Dolby recording-vs-playback emulation

Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr

I recently came across a 20th century interview with a vocal artist--Joe Frank--who said he got his sound by recording with Dolby on, and playing back with Dolby off.

I don't really know what this implies or how to emulate it on ios.

catherder

There are different versions of DNR. They are based on pre/de- emphasis and compression. So you would probably need a combination of plugins (filter/equaliser and compressor), or experiment with a modular system like miRack or Drambo.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_noise-reduction_system

audiothing

We wrote a small post about the Dolby Trick, you can read it here: https://www.audiothing.net/blog/the-dolby-a-trick/
And our plugin, Type A, will be ported to iOS in the next few months.

Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr

@audiothing said:
We wrote a small post about the Dolby Trick, you can read it here: https://www.audiothing.net/blog/the-dolby-a-trick/
And our plugin, Type A, will be ported to iOS in the next few months.

How serendipitous! Thanks for the article. I'll keep an eye out for the new app.

wim

^ flagged as spam

attakk

I used to always record with dolby on and play back with it off - specifically dolby “c”. It added extra sparkle and avoided the general muddying of the top end that playing back with it on would cause.

The trick didn’t work with dbx though - I hated dbx, or at least those used by Tascam and Yamaha. Noise reduction should be transparent however their versions of dbx were very noticable with audible pumping and artifacts. Horribly so.

bygjohn

@attakk said:
I used to always record with dolby on and play back with it off - specifically dolby “c”. It added extra sparkle and avoided the general muddying of the top end that playing back with it on would cause.

The trick didn’t work with dbx though - I hated dbx, or at least those used by Tascam and Yamaha. Noise reduction should be transparent however their versions of dbx were very noticable with audible pumping and artifacts. Horribly so.

All the Dolbys were very dependent on the tape deck being properly set up, which most domestic decks weren’t. B was fairly forgiving, but C would do horrid pumpy things if the input and output levels were off. If it was set up correctly it was pretty much transparent, though.

Phil999

yes in the ‘tape times’ it was a bit of a thing with playback and recording. When I got my Sony stereo system (earned myself with hard construction work as a youngster), the TC-V7 was the star. With Dolby C! An absolute sensation in the early 80’s. But this tape deck was not only a gem for showing off, it could also do punch in.

Letting run the tape with one finger holding on the ‘play’ touch fiield, and then letting go the disk (with a little push) on the turntable at the right moment (while scratching back and forth the disk to catch the right sound) and simultaneously pressing the ‘record’ touch field, was a common way for me to do mix tapes. I used this technique a lot with the TC-V7, because it worked very well. No other tape deck at my disposal by friends and family did it so well. With the TC-V7, there was no ‘punch in’ sound recorded, it recorded perfectly well. A real ‘punch in’ like in professional tape recorders. With all other tape decks (portable cassette recorders, Akai or Technics tape decks) there was always this disturbing pop sound when punching in. I made mix tapes with those as well, but there was always this pop sound between songs with pung in, so I mostly used fade in/out with these tape decks.

Regarding fade in/out, the TC-V7 was also king. Two very long and precise faders for left and right, and a large LED level display, that indicated even the slightest crackle of the disk. Fade ins and fade outs could be achieved with utmost precision. This tape deck was really a master piece created by Sony. And relatively affordable. The whole system with speakers, cables, tuner, amp, tangential turntable, and tape deck, wasn’t expensive. And by the way, the speakers were also futuristic, with flat membranes. They sounded good, in the higher and in the lower end.

Sorry for the nostalgia expansion, but at that time, for us guys, the tape deck was as important as the moped. Or the girl friend. For me it was especially important. Both. The tape deck and the girl friends. No wonder it expanded few years later to a home studio with mixers, synthesisers, effect and dynamic devices, 4 and 8-track tape recorders, etc.

—-

But now back to the question.

The cassette recorders usually didn’t have Dolby, so all the recordings with them were without. With tape decks I mostly used Dolby B that was available, during playback I often switched between Dolby on and off. I realised that it sounds a bit brighter without Dolby (B), and sometimes let it switched off. On cheap plastic Walkmen we listened without Dolby as well, but I sometimes recorded with, not without. Then, later, the cassette recorders and Walkmen came with Dolby B. And even with Dolby C some years later. When I got my Sony stereo system and a bought a Sony Walkman with Dolby B and C, I recorded mostly in Dolby C. All my tapes are labelled with group name and album name, purpose, theme, etc. but always with the used noise reduction. D-B, D-C, or NR (no noise reduction). I use/used cheaper Ferro- tapes, a lot of Cr-O2, and few metal tapes (they are expensive).

I still use DBX for my Tascam 238. There, I let it on all the time, for playback and recorcording.