Guys I found over while that I prefer Dolby C on my Sony D6C. I always use it on my Aiwa AD-F990 but for some reason it does sound so great on my Sony. Have to admit it took me a while for it to grow on me. It might because partly of the headphones that I am using. So what are your thoughts on the Dolby system on the D6C or whatever systems you guys/girls are using. B/C/S or the latest? But I was just thinking for the tape era. Cheers Kiwinut
Back in the day I used Dolby B, later on I used Dolby C if I was recording classical music onto a noisy cassette. My equipment has very little noticeable noise of its own, so I have no need to use Dolby. Having no Dolby is better for compatibility as well.
I prefer Dolby C due to its better suppression but i record all my albums with Dolby B on one side and C on the other side of the cassette for maximum compatibility. I read many notes that C is too sensitive to bias calibration, azimuth, tape quality etc. While that is true I think it is just a good reason to make sure all your equipment are in line which would benefit Dolby B and no Dolby recording/playback as well. I have very good results on D6C, DC2, DD9 and 701C using tapes recorded on a 3-head Sony deck. I still have some unresolved issues with Dolby C on Aiwa walkmans. I mainly record on decent (not top of the line) type II tapes.
Agree don’t use rubbish tapes, You get what you pay for, Out of interest what tapes do you purchase for recording? Cheers Kiwinut
DBX is the tape suppression that I used to use in the very beginning. And I still have a dbx 3bx but it kept blowing the op amps so I stopped using it. As far as using any Dolby, I prefer to not use Dolby as most of my boomboxes don't have Dolby as I like to play my music in a portable manner and you really cannot hear the difference of Dolby outside, so it's more of a rich person's pleasure to use Dolby inside. Tapes I prefer to use is TDK SA again. Most machines that I use have the option of using Chrome or type 2 but not type 3 as you really can't hear the difference again on a portable machine. Again, it's a rich man's pleasure to listen to metal tapes in the house, but not outside.
My cassettes of choice are TDK AR, TDK SA, TDK MA-XG with TDK MA-XG being used more than anything else. Once I got to a level of quietness of equipment, I had no more need for Dolby.
This is roughly what I use (in quantity order): Maxell XLII / XLII S TDK SA TDK SAX BASF Chrome Maxima II Fuji Metal Maxell UDII / UDII S TDK MA Sony Esprit IV I had best results with TDK SA X but I buy what is available for reasonable price. I tend to buy mixed bag of used tapes instead of NOS as I get better payoff even if I need to trash some of the tapes. Fuji metal is only because i got a large lot as payment for a deck repair but they have been good. Sony Esprit i stay away from, they sound good but mine has been with dropouts, bad tape guide and other issues.
@Kiwinut Don't know what you mean by "the latest" as what is used now on, for example, Tascam 202 mkVII is not actually Dolby. Generally speaking I prefer Dolby C because its technically superior: has the lowest noise and more dynamic range. However C is compatible only with a small range of walkmans. So for all practical purposes what I use depends on how noisy the tape is and if the music has quiet passages or not. Good tapes usually don't need any NR if the music doesn't have any quiet passages, but will require Dolby B otherwise. Of course that doesn't mean there's no benefit in using NR. Have never used Dolby S because there's no walkman to have ever featured this NR system. In theory it's said to be compatible with B, but the reality is a bit different. Given S is featured only on decks and typically one will be listening on speakears, noise is not so much of a concern as it is when using headphones. dBx is another NR system I like, it's also more common than Dolby S being featured on some portables. It's better than Dolby C both in terms of SNR and sensitivity to alignment.
I was referring to dBx or S and yes I realise that no Walkman used this, I should said for any tape deck like my Ad-F990. In the early days(80’s)I hated the Dolby noise reduction in what it did to the sound. But I have to say I absolutely love it. Mmmm maybe my hearing is getting worse from all the surfing Cheers Kiwinut
There were actually 2 walkans that featured dBx NR: Panasonic RQ-J20X and TEAC PC-7RX. Also the Marantz PMD430 portable recorder featured dBx both for recording and playback. Indeed many people thought (and many still do) that Dolby never worked rendering muffled sound on playback. That was because most people recorded on uncalibrated decks and also many players weren't correctly adjusted. For a Dolby NR system to work correctly a deck with manual (bias + rec sensitivity) or auto calibration is needed. Anything else will render poor results, only exception being if recording is done on the exact tape unit was calibrated on. The AD-F990 has an excellent autocalibration system with bias, level and EQ so it will render excellend NR encoded recordings. As a sidenote, no need to quote previous posts. Can type in the box below and press "Post Reply" instead of using "Reply"
As I usually dont listen to quiet (classical music etc), I try not to record tapes with Dolby for compatibility reasons. Playing tape sounding as it supposed to is the best. Of course, there is always a problem - I have some bought tapes. Tapes in Poland were mostly poor quality, so even with good recording only thing that made them sound decent was Dolby B. Now, where tape is a non existent medium to buy recorded, there is no reason for me to record with Dolby (B or C). I've tried and recorded one tape with Dolby C after chat with Valentin, and I liked it. I've recorded on Aiwa XK-009, played on Sony 701C, both serviced. It was TDK AD-X tape
My personal preference is No Dolby at all. For when I want to listen to the silence between tracks instead of the music itself I have CDs and streaming. I remember being real proud of myself in mid-90-ies when my Dolby-C recordings of Pink Floyd and Tangerine Dream onto Sony Metal Master cassettes were "as good as CD". Practicing calligraphy on cassette inserts was no fun at all! Wish we had a thread about folks efforts on the subject... Nowadays why would I want to add extra Dolby compression-decompression step to my own recordings: I have hard time convincing myself that MP3 at its insane 320kbps setting sounds as good as 16/44.1; so why would I add this extra mental challenge to cassette listening?
"Practicing calligraphy on cassette inserts was no fun at all! Wish we had a thread about folks efforts on the subject... " Go to the tapeheads forum and do a search for J cards. "I have hard time convincing myself that MP3 at its insane 320kbps setting sounds as good as 16/44.1; " That's probably because it DOESN'T.
Methinks that there are VERY important things about recording with Dolby on a Sony WM-D6C: It has been pointed out by Valentin that most units left the factory calibrated IMPROPERLY for Dolby level. Therefore, it is imperative that the deck be aligned properly with a Dolby 200nWb/m ANSI test tape to produce 340mVolts output. The WM-D6C is a wonderful recording device, but, unlike home desk units with fancy auto calibration and front-panel bias/rec level adjustments, it really can only be calibrated ACCURATELY for ONE type of tape at a time----a soldering iron is required to change the bias level, for instance. Choose ONE tape brand/model, set the unit up with that and stick with it. Changing tape types without recalibration will lead to disappointing results, especially with Dolby C which is quite sensitive to misalignment. I personally have selected Maxell MX Type IV metal tape as my standard.
Yes, calibrated units are a must and preferable a 3 headed deck with manual/auto calibration for correct level and bias for the tape used. Properly calibrated I cannot hear the difference in sound between Dolby C and no dolby, well except for the missing tape noise. I'm happily recording all my tapes with Dolby C and play them back on D6C, DC2, WM-701C and DD9 with excellent result.
Don't mind me and my $10,000 box of walkmans as the bagged d6c doesn't work but the boxed d6c does and then the other two boxed d6 must need servicing. And then as you can see, here's my 10th anniversary 701c and then I've got two dd9 a boxed ex9 a couple of WM 800 and then other models yada yada yada Yes I have containers of walkman's. I think seven or eight it keeps changing as I keep moving things around cuz I have some boomboxes in some of the smaller containers. Here's an overview picture of here And finally, when I really need to use a Walkman, this is what I actually use because it can record. It gives me a radio and that little thing sticking out the end is a stereo microphone. Believe it or not Sony wm-gx670
".....I cannot hear the difference in sound between Dolby C and no dolby, well except for the missing tape noise. " Other than THAT, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?
