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From: telesci!jbulyk@twwells.com (Jerry E. Bulyk)
Newsgroups: rec.audio.high-end
Subject: Re: DBX
Message-ID: <6582@uwm.edu>
Date: 25 Sep 90 12:50:55 GMT
Sender: news@uwm.edu
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Approved: tjk@csd4.csd.uwm.edu



Hi:

	I have been using dbx with a Nakamichi LX-5 (3 head) cassette deck for 
	~ eight years and absolutely swear by it. Actually, the reason I got into
	dbx was because of my first cassette deck (a Harmon-Kardon). It had
	what turned out to be a badly misaligned Dolby calibration. By
	throwing a dbx on top of the H-K, the faulty Dolby was bypassed, and the
	results were excellent. But, in disgust, I dumped the H-K and bought the
	Nak instead. This was circa '82-'83. Turns out, the Nak Dolby implemen-
	tation is excellent and with their Dolby C, I could have almost avoided dbx.

	dbx does provide a greater reduction in noise, without a doubt, but there
	exists a minor side effect which has been described as "pumping" or 
	"breathing"; an effect of a rising/falling hiss around some notes.
	I have noticed this effect mostly on solo piano; since a piano is almost
	a percussion instrument in terms of its attack, dbx sounds a little slow
	in following the notes. For such, Dolby C is available with slightly 
	increased hiss without the dbx side effects. With other forms of music,
	no such effect is heard. 

	The best demo for dbx traditionally, has been the "blank tape" test:
	record nothing on a three head deck, first run w/o any noise reduction, 
	then apply Dolby B, then switch to C, then to dbx.
	The drop in tape hiss is obvious to any non-audiophile.

	The dbx implementation does indeed differ between those found in outboard
	units made by dbx, such as the 224, and those built into decks. For some
	time, I used to have a luxman cassette deck (with built-in dbx) at work
	(as my walkman). I did not find it suitable for making dbx recordings.

	I recently bought a second nak, and a dbx for it; I have dbx in my car 
	stereo, and consider dbx the only noise reduction system which does not
	introduce any additional tape hiss into a cassette recording. In summary,
	I would recommend dbx for cassette decks iff it is an outboard unit
	manufactured by dbx.


	- jerry	



Jerry E. Bulyk
TeleSciences C.O. Systems, Inc

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