<div dir="ltr">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?</div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, 11 Feb 2020 at 17:21, Bob Katz via ProAudio <<a href="mailto:proaudio@bach.pgm.com">proaudio@bach.pgm.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div>
<p>Here are three responses to three different subjects that have
expanded from the original topic! <br>
</p>
<p>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. <br>
</p>
<p>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. <br>
</p>
<p>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. <br>
</p>
<p>III. Dear John: <br>
</p>
<p>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? <br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Best wishes,</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Bob<br>
</p>
<div>On 2/9/20 4:32 PM, John Chester via
ProAudio wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">On
2/9/20 3:56 PM, Richard L. Hess via ProAudio wrote:
<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite">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!
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
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.
<br>
<br>
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.....
<br>
<br>
-- John Chester
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
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</blockquote>
<div>-- <br>
<pre><font face="3D"Courier"">
If you want good sound on your album, come to
Bob Katz 407-831-0233 DIGITAL DOMAIN MASTERING STUDIO
Author: <b>Mastering Audio</b>
<a href="https://www.digido.com/" target="_blank">Digital Domain Website</a>
No trees were killed in the sending of this message. However a large number
of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.</font>
</pre>
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</blockquote></div><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div>**********************************************************************<br>* James Perrett<br>* JRP Music Services, Hampshire, U.K.<br>* Audio Mastering, Restoration, Recording and Consultancy<br>* Phone +44 (0) 777 600 6107<br>* e-mail <a href="mailto:james@jrpmusic.net" target="_blank">james@jrpmusic.net</a><br>* <a href="http://www.jrpmusic.net" target="_blank">http://www.jrpmusic.net</a><br>**********************************************************************<br><br><br></div></div></div></div></div>