Orrery — Copenhagen

OR-0034

Salo Oy
Salo, Finland · 1991 – c. 2004

Ser. AM-9330-0074
1993 · effect

Issued as VST3 · AU

Restored 2025 from 1993 hardware.

Salo 2170 — Answering Machine

Salo 2170 · message playback unit · restored from unit no. AM-9330-0074 · Salo Oy, Salo, Finland, 1993

The restorer's note

"You have one new message." The grain of a microcassette greeting and the companded crunch of a saved voice — a whole vanished ritual in one box. The wow and the hiss belong to the transport; we captured them rather than clean them out.

Acquisition

The Salo Collection $49 · €45 · £39 · 329 DKK The Complete Catalogue $149 · €135 · £115 · 999 DKK

Prices are exclusive of tax. Customers in a country that charges VAT or sales tax will be liable at the rate set by that country; the relevant amount is added at checkout to the purchase price.

Borrow it from the archive for a short time, or acquire it for your collection.

Runs in your studio as AU and VST3 on macOS, and VST3 on Windows.

Download — macOS: installer · zip · Windows: installer · zip

The plate

The restored Salo 2170 — Answering Machine: its faceplate as issued.
Plate 34 · as issued

Listening

Listening

Demonstration recordings, prepared at the bench.

  1. The message, saved

    The note reads dry for six seconds; then the machine answers — Microcassette at bench settings, the Band at 3.2 kHz, a little Wow, the familiar hiss floor — a message kept.

    0:00 / 0:30

  2. The tape, dying

    Wow at 60 % keeps the pitch unsteady from the first word, Noise raised to 50 %; Wear then climbs from nought to full, and the dropouts take the message a piece at a time.

    0:00 / 0:30

  3. Solid state

    Medium switched to Digital: the Greeting beep opens the take, Wear at 70 % sets the crush depth and Band at 2.4 kHz narrows the voice, Compand at 80 % crunching what remains; the Record tone closes it.

    0:00 / 0:30