[ProAudio] Dolby A with no tones (was 4-channel program distribution format(s))

[Richard L. Hess]

Bob, that is true and I do have the tricolour manual with three 
different calibration scenarios. However, I should have said I was 
speaking of this in the context of 1967-1970--before the three different 
calibration scenarios. By the way, I have seen yellow and blue Dolby A 
labels. Were those supposed to match the colour of the calibration in 
the manual?

While I liked what Dolby A did for the most part, I have grown to 
greatly dislike it in view of my tape restoration practice. I was 
pleased that everything worked out despite the lack of tones.

To be clear, I was NOT ADVOCATING for leaving out the tones...not by any 
means...just saying when someone did, it worked as intended.

The 363 was an improvement with the LEDs over the meter.

Cheers,

Richard

On 2023-01-25 4:12 p.m., Bob Katz wrote:
> Rich, you mentioned if everyone followed the rules then you wouldn’t 
> need the tone. Well, as soon as elevated level came round, the rules 
> became very difficult to enforce. Everyone asked “if we elevate the 
> fluxivity, shouldn’t we elevate the Dolby level, too?”  Plus, the 
> meters on the 361 were easily out. If you owned a calibrator you soon 
> learned that you could either “trust” The meter or the internal cal 
> voltage but rarely both. I used to put tape marks on the meter to 
> indicate the correct deflection.
>
> Bob
>
> My iPhone made me write this. Quotes only below this line. Nothing 
> more to see here.
> ----------------------------------------------------
>
>> On Jan 25, 2023, at 3:45 PM, Richard L. Hess via ProAudio 
>> <proaudio at bach.pgm.com> wrote:
>>
>> 
>>
>> It was...I saw a third 363 on Reverb and bought it so I now have 
>> three pairs of CAT 300 SR/A cards, but didn't need them, but I wasn't 
>> certain all four of mine work 100%. I do have a fourth 363 with 
>> SR-only cards. The Dolby A decoders seemed to be OK from quick 
>> testing (I don't have a working version of the tester, and besides, 
>> that's for CAT22s). I no longer trust the Cat 22s and 361 frames as 
>> the 363s seem to sound a bit better, but the big improvement is on 
>> the SR side between the Cat 280 and the Cat 300...and I hear (but 
>> haven't evaluated) that the SR only cards sound better than the SR/A 
>> cards.
>>
>> Anyway, the 185 nWb/m cal tape was most useful and I confirmed the 
>> level against a modern MRL 250 nWb tape.
>>
>> If everyone completely and diligently follows the rules, the cal 
>> tones are unnecessary.
>>
>> Speaking of this, the world needs software decoders for Dolby A, S, 
>> and SR. It seems as if we have workable decoders for Dolby B and C, 
>> dbx I and II, and Telcom C4. I have not tested, but the same folks 
>> who brought us the Telcom C4 decoder are working on Telefunken 
>> High-Com, Nakamichi High-Com II, and CBS CX (both versions). These 
>> three are subsets of the Telcom C4 pro system.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Richard
>>
>> On 2023-01-25 12:54 p.m., Scott Dorsey wrote:
>>> Dolby A with no tones?  That's kind of terrifying...
>>> --scott
>> -- 
>> Richard L. Hess                   email:richard at richardhess.com
>> Aurora, Ontario, Canadahttp://www.richardhess.com/
>> http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm  
>> Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.
>> _______________________________________________
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>> ProAudio at bach.pgm.com
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-- 
Richard L. Hess                   email:richard at richardhess.com
Aurora, Ontario, Canadahttp://www.richardhess.com/
http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm  
Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.
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