Studer PR-99 (early 1980s)

The Revox-badged two-track Studer built for station racks - balanced XLR, calibrated levels, a die-cast chassis, and a price that undercut the flagship mastering deck by a factor of five.

Overview

Open the rack in a working broadcast facility from the early 1980s and you'll likely find one of these bolted in at eye level. XLRs on the back, a pair of VU meters with LED peak lamps above a transport that looks suspiciously familiar. The PR-99 is the machine Studer built under the Revox badge and aimed squarely at broadcast production and on-air work. DB-Magazine (May 1981, p.79) introduced it as "the Broadcaster's Revox that Studer built," which is the whole brief in one line. It is not a consumer deck with a professional badge glued on, and it is not a mastering machine with a broadcast price. It sits between the two.

The name is a moving target. Listings and documentation turn up "Studer PR-99," "Revox PR99," and "Studer Revox PR99" interchangeably, and the machine is badged both ways depending on the market and the year. According to available documentation it was built from 1980. Research on the model is unusually thin - no complete manual reached the archive, and the period press does most of the work of reconstructing the feature set. The surviving record does make the price positioning clear. Recording-Engineer (December 1981, p.131) framed the PR-99 at roughly a fifth the cost of Studer's own A80RC half-inch two-track, a machine the same publication put at $10,000. That puts the PR-99 somewhere around $2,000. The same advertisement stressed the shared DNA: precision-machined headblock, die-cast chassis, servo-controlled capstan motor, Studer-made heads.

That money bought a deck with studio connections and rack mounting, not a stripped toy. The PR-99 is essentially the enhanced version of the Revox B77, designed for semi-professional use. The main distinctions are the XLR connectors and the standard 19-inch rack capability. A broadcaster who couldn't justify a Studer mastering deck could justify this, and the machine would talk to the console without a matching box in the way.

Key Features

Balanced XLR I/O with Calibrate/Uncalibrate Switching

The PR-99 connects through balanced XLR inputs and outputs, and according to available documentation it requires studio levels rather than the consumer -10 dBV the B77 used. That one decision makes the deck usable in a broadcast chain, since it speaks the console's language directly. The calibrate/uncalibrate switches on the input and output sections, noted by Mix-Magazine (November 1980, p.28), let an engineer flip between a fixed calibrated reference and a variable uncalibrated setting without re-patching. For a station running the same alignment day after day, that fits the workflow instead of fighting it.

ASA-VU Metering with LED Peak Indicators

DB-Magazine (May 1981, p.79) specified ASA-VU metering with LED peak indicators. VU ballistics show the average level that determines how the signal sits in the chain, and the LEDs catch the transients a needle is too slow to see. It's metering for people who have to hit a level and hold it through a shift.

Die-Cast Aluminum Transport Chassis and Headblock

The rugged die-cast chassis was designed for rack or console mounting. Recording-Engineer (December 1981, p.131) called out the die-cast construction alongside the precision-machined headblock as evidence of the shared Studer engineering. DB-Magazine (March 1988, p.2) was still making the same point years later, describing the solid die-cast aluminum transport chassis and head block under the tagline "there can be no compromise!" A deck in a rack gets shoved, re-cabled, and left running for hours, and the die-cast build is the answer to that.

B77 Transport with Flat Faceplate and Dump Edit

Mechanically the PR-99 is close to a familiar friend. Mix-Magazine (November 1980, p.28) described it as basically a B77 transport with a flat faceplate for easy head access. The flat plate is the change that makes editing and head cleaning practical in a working room. The same report noted that the controls and their arrangement make the B77 relationship easy to recognize, with the UNCAL keys and labeling being the new or changed elements. Editing facilities included dump edit, and the machine carried sel-sync, which is useful for overdubs rather than straight two-track work.

Three Tape Speeds, Vari-Speed, and 10.5-Inch Reels

Tape speeds are selectable at 3.75, 7.5, or 15 ips, with a vari-speed remote control option available. 15 ips is for quality work, 7.5 for longer-running material, 3.75 for the long-play jobs. The deck accepts 10.5-inch reels, the standard professional size. Drive is a three-motor, electronically controlled arrangement with a servo-controlled capstan motor. Separately, the MK II variant reportedly carries built-in varispeed - a switch, LED, and potentiometer above the tape head carrier - plus a band scissors to the right of the head carrier, per one specialist seller's documentation. Buyers should confirm which of these features their specific machine has, because the variants do not line up cleanly.

Historical Context

The PR-99 sits right on the boundary between Revox and Studer branding. The Revox brand was used primarily for consumer machines while Studer proper served studios and broadcasters, and the PR-99 is a Revox with the connections and mounting of a professional deck - the enhanced version of the B77, with XLR connectors and 19-inch rack capability as the main distinctions. It was introduced in the trade press as "the Broadcaster's Revox that Studer built." The variant story is messier than a clean progression. The MK II added an auto-locator feature that professional users found particularly beneficial, the MK III was positioned as a fairly serious machine intended for studio use, and the MK I has been documented with a digital counter in at least one configuration. The record isn't linear, so buyers should identify the exact variant before assuming a feature set.

Collectibility & Value

The PR-99 has settled into an odd market position: a genuine Studer-built professional deck that trades for a fraction of the flagship multitracks, which makes it one of the more accessible entry points into serious tape. Current listings show a wide spread. A Revox PR-99 HS two-track CCIR example has been listed at €4,990. eBay listings describe serviced and MK III models, a new-condition PR99 MK II multivolt unit with a master tape and oak cabinet, and a PR99 MK I high-speed two-track with a professional flight case. The variance reflects condition, variant, and whether the deck has been serviced.

Parts circulate, which is more than can be said for many machines of the era. NOS sync amplifier boards and capstan motors for the PR99 turn up on eBay, the capstan motor carries part number 1.021.302, and the B77 family relationship means some shared components are findable. Original Revox/Studer parts are described by sellers as rare collector and restoration items. No owner-reported common failure modes or repair procedures surfaced in the research, and one source praises the machine for extremely high operational reliability. Buyers should treat the usual tape-deck checks - heads, capstan condition, belt and brake health, capacitor age - as the baseline rather than relying on a documented fault list. One caution for shoppers: a $12.95 eBay item labeled for the A-77/B-77/PR-99 is a counter part, not a machine, and should not be read as a market price.

eBay Listings

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