Re: [ARSCLIST] DBX for playback of 78s

[John Eberle <JEb45ACP@xxxxxxx>]

Jan Myren asks about using DBX to playback 78s .  

Here is my take on this : DBX Noise reduction is an encode in  recording
and decode in playback system designed to reduce tape noise in  
professional recording studios . There was an attempt by DBX to interest the  record 
industry in a version designed to be used in the mastering of 45s and lps  and 
the decode unit was to be incorporated 
into the preamp or the playback  system . The company I was working for at 
the time , Nashville Record  Productions in Music City USA was given an 
onsite demo of this system and it was  considered by many
in the industry for adoption as it was quite effective.  

The big drawback to the DBX record system and the reason for  its'
lack of acceptance was that the DBX encoded record was most unpleasant  to 
listen to on a playback system that did not have the DBX
decoder ; making  compatibility in the market place a big problem 

So; DBX for playing 78s  is a not a good idea . Even recoding a 78 on tape 
with DBX encoding , and  playing the tape back through the DBX in decode 
mode will only reduce the tape  noise and leave the record noise 
untouched . I tried this in the '70s ! BTW  : The DBX record noise system 
had radically different characteristics from  the tape noise reduction DBX 
system . The artifacts of tape noise are quite  different from those
of record noise .

78 playback is best done ( IMO  ) with the proper choice of stylus to 
match the groove , using a mono  cartridge or a stereo cartidge wired 
for lateral only and then possible  cleaning up the transfer with some 
tastefull computer based noise reduction such  as Sonic No Noise .

Just my 2 cents , hope this info is helpful  !



John Eberle
AMERICANA CD MASTERING 
313 EAST COLLEGE  STREET SUITE 3A
DICKSON , TENNESSEE 37055
615-441-4660  

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