cjacek
Analogue Enthusiast
Hi,
I'm just wondering if there is any practical way to dis-engage DBX on my 244 ? Thanks ---Daniel
I'm just wondering if there is any practical way to dis-engage DBX on my 244 ? Thanks ---Daniel
T
The Ghost of FM
Banned
Not that I am aware of.
You might consider picking up a gently used 234. That unit had a switching facility on it but you would need an external mixer to go along with it.
The one upside to getting a 234 as well would be that it had better frequency response specs.
The 244 went to 14khz and the 234 goes up to 16khz.
Cheers!
You might consider picking up a gently used 234. That unit had a switching facility on it but you would need an external mixer to go along with it.
The one upside to getting a 234 as well would be that it had better frequency response specs.
The 244 went to 14khz and the 234 goes up to 16khz.
Cheers!
cjacek
Analogue Enthusiast
The Ghost of FM said:Not that I am aware of.
You might consider picking up a gently used 234. That unit had a switching facility on it but you would need an external mixer to go along with it.
The one upside to getting a 234 as well would be that it had better frequency response specs.
The 244 went to 14khz and the 234 goes up to 16khz.
Cheers!
Thanks. Yeah, I know about the 234 but I was just wondering if there are any people out there who would know how to "bypass" the DBX on the 244. Thanks anyway for the help
Daniel
B
Beck
Guest
There is a way to do it, but it is a little complicated. Do you want to disable dbx on all tracks or just track 4 to use sync code?
A procedure for disabling dbx on track 4 is described in the February 1988 issue of Home & Studio recording magazine. It involves wiring two switches, one for encode and one for decode. You could also use just one switch with quad poles.
There are four 8-pin jacks on the dbx circuit board. P202 and P204 are for tracks 3 and 4. What you are basically doing is connecting pins 1 and 3 together on jack P202 (encode) and pins 6 and 8 together on P204 (decode). When these are connected dbx is bypassed on track 4.
A procedure for disabling dbx on track 4 is described in the February 1988 issue of Home & Studio recording magazine. It involves wiring two switches, one for encode and one for decode. You could also use just one switch with quad poles.
There are four 8-pin jacks on the dbx circuit board. P202 and P204 are for tracks 3 and 4. What you are basically doing is connecting pins 1 and 3 together on jack P202 (encode) and pins 6 and 8 together on P204 (decode). When these are connected dbx is bypassed on track 4.
cjacek
Analogue Enthusiast
Beck said:There is a way to do it, but it is a little complicated. Do you want to disable dbx on all tracks or just track 4 to use sync code?
A procedure for disabling dbx on track 4 is described in the February 1988 issue of Home & Studio recording magazine. It involves wiring two switches, one for encode and one for decode. You could also use just one switch with quad poles.
There are four 8-pin jacks on the dbx circuit board. P202 and P204 are for tracks 3 and 4. What you are basically doing is connecting pins 1 and 3 together on jack P202 (encode) and pins 6 and 8 together on P204 (decode). When these are connected dbx is bypassed on track 4.
WOW! Thanks for reviving the thread!
. Though I highly appreciate your reply I was thinking more to disable all tracks. Any thoughts on that ? Would I just pull out all four 8-pin jacks in this case ? Thanks again.
Daniel
B
Beck
Guest
I should clarify something first. In my first post I said, “What you are basically doing is connecting pins 1 and 3 together on jack P202 (encode) and pins 6 and 8 together on P204 (decode).” I should have said you are connecting the wires that go to those pins rather than the pins themselves. You actually need to disconnect the wires from the pins before connecting them together.
To do it on all tracks you will have to remove certain pins on each of four plugs and then connect some together with others. There are holes to access the release barbs of the wires in the four plugs.
To access the dbx board you have to turn the 244 upside down with the headphone jacks facing you, and remove the bottom cover.
The large PCB on your right is the dbx board. It is stamped, “TEAC DBX PCB 109.” There are four 8-pin jacks, P201, P202, P203 and P204. They have four white 8-wire plugs plugged into them. P201 and P203 are in the top section of the board and are across from each other. P201 is for encode of tracks 1 and 2. P203 is for decode of tracks 1 and 2.
From the top, the pins on P201 are numbered 8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1. From the top, the pins on P203 are numbered 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8.
P202 and P204 are in the bottom section of the board across from each other. P202 is for encode of tracks 3 and 4. P204 is for decode of tracks 3 and 4. From the top, the pins on P202 are numbered 8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1. From the top, the pins on P204 are numbered 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8.
To disable dbx on all channels remove the following wires from the plugs and tape the contacts together (or you can use switches so you will have the option of dbx):
P201
Pin 1 to pin 3
Pin 5 to pin 7
P203
Pin 8 to pin 6
Pin 4 to pin 2
P202
Pin 1 to pin 3
Pin 5 to pin 7
P204
Pin 8 to pin 6
Pin 4 to pin 2
Leave the other wires in place, which are the shields of the wires you have removed from the plugs, and put the white plugs back on the jacks.
I assume you are going to try some other outboard noise reduction like Dolby C. Without any noise reduction at all the tape hiss will be noisy as hell. Keep in mind that the dbx not only reduces noise but also increases headroom on this narrow track format.
One more thing – there are sensitive CMOS chips on the board so you may want to wear a grounding wrist-strap so you don’t zap anything with static.
Keep us posted if/when you give it a try.
TBeck
To do it on all tracks you will have to remove certain pins on each of four plugs and then connect some together with others. There are holes to access the release barbs of the wires in the four plugs.
To access the dbx board you have to turn the 244 upside down with the headphone jacks facing you, and remove the bottom cover.
The large PCB on your right is the dbx board. It is stamped, “TEAC DBX PCB 109.” There are four 8-pin jacks, P201, P202, P203 and P204. They have four white 8-wire plugs plugged into them. P201 and P203 are in the top section of the board and are across from each other. P201 is for encode of tracks 1 and 2. P203 is for decode of tracks 1 and 2.
From the top, the pins on P201 are numbered 8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1. From the top, the pins on P203 are numbered 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8.
P202 and P204 are in the bottom section of the board across from each other. P202 is for encode of tracks 3 and 4. P204 is for decode of tracks 3 and 4. From the top, the pins on P202 are numbered 8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1. From the top, the pins on P204 are numbered 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8.
To disable dbx on all channels remove the following wires from the plugs and tape the contacts together (or you can use switches so you will have the option of dbx):
P201
Pin 1 to pin 3
Pin 5 to pin 7
P203
Pin 8 to pin 6
Pin 4 to pin 2
P202
Pin 1 to pin 3
Pin 5 to pin 7
P204
Pin 8 to pin 6
Pin 4 to pin 2
Leave the other wires in place, which are the shields of the wires you have removed from the plugs, and put the white plugs back on the jacks.
I assume you are going to try some other outboard noise reduction like Dolby C. Without any noise reduction at all the tape hiss will be noisy as hell. Keep in mind that the dbx not only reduces noise but also increases headroom on this narrow track format.
One more thing – there are sensitive CMOS chips on the board so you may want to wear a grounding wrist-strap so you don’t zap anything with static.
Keep us posted if/when you give it a try.
TBeck
T
The Ghost of FM
Banned
Great post Tim!
So, there is indeed a way to do this. It does seem like a sizable effort to take to task, just to get a noisy 4 track cassette deck though.
I am hopeful that our friend cjacek has a useful application for wanting to do this.
I might suggest to our friend in a van to consider purchasing a second 244 to try this on, seeing as used ones can be had in the $100 range on E-bay and elsewhere. That way he could have one machine with and the other without noise reduction.
Cheers!
So, there is indeed a way to do this. It does seem like a sizable effort to take to task, just to get a noisy 4 track cassette deck though.
I am hopeful that our friend cjacek has a useful application for wanting to do this.
I might suggest to our friend in a van to consider purchasing a second 244 to try this on, seeing as used ones can be had in the $100 range on E-bay and elsewhere. That way he could have one machine with and the other without noise reduction.
Cheers!
Blue Bear Sound
New member
Considering the amount of noise you get on a cassette portastudio, I don't know why you'd even want to disable the DBX.... its artifacts are minimal compared to the amount of noise you'll get by turning it off....
Besides, does the world really need more noisy 4-track recordings??????
Besides, does the world really need more noisy 4-track recordings??????
D
Derek Verner
New member
Just curious
Why would you want to disable DBX on all four tracks? Is it to add some other outboard noise reduction system?
Why would you want to disable DBX on all four tracks? Is it to add some other outboard noise reduction system?
cjacek
Analogue Enthusiast
TBeck: Thanks so much for your ever so informative post! GREAT STUFF!! Initially, when I posed the question, I had the intention to possibly record without DBX. Later on I bought a 246 which had a DBX bypass and more recently the 34B so now it's not really essential that I do this. I was just curious if it could be done, and how. Thanks again TBeck!
Ghost: Indeed it doesn't seem a good idea, considering I got the 246 and 34B now. Still, initially I wanted to see how it would record without DBX but now it's not really applicable. Thanks for your suggestions though.
Bear: Agreed 100%!
Derek: No, my intention was not to add anything. I wanted to record without any noise reduction. Again, now it's pretty pointless considering I got other gear.
Ghost: Indeed it doesn't seem a good idea, considering I got the 246 and 34B now. Still, initially I wanted to see how it would record without DBX but now it's not really applicable. Thanks for your suggestions though.
Bear: Agreed 100%!
Derek: No, my intention was not to add anything. I wanted to record without any noise reduction. Again, now it's pretty pointless considering I got other gear.
Herm
Well-known member
Blue Bear wrote
Besides, does the world really need more noisy 4-track recordings??????
Not really but they sound a hell of alot better than an Adat.
Besides, does the world really need more noisy 4-track recordings??????
Not really but they sound a hell of alot better than an Adat.
cjacek
Analogue Enthusiast
Herm said:
I always preferred the "sound" of analog, whether it be cassette or open reel, to any digital medium. Analog just sounds nicer. Plus, why are so many persons complaining about "tape hiss" ?? I think it adds some nice character to an already nice sounding medium!
Daniel