[Scott Dorsey]

Andre Majorel wrote:
On 2008-10-27, Don Pearce wrote:
Joe the audio guy wrote:
Another quick question: Is Dolby B/C available as software
and, if not, why?

It would be totally pointless. Once you have the signal rendered into
numbers, there are no longer any dynamic range limitations that would
merit Dolby (B or C).

All the cassettes I recorded with Dolby B sound wrong on play
back. With Dolby on, they sound like they're going through a
low-pass filter that is lifted for a few milliseconds every now
and then. Without it, there's hiss and mids/highs boost.

This is mistracking and it's caused because the Dolby level does not
match on the encoder and decoder.

It would be nice if there was a Dolby B decoder where you could
tweak the parameters until it suck less. Don't know if it being
software would help, or if it is even theoretically possible
but I can understand why someone would want that.

There are. Dolby has made one for the past 30 years. Combining it with
an equalizer can help a little although setting the equalizer up can be
problematic.

You can also find outboard Dolby B decoders from outfits like Tascam and
Concord, selling very cheaply on the used market.
--scott


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"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."