What is Dolby Noise Reduction?

In this video, I examine the very famous (or to some, infamous) Dolby noise reduction. In the first part, I discuss the evolution of cassette noise reduction in general, and later on, I compare the sound of a 1979 TDK D with and without Dolby B noise reduction. The song used is from the KZbin Audio Library. I hope you like it. Thanks for watching.
Chapters
00:00 - Noise Reduction Overview
04:50 - Audio Test Ramble
07:15 - Audio Test Proper
12:20 - Analysis & Final Remarks
#cassette
#dolby
#vintage

[@ralphreinhardt6020]

Dolby b realy does reduce tape noise and hiss. It also reduces the high end and clarity. If I use it I prefer Dolby HXPro type C. Seems to reduce hiss without destroying the highs. While HX Pro and DBX were not invented by Dolby Labratories. They were licensed by Dolby Labs. Another cool video young sir. 😎👍

[@hifi.david.]

Hype hype

[@GayDingo]

After trying out Dolby stuff out myself in my tape deck, i just leave it off all the time because it just makes cassettes sound worse. I like the tape noise.

[@ARandomOven]

To be honest, noise reduction only makes tapes sound worse if it isn't calibrated properly. Age changes how the noise reduction ends up being processed on the tape, so if it isn't calibrated well, it'll end up sounding bad. As you can hear in the video, Dolby B sounded quite good because the deck was serviced by the person I bought it from. One of the reasons why I didn't demonstrate ANRS (basically JVC's Dolby B) with my Victor deck is that it wasn't calibrated properly, so I had a similar experience as you where it just made my cassettes sound worse. At the end of the day, though, I also prefer not using noise reduction for the sole reason that some of my decks and Walkmans aren't properly calibrated anymore :p

[@GayDingo]

@@ARandomOven ah didn't know that the Dolby thingamajig had to be calibrated. I probably still wouldn't use it anyways lol. I really do like the background hiss and noise. I grew up with it.

[@darinb.3273]

@@ARandomOven Hey there you are absolutely correct Dolby (any flavor) relies on perfect azimuth alignment. If it is off even a tiny bit the Dolby circuits DO NOT correctly adjust (process) the encoded tape. Azimuth is the most critical part of Dolby noise reduction working properly. A worn tape head while not track properly thus killing Dolby's ability to decode a Dolby signal, the term as I understand is called breathing. The best description is someone turning the treble response up and down during more quiet parts and back up when higher frequencies are present. Done properly the listener would NEVER KNOW that was happening but that's EXACTLY what Dolby is doing because it does this actively, hence the term encoding and decoding. For those interested here's a link to technology connections and a video that explains it EXTREMELY WELL. Enjoy. kzbin.info/www/bejne/epm6fWqinNN_pKc

[@hifi.david.]

Try send the deck to technician I did with my akai and they fixed it all

[@ARandomOven]

Maybe in the future

[@hifi.david.]

Sounds good without Dolby imo

[@ARandomOven]

I agree, but Dolby does reduce the noise by a lot, which is a big plus

[@hifi.david.]

@@ARandomOven chrome tape recorded flac no Dolby sounds just like source on my akai

[@ARandomOven]

@@hifi.david. same tbh, and I personally prefer not using noise reduction on any of my cassettes. However, this video was just made to showcase the capabilities of Dolby B on a noisy tape, specifically the '79 TDK D :p

[@hifi.david.]

What’s Dolby nr then

[@ARandomOven]

NR = Noise Reduction :p

[@hifi.david.]

@@ARandomOven oh 😂

[@hifi.david.]

@@ARandomOven why did some say nr and some just Dolby system

[@ARandomOven]

@@hifi.david. I mentioned this in the video, but before Dolby C was made, Dolby B was the only noise reduction system made by Dolby for consumers. At the time, Dolby didn't think they were going to make another noise reduction system, so they just called Dolby B the "Dolby System"

[@hifi.david.]

@@ARandomOven ah ok, also next video buy some chrome tapes and use without and with Dolby see what it sounds like maybe