Tape Project Forum
General Category => Prerecorded Tapes => Topic started by: Guglielmo on September 06, 2010, 03:29:36 AM
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Hi,
first of all I would say hello to everybody, I am new on this wonderful Forum!
And now just a question following some listening to my BC prerecorded tapes: are these dubbed with NAB or IEC equalisation? Actually I believed that "modern" equalisation is NAB std. due to the fact that on my Revox A77 the IEC is "suggested" (on User Manual) for "old" recordings... On the contrary I understand that top master tapes like "The Tape Project" are IEC...
Moreover listening to good BC tapes with good decoding Dolby Unit (Nakamichi NR 200) on my Revox the IEC position (rather than NAB) seems giving more dynamic and live music...
Thank you for clarification
Guglielmo
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Hi Guglieimo,
Welcome to the forum.
The BC's are all recorded with NAB eq. In fact, I'd never found any pre recorded tapes (commercial) that were recorded with IEC eq until the Tape Project.
I used to have an A77 back in the 1970's and just like you, I preferred using the IEC setting for playback of some tapes even though they were recorded with NAB.
Both of these standards were developed pre 1960 so I don't consider either one to be a modern eq.
There's an excellent article on MRL's web site regarding these and other eq curves. There are many excellent articles on magnetic recording there. Some of which I've totally lost track of how many times I've read.
http://home.comcast.net/~mrltapes/equaliz.html
Strictly speaking, listening to the BC's with IEC is the wrong playback eq. At this point in time, it may, however, compensate for some of the age and wear related deficiencies of older tapes. And when it comes down to it, if you enjoy the music more that way, it's a good thing.
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Thank ironbut for contribution.
Actually if we look at the different Eq curves in recording we note that (beside different behaviour on the low frequencies) the IEC has less attenuation after 4kHz
(http://www.soundfan.it/FOTO/REGISTRATORI/iec_curve.jpg)
(http://www.soundfan.it/FOTO/REGISTRATORI/nab_curve.jpg)
This should imply a less brilliant sound if we choose IEC (whose curve is complementary to that of recording) during playback but actually it seems the opposite...
Anyway I agree with you that any curve is "good" for good listening apart technical considerations and physical reproduction argumentation. Moreover I would say that my personal preference of IEC with BC tapes is not so evident with all tapes and this may be due to different setup during original recording and even different setups during dubbing at BC studio. And this beside any thoughts about compensation for some of the age and wear related deficiencies of older tapes as you rightly said...