Reel. New.
My favourite kind of stock is ‘new old’ and my preferred kind of reel is ‘open’.
Here’s a video where I get to combine the two with a Brand New In Box Reel-to-Reel tape recorder, the Uher 4000 Report Monitor.
If you’re interested in acquiring one of these for yourself, here’s a link: https://www.sds-consult.de/UHER/index.htm
Whatever you’re doing today, try to take it easy and keep on keeping on.
UPDATE:
As per usual, needed to make a quick edit to the video. New version now embedded and linked above.
Comments (93)
It’s really tragic that they are only available in mono as I would absolutely purchase a stereo one.
A beautiful machine, built for heavy use by the looks of it. And lots of thoughtful touches.
In the next video in which you hand things over to Previous-Era Explainer Man, he should be holding that mic instead of wearing the lavaliere. Seeing you speaking into that big, corded, murder-weapon-grade mic in your hand instantly took me back to every training and educational film I was made to watch in the 80s.
Bought one of these but the lead acid battery doesn’t seem to sit correctly as it sticks up too high and the bottom plate doesn’t fit back on properly, am I doing something wrong?
I found it a bit tricky to seat properly - lever it in at an angle with the contacts going in first then then bottom following. It might take a few goes - don’t force anything, it will slot in flush...eventually.
Perfect presentation, per usual. 👍🏻
Mat, you went for the 1426AFR? I'm also still impressed how you manage to find your way on different language websites...
Yes that’s right, the 1426AFR - it's only bit more expensive than the 1426 DL, but the extra 23 euros buys you a mic and battery that sells separately for 70 euros . However you do miss out on the Uher take-up spool which the cheaper set has.
This page has a lot more information about UHER and the 4000 Report, mostly in German though: http://www.tonbandmuseum.info/4000-report-monitor.html One interesting fact is that the Sovjets unofficially „imported“ hundreds of UHER Reports through Austria into the GDR... These resurfaced after the fall of the wall. The last production runs were not made in Munich but in Buchbach in the Bavarian Forest, UHER was already declining by then. Nevertheless the Report is a reliable device and I‘m looking forward to receiving mine today.
I'd be interested to know how much this device weighs.
I’m not sure - if I find out, I’ll let you know.
I’m pretty darn jealous
That outro looked really beautiful. Maybe one of these shots deserves a permanent spot in the regular outro?
Is there any one in particular that stood out. Let me know.
The flip to the fast speed tape was a genuine surprise. Had an utter "is it on?" moment. Really does sound excellent, and that mic is a great little worker.
The build quality on that is lovely. Proper engineering to high specification.
Didn't notice anyone else mention the beard. It's a great look!
During the 1970s, I co-owned "Autolectra", the eastern Canada distributorship / OEM repair facility for Uher machines. We were in Montreal. The 4000 series was very rugged and rarely needed more than routine maintenance (belts and the like) to keep it working as designed. At least two of Montreal's radio stations supplied model 4000-Ls to their news reporters for field use. The example you purchased is the final version of the 4000, with a streamlined front panel (and that nifty removable head/capstan cover). Uher's mains-powered decks were not quite as rugged, nor was their model CR240, a portable stereo cassette recorder. That machine had too much pre-IC circuitry stuffed into too small an enclosure.
What a nice find. How did you get to know the website? It’s not very likely something one would stumble upon...
I was looking for a spare for an Uher cassette recorder a few years ago. Unfortunately that one was beyond saving, which was a shame.
At least on my 4200 , the tone control have to be set to 10 to be flat. If you put it in 5 position , it cut out some high frequency, and it affect also the headphones out, but not the line out. I have the exact same model as your but stereo half track.
The comments on this video make me wonder if a lot of the people who are so interested in these were exposed to tape machines of one sort or another because of their job back in the day. I’m about the same age as Mat but never had a reason to use tape recording personally or professionally. Even so, I like seeing the insides of these things. Unfortunately this one came in brand new condition and didn’t need to be disassembled! Haha
i never had a tape deck, nor did anybody I now. I just find them fascinating. Sort of like a classic sports car, just a bit more affordable, and probably just as problematic. Still, I find them desirable, like I find a Jaguar E-type desirable.
What a great find .... such a pity they sold out of the stereo players !
It makes me feel better if I imagine they never had any of the stereo ones in stock. I first found this site a couple of years ago and they only had the mono ones back then as well.
Your videos always make me feel nostalgic and happy. Thanks techmoan
Totally loved this! Thanks for the wonderful, humorous, and fascinating videos. Today was my birthday, and it was a treat to watch. Really appreciate when your videos come out - a true tonic for the times. Keep up the great work Mat!
It’s not a great time to be having a birthday, but it’s not like you get much say in the timing. Anyway, Happy Birthday for yesterday.
One query, seeing as the level dropped so much for 15/16ths and you had to boost it by 200% in post if you have the inclination could you please record a short where you set the level appropriately? I expect the fidelity to be lower due to lower resolution with the lower tape speed but I can't help but think that it might be better than the digital boosting, although arguably it was done digitally and I'm sure you paid attention to clipping when you boosted it.
It’ll sound much the same, but if I remember I’ll try to do something in the next patreon update.
When I first saw the thumbnail, I misread BNIB for RNIB and thought it was gonna be another one about machines for the partially sighted!
Maybe this is just a UK thing - we’ll see.
Oh wow, haven't seen the video yet, but I just got one of those machines a few weeks ago from my uncle. Non-working of course, I'll see if it's just belts or anything else. That dealer you got yours from also has many spare parts for very sensible prices, so thanks for the tip, I might need some parts down the way. Very cute machine anyway, and not as over-the-top expensive and high-end as the Nagras. Great addition to my Studer A80RC and my Revox G36 (need at least one tube machine ;-)).
There is a dealer purchasing price list dated Dec. 1995 (based on Deutsche Mark exkl. VAT https://tonbandwelt.tonbandforum.de/uher/report/werba.htm Considering all the necessary accessories and a sales price inkl. VAT this ads up to more than my first monthly salary at around the same time.
Yes they’re not overcharging (IMHO).
Goodness me, this video had me within a millimetre of buying one - always wanted a reel-to-reel....... but then reality set in; I’ve nothing to play on one, nowhere really to keep or display it. I’ll just have to enjoy yours vicariously - but you never know after a glass or three of Chateau Plonk, I may reach for that link... Great video as always, Mat - you demonstrated it excellently.
I can justify it (almost) - if you can’t, I’d save that cash for something more worthy.
Thanks, Mat! I ordered one right away even before seeing your complete video, before the „Techmoan“ effect exhausts the supply. As always - stay healthy!
If you think you can use one - now’s definitely the time to buy, I’m glad you got in there while they’re not too busy (or worse still, run out).
Hey, Mat ! First, I want to thank you for all of the content you've put out in the last years. I've been a fan of the channel for quite a while now and it helped me on keeping my mind busy with interesting and awesome stuff since I have a few health issues and I have to stay home most of the time. Anyway, about the Uher: My brother got one very similar (I believe it was the 4000 Report-L) model as a gift about ten years ago. It came from a friend of the family who was into filmmaking in the early 70's and I believe he used to synchronize with his 16mm film camera.
As far as the first paragraph goes - you and me both. But the positive thing has been that we're more than prepared for the current situation as we've had a head start. There were a lot of these around - times eventually changed, but they stuck it in until the end.
Fantastic video as always! In the video, you mentioned being excited about being able to slow things down more. It reminds me that back in the 1980s you could pick up older reel-to-reel recorders at jumble sales (with the valve based magic-eye recording level indicators!) and so I had a couple, since they weren't 100% reliable. These machines only had two speeds but by going between two machines (probably the other one was my cassette recorder), you could work in stages to slow things down more and more. Strangely just last night I was talking to my spouse about this very thing, saying that I made “creature from the pit” noises by taking a cushion and rubbing it gently on the microphone and then slowing it way down. Do you have anything specific in mind for speeding up and slowing down?
There’s nothing specific right now - but it would have been perfect for playing the tape from those railway announcement carts a couple of months ago.
Ooh-err!
Thanks Mat, always fun to see you at work.
thanks! we found a UHER 4400 Report Stereo at the thrift store a few years ago :)
Great video, as ever. I have to admit that it left me bemused until halfway through as I had misread the opening still frame as RNIB. I assumed it was about an R2R built for people with vision difficulties. That view was reinforced when I saw that 15/16" was an option. Finally I twigged and will be sure not to skim read your still fames in future. I'd have been happy to watch this whatever the subject by the way. Thanks again.
I would have used the abbreviation NOS - but the nowadays the ‘kids’ would think I’m talking about Hippy Crack.
Top notch video, as always! We Americans always appreciate reference to "English" measurements.
7.5 ips reel to reel with 20 Hz-25 kHz sounds delicious. That's literally better performance than a CD. Between the high speed and the insane frequency response, no need for Dolby at least at high speed. I would be interested in seeing how that compares with the four track (stereo) machines which have half the tape width, though.
Frequency range is one thing, noise floor another. Quarter inch tape will always have a noise floor high enough that tape hiss will be audible at any speed. Also, frequency range does not equal frequency response either. It won't be flat, will differ between tape formulations, and bass response can suffer when increasing tape speed. Analogue tape sounds great, but it's far from perfect. 🤓
Crazy... my next video is on the Uher Report Monitor 4200, I will publish the video tomorrow :-D
I’ll be sure to watch it.
@Rik, I have a Teac 7030 and a 7030GSL I am debating which one to keep but I will be listing one of them soon. @Mat I am super impressed with the audio quality. I couldn't hear much difference at 7.5ips. and the outtro sounded good too. I wonder how it compares at cassette speeds to a cassette with music. No Dolby, but I suppose you could have an external Dolby used with it and it would make a cool HiFi. The speed reduction making up for the smaller reel size.
Ok, now that was cool. I never would have thought someone would make such a thing nearly into the 2000s. Also nice that it seems Uher went out on a high note producing quality models, rather than tapering off to cheaper versions at the end (like cassette mechanisms have done). There's plenty of new old stock electronic stuff everywhere, but I suppose there's very little of it where someone cares enough to open it up and properly check it over to make sure you've got a working unit, rather than just shipping it straight out of a musty old storage container and saying "caveat emptor". Good on those guys. Also, at the slow recording speed, you looked like the stereotypical badly dubbed kung fu flick. :) Well done, thanks Mat!
I suspect they'll get a few more sales. I contacted them after buying just to check they'd be fine with me linking to their site. I know they're in business to sell stuff - but perhaps not all at once. I'll be emailing them again to let them know the day the video is scheduled to go live...just out of courtesy.
One of my favorite tape recorders. I have the stereo half-track version (4200), and it sounds as good as a big reel-to-reel machine. I have done many modifications on mine (built-in dbx noise reduction, better headphone amp, better motor, pitch control, etc.) My baby in action: https://youtu.be/Aq1vpBtzimQ
I’m ok with the inches ... for this time :)
What about these stereo options? I saw some things in the parts PDF about stereo rail, and microphones. I suppose this could be used for music with a couple modifications. Would want plug and play, or screw and solder LoL with new official parts vs a hack I should watch the video, family is still sleeping so in a bit. Super excited.
I really feel this is mono through and through - but if anyone else wants to buy one to hack it up, I won’t try and stop them.
Oh wow. This is really nice. A bit too pricey for me to actually get one myself, but I very much want to, despite having absolutely 0 use for one.
Oh WOW!
Just 0.15% +/- ;-)
Great video Mat. By the way if the Report Monitor power supply is the same as earlier machines (I have an earlier stereo two head model) the power supply can go in the battery box if using mains powered without battery and you want to save space and not use the cable.
I thought it might do this, but I’m not sure how the wires would be routed.
So, I'm guessing this was not really typically used for music, right? I'm guessing it was used for recording sounds out in the field?
Radio interviews, syncing with 16mm film cameras, that kind of thing. Great quality - but mono.
that was all the maintenance we ever had to do on them. That's it for now. So as always, thanks for talking and telling us about all the interesting electronics you find.
That is a truly lovely machine. You've shown a literal example of reelin' in the years and stowin' away the time (couldn't resist jumping on the obvious pun bandwagon here).
Ah the DIN connector. Named after the German standard. And it was decided to use them for anything. Power, audio, video, data. Most are different, amount of pins, position and angle, but all look similar at first glance. I always found this very confusing. But this is a lovely device, wish you could have gotten the stereo one.
I was stationed at Incirlik Air Base near Adana, Turkey in 1969-1970. I worked as an electronics technician in ground radio in the Air Force. One of our areas of responsibility was the items in the control tower. The UHF and VHF radios, line amplifiers that boosted the audio signals between the tower and the transmitter and receiver sites that were a mile away in opposite directions, and the tower tape recorders to record all tower communications. It was interesting to hear you mention the name. These decks were made by Assman, a company I had never heard of and who's equipment I have never seen since. They used 20" reels of 1/2" tepe and moved at either 1 7/8 ips or 15/16 ips recording on 8 tracks each, if memory serves. They were monsters in size, but very reliable. I was really surprised when you mentioned the name Assman. Brought back memories of time spent cleaning the heads and changing those big reels of tape. Other than that, that
I've got a couple of their mini tape recorders that I intend to show in a video one day. Just anticipating the youtube comments though...
Wow! I’m very jealous! Not jealous enough to buy one, though, as I doubt I’d have a use for it. But I’ll live vicariously through you, as I can tell from your voice how much pleasure it gave you. I was a bit surprised that adjusting the tone button affects the recording. That’s pretty unusual. Normally it’s just a control for the output. Well done as usual!
Turns out I made a mistake there - it was just affecting playback after all and I was getting confused. I'll re-upload a re-edit asap. Thanks for the help.
You’re reely reeling them in, aren’t you
When you were hooking up the microphone at 15:07, I thought I was watching the Mindhunter sequence again. 😃 Also especially enjoyed the tape monitoring demonstration! Very educational.
It was a bit of a mini call-back. Couldn't resist.
I can't be the only one that found the *THUNK* of turning that switch on very satisfying. They do not make knobs like that anymore.
Speaking of, I noticed that the pause button is lifted for resume. That's quite unusual as it's often a momentary switch.
I used to sell a lot of these when I was it the Tape recorder trade. The main customers were ether in the market research business or Broadcasting. The soon became superseded by Sony who produced a portable reel to reel recorder. I know you have one Mat. They soon became superseded by the Sony TCD5 recorder which I know you also have in your collection. They of course were superseded by the Walkman Pro which you also have. I did sell my Uher to a friend of mine who wanted it because of the Sync feature because he was a film maker. I never stocked the round VU meter version because my customer base had moved on to other formats. Nice to see you picked up a new old stock one. I still have my TCD5 and my Walkman Pro although I have a proper mains Dolby S machine now for tapes.
Well, you made that one for me didn't you! 😊 I have been a Uher fan since the mid 60s. Wonderful to see such a machine in mint condition. That power lead should be a 180 degree DIN on one end and a 270 degree on the other. Great review, such a treat to see. Cheers, SB.
Lovely machine and great quality microphone, however you broke my brain with the idea of turning over a reel of tape. Having never used reel-to-reel I always assumed you could only record on one side of magnetic tape, is that not the case for the tape used on five inch reels?
It depends on the track layout. A standard four track reel to reel will record two stereo tracks - one in each direction. A quad recorder used all four in the same direction. Then there's two track stereo and mono one track and half-track - there's a lot of options. I cover it a bit in this video https://youtu.be/5KHSz9Gi-II?t=238
Cool. Doesn't look like 90s to me, but more build for quality than for looks, for sure! (and it still looks cool ;-)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uher_(brand) claim the Report was made until 1999 ! One million of them..
Yes that was a surprise to me too - I mentioned it with an on-screen lower third at 21:19.
I checked out the price list, and in the description for one of the other products, it says: "Swiss made. Built for eternity." I wish hardware makers had some of that attitude today.
Once again a great video. I knew of SDS Sprang before and also thought about getting a Report Monitor from them but decided against it because the price is a little too high for a device I would rarely use (I'm more of a fan of the big recorders with 10" reels). But I got a 4000 L like the one shortly visible in the video. The reason there is a separate monitor output on the device is because while it's technically possible to connect the input and output with one DIN-cable it isn't really supported in the DIN-Standard or recommended to use both at the same time. When recording you would send both input and output over the same cable which could lead to interference. It's possible on some devices but using a separate monitor output is the better way...
Great video Mat! You likely already know this, but in case not: Lead acid batteries go bad very quickly if they're not kept charged. If you want the battery to keep working, you have to charge it at least every few months (or leave it on a float charger). If you leave the battery a few years without charging, it will be irreparably dead. I've unfortunately ruined a few of those myself that way. Fortunately they're pretty inexpensive to replace!
I'll go into this with the best of intentions - but then I'll forget. Just like that battery in my Jump Starter.
Is this the reel life? Is this just fantasy? A new Techmoan video always has me reeling. Looks reely good!
How cool is that. Brings a tear to the eye. Big Like!
UNREEL!