Dolby A playback

[Findlay]

I am hoping to get an old master tape recorded using Dolby A and I'm told it will sound terrible played back without the proper decoding. I wonder if anyone knows more about this? I have a cassette recorder with Dolby S - maybe a copy of the master made on this machine with NR switched off and then played back with Dolby S decoding might sound half decent or am I barking up the wrong tree? Any help appreciated!

 

[jpmorris]

No, I think you'll need a Dolby A decoder. Dolby SR often supports Dolby A, but AFAIK there are no machines with internal Dolby A, only B,C and S (which are not the same thing).
Bear in mind that the tape may be sticky, depending on when it was made.

EDIT: Oh, I have a feeling it is possible to decode dolby A in software, but I bet it won't be cheap.

 

[Findlay]

Thanks. I would have thought there would be software but I have never managed to find it - even for Dolby B and C. let alone A. Would be grateful of anyone know of any...... I seem to remember that Dolby A acts over 4 frequency ranges. I wonder if it would be possible to digitise the recording on four separate tracks and apply eq over the four bands?

 

[thinbrownline]

Hi Findlay

It will sound extremely breathy and "thin" without decoding.

None of the other Dolby processors utilized the 4 discrete bands that Dolby A did. The others (B, C, S and SR) used progressively more sliding bands, and in the case of S and SR considerable pre-emphasis too.

If you want your tape to sound as it should do then send it to someone like me to do a professional transfer. One stereo master is not expensive to do.

Regards

David Ollard
Thin Brown Line
Analog to digital tape transfers | Transfer analog reel tapes to digital

 

[Findlay]

Hi David,

Thanks for this. Not being in sunny California I will have to use someone in the UK! I had a quote yesterday of £75 - about $110 - which seems fairly steep for a 15 minute tape?

Cheers,

Findlay

 

[jpmorris]

Hi David,
Thanks for this. Not being in sunny California I will have to use someone in the UK! I had a quote yesterday of £75 - about $110 - which seems fairly steep for a 15 minute tape?
Cheers,
Findlay

You may have to. A Dolby 363 with two cards will set you back nearly three times that going by ebay prices, and I can see none in the UK at the moment. I remember trying to get one a year or two back for a similar reason. I bailed out when the unit went above £100, which looking back was a bit cheap of me.


EDIT: Oh, if you or anyone else is interested in a software solution, apparently U-He Satin supports decoding Dolby A and B. (Though apparently not C, S or SR). It costs more than the transfer, though.

 

[Findlay]

Thanks for this. Very interesting too about U-He Satin. I wonder if it enables you to use the test tones to get the levels set right?

 

[Findlay]

I've just managed to get this 15 ips 1/4 inch studio tape digitised. Using the trial version of U-he Satin to decode the Dolby A sounds ok - the trial adds some clicks at intervals but the overall effect isn't bad. I'm not sure what setting to use for input gain though - I'm pretty sure A is very sensitive to input levels and that these have to be right. I can't believe how fantastic this 40 year old tape sounds though!

As an aside - I visited a local guy who runs a tape restoration studio. He has a 2 inch 24 track Otari, several 1 inch Tascam 24 track 1 inch and just about every player you would want to replay old tapes. Can always send a link if anyone needs a tape replayed.