dbx Noise Reduction question
in [Live Sound]
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From: Denny Strauser on 13 Jul 2008 01:01 Back in the '80's I had a Technics cassette deck with dbx noise reduction. I recorded a few hundred soundboard recordings of shows I mixed with that cassette recorder. The deck is long dead. And now I have hundreds of cassettes recorded with dbx noise reduction. A number of years ago I bought a dbx 150 Type-I noise reduction unit. These were made for multi track recorders, and came in rack mount 2-channel units. But this unit doesn't appear to decode properly for the noise reduction that was encoded on the tapes. These tapes are getting old, & now (since I have some time off) I'm interested in burning them to my hard drive. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, -Denny
From: Phil Allison on 13 Jul 2008 01:26 "Denny Strauser" > Back in the '80's I had a Technics cassette deck with dbx noise reduction. > I recorded a few hundred soundboard recordings of shows I mixed with that > cassette recorder. > > The deck is long dead. And now I have hundreds of cassettes recorded with > dbx noise reduction. A number of years ago I bought a dbx 150 Type-I noise > reduction unit. These were made for multi track recorders, and came in > rack mount 2-channel units. > > But this unit doesn't appear to decode properly for the noise reduction > that was encoded on the tapes. These tapes are getting old, & now (since I > have some time off) I'm interested in burning them to my hard drive. > > Any help would be greatly appreciated. ** Look for a " dbx 228 Type 2 Tape Noise Reduction System on eBay - two were sold in the last week. This is a " Type 2" compander - unlike the one you have now. ...... Phil
From: Denny Strauser on 13 Jul 2008 01:30 Phil Allison wrote: > "Denny Strauser" > >> Back in the '80's I had a Technics cassette deck with dbx noise reduction. >> I recorded a few hundred soundboard recordings of shows I mixed with that >> cassette recorder. >> >> The deck is long dead. And now I have hundreds of cassettes recorded with >> dbx noise reduction. A number of years ago I bought a dbx 150 Type-I noise >> reduction unit. These were made for multi track recorders, and came in >> rack mount 2-channel units. >> >> But this unit doesn't appear to decode properly for the noise reduction >> that was encoded on the tapes. These tapes are getting old, & now (since I >> have some time off) I'm interested in burning them to my hard drive. >> >> Any help would be greatly appreciated. > > > ** Look for a " dbx 228 Type 2 Tape Noise Reduction System on eBay - > two were sold in the last week. > > This is a " Type 2" compander - unlike the one you have now. > > > > ..... Phil > > Thank you Phil, Sincerely, -Denny
From: Eeyore on 13 Jul 2008 01:53 Denny Strauser wrote: > Back in the '80's I had a Technics cassette deck with dbx noise > reduction. I recorded a few hundred soundboard recordings of shows I > mixed with that cassette recorder. > > The deck is long dead. And now I have hundreds of cassettes recorded > with dbx noise reduction. A number of years ago I bought a dbx 150 > Type-I noise reduction unit. These were made for multi track recorders, > and came in rack mount 2-channel units. > > But this unit doesn't appear to decode properly for the noise reduction > that was encoded on the tapes. These tapes are getting old, & now (since > I have some time off) I'm interested in burning them to my hard drive. > > Any help would be greatly appreciated. Did dbx pro use multi-band processing like Dolby A ? Graham
From: Denny Strauser on 13 Jul 2008 02:10
Eeyore wrote: > > Denny Strauser wrote: > >> Back in the '80's I had a Technics cassette deck with dbx noise >> reduction. I recorded a few hundred soundboard recordings of shows I >> mixed with that cassette recorder. >> >> The deck is long dead. And now I have hundreds of cassettes recorded >> with dbx noise reduction. A number of years ago I bought a dbx 150 >> Type-I noise reduction unit. These were made for multi track recorders, >> and came in rack mount 2-channel units. >> >> But this unit doesn't appear to decode properly for the noise reduction >> that was encoded on the tapes. These tapes are getting old, & now (since >> I have some time off) I'm interested in burning them to my hard drive. >> >> Any help would be greatly appreciated. > > Did dbx pro use multi-band processing like Dolby A ? > Graham, The dbx on my cassette deck was a three-band compander. It was 2:1 compression above 0dbu, & 2:1 expansion below 0dbu. What this means is that the lower the recording level, the more noise reduction. But, at levels above 0dbu the noise floor actually increases; but the signal actually masks that. So can you (or Phil) answer this: What are the x-over frequencies for the three bands? Can I accomplish this with computer audio programs? Or do I really need to purchase, as Phil recommends, a dbx 228 Type-II unit? Thanx, -Denny |