Will this DBX NR unit go well with my 34B ??

[cjacek]

Hi,

I know the DX-4D is standard for TASCAM reel to reels but I can get the DBX 150X or 150 for far less, and you know money's always an issue .. . Anyway, these 2 models are of the type 1 DBX NR so these should work well with my 34B and m-308B, right ? I just don't want to do any damage to my gear and so I ask here if these would work well and safely.

Btw, I operate my 34B at 7 1/2 ips but on the DBX site it says something about the 150x and 15 ips ... what gives ? Won't it work with 7 1/2 ips ??

Also, what is the difference between the 150 and 150x ?

Oh, yeah, I've also found somethin' called the DBX 911 type 1 NR, and cheap. I know these are 1 channel cards (I need 2 for now) but would it be easy to hook these up to my setup ?

Thanks for the help,

Daniel

[regebro]

It sais "something"? That's not very helpful. What does it say?


The frequency responses of tape differs with different speeds, and in theory it may be specifically finetuned for that, I don't know. But other than that it should work fine.

[The Ghost of FM]

I believe why the dbx 150/x/911 units talk about 15 ips usage is because at this reference speed, frequency response characteristics are generally flatter and further extended both at the low and high end of the range.

What is critical and different in the design of dbx type I versus type II(consumer version) is in the processing range of the bass.

Type I processes from 50 Hz and up and type II processes from 100 hz and up. This design difference was engineered because of the typical response characteristics of tape recorders at different speeds by most manufacturers at that time of design, back in the 70's, when many tape recorders that were not running at 15 ips would have a fairly wonky bass response at slower speeds below 15 ips and cause bad mis-tracking effects in the way of pumping and breathing effects by the dbx processing.

TASCAM open reel recorders do have superior head designs to what the dbx design engineers were thinking about and designing for when they released their models and design philosophies and thus, you should be able to use the 150 or 150x models with success at 7.5 ips. Both of these models offer simultaneous encode & decode as is required for three head designs and over-dubbing applications.

As to the differences between the designs between the three models you mentioned from dbx, I believe the 150 is the original design model which was a full width, 1 rack space unit and the 150x was a half rack space unit so that two of them could be strapped together to assemble a 1 rack space, 4 channel unit with optional ears and center joiner.

The 911 dbx unit was designed for a different type of vertical mounting which was popularized by the Dolby corporation for professional 24 track recorders which were designed to hold 12 units, vertically, side by side to form a standard 19 inch rack width wise by 4 spaces high.

IMPORTANT;

These units might prove tricky to hook up as they were designed for balanced equipment and your TASCAM 34 is not balanced! They will have barrier strip connection terminals on their rear apron and will be a pain to connect as they do may have handy RCA pin connections on the back of them to connect to your 34.

It might be best to wait for a DX-4D TASCAM noise reduction unit as these will be easier to connect and will accommodate for the -10db RCA line level signal references and compensate for the 7.5 ips speed differences in bass response.

Basically, less headaches and no compatibility issues to worry about if you wait for a TASCAM unit so, if I was you, I would be patient and look for one of those.

Cheers!

[Herm]

I bought a new pair of these back in the early 80,s to use with a teac 3340s and never could quite get the level matching thing right on them. They are not easy to use and I gave up on them real quick and ended up selling them and the machine and getting a 22-4 and the external dbx unit. Life was a lot easier then.

I would wait and get the dx 4d save your self a lot of trouble and headache.

[cjacek]

Ok, thanks so much guys!!!

Daniel