Do I really need Dbx Noise reduction

[audiophilez]

I was talking to a sound engineer thats worked with some of the greatest artists of all time and he says the noise is barely much anything to go out and buy a dbx unit for my 1/2" reel to reel tape machine. I havent had a chance to use it yet but im curious to find out if i should get one, any suggestions?

[cjacek]

Originally Posted by audiophilez

I was talking to a sound engineer thats worked with some of the greatest artists of all time and he says the noise is barely much anything to go out and buy a dbx unit for my 1/2" reel to reel tape machine. I havent had a chance to use it yet but im curious to find out if i should get one, any suggestions?

Which 1/2" machine do you have ? Tape hiss is a very personal and subjective matter which cannot be answered by anyone but yourself. Case in point, some find the TASCAM 38, 8 track 1/2" machine, overly hissy but personally I do not.

[quarterinch]

I use a Revox B77.

Before I got it I was warned that the tape hiss would immediately drive me back to digital.

Wrong.

Not an issue for me.

In order to hear any hiss at all the music must be a very quiet, delicate passage that fades to silence. Even then it's necessary to move closer to the speaker (while focusing on hearing the hiss) and turning up the volume some more.

Just my experience. Try it both ways. You never know til then.

[rayc]

BORROW a noise unit & A B some work.

[cjacek]

Originally Posted by quarterinch

I was warned that the tape hiss would immediately drive me back to digital.

That's a kicker 'cause I recall getting a very similar line years back. LOL!!

[Herm]

I used it on the last album i did and wished i had not. If I was going to do something with my 4 track and was going to do some bouncing then yes I would use it. But for one pass at 15ips I dont need it.

[ofajen]

On wide track machines with fewer than 16 tracks, the question doesn't even come up unless you are recording orchestral instruments with really quiet passages (I wonder if anyone still does that, other than maybe Scott Dorsey), and even then, the baseline noise is just enough to keep you from blowing a speaker on playback. on 2" 24 track machines the tracks are a little skinnier and noise buildup from so may tracks gets to be a factor, along with higher expectations of S/N level, so dolby SR is usually added, or the old Dolby A if you're cheap.

where it gets debatable is on narrow track machines like 4 tracks on 1/4" or 8 tracks on 1/2" or 16 tracks on 1". the track width drops from about .10" to what? .040"? maybe less? You lose about 6-8 dB in S/N. I'm spoiled now!

If anyone wants to find out first hand just how good wide track machines sound, my 3M machines are not yet spoken for, though that will probably change within a week or so.

Otto

[The Ghost of FM]

Originally Posted by audiophilez

I was talking to a sound engineer thats worked with some of the greatest artists of all time and he says the noise is barely much anything to go out and buy a dbx unit for my 1/2" reel to reel tape machine. I havent had a chance to use it yet but im curious to find out if i should get one, any suggestions?

A TEAC 33-8, (audiophilez's machine), is a bit on the noisy side. I think the s:n ratio is around 67db on a properly calibrated deck with all heads in decent condition.

Depending on the type of music you're going to record, you might be able to get away with out using dbx if the stuff you record is constant in volume and loud enough in recording level to mask the hiss but, if you record quieter type music or music with a lot of space in between the notes, you may well find that dbx is a god-send at keeping things nice and quiet.

You also have to consider your signal chain...how clean are your preamps, guitar pick ups, stomp boxes, effects processors and such. All of those items add noises that tape noise reduction doesn't address.

Like cjacek said, it's a mater of personal preference and personal need. There is no absolute right or wrong approach here.

I have a 38 and an MS-16 and use dbx on both and have no regrets about doing so. For me, I like the fact that dbx allows me to not overload the tape where it's frequency response is far from flat. It also reduces adjacent channel cross talk so one track doesn't bleed over to its neighboring tracks and it also reduces the effects of print through because you are not hitting the tape so hard that it ghosts through from one layer of the wind to the next, over time, in storage. For me, the benefits of using it, out-weigh the drawbacks of it's design which are basically only that it adds it's own character to the sound in tonality and dynamics.

Cheers!

[audiophilez]

I do have a teac 33-8. It is in the shop with a broken tachometer and it looks like finding a new one isnt going to happen. It looks like my baby is now a paperweight!!, I will post a thread hoping somebody has the part but I cant hold my breat, I think I will end up getting a tascam tsr-8 with built in dbx.