VHS vs CD quality

Bill Fitzpatrick · 29th November 2004, 06:58 AM

How come I get such good audio quality from VHS tapes and the bulk of my CD collection, in comparison, sounds like crap?

Frank Berry · 29th November 2004, 07:35 AM

VHS HI Fi is completely analog ... frequency modulation.

Bill Fitzpatrick · 29th November 2004, 03:25 PM

Any further comments anyone?

analog_sa · 29th November 2004, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Any further comments anyone

How can anyone comment upon such a general observation? What is the cd player? Something nice? A diy effort; a $50 piece of junk? To me they all sound bad in one way or another and that's why i only listen to cds in the car. A nice analogue tape deck certainly sounds better; why not a VHS?

Bill Fitzpatrick · 29th November 2004, 04:20 PM

The CD player is a Marantz CD63SE but I get the same results with other CD players.

To my ears, a CD is like a table radio in comparison to what comes off a VHS tape. The difference is HUGE. Is the CD format inherently that bad?

I wan't to throw all my CDs in the recycle bin

but I don't want to give up my music.

I'm wondering if anyone could make an educated comment regarding the quality of vinyl vs VHS for analog only material.

loonatron · 30th November 2004, 07:34 AM

I also use a stereo VHS machine for recording music! Though just for general use, instead of cassettes...

Anyway, what are you recording onto the vhs? vinyl? or your own recordings?

mattjk · 30th November 2004, 07:54 AM

Super Beta is even better!

Jennice · 30th November 2004, 08:36 AM

Analog_sa,

Do you buy music on tape, or how do you get it onto tape in the first place?

Jennice

macboy · 30th November 2004, 02:18 PM

Hi-Fi VHS can acheive 90 dB dynamic range and SNR figures, and it is completely analog, so there's no mystery as to why it sounds good. It is recorded using a helical recording head travelling across the surface of the tape faster than any traditional (linear) tape recorder. Remember that these heads and tapes also record and play back video with over 2 MHz bandwidth. Audio is no challenge.

Have you tried other CD players? They don't all do an equivalent job of reconstructing a clean analog signal from an over-quantized digital one.

Van Hai · 30th November 2004, 02:37 PM

I have been use Hi8 for my most my recording, i think it sound very very good, you can record in LP you almost get 18hrs in one tape which much smaller than VHS.
Cheer

29th November 2004, 06:58 AM	#1
Bill Fitzpatrick diyAudio Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Eugene, OR	VHS vs CD quality How come I get such good audio quality from VHS tapes and the bulk of my CD collection, in comparison, sounds like crap?

29th November 2004, 07:35 AM	#2
Frank Berry diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Midland, Michigan	VHS HI Fi is completely analog ... frequency modulation. __________________ Frank

30th November 2004, 08:36 AM	#8
Jennice diyAudio Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Planet Earth	Analog_sa, Do you buy music on tape, or how do you get it onto tape in the first place? Jennice __________________ I get paid to break stuff. My g/f gets paid to play with children. Life is good.

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29th November 2004, 03:25 PM	#3
Bill Fitzpatrick diyAudio Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Eugene, OR	Any further comments anyone?

29th November 2004, 04:20 PM	#5
Bill Fitzpatrick diyAudio Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Eugene, OR	The CD player is a Marantz CD63SE but I get the same results with other CD players. To my ears, a CD is like a table radio in comparison to what comes off a VHS tape. The difference is HUGE. Is the CD format inherently that bad? I wan't to throw all my CDs in the recycle bin but I don't want to give up my music. I'm wondering if anyone could make an educated comment regarding the quality of vinyl vs VHS for analog only material.

30th November 2004, 07:34 AM	#6
loonatron diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sydney	I also use a stereo VHS machine for recording music! Though just for general use, instead of cassettes... Anyway, what are you recording onto the vhs? vinyl? or your own recordings?

30th November 2004, 07:54 AM	#7
mattjk diyAudio Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Huntington Beach, Ca	Super Beta is even better!

30th November 2004, 02:18 PM	#9
macboy diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Ottawa, Canada	Hi-Fi VHS can acheive 90 dB dynamic range and SNR figures, and it is completely analog, so there's no mystery as to why it sounds good. It is recorded using a helical recording head travelling across the surface of the tape faster than any traditional (linear) tape recorder. Remember that these heads and tapes also record and play back video with over 2 MHz bandwidth. Audio is no challenge. Have you tried other CD players? They don't all do an equivalent job of reconstructing a clean analog signal from an over-quantized digital one.

30th November 2004, 02:37 PM	#10
Van Hai diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: HOng Kong	I have been use Hi8 for my most my recording, i think it sound very very good, you can record in LP you almost get 18hrs in one tape which much smaller than VHS. Cheer

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