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Hi, Corey,

You're welcome.

A very knowledgeble correspondent sent Jay McKnight and me a wonderful 
follow-on to the two posts on my blog that I linked to. More info will 
hopefully follow.

I think anything that helps people understand the morass of the product 
entrusted to them is on topic for this list as the goal of the recorded 
sound collection is to preserve the sound and you can only do it to the 
best of your ability if you understand all the manglation (mangling?) 
imposed on the sound as it went through the various production processes.

I am discovering that there are MANY tapes that were recorded with noise 
reduction, for example, are not mixed/released with proper NR decoding.

Just had one client this morning say that when he first mixed his tapes 
they didn't use dbx and he always thought it was too bright. The tape 
box clearly was marked dbx! I've sent him his raw transfers and he's 
awaiting me to finish the dbx decodes. I think he'll be very, very 
pleased. (since there isn't yet a dhnrds X1 yet, I used the U-He satin 
which is very close to the dbx hardware, perhaps a tad less warm (which, 
to me, means less intermod).

For every tape think:
Track Format - Speed - Equalization - Azimuth - Noise Reduction
Thanks to my writing partner Dr. Federica Bressan for making that 
clearer in my mind.

Cheers,

Richard

On 2019-07-25 11:52 p.m., Corey Bailey wrote:
> Hi Richard,
> 
> THX for the links to the good reads (I have so much stuff from Jay 
> McKnight that I had to organize it). I don't have a copy of the IEC 
> standard that was set forth in 1981, nor can I find it anywhere (for 
> free). It may be just a "Wink & a Nudge" as you inferred. I referenced 
> that particular event because, IIRC, Nakamichi started building decks 
> that played well with other brands after that date.
> 
> Don't get me started Martha on the frustrations of the Compact Cassette 
> or other consumer formats (or equipment).
> 
> Besides, all of this is "Off Topic" for this list.
> 
> ;-)
> 
> Corey
> 
> Corey Bailey Audio Engineering
> www.baileyzone.net
> 
> On 7/25/2019 1:57 PM, Richard L. Hess wrote:
>> Hi, Corey,
>>
>> Do you have the details on "The Prague Compromise." Jay McKnight and I 
>> know it happened, but what changed? The public EQ specs didn't. It 
>> seemed like a bit of a wink wink nudge nudge type of thing.
>>
>> Jay and I have written about it two posts on my Blog.
>> <<http://richardhess.com/notes/2006/05/17/cassette-equalization-the-4-db-ambiguity-at-16-khz/>> 
>>
>> <<http://richardhess.com/notes/2010/10/08/cassette-equalization-redo/>>
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Richard
>>
>>
>> On 2019-07-25 2:21 a.m., Corey Bailey wrote:
>>> Hi Lou & all,
>>>
>>> For those interested in this thread and especially Nakamichi cassette 
>>> players:
>>>
>>> Know that Nakamichi cassette machines were manufactured using a 
>>> different interpretation of the IEC record/playback specification 
>>> until the IEC spec issued in 1982. This led to the problem that 
>>> cassette tapes recorded on other brands would sound somewhat dull 
>>> when played on a Nak. The exception being the Nakamichi model 550, a 
>>> portable machine. In 1982, the Nakamichi factory switched to the IEC 
>>> spec issued in Prague, Czechoslovakia and all Naks produced after 
>>> that date were compatible with all other brands. Thus, you should 
>>> check the dates of manufacture for any model of Nakamichi cassette 
>>> player you plan to use for archival transfers.
>>>
>>> I'm not bashing Naks here, (I use them too) just stating the facts.
>>>
>>> Cheers!
>>>
>>> Corey
>>>
>>> Corey Bailey Audio Engineering
>>> www.baileyzone.net
>>>

> 

-- 
Richard L. Hess                   email: [log in to unmask]
Aurora, Ontario, Canada                             647 479 2800
http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
Track Format - Speed - Equalization - Azimuth - Noise Reduction
Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.