Why does everyone hate dolby?
- Thread starter rito25
- Start date
ussexplorer
Active Member
most of the time
Most of the time I find it muffles the sound and it is not as clear. But on the other hand. I have a 8 track player and on a few noise 8 tracks. It works wonders to clean up the hissing and what not. Also you can do a better job with a eq or range expander or what not.
My two cents,
Josh
Most of the time I find it muffles the sound and it is not as clear. But on the other hand. I have a 8 track player and on a few noise 8 tracks. It works wonders to clean up the hissing and what not. Also you can do a better job with a eq or range expander or what not.
My two cents,
Josh
I don't care for it in most instances, sound too compressed for my liking. I do use it on older tapes that have alot of hiss and noise. I made alot of recordings with Dolby C on TDK MR tapes back in the 80's and most of them still sound pretty nice in "C".
I thought his song "One of our submarines" was bad ass... and of course everyone seems to like blinded by science..
....u funny guysoundtravels
Soundtravels
I really like Dolby "S". It seems to be a great refinement of the system. I record lectures and seminars on cassette and digital at the same time for safety and they play together well.
I thought his song "One of our submarines" was bad ass... and of course everyone seems to like blinded by science..
But the best Dolby was "Aliens Ate My Buick". :thmbsp:
steerpike2
Super Member
People who hate Dolby NR have mis-aligned tape decks. When the recording levels are set accurately, Dolby is quite transparent.
I still contend that it compresses sound, am I wrong??
On your deck? Who knows? But if your NR was properly set up and calibrated, you could not hear the difference between source and tape (that's what calibration is all about, hence the name).
danj
modern primitive
I usually use Dolby with my Nakamichi deck. It's properly aligned and has adjustable bias. My Sony ES deck has computerized bias adjustment, which is very handy, and results in great Dolby operation.
Muffled sound is a sign of some sort of equalization problem - playback doesn't match record - and may be a result of head wear or misalignment or miscalibration of bias and/or eq circuitry. Dolby circuits may also be misadjusted. Or record levels may be too high.
The double-D Dolby icon on meters is placed at Dolby standard 0 (zero) dB on all decks that meet Dolby licensing standards. The level depends on the tape format being used. The deck may have it's 0dB mark at a different spot but the double D is 0db as far as the noise reduction is concerned. Dolby "B" is calibrated by recording a 400Hz 0dB tone and then adjusting for the same level on playback. The procedure is slightly different when adjusting a "C" or "S" circuit. When these are properly adjusted for the tape formulation in use AND bias, eq, and alignment are all in spec, then Dolby NR action won't be audible at all except for the reduction in tape noises and hiss. For best Dolby performance, record levels should not regularly exceed Dolby 0dB.
Maybe it sounds worse in use because the user just prefers the brighter sound of a Dolbyized tape played back without Dolby. It has higher frequency content but it's not accurate and is meant to be decoded. A-B it with the source and it will sound "brighter" than the original.
Some commercial recordings are so bad that the only way to get any decent high frequency content out of them is to play them sans Dolby. This is not a fault of the noise reduction but is a sure sign of a worn out or poorly recorded tape. We all know there were lots of those.....
Muffled sound is a sign of some sort of equalization problem - playback doesn't match record - and may be a result of head wear or misalignment or miscalibration of bias and/or eq circuitry. Dolby circuits may also be misadjusted. Or record levels may be too high.
The double-D Dolby icon on meters is placed at Dolby standard 0 (zero) dB on all decks that meet Dolby licensing standards. The level depends on the tape format being used. The deck may have it's 0dB mark at a different spot but the double D is 0db as far as the noise reduction is concerned. Dolby "B" is calibrated by recording a 400Hz 0dB tone and then adjusting for the same level on playback. The procedure is slightly different when adjusting a "C" or "S" circuit. When these are properly adjusted for the tape formulation in use AND bias, eq, and alignment are all in spec, then Dolby NR action won't be audible at all except for the reduction in tape noises and hiss. For best Dolby performance, record levels should not regularly exceed Dolby 0dB.
Maybe it sounds worse in use because the user just prefers the brighter sound of a Dolbyized tape played back without Dolby. It has higher frequency content but it's not accurate and is meant to be decoded. A-B it with the source and it will sound "brighter" than the original.
Some commercial recordings are so bad that the only way to get any decent high frequency content out of them is to play them sans Dolby. This is not a fault of the noise reduction but is a sure sign of a worn out or poorly recorded tape. We all know there were lots of those.....
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On your deck? Who knows? But if your NR was properly set up and calibrated, you could not hear the difference between source and tape (that's what calibration is all about, hence the name).
Hmmm, I have an old HK-3500, and a newer Sony, maybe they need an EW massage???:scratch2::thmbsp:
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guiller
Toscaninichus Australis
This thread has related discussions: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?p=2951380
All the best
All the best
yes, thank you, I was going to post this if I didn't read anyone else post it first.
Dolby B, C and S (and DBX for that matter) isn't a single ended system. you can't do the same thing as those technologies do with an eq, dynamic range expander or with DNR (which is single ended).
during recording, dolby dynamically increases the desired (music for example) hf content in a calculated compressed way (which is how all noise reduction works, it does NOT result in compression in the music when decoded properly, quite the opposite). net result - artificially increased high frequency content. then during playback, dolby dynamically decreases the desired hf content in the exact inversse of the original formula. C and S do similar things, but with more of the frequency bandwidth and more complex technology. dbx does it more than anyone else which is why it works better than anything else (although with badly aligned heads or cheap decks dbx results in a pumping sound, just like those same badly setup decks result in HF loss with dolby B).
DNR is single ended (reduce HF sound on playback when it's quiet and vaguely appears to be a constant hissing sound...). dns works well too, but not when there's actual music being played back.
there is no reason why dolby would sound compressed or muffle the sound unless the recording wasn't made well and the playback wasn't done on a deck that has exactly the same playback and hf extension specs.
But with a very good cassette deck, good quality tape, properly aligned between recording and playback processes, having dolby on during recording and playback is quite effectively proven to reduce some noise without altering the sound at all.
The thing is - those situations (very nice decks, all aligned identically and perfectly wtih perfect record levels and all trimmers adjusted perfectly) is very rare, so yea, dolby can be a pain in the ass when playing back someone else's tapes.
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Actually the use of Dolby increases cassette dynamic range as much as 30 db with Dolby C or S. If you like compression and boosted highs listen to a Dolby C encoded tape with the Dolby off.
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