Noise Reduction Question

[John Svensson]

Probably a very dilettante type of question, but I have seen the short list of quality quad 8 track players and was wondering if using an outboard noise reduction unit was possible with a less than quality player to get nearly as good results? If so, what are/were good noise reduction units? I was looking at a TEAC AN300 on Ebay that was 4 channel and was wondering.....humm.
Any info appreciated. John

 

[Quadzilla]

Probably a very dilettante type of question, but I have seen the short list of quality quad 8 track players and was wondering if using an outboard noise reduction unit was possible with a less than quality player to get nearly as good results? If so, what are/were good noise reduction units? I was looking at a TEAC AN300 on Ebay that was 4 channel and was wondering.....humm.
Any info appreciated. John

I have a couple of AN-300 units, and they are excellent, but I use them for Dolby reel to reel playback. There were a few Dolby-encoded 8-track tapes, but not enough to warrant the purchase for 8-track use. Using Dolby noise reduction on non-Dolby tapes will result in even LESS high-frequencies than the already-limited 8-track frequency response. If you found a couple of 2-channel single-ended NR units, or dynamic range expanders like the DBX 1BX, 2BX, 3BX series; that would be a much better idea for non-dolby playback. There are others by Burwen, Pioneer, RG, etc. Cheers, Mike.

 

[John Svensson]

Gotcha, your average 8 track must have been recorded with a fair amount of compression to lower the noise to signal ratio, hence the expander to restore a more natural tonal range. I'll keep my eyes open for one. Thanks. John

 

[Quadzilla]

Gotcha, your average 8 track must have been recorded with a fair amount of compression to lower the noise to signal ratio, hence the expander to restore a more natural tonal range. I'll keep my eyes open for one. Thanks. John

You're welcome John. You will need two of them (stereo units) for four channel playback. Expanders make louder signals louder, and quieter signals (INCLUDING tape hiss) quieter. I would think that they should improve 8-track playback quite noticably. Good luck, Mike.

 

[mtgc]

I have used the DBX units with great success when I tranfer the 8-tracks to reel to reel.

MTGC (Michael)

 

[Quadzilla]

http://cgi.ebay.com/DBX-SNR-1-Singl...4QQihZ008QQcategoryZ14978QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Some guys have reported good results with these puppies. I have never tried one though, but I have a few other DBX models that I like a lot. Mike.

P.S. He can kiss my ass with his bullshit shipping cost to Canada though!

 

[ArmyOfQuad]

Personally, I dislike the sound of these units. They really kill the high frequency range. It acts as a gate when there isn't enough to open it up and allow the high frequencies through, and when it is open the high frequencies sound colored. Plus I've heard unnatural effects caused by the expanding. But some people love them, it's personal preference. I'd suggest listening to them in action before buying something.

 

[Quadzilla]

http://cgi.ebay.com/DBX-SNR-1-Singl...4QQihZ008QQcategoryZ14978QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Some guys have reported good results with these puppies. I have never tried one though, but I have a few other DBX models that I like a lot. Mike.

P.S. He can kiss my ass with his bullshit shipping cost to Canada though!

http://cgi.ebay.com/DBX-SNR-1-Singl...6QQihZ005QQcategoryZ14978QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

HEY ... and here's another one ... quad DBX ... it's a miracle. Mike.

 

[aquadad]

Hello John,

Here's a link to more about these units (the dbx SNR-1's).

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6781&highlight=snr-1

If you want to remove hiss these units are awesome! I get to have the experience of what these units can do on a somewhat regular basis. I have several conversions that they have been employed on and I love them. I have also had the opportunity to hear what these can do when used in capable hands in person when visiting with QuadBob and Quadgdiaz.

Don't confuse these units with the dbx units that were intended to be used to decode dbx encoded records. The only thing they have in common with those is the name of the manufacturer, dbx. You would be hard pressed to find someone who actually has hands on experience with the SNR-1's that will bad mouth them. A lot of people over the years have confused the SNR-1's with other dbx units that were intended to do other things. The SNR-1's were only intended to remove hiss and they do it splendidly.

Perhaps another thing to consider about why some people might like to leave hiss in is that maybe, after 30 or so years of hearing it that way, when they hear the music for the first time without hiss...it just plain scares the hell out of them:yikes!!!

 

[mtgc]

I have decided to bid on the unit mentioned above. I will give it a try, assuming I win the bid, to see how it works in a 8 track to reel to reel transfer.

MTGC (Michael)

 

[mtgc]

I won the item, and will be putting it to work soon. I will report to this forum what I find out about this unit.

MTGC (Michael)