Three points re: F1 tapes and the PCM601 digital output:

The sample rate is 44.056 and should be src-ed to 44.1. 

If the audio was recorded with emphasis, it must be de-emphasized

There is a 1/2 sample delay between the left and right channels that should be corrected (RX4 Advanced can do this)

David Glasser
Airshow Mastering
Boulder, CO

Sent from Weathership Tango Delta

> On Dec 11, 2014, at 17:44, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> Hi John:
> 
> My experience is that NO F1 decoder works well with 16-bit recordings made at EP speed. I also think that later VHS machines with auto-tracking may not align best for F1 recovery because they were designed to also take into account VHS-HIFI signal. A professional-quality VHS deck, even a late-era VHS-HIFI deck, will have a tracking control, but the consumer models lost the tracking control shortly after VHS-HIFI was developed.
> 
> I'm curious, what sort of material are you working with and how many tapes?
> 
> -- Tom Fine
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Gledhill" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2014 4:45 PM
> Subject: [ARSCLIST] Sony 601-esd pcm audiio processor decoder
> 
> 
>> I am recovering sony F1 type audio (PCM and ECC in the video image) from some VHS tapes (ep speed 6 hr per tape)  - it was actually recorded with a Toshiba version.
>> I have the manual for the Sony 601-esd and I think is says the boobie lights (Red, FlashRed, FlashGreen, FlashGreen, SteadyGreen) is a logical procession from poor signal to good signal.
>> Additionally there is a tracking indicator (bar graph moving to the right)
>> 
>> I can see from the schematic the LED's are driven from the decoding logic (didn't really need a schematic for that one).
>> 
>> However, I an not find out at which point errors are still being corrected (apparently a few red flashes are fine) and at what point I can not count on the data.
>> I am recovering through the spdif -> PC.
>> 
>> I am hoping there there is a audio archivists list with somebody who used these 30 years ago and thought to ask Sony exactly what was being measured with the lights.
>> 
>> P.S. I found the Sony 601-esd encoder/decoder is not a good match with most later model VCR's and ep tapes. (the data on the back of a VCR switch disappeared years ago).
>> 
>> -- 
>> John Gledhill
>> BIT WORKS Inc.
>> 905 881 2733
>> [log in to unmask]
>>