The triumphant return of the NT-2
I’m so glad to be able to share this with you - it’s been quite the month and at times I was unsure I’d ever get be able to back in front of the computer. But I have and I made a video and here it is…
There’s a bit of a story behind why I’m showing you this now. All these things have been sitting in a storage box in a corner of this room for countless years since I first found them.
Recent events have made me think a great deal about the future and mortality. As a direct result I decided to show you one of the Crown Jewels of the collection while I’m able, as who knows what’s around the corner.
Boring medical update
The blood infection appears to have been resolved - fingers crossed that’s the end of that. I’ve finished my course of antibiotics. I’m off the home monitoring equipment (collected by the postman and returned to base).
But I’m now on to the next big hurdle. Tomorrow morning I’m having an MRI on my liver. This will tell me whether I need any treatment, whether I’m just too far gone for that, or whether everything is fine and there’s nothing at all to worry about.
I believe a team of people will look at the results and will inform me of the outcome within a short amount of time. Perhaps a week.
This really is one of those flip a coin moments that’s totally out of my control. I’ll just have to wait and see. This is a very weird position to be in - I’m just getting on with life as normal, but I may also be a dead man walking - I’m living in limbo and it’s all a bit too much to take in.
In lighter news, went out for a really nice posh Sunday lunch today with the Mrs while my smell and taste are working. I’m ticking off meals that I’ve wanted to taste again. Had an Indian meal the other night…so at the moment I’ve got fish and chips at the top of the to-do list and then a kebab.
Anyway that’s more than enough about me, take care and have a good one.
Comments (120)
Welcome back. Another wonderful video. Good luck on many more years and videos.
I so very hope you're doing well and this all turns out to be a big nothing burger.
Mat, so glad you are back home and enjoying some culinary delights. Wanted to say, as someone that has been watching your videos on YouTube for the last 15 years, and somewhat taken your output for granted, that it is great to see yet another brilliant piece of content. I really hope that your results are good news. Take care of yourself and keep up the amazing work.
A classic Techmoan video. Something I’d never heard of that I now covet! Best of luck with your health, Mat.
I'm wishing you all the best Matt, you're one of the best people on YouTube, not just as a creator but as a person.
❤️
Great video!
Mat, thanks for the video and the update on your condition. I'm glad you're having a chance to taste meals again. I hope everything turns out okay with your MRI. I do have one question, though: why is the output on the NTU-S1 set to 44.1 kHz instead of 32 kHz? Shouldn't it be 32 kHz for the NT-2? Thanks again for the video, and I wish you all the best.
I just chose 44.1 kHz as the output as my PCM recorder can record at that and it seemed like it might be the best option to match the two signals. I’ve no idea if it’s relevant through. . The input from the NT2 is 32kHz and is fixed, so that’s always the signal going into the NTU-S1 and then it converts the output if required. At least I think that’s how it works.
Wonderful to see you back, and a great video as well! Wishing you all the best.
Well done for getting all this together, Matt. Looks like this one was a labour of love. I agree with you, mate, a real nice piece of kit, well built and using every little bit of space possible to pack as many features as they could. Cheers matey Lee
Mat, your fortitude during all of this has been inspirational. I’m glad you were able to knock out a vid amongst the things going on in your life at the moment. I never could have these things growing up (my dad gave me a basic near death Walkman that no one claimed from L&F at the bus company he drove for). So I live vicariously through this channel. Take care of ye self and enjoy having your best “buds” (taste and smell) back. -est2
These recorders are perfect examples of Sony's industrial design supremacy. I don't even care if it's broken...I _want_ it, even just as an ornament on a shelf.
Typing the original purchase price into a currency calculator to determine its modern buying power is standard procedure. However, when it's a luxury status device that might have appealed to someone who worked in finance in 1992, you need a calculator that can tell us "how much cocaine would that have bought, back in the day?"
This is a fantastic video and lovely too. Thank you! I hope it will all go well. I am clocking a week of being unwell. I mean it's peanuts but being sick often depresses me. Had to let go a trip to visit some dear friends. Also, thank you for sharing.
I am very pleased to watch another new Techmoan episode on a Sunny Easter day. It feels back to normal. A cozy pleasant feeling. About the medical side of things though, MRI and liver makes alarmbells ring to me. To put it perhaps a bit rude, that was in my case my demise unfort. (I got Angiosarcoma spread in the liver, which is quite rare actualy but nevertheless) So let's hope it is not live threatening for one. And b, if it is something else, let's hope you can recover from it well. Take care!
A triumphant return indeed. Good to see you back on the bucking bronco of the You Tube algorithm. Hold very tight please!
Keeping my fingers crossed, not that it would make a difference, but it is the only thing we can do. Good luck on the results!
Hey Mat, Haven’t had time to watch the video yet. But glad to hear you are doing OK (well as OK as you can do, all things considered). Hope the scans went OK. From first hand experience I know getting stuffed into a tube is never much fun (unless you are into industrial music, in which case you have at least some distraction). But I hope they took it easy on you.
The NHS is free for a reason- performance on a par with the pay. Your best chance from now to give it your best shot would be Rick Simpson oil. You can and will overcome your predicament with a bit of faith and asking around for a supplier. Thanks for making another vid- but in my heart of hearts want a few hundred/thousand more - so hope you can overcome your blood and liver problems- and if you can't overcome at least please pop in the comedy dvds and have a good laugh- you my friend are one of the good uns of this world so wish you the very best
Sounds like a load of old woowoo to me. If I were in Mat's situation, I'd just turn up to the appointments, let them get on with their tests and treatments and hope everything gets sorted (which ii partially has for him at this point). And as much as the NHS has it's problems, I'd much rather that than the alternative (a US-style system where you risk being bankrupted for having a serious illness)
Great video. I hope your own engineering is robust and we see more of you and your amazing collection of engineering marvels for a long time yet.
Sony engineering in this era was amazing just look at the minidisc players
Great video. I too got fascinated by this format some years ago and bought an NT-2 from eBay, although I suspect more worn than yours as the heads seem to clog easily. I agree about finding the cleaning cassette, it took a while. I did know about the NT format not too long after it came out as I worked on a trade counter in Soho in the early 90s and an obviously well healed customer showed off the NT-1 he had just purchased in Tottenham Court Road. Al the best for your scan.
Was so glad to see this, for a number of reasons, firstly your health must be a litter better. Secondly I like watching them anyway obviously. Thirdly I had no idea they existed, I'd only ever seen Micro cassettes, these little fells were tiny, like Spectrum Microdrives or something.
🤞🩻 Hoping all went well today.
I had the scan, it was quite uncomfortable holding my arms above my head, lying in a tube for half an hour, but as to what the scan reveals, I might only find out in a couple of weeks.
Great video - The sound quality was surprisingly good. Thanks for taking the time to order the dock for digital recording.
Great video. I think most of us could imagine how the best of the best feels - smooth and cold to the first touch but wouldn't want to put it down. I think maybe chilli, lemon and sweetcorn is the way to go with the kebab 😋
Great news on health updates Mat! Happy you are enjoying all the foods you've been missing! Yum!
You sound great in this one!
The boyfriend and I are sending positive vibes your way from Japan!
Enjoyed the video as always. Interesting device and story of how it came to be. Thinking of you this morning. Hoping for the best possible news when it comes.
Hope the MRI is positive news. Hit all the takeaway foods! One a day for the next week :)
Peak Sony. Top class Techmoan - thank you for sharing this gem. Those really were special days for engineering innovation. Good luck next week; and glad to hear your enjoyment of the major food groups.
You really learn me a New way of looking at things. Thanx for that. And fingers crossed for the MRI🤞
Fingers crossed for the MRI results. I’m hoping for many more years of forgotten tech videos.
Nice to see a video again, you sound a lot better! We keep our fingers crossed for your liver, hope nothing bad is happening there... Definitely a nice piece of tech, I would just love to have some NT cassettes just for show-off... During the Christmas holidays, I made some repairs on the micro cassette drive (the Olympus one) from an Epson HX-20, it was already too small to work comfortably on...
Good to hear you in a far better shape and wonderful product, I miss that clicky and touchy fell of those marvels. I regret the day I sold my MZ-R 700
Wow… I’d killed when I was a young boy turning the pages of these « Sony Style » catalogs if I could have the possibility to have one. Now that I’ve listened to the sound quality, I want one even more ! From the health point of view, has a lot of others said, I wish you the best. Crossing all my fingers for a good result (I wrote positive result at first, but said in one way or another, it could be the « wrong positive », so…). We want to hear you talking about all these marvels of engineering for a long, very long time !
Fingers crossed for a positive result and thanks for making me aware of a product I never knew existed, Cheers.
Wishing you the best with your MRI. Keep enjoying those wonderful meals. 😊
I’d say “carry on with style,” but you’ve rather beaten me to it. :-) Best wishes, my friend. Much music left to hear.
So glad you pulled this one out of the locker and gave it its due! It's funny you comment on the extra care in detail that prime Sony was capable of. One could easily say the same for your content. For example, you turn what would be a basic size comparison to the popular micro-cassette format into a story with a cool reveal. Now let's all hope the medical findings are happy and boring.
Interesting vid, thank you sir.
What a gorgeous machine. That eject lever made me yearn even stronger than normal for the times of mechanical tech. The fact that it was unnecessary is mind boggling.
Here’s hoping for good news!!! You’re the best Matt
Good video and best of luck with the mri. Do you still have that cockpit voice recorder (or flight data recorder)? Can’t remember which it was but as a person with a passing interest in aviation, I’d like to see one of those opened up!
The rate of change in technology during my lifetime is sometimes alarming, but you have a unique way of making it entertaining and amusing. I truly hope the scan goes well.
All the best for the MRI, fingers crossed for a positive diagnosis.
Hope all is well with the scan. Really pleased for you that you can enjoy food again and the issue with your blood is sorted. All the best and hopefully there are many more interesting and obscure items to see for at least a few more years.
I hope your test goes well. I’m guessing due to the illness and short timespan you’ve been home was what prompted the change in format, means a lot you crammed to get this one out for us. Your videos are one of my go-tos for winding down and relaxing.
Thanks for sharing. Fascinating! I hope the MRI goes well.
This is right up there with the MiniDisc Handycam as being "peak Sony".
Best of luck with your next hospital visit Matt. You’re a true fighter.
Wonderful to see this from you! Classic type of episode from you, I hope that putting this together proved reinvigorating in the odd way only YouTubers fully understand. Wishing the very best on the coin flip as well.
Best of luck with the MRI! One of those things would rip the pacemaker and sternum pins out of me!
Very interesting, great story
So glad to hear your sense of taste and smell are back. I always thought that must be so frustrating! Good luck with the tests. Me and the cat (Percy) send you our best wishes. 🙏♥️
Wishing you all the luck I can send! As you say it's out of your control now. Haven't watched the video yet but looking forward to it, wasn't expecting one this weekend so it's a nice treat
It's so nice to hear your voice full of life and energy. Enjoy what you do have and try not to dwell on what you might not later. Eat everything and enjoy it. Wishing you the best for the scan results though. Sending strength.
Best of luck to you, Mat. As always, thank you for the video.
brilliant, it's your fascination and the interseting way you educate us on these obscure or long forgotten audio formats that brought me to your channel in the first place you sound so much better on this than of late, and i for one am very happy for you - - here's to a speedy full recovery - hope the Indian lived up to the memory
I love the intricate design of the Sony NT-2. Even though the writing was pretty much on the wall at that point, with strong contenders for digital tape on the horizon, the engineers went all in. It is a shame that it was practically an obscure collector's item from the start, rather than a device that saw significant real world use. The anecdote that Sony green-lit the product to give the dictation machine engineering team a proper send-off has a nice ring to it. It is not quite the typical business decision, but let us assume it is true. In light of the medical situation you have had to deal with recently, I wish you the best possible outcome for the tests and examinations ahead. I can only say again that I envy your composure in facing all of this. We tend to block out how fragile we are, and we like to believe that something as severe as cancer could never happen to us, that a stroke which turns a person into a potato within minutes is someone else's problem. And perhaps this is for the best. After all, what good does it do to worry about things that are, for the most part, beyond our control? Yet those things are always a possibility. Thank you for being so open and candid about all of this. It is humbling, and it puts a lot of things into perspective.
You’rez the best Mat. Good luck with everything this week. Me and the pups will be sending good vibes your way
Good luck tomorrow Mat!!
The end note is lovely, I'm so happy for you, I've been following you for over a decade (and on and off on Patreon whenever I could, as money was tight the last few years) and I know how much you wanted your sense of smell back, reading that you're having the time of your life eating all your favourite foods just makes me smile. Good luck for tomorrow. Be well, Mat. <3
Can't really imagine exactly what you must be going through right now - it's enough to make your head explode. All I can say is I'm rooting for you Mat and hoping everything goes well with the MRI. All the very best to you.
Im praying for you and wishing you all the best. Mat, im sure its going to be alright - just keep being strong, will you?
I shall save the video to enjoy on Saturday with lunch as per my routine. All my family are from your neck of the woods, so totally relate re showing emotion and I am not one to show a great deal myself. Suffice to say it was a worry to see you looking so ill and to hear of the liver shadow. It has been a relief to see you improving and lets hope the shadow is indeed from the blood infection. However as you say this really is flip of the coin stuff so I can only send an "all the best" and hope all goes/turns out well. You were kind enough some years ago to reply to my email asking for some hip hop recommendations so have stuck on a compilation in your honour. Currently on Erik B and Rakim. Thanks for that and all your content.
Great to see you back on form with the video production, and what a fascinating device. So much development effort and support infrastructure for one last hurrah for the tape guys.
It's so awesome how well-made and simply wonderful these Sony gadgets were and it makes one a little sad to think that those days are gone forever. Thanks for showing it. Sorry to learn that your future depends on the flip of a coin, but here's hoping for good luck on yours Mat!🤞👍
Good luck with the scan. We're all behind you here. Maybe the weight loss has a silver lining... I know how I'd be eating if I got my taste back after so long without it! Maybe some kind words, but thank you so much for doing what you do. I've been watching for maybe a decade now and your channel is what got me into physical media and music machines, out from the soulless convenience of streaming into a way that's made me connect with music in a way I never would have otherwise, to experience what I missed when I was younger and let this all pass me by. It's truly one of my life's joys, and I have you to thank for kicking it all off. My wife has you to thank for the thousand or so CDs around the house...
Fantastic video, Mat - Thank you. I also have an NT-2 safely stored away, that I picked up on an ebay auction from a Police sale too - I hunted one down after watching your original video all those years ago. So pleased you've made great progress with your blood issues, and I'm thinking of you and Mrs T and wishing you all the very best for the scan. I can't begin to imagine what you are going through - I know we all handle things differently but the waiting and not knowing would be horrific for me. Hoping that everything goes well and the result is a good one. 🙏 Thinking of you and sending best wishes x
Most people may treat you with a soft touch as you're ill. Cuh, enough of that wishy washy nonsense, you spelt analogue the American way in the annotations, what an twit. I can't believe a BRITISH person, in BRITAIN, would make such an error in the BRITISH language. Seriously I hope the MRI goes well, i'm glad you can taste again, i loved this video, it was good to see the NT tapes again. Spell words how you like, I just thought this would be funny, but it's on here and not the video becasue you know what some people are like, you could put at the start and and of a comment and they'd still treat you as if you were serious.
Nice one, Matt. Welcome back and good luck for tomorrow, you'll be fine, I am sure.
Very relieved to hear that you seem on the mend with the blood issue – perhaps it's a little premature to call you "out of the woods" given that the liver issue is still up in the air – but it's definitely progress. Delighted with this new video. I'll admit, the one from a decade ago left me wanting more on this very obscure format.
Separately, regarding the health stuff, I'll just add my voice to the chorus of well-wishers that hope all goes well with the MRI, and that if there is something going on that it can be treated. In the meantime, I wish you bon appetit with all of your much-missed favourite dishes. Happy scoffing.
Looking forward to watching your triumphal return!
What a great looking device and to have a spinning drum head in such a small device was engineering excellence. That rubber coating is a nightmare, I've had issues myself with 90s tech. It probably seemed like a good idea at the time and it did have a nice premium feel, shame is doesn't last. Good luck with the tests but I'm sure you're on the mend. All the best, Kevin (RobotOnline).
Modern technology is often nothing short of miraculous. Smartphones in particular I find would very much satisfy Arthur C. Clarke's famous adage that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" for all of human civilisation up until even just a few years ago, such marvels of miniaturisation are they. But, boy, do they leave me cold. This however? Love it. Miniaturised mechanical devices - especially that tiny helical drum head - fire up neurones that other stuff, especially solid state, just can't touch. I really miss this Sony - the engineering prowess, the design, the attention to detail... Really enjoyed the video, Mat, thanks.
Great to have you back! I hope you are still improving?
Welcome back, Mat! Good to see you back at it! And this looks like a beauty! I am going to watch it shortly. Really pleased to hear your sense of taste has come back! I had thought that was well and truly gone! One of life's few genuine pleasures. I've had to do a lot of courses of antibiotics in recent years owing to a recurrent infection. I'm wondering if you are taking any supplementation for your biome. Probiotics and such.
Good luck for tomorrow, Mat. I'll have everything metaphorically crossed for you. Enjoy your dinners, and long may that continue.
. . . and it's a great video. ✅
Superb video. Welcome back.
Thanks for the video and please enjoy your kebab👌
Great review Matt, loving your work. On a more personal level, i just hope you’ll be alright and life will be kind to you.
So glad you are back at it. Fingers crossed for a good outcome with the tests.
We are all rooting for you big man, so happy to see your health taking a good turn. We are on edges of our seats now waiting for the next news. I can’t imagine how it is for you. 🤞🤞🤞 you got this 👊
Hoping for a quick and positive outcome for your MRI test, Mat
You were absolutely correct - the NT-2 is definitely a classic. I can't help but find its tiny but mighty cassette completely adorable. I kind of wish we had a tape deck for them; and, damn it, RIAA's Stanley Gortikov and Jay Berman ruined all of our fun. 😡 I smiled when you used a pin to do Operation on the write-protect function. And you know what? YOU better be working when I take YOU out of a box in a few years. 😅 Take care, enjoy your Sunday 🤍 https://ibb.co/27jKFMjG
Thanks for the update, may you get the results as quickly as possible. And hopefully they will be good ones. The video looks fantastic, and hopefully the process of making them is a distraction from "real life" (tm). Finally, enjoy your taste explosions!
Great your back and feel the want to do things also with the taste returning. Good luck tommorrow
Good Luck tomorrow Mat Hope all goes well 🙏
Triumphant video on a fascinating item. It clearly took some dogged work to gather all the components together for our watching pleasure.
Excited for this. Best of luck with the MRI. Thanks for the updates.
I’m at a big Easter family gathering, so I have to hold off on watching the video. But the medical news is hopeful. I’m sending all the good, positive vibes I can. You have a lot of people who really care about you, and a wife that’s taking great care of you. Jury is out on Bees Knees.
Everyone post your blood type in case he needs part of one of our livers. I’m B+
O+ and quite willing to donate life-saving biomatter. 😁
🤞❤️
It's wonderful to have you back, Mat! Thank you for this review of such a fascinating machine. All the very best for the future. Very best wishes, Mark.
Good luck with the MRI. Horrible waiting for results, but often a relief when they're in.
Best wishes from across the Irish sea. Glad to hear the infection is all sorted and hope all goes well with the MRI. Either way you got this. You've been through the mill already and still fighting the good fight.
fingers crossed that you will be OK
Thank you Matt. Great insight as always. Good to see you’re back!
Great news Mat. Hoping the liver tests turn out favorable. Skip the fish and chips, get yourself a haggis 😁 Hang in there.
Glad you are feeling better. Take care.
All I can add is that whatever the outcome of the tests, you're living for the moment, which is what we all should be aspiring to do. You've been for an Indian, you've got all your favourite take-aways lined up and you're experiencing them anew. What more could you ask for at this moment?
Good luck with everything. Everyone here is thinking of you and wishing you the best of luck!
I think we all hope this is not your swan song.. but this is an amazing piece of kit. Thank you for sharing.
Great news. I lost my taste for a year (COVID) and it was horrible. So pleased your signed off and feeling better. All the best for the future. Happy Easter!
That’s a heavy update, but I really appreciate you sharing it so openly. It sounds like you’ve been through an intense and uncertain time, and now with the MRI ahead, that feeling of limbo must be incredibly tough. I can’t imagine how surreal it must be to live life as normally as possible while knowing something so significant is hanging in the balance. I really hope the results bring good news - or at the very least, a clear and manageable path forward. It’s great to hear the infection’s cleared and the antibiotics are done - that’s one battle down. And I love your approach to meals - there’s something deeply comforting and grounding about enjoying good food. Fish and chips and a kebab sound like solid choices for the top of the list! Thanks again for the update. You’re handling all this with a kind of quiet strength that’s really admirable. I’m here any time you want to chat - about the serious stuff or just the best kind of sauce to go with a doner. Take care of yourself, and fingers crossed for the MRI.
Best of luck for the MRI. Keeping everything crossed for you.
My mom just received a cancer diagnosis this weekend - it's amazing how something can turn your whole world upside down so quickly. Wishing you all the best and hoping for some good news!
I wish your mum all the best too.
Happy Easter. Praying that your liver issue is treatable.
Glad you’re feeling better no matter what the tests may or may not show. That counts for a lot! You’ve got me thinking about fish and chips now, shame halibut is so crazy expensive!
Hoping the liver issues are related to the blood infection and have improved!
Cram those tasty meals in!