How did the dbx records sound?
The sound varied from recording to recording. Some, if not all, of the first discs were made from digital masters. The first series of dbx encoded discs that I remember were sold under the M&K Realtime Records label. The three M&K records that I own are part of the “Digital Masterpiece Series” which used, as one may expect, digital masters. These are fairly early digital recording, circa 1979, using the then new Sony PCM-1600 16-bit Digital Studio Recorder. The M&K records in this series are classical music.
Of the three Varese Sarabande Digital dbx encoded LP’s that I have, one was recorded in 1978 and the other two were recorded in 1980. All three recordings were made using the Soundstream System recorders. The Varese Sarabande Digital recordings are classical music.
Other record labels with dbx encoded recordings include Arabesque Recordings, Sine Qua Non Superba, Laurel Record, Turnabout VOX, Musical Heritage Society, Mark Levinson presents... , Mushroom Records and Nautilus Recordings SuperDiscs. Of all the dbx encoded records that I have, only the Turnabout VOX records are QS quadraphonic.
The appeal of the dbx encoded discs was that one could now have recordings with wide dynamic range without the surface noise intruding on the listening experience. The system worked well. The lack of record surface noise at that time was almost eerie! Cai’s criticism of the harsh sound my be due to the early digital recorders used to make some of the master recording. Not all of the dbx encoded discs used digital masters. Many, if not all, of the popular releases on the Nautilus SuperDiscs label were from multi-track analog masters. The Turnabout VOX records are from analog masters.
dbx Decoders.
The dbx type II decoder is the correct one for playback of dbx encoded LP’s. dbx sold the Model 21 dbx disc decoder ($109) as well as the Models 222, 224, 228 Type II noise reduction systems that had disc decoding. dbx later (1983-1984?) introduced the NX-40 an inexpensive ($129) compander that also had a disc decoder push button position for decoding records.
Technics introduced two cassette decks (RS-M270X and RS-M240X) with built-in dbx noise reduction in about 1981. These two decks included a switch position marked disc which could be used to decode the encoded dbx records. These were the first of several cassette decks that Technics produced with the dbx compander system built in.
Sincerely yours,
tcdriver