[ProAudio] DVD Dubbing Problem

[Dan Dugan]

I have no experience with mini-dv or MiniDV. I did a lot of nature recording on Sharp brand MiniDisc or MD pocket stereo recorders that were a huge improvement on compact cassette technology for consumers. The system used about 5x perceptual encoding and ran on a single AA battery. I even made 1h 15m four-channel recordings using two recorders, post synchronized, that sound very good. From the packaging of MD blanks here, there was also a HiMD system that I never saw.

-Dan

> On May 22, 2025, at 1:05 PM, Richard L. Hess via ProAudio <proaudio at bach.pgm.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi, Jim,
> 
> I checked Tim Stoffel's magnum opus on VTR formats (www.lionlamb.us/quad/format.html <http://www.lionlamb.us/quad/format.html>) and he says DVCAM (which has 40 and 184 minute cassettes on 1/4 inch tape) has:
> 
>        No. of digital channels: 2  Sampling rate: 48 kHz  No. of bits: 16
>          (Or, 4 32 kHz, 12 bit channels)
> According to the same resource DVCPro and DVCPro 50 are both 48/16 with 2 and 4 channels, respectively.
> 
> There seems to be some confusion online in the forums, but many posts seem to agree with Tim's posting. I don't know personally.
> 
> So, since you are transferring from the DVDs you made, that would most likely be 48/16 PCM on the DVD as well since it came across digitally from the MiniDV player. It should be an exact clone. Although there are options for other audio formats in DVD (including AC-3 and DTS), I'm thinking if it took in PCM it wouldn't convert it to a lossy format.
> 
> I have not thought about this for years,  but what I found sounds like what I thought it was from back in the day.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Richard
> 
> On 2025-05-22 3:45 p.m., Jim Brown via ProAudio wrote:
>> On 5/22/2025 11:05 AM, Bob Katz via ProAudio wrote:
>>> f I recall, mini-dv was a medium dedicated to Sony's lossy coded format. If I'm right then the so-called "16 bit 48 kHz" files are lossy encoded. The lossy encoded wordlength in the file is apparently 16 bit but when decoded it will expand to 18 bits in linear pcm format (formerly lossy coded) or more. 
>>> 
>>> And if I'm right then David Josephson's point about finding the original player makes sense and you have to play it from the original software. I suggest having a bit-scope on the digital output to sense the output wordlength coming from the decoder. You could do that by playing the dig out (SPDIF) into a good DAW and run a plugin called "bitter" on the bitstream. 
>>> 
>> 
>> Thanks Bob. The dubs I've made to DVD were Firewire from a semi-pro player (not Sony) to a standalone DVD recorder that claims to enhance toe video. For all of that material I simultaneously recorded the same mix to 2-track DAT. 
>> 
>> Jim Brown 
>> 
>> 
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> -- 
> Richard L. Hess
> Aurora, Ontario, Canada           richard at richardhess.com <mailto:richard at richardhess.com>
> http://www.richardhess.com/tape           
> http://www.richardhess.com/notes   Quality tape transfers
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