[ProAudio] FeralA - Recordings released encoded with Dolby A

[James Perrett]

With regard to setting the azimuth by summing to mono and adjusting for
maximum hf - I've heard people say that there could be a problem if the
head gaps on each track are not in line with each other. I've not
experienced this myself as I've found that setting the azimuth with a 15kHz
tone using just one channel matches the mono sum method well on the
machines that I use but I guess some manufacturers made their heads more
precisely than others. Have others experienced head gaps being out of line
with each other?

On Tue, 11 Feb 2020 at 17:21, Bob Katz via ProAudio <proaudio at bach.pgm.com>
wrote:

> Here are three responses to three different subjects that have expanded
> from the original topic!
>
> I. There are so many ways that test tones at the head of a tape could be
> different from the audio on the tape. In the old days in some studios I saw
> some visiting engineers lay down test tones after the fact, on a different
> machine than was used for the mixdown, as if that would help the situation.
>
> We transfer engineers have developed a spidey sense and often check and
> recheck the content to ensure it has not changed from cut to cut. On most
> machines, before making the transfer for a new cut, you can put your finger
> on the side of the tape to tilt it slightly, while listening in mono to
> ensure the azimuth has not drifted, and then transfer the new cut.
>
> II. As for Bob O's comment against the practice of doing elevated dolby
> level, I agree there was a standard for 185, but as people started to use
> elevated levels as high as 6 dB over 185, I was seriously concerned about
> running out of headroom in the Dolby gear if standard dolby level was used,
> and so as a practice, I see less harm in using an elevated dolby level than
> to overload the Dolby processor with too hot audio. I always recorded dolby
> tone as well as 1 kHz @  VU. The Dolby 361 meters, as Richard mentioned,
> were notoriously inaccurate, I would put a sharpie mark on the real dolby
> level on the meter, for what it was worth. There was a Dolby tester that
> could be used for accuracy of the dolby tone or I believe a test point that
> could be checked.
>
> III. Dear John:
>
> So you set azimuth by looking at the bias. Are you looking at two channels
> of bias? And how is this superior to the tried and true method of
> mono-summing the left and right audio channel and adjusting for maximum
> high frequency response, also checking by inverting the polarity of one and
> going for a minimum as a cross check?
>
>
> Best wishes,
>
>
>
> Bob
> On 2/9/20 4:32 PM, John Chester via ProAudio wrote:
>
> On 2/9/20 3:56 PM, Richard L. Hess via ProAudio wrote:
>
> Also, a funny story, the tones at the head of that master tape caused Alan
> a bit of a challenge...the azimuth of the tone didn't match the azimuth of
> the audio!
>
>
>
> Been there, seen that.  An assembled album master may contain cuts that
> were recorded on different machines, and sometimes even in different
> studios.  This becomes really obvious when I'm doing Plangent transfers.  I
> can see when the bias frequency and flutter profile change, and I set
> azimuth on each cut by looking at the bias.  I have seen a master where the
> head tones were recorded on a different machine which didn't match *any* of
> the music.
>
> When the album master is Dolby encoded, and several different machines
> were used for mixing, I can't believe that the Dolby setup on all of those
> different machines perfectly matches the head tones.  Fortunately the tape
> with the head tones recorded on a completely different machine wasn't
> Dolby.....
>
> -- John Chester
>
>
>
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> --
>
>
>
> If you want good sound on your album, come to
> Bob Katz 407-831-0233 DIGITAL DOMAIN MASTERING STUDIO
> Author: *Mastering Audio*Digital Domain Website <https://www.digido.com/>
>
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> of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
>
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-- 
**********************************************************************
*       James Perrett
*       JRP Music Services, Hampshire, U.K.
*       Audio Mastering, Restoration, Recording and Consultancy
*       Phone +44 (0) 777 600 6107
* e-mail james at jrpmusic.net
* http://www.jrpmusic.net
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