Yes. A lot of my 1980s mixtapes are on chrome tapes, but a cheap department store brand, with Dolby B on. They all sound dull. I play them with proper Dolby B decoding, but after that through EQ with a heavy treble boost. I guess leaving Dolby B off during playback would sort of achieve the same, but I'm being OCD about it. Most of my 1990s mixtapes are on TDK SA with Dolby B, and they don't need any EQ to sound fine.
I think I've told this before. On the early 1990's (maybe 90 or 91) I got a JVC 3 head deck that had Dolby B and C and HX-Pro. As I wanted to get something better out of this I opened it and located a trim that let the deck change the tape speed, not by much, but enough for what I wanted. I increased the tape speed so a 90 minute tape lasted around 50 something to 60 minutes tops. This allowed me to record higher frequencies with a lower bias setting. Remember that a high bias setting allowed the tape to record higher frequencies but also added distorsion, that's why I wanted to increase tape speed to be able to record up to 18/20 Khz but reducing bias and so decreasing distorsion. Tape drop outs were less of an issue with a higher speed tape. I also got a Pioneer 20 band graphic equalizer (it allowed to store I think up to 10 settings) and I did two different equalizations, one for recording Rock and Pop Music and a second one to record orchestral movie soundtracks. I recorded my tapes with one of the two equalization settings. These equalizations were reverted when playing. I think I got a better result than recording with Dolby C and without the artifacts of Dolby B and C. The equalization were mostly increasing the bottom end a little bit (I had to decrease the recording level because of this) as I think there was some tape mechanism noise at these low frequencies that got reduce, I left the rest of the bass and low mid frequencies untouched, and then I boosted mid-high and high frequencies up to 8 dB. When playing reverting back the equalization, the increased tape speed and the lower bias/distorsion, Basf Chome Maxima II tapes sounded really outstanding when played. I was very happy with the sound I got out of it and also as my recorded tapes were not standard my collegues stopped asking me to record my CD's to tape for them as I had the best set up of all my friends. In 1993 I made a huge mistake, I reverted the speed tape to its original standard speed, sold it and got a Philips DCC 900 Digital Compact Cassette deck. What a pain in the a$$ it was to operate. DCC sounded great but I disliked how the system worked. Recorded DCC tapes only had a TOC at the beginning of the tape so if you were on let's say track 3 and you wanted to skip to track 7 the deck had no way to know where the track was and it had to search for it the traditional way, by reading the tape at high speed and looking for the markers I inserted, this meant the deck run the tape to its end and then kept looking at the other side, it took ages to skip several tracks.
- Well, YES, it WAS your fault you licensed Dolby B to their POS decks... - ...and hey Dolby I DID buy a 3-head machine...but IIRC you couldn't set the level, only on the Nakamichi Dragon ($2k?) and kinda sorta not easily at all on the Luxman... - "I tired so hard"-yes, exactly Now I will say my 3-head with the Dolby C could make nice copies of other people's vinyl and even CDs. So thank you so much Dolby for enabling me to pirate stuff and rip off artists and record companies!
Stereophile had an article I referenced before about the travails trying to get back a bit-perfect reference CD for one of their releases. They found in fact many houses did exactly that-dumped the digital to tape and back to digital to "make it sound better." Guy finally resorted to putting a big handwritten note "DO NOT EQ OR PROCESS IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER" or something like that.
The 8088 CPU is 16-bit internally and can execute the exact same 16-bit code as the 8086. It just has an 8-bit external data bus to reduce cost and complexity. You can still transfer 16 bits of data back and forth -- you just have to do it in two 8-bit chunks at a time. In fact, most 16-bit ISA sound cards only use the 16-bit part of the slot for the CD-ROM drive interface. You can stick a Sound Blaster 16 card into an 8-bit slot and everything will work -- including 16-bit digital audio recording and playback -- except its CD-ROM interface.
It’s not a matter of a dull sounding old tape. That suddenly and miraculously plays much better when Dolby is left off. Dolby mutes the sound of good sounding cassettes, cuts off the air and spaciousness, in ridding the sound of the noise. And I already always have the treble boosted all the way on my amplifier. I know how to clean decks, which can make a big difference with older “dull sounding” tapes. And I know how to transplant a tape out of an old wobbly cassette shell into a new shell with great results. We’ll have to agree to disagree. The older cassettes sometimes can have issues that I know how to fix. But Dolby even on a newer prerecorded cassette dampens the sound for me. For others, it’s a welcome relief from hiss. For me, too big of a trade off for Dolby to be left on. 3M Scotch Cassette Deck Head Cleaner Buff Strip Cleaning System NEW Sealed! | eBay
If Dolby is working properly, it does none of those things. If the cassette sounds dull, either the tape is defective or the deck is defective in some way. Dolby finally required manufacturers to meet certain minimum standards with Dolby S, and it's no surprise that it was - by far - the best-sounding noise reduction scheme utilized by consumer decks. I found it to be completely transparent. But that's because it was pretty much guaranteed to be working properly - something you couldn't really say for Dolby B or C on many consumer decks. Also, leaving Dolby off won't make a cassette that was encoded with it miraculously sound "better". It'll make it sound shrill and unnatural, especially quieter program material which just gets ruined by unencoded Dolby, which is compressing quiet passages above 1kHz by around 10dB.
Yes I know it is compatible with 16 bit executables, I worked with the 8088 in embedded projects for years, but is still regarded as 8 bit because of the 8 bit chunks it reads and writes to and from the data bus.
Are we talking about old pre-recorded tapes? Or tapes you made yourself? Please elaborate. I do not wish sir to criticize you for something you never said do please explain. Do you know what 59 db A weighted is? It is the signal to noise ratio of most low and mid priced decks. And that is with Type 2 tape. 2 inch 24 track recorders back in 1973 - 1977 managed 64 A weighted. By pro standards that is noisy. They all used Dolby A Which does a lot more to the signal then consumer Dolby B. With a two inch 16 you could manage 66 db A weighted. Run it at 30 ips (42 - 25 000 hz +-2db) and you get a nice 68 db A weighted. No need for Dolby A. That is what Alan Parsons did. No Dolby A for the new Pink Floyd album. No! No! No!.....That is....Until he had to bounce to a second tape. Now noise would be a problem. So the final 2 inch 16 track used to mix the album back in 1973 was Dolby A encoded. Hey.....You like all those old ELO records. DOLBY A ENCODED. Like those Supertsramp classic albums? DOLBY A ENCODED. Enough of Dolby A....Let us get back to B.... 59 db A Weighted is noisy as ****. When you play back the tape without Dolby B the signal to noise ratio is even worse. 57 db A weighted! With a three head cassette deck you can set the Dolby level perfect. I have done this. It plays back with no loss of air as you say. And there is a simple test to prove it works perfectly on your machine. When you are in record turn your tape/ source switch to tape. Turn the Dolby B off and on and off and on. All you should hear is hiss going on and off with no decrease or increase in high frequencies. And again unless you have a copy of the album on CD or vinyl how do you how much "air" is in the original? I think a lot of people equate hiss with top end. Anyway turning off a Dolby B tape would give you a bigger frequency error than any Dolby B decode error. The fact that you like the tapes played back with the circuit off doesn't prove the circuit doesn't work. It says you like lots of treble. And that's cool. I like bass....lots of low bass. Rumble! 30hz rumble!! And they are plenty of albums that have a dim top end. This doesn't mean Dolby mistracking (2 db at most for a Dolby decode error not 8 db as you seem to be claiming) It just means you like the album with more treble. But that is cool. But I don't think you can cliam that the Dolby B is somehow useless just because you like lots of treble in your recordings. There is another problem that I don't think you are realizing. If you making a tape of a CD on a machine that is only capable of 30 - 16 000 hz +-2db then you are gonna miss some top end. That being 17 000 - 20 000 hz. So naturally you deactivate the Dolby B to grap back the top end that isn't and never will be on your tape. Three head machines that are essentially flat just don't have this problem. You don't lose any top end. My Denon DR-3M is flat up to 21 khz with Metal tape. But all Metal tapes on Amazon are $27. I Guess it is back to my 24/48 ADC. (Sound of me crying.) There is a tape company that sells Metal tape at good prices but you have to buy in bulk. And I don't mean packs of 12. You say you have to turn you treble control all the way up. New flash. The max Dolby error might be 2 maybe 2.5 db in the worst case scenarios. But not 8 or 10 db as the treble boost on you amp would suggest. Dolby boosts the treble and pulls it down an equal amount. It is impossible for the Dolby errors you are implying Or am I wrong here? The only way you could get a Dolby error of 8 db is to take a hammer and smash your playback head. Confession: I have actually done this. I was angry with the playback head. Long story. I love these Dolby B posts. You have good points sir. And I assure you I DO SHARE YOUR FRUSTRATION WITH DOLBY B. I had a Pro Sony Walkman back in 1989. It was o.k. with the Dolby B on but there was always the temptation to turn the bloody thing off. Just a little treble boost sounded so nice. But 2 db of treble boost will make any cassette sound good. Doesn't matter even if the Dolby circuit is tracking perfectly. Now, let's get down to the real nit and grit. Who here (pro engineers) prefer to run their analog 2 inch 24 track at 30 ips for the smooth top end and the higher signal to noise ratio? Even though your bass will only be flat to 40hz. Come on!....I know you're there somewhere.........Somewhere.....Somewhere.....I know you're out there somewhere!
Oh no dude. The Dragon?! Did you buy it new or get it "restored" by a half naked guy in his basement? If this was in the late 80's why didn't you just buy a 14/16 bit PCM processor and hook that sh** up to your VCR (For argument sake let us just say you had a VCR) That is what I did....$1300 later. 14/44.1 sound you couldn't beat back in dem days. On the EP mode with a T-160 I got to copy 8 hours of CDs perfectly. There was even this store in Toronto where they rented Rock / Pop / Counrty/ Metal/ Jazz/ Classical disks for $1.99 for 72 hours. I walked in and grabbed the whole Beatle catalog for $30 , brought them home and illegally taped every f****** Beatle 1987 CD. Mmm mmm good! Just set the level so it doesn't go over 0dbfs and you are flying. No bias and no fudging Dolby level to set. And NO I have no idea what the proper RMS level for 14 bit is and I don't want to know. This was a 1986 14/44.1 AD/DAC. I am jacking the thing until it slams violently against 0 dbfs. Too bad! So you needed a $2 000 Nak to get the Dolby level right? That is silly. Not my experience. O.k. my 1979 Nak 581 was $1000 back in 1980. Damn! Exposed. How can I get out of this?..... Yes, buy a Nak and your Dolby B level will be set perfectly. Start saving now.
The Dragon you want is one that has had the pedigree to have been used to transfer a Grateful Dead soundboard cassette recording for an official GD release. That just may also be a Dragon from some half naked guy.
That was how we did party mix tapes when I was in college. House system was a HiFi VCR to a quality smooth sounding SS amp to Klipsch Cornwalls.
Mmmm...Yum yum good as well. And without the harsh top end and lack of detail of those early PCM converters. But AFM recording suffered from occassional HIGH-FI dropouts (that were not predictable) and the switching noise of AFM. A problem that was solved by JVC in the late nineties. No joke. But I have never heard a better sound outside of a pro analog quarter inch half track at 15 ips. And with 2 and 40 minutes of recording time for the cost of a good HI-FI T-160 for $6 it wasunbeatable. But with PCM as I have said, NO HI-FI dropouts or AFM switching noise. And for the silly bitt picky audiophile, NO DBX Type-2 pumping on bass and woodwinds which I NEVER heard. Yes, AFM was a wonder. And was cheaper.
Dude! You wound me sir. LOL . I had my hearing checked and it is good to 18 500 hz. And I am 51 so be careful when making assumptions. Hey, where is my goat?... I need some milk for my tea and someone stole my goat. Now I have to hop on my mule and ride into town to buy milk. Yea...Don't make assumptions. LOL It is a myth also that everyone older than 40 has crappy high frequency hearing. In Sir George Martin's case he mixed for a living. 6 Often 7 days a week. 12 to 16 hours a day. And in the sixties they mixed very loud. Today the trend is to mix at conversation level. So his hearing crapped out after 10 khz. And yet I know 24 year olds that have spent so much time at super loud rave parties that they are already hearing inpaired and use a hearing aid. There was a case of a 19 year old who couldn't hear beyond 13 khz. And he can no longer hear any low bass. (Nothing under 80hz). He had these big loud speakers in his bedroom. And he would spent 4 hours a day sitting right in front of them with his stereo super loud. Almost lost an entire octave. He is 19 and his hearing is 95 - 13 000 hz. Tragic but true. I would give you the link but I can't find it. Sad...Even a cassette 4 track has a better frequency range than this poor sod. Oh well...
I don't think you understood my post. The quote mine you have provided is a reference to so called "qualified Nakamichi" service people. I think most members on here understood it. There is of course a very famous guy who is known all through the world for his Nak restorations. And he doesn't do them half naked in his parents basements. Just because you watched ( Not talking about you sir) a Utube video on how to fix a Nak's auto playback alignment doesn't mean you know how to fix it. Anymore than a guy that watched a C-Cection being performed can perform one. I don't understand or see your point. I wasn't putting down Nakamaichi decks, neither was I saying the Dragon was a bad model. My point was unless you bought it new I doubt weather it can ever perform anywhere near original spec. And as for a Grateful Dead soundboard cassette transfer I don't see how it applies to my point. Any studio that has to tranfer cassette material is not only going to use the best machine they can get but have a top qualified person working on the machine. Such people have nice work stations and up to date equipment. And do not do it as a hobby setting around half naked. (As I do sometimes while mixing.) But I am a complete degenerate and suffer chronic pain. Soundboard cassettes usually sound pretty crappy. Most bands did mono board mixes to quarter inch reel to reel at 7.5 ips. At least up to the early 80's. Is this a real master made from the board made on a good three head machine with at least a 30 - 19 000 hz +-3db quality? Most likely no NR. All cassette demos were done without Dolby of any kind. The fear was mistracking would screw up your mix. Bands back in the days of cassette hated Dolby B. But it was in the late 8o's it should be C encoded at least. Or is this some fan copy of a copy of a copy with a shoddy 50 - 13 000 hz +-3db sound? Could you elaborate on your tale of Soundboard cassette transfer.
Cool. I hope you mean the Dolby B off on pre-recorded cassettes. They are actual pre-recorded Type 4, real time, Dolby C tapes. But they were limited release for Opera, Jazz, Folk and Classical. Funny, I have never seen one but I hear they exist along with the sunken city of Atlantis and the remaining 9 missing episodes of the Daleks Master Plan.
You fail to realize that tapes can sound dull and have nothing to do with Dolby, whether the Dolby is on or off. I am not talking about dull tapes that you keep referring to. I’m talking about GOOD sounding tapes that suddenly are muted/dampened when the Dolby is turned on via my JVC deck. I know you want to make it about old dull tapes but I don’t blame you. You’re a no noise digital person. The type of Dolby that is on my JVC deck dampens the sound of GOOD sounding prerecorded Beatles tapes. NOT tapes that sound dull even when Dolby is off. But continue zeroing in on old dull sounding tapes or defective decks. It’s a straw man argument but it’s necessary to sustain your narrative.
Yes. I believe the Dolby I’m referring to is Dolby B. The type common to many middle of the road cassette decks made in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. JVC TD-W354 - Manual - Stereo Double Cassette Deck - HiFi Engine http://resources.jvc.com/Resources/00/00/90/4362Bien.pdf JVC TD-W354 Double Cassette Tape Deck | eBay
