Mix Tape - The Greatest 12" of ALL Time!

In today's session, Ken 'hiwatt' Marshall shares the fully restored Revox A77, can you say mix tape?!?
'Blue Monday' - New Order
12" reissue / 180g / 45rpm
Stanton ST.150
Shure M44-7
NEC A-7 phono preamp
Revox A77 mk IV (manufactured September 1976, restored June 2021)
full electronic and mechanical overhaul by hiwatt
a very special thanks to Peter Mony @ Nagravox, for sorting me out more than once ;-)

[@ECHQ]

"How does it feel when a new day has begun? When you’re drinking in the sunshine Revox is the one"

[@rgrant]

There is a whole book about New Order recording this track which is a lengthy but interesting read.

[@nikht0]

I was a young punk in high school when that record came out. We used to go to this local club that would quietly let us underage kids in on a weeknight without looking too closely at our fake IDs. Blue Monday was the hit in the clubs that absolutely blew everyone away, even us too-cool-for-school punk rockers. Within a few years Skinny Puppy started coming to town to blow my mind further.

[@ApexDubb]

I’m glad to see we are still on the same page when it comes to this subject

[@jeremiahpeterson7490]

Sounds amazing in my cans!

[@JacobSkriver]

Never gets old 🙏🖤

[@pala23mj]

🎉🎉

[@rediscoveryrecords1348]

Wow that spins nicely

[@Bodytribechip]

This is telling me how to feel. And I appreciate it.

[@klinkske]

Wow. That rewind starts so powerfull. I wonder what part i need to take care of on my revoxes because they are so slow. I did change those large white caps… new bearing. Cleaned the pins etc

[@zzzyzzzyzzzyxxx]

1984 - A basement suite on 3rd and St. Georges in North Vancouver. Four Dahlquist DQ-10s powered by two Harman Kardon HK775 130W monoblocks receiving a signal from a Linn Sondek LP12 with Linn Ittok arm and Asak cartridge. The way your Revox warmed the sound, despite KZbin, brought me right back to those days - sitting in the sweet spot with eyes closed and this track punching the air around me. Thanks for the memories.

[@manisbeast1245]

I'm hearing sounds I've never heard on this track before. So clean.

[@lancepage1914]

I would have to agree. When I hear things I have not notice before - I feel like I am imagining it whist I listen.

[@lancepage1914]

Considering this is through the KZbin codecs, I have never heard this song sound so good - apart from when I saw New Order live some 20 years ago in my teens. The character of the tape is undeniable. Reel to reel is the most expensive format for good reason, it simply is the best.

[@pete5534]

Smooth. The motors & brakes are tweaked - nice...

[@drystems4386]

Even that rewind was smoooooooth as silk. Great restoration of a great deck. Congrats!

[@genepooll7610]

Sweet! Nice to see all that hard work paid off!

[@m655321]

I melt into this

[@TheAmazingSnarf]

Anyone else have the fierce, nearly undeniable urge to grab these isolated drum samples? Urgh ...must... resist ..grabbing sampler... I resisted. Congrats, Ken! Your restore / rebuild sounds magnificent!

[@javaally1203]

Before I get knew this song existed the only electronic dance music I heard playing on the radio was 80s freestyle that I couldn't relate to

[@markadamson8811]

I’ve never heard this sound so good wtf is this voodoo?

[@laurahathaway9945]

Mix it Up Babe!!

[@robin-mj2fo]

Hadn't seen what 12'' you chose before I pressed play but I thought I was going to be disappointed if I didn't hear that kick coming in

[@twitch451]

Classic!

[@nilbog6671]

Badass

[@SergioPellico]

Hey! This is a piece of art. Sound visual art. The excellent extended remixes that were made before come to mind ... Thank you!

[@hankscorpio8928]

Oh. Hellz. Yes.

[@slideruler73]

I agree.

[@Lagos3sgte]

Beautiful !

[@Projacked1]

Yesss

[@hankscorpio8928]

Wait!!!! Is that a master tape?!?!

[@hankscorpio8928]

Hey Ken! My brother an I resurrected our 30 year old EBM electro industrial band over Covid quarentine. How do we get in touch with you to mix it?

[@I05tream]

Surely you did some post work on that, it sounded much better than I remember.

[@marke5174]

Can someone explain the setup here? If the record is being played.. whats the tape player doing?

[@hiwattmarshall]

Hi Mark E, thanks for sharing! What we’re hearing is the reproduce head (playback) of the Revox A77, while it’s recording the record. This is a true, 3-head machine, so we can monitor repro, and get all that awesome tape saturation while we record any source! I did a custom calibration on this machine, which is definitely colouring the sound of the record ;-) I’m so blown away with the sound of this Revox, that I’m considering mastering to it! It’s not supposed to sound this good Mark, yet I’m literally floored when I hear the playback haha...wth?!? Great question, thanks again for engaging, I appreciate it big time 🙏 Stay safe, -hw

[@marke5174]

@@hiwattmarshall Thankyou Ken. I'm interested in how music is produced nowadays, in no way do i know anything about it though. I didn't realise the Revox could record and playback at the same time! Now it makes sense. Thankyou for taking the time to explain it.

[@StephaneA-wc3me]

@@hiwattmarshall Hi Ken , How many nWb did you calibrated the machine ?