HiFi VCR for music

racerxnet

Well-Known Member
Apr 30, 2014
76
25
323
Title pretty much says it all. I was told a long time ago that recorded music to a Svhs/vhs on a good machine could sound very nice. Has anyone ever tried this. I have about 5 editing machines taking up space and thought it might be fun to try. What were your results?

MAK

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum, but I thought it would be close enough.
 

NorthStar

Member
Feb 8, 2011
24,305
1,323
435
Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada
I did use VHS tapes to record music from my turntable and CD player...making my own music compilations. ...@ SP speed (standard)...two hours (better than EP).
It wasn't as good as the originals...but the originals back then weren't good either. ...It was more for the fun of making them than the true high fidelity sound.

I had a Sony VCR tape deck; with full editing audio/video functions. ...With a front door opening down flat and all the cockpit controls were there, like a keyboard.
The dynamic range is about 80dB or so. ...Considered hi-fi stereo sound back then...and even had an Akai VHS machine with surround sound.

Last music recordings I made were from a CD-R/RW recording player (Yamaha); much better sounding, and quicker and easier to use and edit.
It terminated itself (the disc transport) from lots of use and abuse. ...Those CD machines are fragile, very.
I recorded from LPs, and CDs, using both the analog and digital connections. ...And it had a dynamic expander feature, for Car music.

Today you can do the same, bit-for-bit, from your PC or Mac.

* VHS and Beta tapes for movies were popular before the Laserdisc apparition.
 

Curt Palme

Well-Known Member
Jan 25, 2012
86
1
83
Because the Hifi audio track scans across the entire width of the tape like the video track does (the Hifi audio track is recorded 'deeper' into the tape, I was told long ago, you can also use the EP mode and get amazing results. Back in the late 80s I spent an entire Christmas vacation making mixed tapes on EP, that's 6 hours per tape. I still have them all, run them about once a year, and they all still work great. It was as close to CD recording as you could get back then... before CD recorders came out.
 

dminches

Well-Known Member
Oct 22, 2011
3,409
2,794
1,410
Title pretty much says it all. I was told a long time ago that recorded music to a Svhs/vhs on a good machine could sound very nice. Has anyone ever tried this. I have about 5 editing machines taking up space and thought it might be fun to try. What were your results?

MAK

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum, but I thought it would be close enough.

VHS/Beta HiFi makes excellent analog recordings. I recorded a number of concerts and FM broadcasts this way. The biggest issue is that tapes made on one machine might not always play well on another. If you have a machine which you can depend on this shouldn't be an issue. I also used to make PCM tapes at the same time since the digital signal is recorded on the video track.
 

Johnny Vinyl

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
May 16, 2010
8,570
51
38
Calgary, AB
I used to record on them all the time. They were great for making 2-hour compilations of different music genres.
 

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing