SH Spotlight I'm asked stuff: Favorite mastering engineer, best BOSTON CD, best TRAVELING WILBURYS CD, etc..

That sounds pretty good, thanks for sharing! How about Take 7, with a false start, which equally interesting for the different live ad-libs.

Bobby Darin - “Mack the Knife”, Take 7, Session Outtake w False Start

 

Steve, can you explain how noise reduction differs from simply using a lot of negative EQ in the upper frequencies?

 

Steve, what is being done by record companies to preserve the treasured master tapes for future generations? For example, I believe I read where the Doors remaining master tapes are now properly stored and cared for as opposed to the way they were basically mistreated over the years. Same with the Beatles. No way those tapes ever leave Abbey Road again. Can you post any pictures of the Capitol Records master tape vault and describe the steps taken for preservation (temperature, humidity settings, etc.) ?

 

???????---You can't say what is being done to preserve master tapes in general?

 

@Steve Hoffman, can you explain how noise reduction differs from simply using a lot of negative EQ in the upper frequencies?

 

Sorry, no rush, Steve, I didn't know you had seen my post.

 

Most noise reduction schemes employed in recording are companders of one form or another (compander - compressor and expander). They boost the levels of the program material in portions of the audio spectrum which are most subject to noise on the recording media (for tape, this is the high frequencies), and then they cut those levels on playback. As a result, the boosted frequencies should sound normal when the signal is decoded on playback, but the noise (which also shoved down by the lowered volume level in those frequencies) is suppressed.

I don't recall the amount of boost and cut anymore for Dolby A, B and C, or the exact frequencies impacted. Generally, different frequency bands got different amounts of boost and cut. So the high treble would get a bigger boost, and the midrange a smaller boost. Dolby B was a cut-down version of Dolby A. Dolby C employed more frequency bands down into the midrange and provided greater compression and expansion, but was somewhat backward compatible with Dolby B. So Dolby B decoders could partially reverse its effects - the midrange would often end up sounding a few decibels too bright.

Most schemes didn't work across the whole frequency spectrum, but I believe dbx did. It also performed far more dramatic compression, striving to keep the signal closer to tape (or vinyl) saturating levels at all times. You could get artifacts (pumping and breathing) as a result if the compressor used in recording and the expander used in playback weren't very precisely aligned in terms of how quickly they responded to changes in overall signal level.

 

Interesting take on Dolby and NR from Rupert Neve:

Recalling Ray Dolby - ProSoundNetwork.com

"Rupert Neve - Rupert Neve Designs
In 1968, I supplied a large console to PYE RECORDS in London. They had various items of outboard gear already installed, amongst which were some items that I did not recognize. I was a little suspicious of unfamiliar gear. It was explained to me that this was noise reduction equipment.

Apparently someone had come up with an expansion/compression circuit that gave more than 10 dB of noise improvement in signal-to-noise ratio on tape. In those days, a good tape recording only reached a 58-60 dB noise floor. When copies were made, noise got progressively worse. A master tape was unusable; editing and reduction to a 2-track finished recording were mandatory.

The new equipment was made by a guy named Ray Dolby who had a small workshop in Battersea, London. His equipment used input and output transformers, and I was concerned that if his product was used on every track, it would impair the quality of my console sound. PYE recommended that I should go to see him.

I had lunch with Ray; he was a very friendly and knowledgeable engineer. He told me that the real money was to be made in the consumer market. He had developed a simple version of the professional gear. He held the opinion that it was more profitable to let others do the manufacturing and collect a royalty on the design.

I was very cynical. Cassette recorders were becoming popular and hundreds of unknown makers in the Far East were producing them. How was Ray ever going to discipline this market to appreciate the value of noise reduction and to line up to pay him for use of his circuit? I jokingly shook hands with him as we agreed that I would never compete on noise reduction if he would never build consoles. We always stuck to that.

Ray always remained friendly when we met at shows, etc. When I congratulated him on his success, he asked me how many legal staff I employed. He told me a few years ago that he employed 60 design engineers—but 120 lawyers!"

When I met Rupert back in 1996 at Jacob Javits/AES, we talked about all kinds of audio tech, tho he was more interested in the IoT thing I was doing back then. At the time he was still under Amek/Harmon,

I'd called him a few times after that; on one call when he asked about how the IoT thing was doing, he mentioned how engineers notoriously make bad businessman. "They get backed into a corner and can usually design themselves out of it, but rarely make any money." He then added that he knew of only two of audio equipment design engineers that made serious money - one was Colin Sanders that took a pipe organ controls company and turned it into one of the most successful large console manufactures - Solid State Logic (the name came from the original pipe organ retrofit - Solid State Logic - Wikipedia )

The other was Ray Dolby. The story he told me was a bit more detailed than the one in that tribute for Dolby. The basis of of NR being compressors and expanders is one aspect of the conversation we had. At the time Neve, along with Teletronics/UREI and very few others were making really great dynamics processors. He mentioneed that Ray was sort of querying him on his approach. As he states in that tribute, he mentioned to me that dynamically processing the HF band to get around tape hiss didn't sit well with him... I asked him "...so you told Ray Dolby that was a bad idea?" He then went into details of how a NR system can affect HF... a lot of concern for envelope distortions and such.

But as he states in that tribute he also mentioned the promise to never go into NR if Dolby would never go into making comp/expanders and consoles.

He's a great guy to talk to,

 

Was actually 1997 AES when I met Mr Neve.

There's a great write up on Dolby and the various formats on Wikipedia - Dolby noise-reduction system - Wikipedia

The SP system we had at one studio was similar to this one


One of the first Dolby SR prototypes built on perfboard by Ray


There's an interesting write up on the SP/SRP/XP systems here:
http://www.waltzingbear.com/Schematics/Dolby/Dolby_XP_install_manual_sect_2-6.pdf

note where it states the signals have to come back into the playback processor at the same level they left the record processor. I recall it being a real pain to get tapes from different studios to decode correctly.

Also a great page on the various sytems on Richard Hess' page:
Noise Reduction – Richard L Hess—Audio Tape Restoration Tips & Notes

 

"This is the Moody Blues" is quite possibly the greatest compilation ever made -- tremendous linking of songs from various albums.

Let's get this remastered!!!

 

So true... back in the day it kinda locked you into using the same studio for cutting and mixing.

 

The way it was compiled from different albums (1967-1972) is remarkable. The compiled tracks segue perfectly to the next track as if they were originally recorded for one album.
Hats off to producer Tony Clarke and engineer Derek Varnals.

 

Will there still be threads with records to win now that AF does not provide anymore ?

I am so sad I never won one of those !

 

Were you ever into Teen Set as a kid? Great magazine despite the name. Loved it in late 60’s.

 

No worries and no offense taken Steve. You are a very busy guy and I knew once I sparked that brain cell you'd recall.

 

When 4 years old I just copied my parents holding a drinking glass in their right hands and everything just kind of fell into place for the right handed world except drawing and printing.