jlo@ucbvax.ARPA (Jeff Lo) (11/30/84)
<> I am currently looking to add a cassette deck to my system which consists of a Yamaha R-70 reciever, Yamaha CD-2, a Yamaha turntable and Polk Audio 5B speakers and am looking for opinions about the merits of dbx over Dolby B or C. Is the noise reduction that much better that I would notice it if I recorded a CD? In particular I am looking at the Yamaha K-1000 cassette deck. Would I be better off with this deck with dbx or would perhaps something like a Nakamichi in the same price range (~$600) with Dolby be better. Please respond to this account, if there is sufficient interest I will summarize to the net. Thanks! Jeff Lo UUCP: ..!ucbvax!jlo ARPA: jlo@ucbvax.ARPA CSNET: jlo%ucbvax@csnet-relay
herbie@watdcsu.UUCP (Herb Chong, Computing Services) (12/01/84)
If you plan to tape CD's with your tape deck, then dbx is the only
suitable noise reduction system, especially if you are into classical
music. Dolby B is adequate only for ordinary pressings, while Dolby C
is marginal for audiophile pressings. I have a Telefunken HighCom unit
(somewhat similar to dbx) and it is adequate for my audiophile pressings,
but it would be noticeable when recording CD's. Yamaha's K-1000 deck is
an excellent deck and provides the kind of headroom with metal tape that
you need to get all that is potentially possible with cassette tape.
--
Herb Chong...
I'm user-friendly -- I don't byte, I nybble....
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N2L 3G1 (519)885-1211 x3524gregr@tekig1.UUCP (Greg Rogers) (12/04/84)
I don't think dBx is the "only suitable noise reduction system for tape" as stated. I own a dBx unit and have seldom used it because I find the breathing very objectionable as I've indicated several times before on the net. There is nothing wrong with my dBx unit, this is very normal and is simply a designed in side effect. The dBx home units are single band, 2:1 companders. The single band creates a problem whenever the program material consists of narrow frequency band information, such as a solo instrument. The program material is too narrow to mask the tape noise which then rises and falls with the solo instrument output. This effect is simply known as breathing. Note that professional compander systems like Dolby A split the frequency spectrum into multiple bands (4 for Dolby A). This allows the signal to rise in one band without allowing the noise to rise in another band. So I am afraid for most classical music the home dBx units are unacceptable for me. Now the good news. Sanyo makes (or did) a home noise reduction unit called Sanyo Super D. The Sanyo Plus N55 is a simultaneous record/play (4 channels) unit that is also a 2:1 compander BUT has TWO frequency bands. The two bands seem to solve most of the breathing problems of the single band units. I wouldn't have thought of Sanyo for this type of equipment but this is a very nice unit that is a dramatic improvement over my dBx unit. The N55 is about the same price as a dBx 224 (maybe $50-$100 more retail) but I'm not sure if they are still selling them. I can't emphasize enough how much better the Sanyo unit is and since I got both of them I have no reason to care which is better. Oh the best news, I got the Sanyo unit for $35 (new) last summer when a local high volume discount stereo store unloaded them along with other Sanyo amps and stuff. I don't think they even knew what they really were. Greg Rogers Tektronix
ackersviller@watmath.UUCP (Paul Ackersviller) (12/05/84)
I have both an outboard dbx unit and a deck equipped with Dolby B & C, and I tend to agree with the Greg Taylor that breathing from dbx is often objectionable - I use mine only for music with a wide dynamic range, i.e. orchesral. Interestingly, I notice that breathing is far less of a problem with dbx discs. Unfortunately though, not that many were ever released and I've heard that they're being discontinued. Dolby C seems to be adequate for music with a narrow enough dynamic range to fit with it. It's certainly a big improvement over Dolby B in terms of tape hiss. Dolby has the added advantage of having a certain degree of compatibility for playback without decoding. This is useful for car and portable players; dbx decoders for these are rare (and expensive). I'm wondering if the addition of Dolby HX (for headroom extension - it's not a noise reduction system) adds considerably to the possible dynamic range available with Dolby C as it would seem capable of doing. Is there anyone out there who has experience with it and who would like to comment?