Revox reliability inspires in PC4uMusic configurations

Using a Revox turntable ensures the good condition of your unique vinyl collection and even more so playing them from digital copies stored on your hard drive. PC as a modern tape recorder at home allows you to archive music and play it with a traditional Hi-Fi set. In PC4uMusic configurations, special attention is paid to stability, which for years was also the main advantage of reliable ReVox tape recorder designs. This brand of high-end audio equipment was created in 1951 by the Swiss company Studer, which was established 3 years earlier and their offer provided the highest quality for the recording studio.

 The Studer J37 reel-to-reel tape recorder was used in, for example, the famous studios on Abbey Road in London , where The Beatles hits were created , and played a significant role in it.

The first tape recorder was produced in 1949, but under the name Dynavox. The first ReVox appeared in 1955 and the A36 had 3 separate motors - one for tape transport and two independently driving the reel platters.

In 1960, music lovers were offered tape recorders for stereophonic recording in 2 or 4 tracks. The latter was at the cost of a slight deterioration in quality, but on the same amount of tape, it was possible to record twice as long.. It was a tube construction, in which the accuracy was above average and became legendary not only among sound engineers in recording studios.

With the highest demands of music lovers in mind, the Revox A77  tape recorder was produced in the years 1967-1977 in versions MK I to IV. These were already transistor designs. It enjoyed huge success, which is best proven by the fact that 186 versions were produced. In total, over 350 thousand pieces were produced. This tape recorder became an icon of the audio technology of the time and a synonym for high-end for demanding home users. Versions with electronics for Dolby B were very popular.

Revox tape recorders were distinguished by their chassis construction made of low-resonance castings. They also had individual factory calibration, which was separate for each track and tape speed in relation to the original Revox tapes, which allowed for extremely linear characteristics of the sound transmission band. Revox from the A77 MK II version was equipped with extended-life Revodur heads , manufactured exclusively for the company from a special Recovac alloy, developed and produced in the Vacuumschmelze Hanau metallurgical plants and steelworks. They also had a modular design resembling PC, which allowed them to be better customized to user needs.

This approach to production resulted in the life of many A77s being extended by numerous versions of modifications made by independent workshops and hobbyists. Modified A77s were in the equipment of many start-up radio stations when, for example, the broadcasting monopoly was abolished in Sweden. They are now replaced by computers.

 

In 1974, the A700 appeared  , featuring for the first time digital drive control logic and quartz motor speed stabilization.

The B77 was another model with modern styling and a clear reference to the A77 , and inside there were electronic systems with the latest solutions, which took into account modifications created over the years in various places around the world.

The exclusive version was the PR 99 with a look directly related to the most advanced modifications that users had been ordering from independent companies for years. 

In 1988 the last version of the Revox analog tape recorders for quarter inch tapes at speeds of 3 3/4, 7 1/2 and 15ips competed strongly with Japanese offerings for the home recording studio and were for 2, 4 and 8 channels.

The latter ReVox tape recorders were less in line with Studer's offer. In the offer for a professional studio, the number of channels for 1/4 inch tape and its speed were limited. This allowed for the optimal selection of heads. This is especially important in the case of a recording head, in order to record the work of musicians with the smallest possible distortions. A head mounted for 2 speeds is a perfectly balanced compromise for each of them. It is different in the case of 3 speeds. Here, the compromise means that at the highest speed the quality of the recording will be senselessly reduced. The quality at the lowest will be unacceptable in a tape recorder for working with music recordings. It was similar with multitrack recording on 1/4-inch tapes. 8 tracks are equivalent to compact cassette quality. Studer offered multitrack tape recorders for 2-inch tapes.

The Japanese Technics had interesting solutions to the problem with heads for 2 and 4 tracks on 1/4", where it is relatively easy to replace the module with the appropriate set of them. Such a solution could have been implemented even better in the modular ReVox designs, but the needs of the market have changed.

Now Japanese manufacturers offer digital recorders. In professional recording studios, instead of tapes, hard drives and powerful computers are used, where expensive editing software is installed.

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