perry
09-24-2009, 08:40 AM
The K-1020 has one of the longest VU meteres out there..it goes to +20db, vs +10db on most others. I always wondered why. I picked up a bunch of used 84 thru 91 XLII-S tapes that the "audiophile" had used to make copies of his vinyl albums using Dolby B. Mediocre recordings, so far, of the ones I've listened to. But the tapes are like new, so I was recording over one with the same album on Cd and then on vinyl, that I happened to have, just to compare the recording on the tape with what I could get, on my Nak RX-505 and the K-1020.
I am sad to say that this is the first time I really noticed that a tape recorded on my Nak (dolby C) really sounded dull played on the Yammie. I guess I never did that combo before. I know both are aligned correctly, but so far, I just have to say that while the Nak recorded tape (Dolby C) sounded almost perfect played back on the Nak, the highs were siginificantly closer to the original on the Yamaha with dbx. Unfortunately, there was also some low mid coloration on the 1020, that simply wasn't there on the Nak, so maybe I still have to play around with the bias a bit, and I didn't compare the NAK with no NR either, but for a straight forward A-B, the Yamaha was just spectacular with dbx. I think that is why they put the meters up to +20db, as the dynamic range dance of the meters is wider when using dbx vs dolby, all else being equal.
When comparing Dolby C of the Nak to the 1020, there was no comparison, the Nak just killed it, but I figured that would happen, as commercial pre-recorded tapes played on the Nak are an order of magnitude better sounding than the 1020.
I still have a bunch of experimentation to do, with my signal generator, .. Just such a fun hobby to get back into!!
I am sad to say that this is the first time I really noticed that a tape recorded on my Nak (dolby C) really sounded dull played on the Yammie. I guess I never did that combo before. I know both are aligned correctly, but so far, I just have to say that while the Nak recorded tape (Dolby C) sounded almost perfect played back on the Nak, the highs were siginificantly closer to the original on the Yamaha with dbx. Unfortunately, there was also some low mid coloration on the 1020, that simply wasn't there on the Nak, so maybe I still have to play around with the bias a bit, and I didn't compare the NAK with no NR either, but for a straight forward A-B, the Yamaha was just spectacular with dbx. I think that is why they put the meters up to +20db, as the dynamic range dance of the meters is wider when using dbx vs dolby, all else being equal.
When comparing Dolby C of the Nak to the 1020, there was no comparison, the Nak just killed it, but I figured that would happen, as commercial pre-recorded tapes played on the Nak are an order of magnitude better sounding than the 1020.
I still have a bunch of experimentation to do, with my signal generator, .. Just such a fun hobby to get back into!!