancements in electronics components and circuit design, electrolytic caps have been removed and replaced with all film caps in the audio path, improved heads that are made from a harder metal that last longer. While eyewateringly expensive, they ARE new builds and not refurbs of old MKII's like many think they are.

[@radiotvhistory]

No thanks! I think will keep my Studer A807! 😂 I can buy a used B77mkii in Switzerland for a fraction of this price!

[@alvarosundfeld]

Reel to Reel is only worth after you get to the Two Track, 15ips level. Anything lower than that will be completely destroyed by any decent CD player.

[@anadialog]

15/30ips are king but 4 track prerecorded tapes on a quality machine still have a lot to say!

[@theshowcase23]

I don't know what to think of this MK III. Of course Studer is better than Revox but back in the day Revox was also much cheaper than Studer so it made sense. If Revox now costs 16.000 Euro what's the point? So you can already order it but there are almost no details about it. Most of the marketing refers to features that every B77 can do. OK, there's something new about the audio circuits, but what? And saying there will be no electrolytic capacitors in the audio circuits says nothing about the quality...

[@anadialog]

I agree. Here is a pdf that is at the bottom of one of the pages with more details on what is new and what is old: revox.com/media/pdf/18/a0/52/Revox_EN_B77-MKIII_USPs.pdf

[@ppanzer7243]

This project is only intended for poeple stupid enough to pay this price for vintage consumer technology. If anyone is interested to buy a new RTR i recommend a Metaxas tape machine.

[@oliv9768]

I hope that, somehow, the Revox brain trust gets wind of your perspective - and, perhaps, readjusts. 👍🏽

[@narrowfield6846]

I understand that this video is just of a first and brief impression. For a deeper look, one needs more details. What I don't understand is your critisism of "old parts / new parts". Particularly as you are hailing vintage equipment for their fantastic sound. Take the Sony TA-N7B. If I would get one, I would take it to an expert having it reverbished. What does the expert do? Replacing just the parts which are not ok anymore, typically capacitors. Of course I also see the price point very critically. My B77 MKII is still doing fine.

[@anadialog]

Because they are promoting it as a MK 3, hence a new model, at a premium price that has nothing to do with a Revox. If it was a new Studer like a A817 or A820 then I could have accepted it. The original price of the Revox B77 MKII in 1982 was 2300DM, converted to euro and inflation adjusted it’s €5885 (about $6352) in 2024. Almost a third than what they are asking for…and it’s not even made from scratch!

[@磁鬼頻率]

Excited to see this but way overpriced! Come on revox?

[@richardfinch1789]

None of these media manufacturers, not one can give the idea to making something really rock, solid and affordable, what the hell happened to the audio and vinyl industry? These people are taking everyone's money. No one's getting anywhere. The prices are outrageous. Entertainment used to be affordable. What is attractive about all of this? I ask you what about the newcomer? The new person who wants to get involved the enthusiast, They can't!!! ... no one can afford anything in this medium and something has to give.

[@spacepumpkin]

15950€ is many many beers man... Spotify 1 - Analog 0. And I'm the owner of many vintage devices.

[@savvassidiropoulos5952]

A MkIII machine is NEVER a new machine, just an improvement on an existing model. Sometimes the differences are subtle and difficult to spot, unless you get inside. BTW, the reason the B77 is so popular is that it's very reliable and easy to service, especially the older ones with through hole components readily available. However, the price is ridiculous. For 5,000 euros, I would consider this an honest and fair attempt. But for the price mentioned, I'll keep my own MkII. And it can be brought to modern standards with readily available modernized electronics that are made available from third party vendors.

[@anadialog]

You are missing the point as many others. I am not talking about a brand new model, I am saying that they are NOT using new parts. Most are vintage parts. Old and new, a Frankenstein.

[@FabioGaffurini-i3u]

L'unico effetto che avrà questa operazione è che l'usato salirà ancora di più di prezzo. Mi tengo ben stretto il mio Otari MX 5050 BII 2. Oltretutto con la metà di quel che chiedono si può trovare lo Studer A810 che è la pietra di paragone di tutto il resto

[@dfc99nyc]

I wonder how many Revox will sell? Tiny niche market in the US / EU. Guys with $/€ to burn.

[@jukingeo]

$17,000? That's insane and ridiculous. I don't even spend $5k on a WHOLE system, let alone a single piece of equipment. Then, it isn't even new! Technically the technology is obsolete. The prices of high end audio equipment really has spun way out of control, especially in recent years. The big problem is that there are imbeciles out there that would buy this, thus encouraging the trolling of audio equipment just because a brand name is behind it. People have to stand up to these troll companies and just say, "No! I am not paying that!". If no one buys it, then these companies will be singing a different tune. Revox can stick that where the sun don't shine. Also, as the OP says, Revox really isn't all that. I had a couple B77 machines, and out of the 10" reel machines I had, I liked them the least. I had better performance on my Akai GX-747 at 7.5 ips than any other 15ips machine I had.

[@sytiravajous]

I agree that the prices are bit bloated, but like with most audiophile devices, these aren't produced in conveyor belts like of which massive workshops like Behringer might have. They say in their website that they can only pump out 20 of these within a month. So you're essentially paying for assembly efforts of probably just a few people. Would you spend 10 working hours to build an electronic device and then sell it less than your wage and cost of parts? Or less than what that time is worth assembling more profitable devices? Doubt it. So from sustainable business and employee perspective, it would not make sense to be selling these for much less.

[@stingray7275]

16.000€uro ist in meinen Augen absoluter Wucher B77MkII hat noch um 1300€uro gekostet. Diese Preiserhöhung ist nicht nachvollziehbar, vor allem wenn man bedenkt, dass technisch nicht viel neu entwickelt werden musste.

[@dentaljournal]

In den 80ern waren es wohl auch ganz andere Stückzahlen

[@stingray7275]

@@dentaljournal 20x höherer Preis .... und das soll die Rechtfertigung sein? Wenn ich das auf einen VW Käfer umlege, müsste das Auto dann 60.000€uro kosten und das praktisch noch mit der alten Technik.

[@dubdoodle7191]

It's not a newly mfg'd ReVox reel to reel deck. In fact it's actually a resto-mod of used B77 units they acquire. A large portion of this B77's internal componentry is actually 35+ years old. This attempt to deceive reel to reel enthusiasts is the primary reason why this business plan is a failure right from the get go LoL !

[@dentaljournal]

I don't know, whether you are right. It could be that the maschine is completely new. I asked this question to ReVox and they told me: "Die Änderungen sind so umfassend, dass ein Upgrade einer MkII auf die MkIII leider nicht möglich ist. Unverändert blieb lediglich die zuverlässige Antriebstechnik. Viele Bauteile wurden zudem speziell für die MkIII von regionalen Herstellern gefertigt." An uprade from MkII to MkIII is not possible....many parts are manufactured for the MkIII from regional manufacturer."

[@dubdoodle7191]

⁠They're a fraud and 100% are not manufacturing these bottom up. It's just an attempt to resto-mod used units for reselling. And given that's the actual case, there's only 1 highly credible provider that doesn't misrepresent themselves like this seller, seek Tech Trader ReVox if you want honesty & quality !

[@tcspersonal7889]

I had A77-4 in 70s. Why would you expect a Mark III to NOT have most of the same parts?? It's NOT a new model. It's the 3rd version of the B77. That should be obvious to you. Furthermore, I'd WANT a Mark III, not a B78. It's a GREAT thing to have AS MANY parts in common between a new machine and all prior ones. That allows for greater success in refurbing old machines. It's horrible to have to say "I can't get the part", whether tape decks or cars. I am SO glad they are using as many of the same parts as possible!!!!!! YOU SHOULD BE TOO! It's not "frankenstein".

[@anadialog]

I understand your point, yes it is not a completely new machine (but yes it a new model) and yes it’s Frankenstein because they are using old parts along with new ones. A new model always has 100% new components. For that price everything should be new and in general it just doesn’t make sense to buy a Revox regardless the model for €16.000. When the B77 MK II came out in 1982 (converting to euro and adjusting inflation the cost was/is €5885)!

[@Jbandes]

Those are NOT going to sell. Not at that price.

[@michaelturner4457]

Seems to be the Rolex syndrome here. i.e. it was always a respectable brand, but now they can charge stupid five figure prices just because of the name.

[@vicentvanmole]

there is a lot of pro-sumer like those in the camera world , bigger , heavier & more expensive just owning one /holding one , knowing it may not the best functioning form !Till the hype goes away , it will disappear !

[@TheDarthvader123]

But… you did pay a huge price for the tape of Norah Jones?!

[@anadialog]

I paid the “normal” price for a true master tape copy…but I don’t see the connection…

[@peterdavidthompson4876]

Revox and studer are made at the same factory. 😊😊

[@anadialog]

WERE made at the same factory, but Revox was for the consumer market and Studer was for pros, recording studios and the alike. Two completely different leagues.

[@Spock105]

@@anadialog obvious you are a Pro talking to pittyful consumers

[@CapitanHarlockisback]

Reevax? 😢

[@anadialog]

That is how it is pronounced in English. I am Italian so I actually pronounce it the true Swiss way with my friends! ;-)

[@TTVEaGMXde]

For that money, I would rather buy a well-maintained Technics RS-1500 from €3000 + switchable head block (2/4 track playback) "new" from €1000. I don't like the B77 MKII with the original take-up platter control. I don't know why they can't build a new tape recorder when the heads and the pressure roller are still made as spare parts.

[@ju6452]

It‘s a price which is totally nuts. Noone with brain will buy that. Typical try to ride the vintage wave on the glory of the past😆

[@MickManningly]

Meet the " new" machine , crappier than the old machine .

[@alex1520]

Wrong - They are new builds -- watch v=NZtSWwvw9RE -- all the audio boards have been redesigned from the ground up to take advantage of advancements in electronics components and circuit design, electrolytic caps have been removed and replaced with all film caps in the audio path, improved heads that are made from a harder metal that last longer. While eyewateringly expensive, they ARE new builds and not refurbs of old MKII's like many think they are.

[@EssS1226]

Dave Denyer made a video too.

[@spacehopper999]

Dave Denyer has quite a lot of detail in his video about it.

[@theshowcase23]

@@spacehopper999 What details? He just reads the marketing from Revox. There are no details yet.

[@robertdavis5714]

Nice production Sir, looks like 7" Reels max. 17k USA, Ill pass.........................

[@uncled39]

A consumer grade machine, professional price. What a joke.

[@jasonwilliams6005]

Price = OUCH

[@anonamouse5917]

If I had money to burn I'd probably get one.

[@maurolevoni7580]

Complimenti bravo come sempre, prezzo esagerato e manca, soprattutto, il fascino del prodotto originale: meglio l' usato. Grazie per i bellissimi video Congratulations, good as always, the price is exaggerated and, above all, the charm of the original product is missing: used is better. Thanks for the beautiful videos

[@dozo99]

Didn't know you were clairvoyant , you can actually tell that no new parts are used in these MKiii machines. awesome, can you give me next weeks lottery numbers? I'll cut you in for 25%

[@anadialog]

I didn’t know that people can watch a video and understand the complete opposite! I clearly said that they are using several new parts together with old one, hence the title of the video…time to wake up now!

[@alex1520]

​@@anadialog They are new builds -- watch v=NZtSWwvw9RE -- all the audio boards have been redesigned from the ground up to take advantage of advancements in electronics components and circuit design, electrolytic caps have been removed and replaced with all film caps in the audio path, improved heads that are made from a harder metal that last longer and there are other improvements it seems. Too many seem to think these are refurbished MKII's with a new coat of paint... The price is ridiculous though... I am betting that spec wise, these MKIII's are superior to the MKII's despite the same chassis and tape transport.

[@Fluterra]

“For that price you can get a Studer A80 or 810”. Yeah, and be dealing with degraded caps, terrible quality (by today’s standards) amplification, and all kinds of issues. No thanks.

[@anadialog]

No, no, cite the whole phrase: REFURBISHED!

[@John-oi8mt]

Oh FFS!!! How boring how irritating!🤦‍♂️

[@frhay8]

It was to be expected that extroverted, busybodies would immediately comment on this, even though they only know the project from the prospectus. Gesturous polemics from a self-promoter instead of well-founded criticism.I bought my Revox MK II straight after my apprenticeship. It is one of the most sustainable investments I have ever made. That makes it valuable.

[@anadialog]

First of all I stated this nice and clearly. It’s an impression but beside that, it is logic that can easily guide you here. Old body with some new parts (listed in a pdf in the website that very few have seen I guess) does not justify the price that can allow you to get twice as better at half the price. Period.

[@timothyepowell8388]

Please don’t tell us what you think about Revox tape recorders, tell us what you know about them.

[@anadialog]

I did, in other videos. This is a comment on something I know and that people expect from me, in fact this video came as a direct request on: “what do you think about the new Revox?”

[@PhilipvanderMatten]

still crappy tape path

[@anadialog]

Maybe not crappy but certainly NOT a pro machine.

[@cesarjlisboa7586]

Revox is Studer. So it’s a matter of taste…

[@danieleciavatta7522]

Revox is no longer Studer...

[@anadialog]

Same company completely different machines, Revox for the consumer market and Studer for professionals. Plus, today’s Revox is certainly NOT the Revox of Willi Studer.

[@cesarjlisboa7586]

@@anadialog I agreed with your reference for the price. The fact is : People will buy not for the quality or for the specs, they will buy for the sticker label.

[@GiancarloBenzina]

Then, mid-80s, a BMW 316 cost less than 20.000DM and the Revox B77 cost less than 2000DM. It clearly shows if you lookup for a 1 or 3 series Beemer these days, that the B-III isn’t too expensive. And look at the newly designed R2R phantoms, yeah, they are way further up. You think it‘s a Frank in Stone? Yeah, try a restomod classic purchase today, to get ich cheap. So, please. Cry to mummy, or buy a vintage peace, buy an old BMW 316 used and barely maintained, as most Revox. Now try to use it every day for the next 20-60yrs. Analog will not disappear. At least not prohibited. Old Beemers will, once laws have been adjusted have a different future, cost of operation hasn‘t gone cheaper either with its 15L/100km consumption. Sure you can replace a few caps and glue a piece here and there, call it patina or geniuine or a rolling rat or a frankenstein, with digital pieces, workarounds inserted or pieces of other machines. No, not defending the old crap we love, just point out the unnecessity to cry about it or to claim new systems being Frankensteins, which clearly compromises assumed competence.

[@anadialog]

I have no idea what you are rambling about but for about 1/3 of that price I can get a refurbished professional Studer machine that will sound 10 times better and will last 10 times more. Period.

[@mikep9234]

This review is a total B.S. He has no idea what he is talking about. He has no machine to review and no way to confirm the assumptions of how the machine is being built. I can't stand self-important KZbin audio reviewers trying to negatively affect a company's products and brands. If I were to meet this guy, I'd tell him to shut the _____ up.

[@anadialog]

This is obviously NOT a review. Don’t put words in my mouth. This is just a comment to this project. What I can say is that for much less you can get much more because it is a fact that transport, heads and preamp can’t be as good as a TOTL Studer, Ampex, Telefunken, Nagra etc. simply because those parts are not produced anymore, we are missing the whole system that created them. There is a reason why the best studios in the world have refurbished machines from those companies and why Revox themselves tried to make a new machine some time ago but failed. Even historically Revox was never meant to be better than those.