Fighting Distortion In Tape Recording

108 Pages·2016·10.95 MB·English

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THE AUTHORITATIVE MAGAZINE ABOUT HIGH FIDELITY APRIL 1977 $1.00
Fighting Distortion In Tape Recording
Open Reel vs. Cassette
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LIKE THIS.
best combination of accuracy and
long life you can get in a cassette
head.
There's also a peak limiter that
lets you cram as much onto a cas-
sette as possible without distortion.
Large VU meters and a peak indi-
cator light that let you know if you
do begin to oversaturate the tape
and distort. Plus separate bias and
equalization switches that let you get
the most out of different brands of
tape. And an automatic CrO2 selector.
If all this isn't enough, you'll find
-Cz that the 9191 comes with a memory
4iis
E9 that lets you go back to a favorite spot
on the tape automatically. And
' by LE J electronic solenoid controls for going
from play to rewind, or from rewind to
r fast forward, without hitting the stop
INP. button. And without jamming the tape.
6
There's also the convenience of front
loading. A door over the cassette com-
partment to help keep the tape heads
clean. And a light behind the cassette
that lets you see where you are on the tape.
ti
Go slip a cassette into a Pioneer 9191 at
re' T
your local Pioneer dealer.
You'll find it hard to believe such a little thing
incredible tolerances. could come out sounding so big.
Which give the 9191 the kind of
wow and flutter figures that no deck in our C -F9191 Specifications:
l
price range can match. Frequency Response: Standard, LH tape: 25-16,000 Hz
Of course, having a great tape transport (35-13,000 Hz ±3dB); CrO, tape: 20-17,000 Hz
system means nothing if you don't have great (30-14,000 Hz ±3dB)
electronics to back it up. We do. Signal -to -Noise Ratio: Dolby OFF: More than 52dB.
Dolby ON: More than 62dB (Over 5,000 Hz,
The 9191 comes with an advanced three
Standard and LH tapes/When chromium dioxide
stage direct coupled amplifier that extends high
tape is used, signal-to-noise ratio is further
frequency response anc minimizes distortion.
improved by 4.5dB over 5kHz)
The built-in Dolby system can reduce tape hiss Harmonic Distortion: No more than 1.7% (OdB)
by as much as 10 decibels in high frequencies. Wow and Flutter: No more than 0.07% (WRMS)
Our multiplex filter lets you record FM Motor: Electronically -controlled DC motor (built-in
broadcasts without picking up a lot of unwanted generator) x 1;(4.8cm/s speed drive), DC torque
motorxl;(Fast forward and rewind drive)
noise, or the multiplex signal every FM
PIONEER
stereo station sends out.
GD
Even our ferrite solid tape head offers the
U.S. Pioneer Electronics Corp., 75 Oxford Drive, Moonachie, New Jersey 07074
O U S navra 9[CIRONIa¢NP 1977
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A THIN
BEAUTIFUL BIG
unacceptab e tape hiss. or
SYSTEM no-iable
\NOW and f _utter.
T- ke our tape transport system.
The recording tape Since theta3e in acasse.te moves at only
in a cassette is only an eighth o= a-1 inch wide. 1-7/8 inches per second, even the most minus-
Crammed in_o that eighth of an inch may cule v-ar_a=ion in tape speed \nit make a major
I
ce as many as 64 original tracks -nixed down varia_ian n sound To guard agains-_ this, where
to two A nurdred musicians. Coun_less mast tassette cecks give you one motor, the
overdubbings. Not to mention the ent' -e 9191 comes w_th twc. The firs: is used only fer
audible frequercy range. fast forward and rewind, so the second can be
Any cassette deck can reproduce part of designed exclusively -or maintaining a constan
what's been piu tdowr_on that eig ith of an inch. speed for play and record.
The P oneer 9191 was desig iec to repro- All of ou- tape drive components-the
duce all df it. Superlatively. Without dropouts, capsan, del:, and fly ghee -are finished to
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WHAT DOES IT TAKE
TO GET THE MOST
OUT
BEAUTIFUL MUSIC
OFA LITTLE THING
THIS?
LIKE
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The Very First
DIRECT- TO - DISC
Of a Full Orchestral
Production
DIRECT FROM CLEVELAND April 1977 "Successor to RAW Est. 1917" Vol. 61, No. 4
LORIN MAAZEL
THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA Feature 28 Open Reel vs. Cassette/Herman Lia
Articles 34 Fighting Distortion on Tape/Wayne Saylor
48 The Compleat Microphone Evaluation/Jon Sank
Equipment 60 Lirpa Receiver/I. Lirpa
I
Profiles 67 Dynaco SE -10 Equalizer/Leonard Feldman
70 Sonus Blue Phono Cartridge/B.V. Pisha
72 Garrard GT55 Turntable/George W. Tillett
74 AIWA AD -1800 Cassette Deck/George W. Tillett
76 Shure 516EQ Microphone/Jon Sank
80 European Records/John Wright
Record
84 The Column/Michael Tearson & Jon Tiven
Reviews 88 Jazz & Blues
91 Classical/Edward Tatnall Canby
4 Audioclinic/Joseph Giovanelli
Audio 6 Tape Guide/Herman Burstein
In General 8 Audio ETC/Edward Tatnall Canby
16 Dear Editor
24 Tape Guide II/Herman Burstein
- 26 What's New In Audio
94 Classified Advertising
98 Advertising Index
Editor Eugene Pitts III AUDIO (title registered U.S. Pat. Off.) is published
1HE CEEAEf `dt1D OtI.IHEZ1lfd Associate Editors monthly by North American Publishing Co., Irvin J.
ro 210 WVVSEr Edward Tatnall Canby BBourtloewr,s kVyi,c eP rPerseidseidnetn; tsF;r aRn. kK Neenmneetyhe rB, aaxntedr , JaVyi cLe.
DIUEC1 WOW CfE AEDVVID Bert Whyte President/Production; Vic Brody, Promotion Direc-
Assistant Editor Eugene J. Garvin Jr. tor; Mary Claffey, Circulation Director.
A record of incredible DMeasrigken tinFgra nDk irMecotoorr eS anford L. Cahn RffooArr T5$E1140S..00-U00;;n 32i t eyyedea arrSss t faoftoerrs $ $o21n08l..y00:00 ;; 1o auyntedsai dr3 ef oy etrh a$ers8 U.0fo.0Sr;. :2$ 21 y6ye.e0aa0rs.r
Circulation Manager Jean Davis Printed in U.S.A. at Columbus, Ohio. All rights
Advertising Production Gloria Klaiman reserved. Entire contents copyrighted 1977 by North
fidelity from an incredible American Publishing Co. Second class postage paid
at Philadelphia, Pa. and additional mailing office.
Senior Editors Back issues, $2.00 each. World Library Congress
performance of Berlioz, Richard C. Heyser Number: ISSN 0004-752X. Dewey Decimal Number:
Bascom H. King 621.381 or 778.5.
Bizet, Falla and Tchaikovsky. B.V. Pisha aRnEdG SIOanNfoArLd SLA. LCEaSh On,F FMICaErkSe: tinJagy DL.i rBecuttolerr,, 54P5u bMliashdei-r
son Ave., New York, N.Y. 10022, telephone (212) 371-
4100.
Contributing Editors: lay Martin, 2525 West 8th St., Los Angeles, California
Tom Bingham, Herman Burstein, 90057, telephone [phone].
Leonard Feldman, Joseph Giovanelli, REPRESENTATIVES: Europe, V. B. Sanders, Interna-
C.G. McProud, Dan Morgenstern, tional Publishers Advertising Service, Raadhuisstraat'
$h1a6n d($li1n5g )p lufsr o$m1 sThEipLpiAngR C& HMoicwhaarde l AT. eRaorsboenrs,o nG, eDoorgneal dW M. .T Sillpeot,t o, 2042,9 9P7.-O13. 0B3o; xt e2le5,g rGarmasft, -dEeu rRaydpt,e aHmol-lAanmds; teterdleapmho. ne,
RECORDS 4150 Mayfield Road, Jon Tiven.
Cleveland, Ohio 44121. Publisher Jay L. Butler
About the cover: We couldn't resist do-
ing a full -color cover of the fabulous
and at the world's finest record Lirpa One receiver, which is our lead
and audio stores. equipment profile this month. Since
our measurement equipment doesn't
begin to compare with that in Herr AUDIO Editorial and Publishing Offices,
Doktor Lirpa's lab, it seemed best to 401 No. Broad St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19108
Exclusively distributed worldwide have the receiver's test report done by Postmaster: Send eForm 3579 to the above address.
Prof. Lirpa, along with two of his
d by the Discwasher Group. aBt/
colleagues.
1407 N. Providence Rd.
Columbia, MO 65201
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Match one to your equipment
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We've been saying that for years; and tens of thou- hedron Stylus Tip, designed to assure the least
sands of consumers have profited by applying this LAB TESTS record wear and the longest stylus life achievable
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If you have a fine manual turntable, the XSV(3000 et response is extraordinarily smooth and flat; its
is a perfect choice. channel separation is exceptional; its transient re-
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The summary advice of Stereo's Lab Test, in an Read the whole evaluation report. Send for your
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Empire's Audioclinic
Blueprint For
Better Listening
No matter what system Joseph Giovanelli
you own, a new Empire
phono cartridge is certain
to improve its performance.
The advantages of
Empire are threefold.
One, your records will
last longer. Unlike other
Low Plate Voltage excessive voltage drop within the
magnetic cartridges,
Q. have two old tube -type stereo tube itself which would account for
Empire's moving iron 1
design allows our diamond asimmpillaifri eprrso bwlehmic.h Aat pfpirasrte tnhtely psrhoabrlee ma theS olomwe oapmerpaltifiniegr sv, olitnagcleusd. ing yours,
stylus to float free of its manifested itself by the plates of the employ fixed bias and the rectifiers in-
magnets and coils. This output stages glowing red-indicating crease in internal resistance with age,
imposes much less weight excessive plate current. After re- which would result in low bias applied
on the record surface and placing tubes, measuring voltages, to the output stages. This results in an
insures longer record life. and pondering, the main problem in increase in plate current and could be
Two, you get better one was traced to a shorted capacitor the cause of your problem. Bias is of-
and in the other to a dirty bias adjust- ten developed via a voltage divider
separation.The small, ing pot. Still the voltages are out of network. Check the value of the resis-
hollow iron armature we spec and beyond the range of avail- tors to see if they have changed in val-
use allows for a tighter fit able adjustments. ue, for if they have, the bias adjust-
in its positioning among With all the audio tubes removed ment controls may not be enough to
the poles. So, even the and the rectifier tube left in, I have compensate for this problem.
lots of volts, but insertion of the out-
most minute movement is
put tubes brings the voltage to below
accurately reproduced to specified levels. This would indicate Front -End Overload
give you the space and that I still have a plate current prob- Q. My problem is with a new tuner.
depth of the original lem. Why?-Fred Portnoy, Owings I am receiving stations where there
recording. Mills, Md. are none. There are three stations
Three, Empire uses A. With old equipment as you are which I get all at the same time. At
4 poles, 4 coils, and 3 presently restoring, it is never a good 95.7 mHz, I am getting 94.3, 92.1 and
magnets (more than any practice to operate it with the rectifier 97.9 mHz. What type of problem is
other cartridge) for better plugged in but all the other tubes re- this? Can I do anything about it? Is the
moved. The filter capacitors will tuner at fault? Is this what happens
balance and hum rejection. charge up to peak voltage which, with when one is close to strong sig-
The end result is great many amplifiers, will be close to the nals?-R.J. Patterson II, Lake Park, Fla.
listening. Audition one for capacitors' breakdown point, even A. Solid-state technology has
yourself or write for our when they are new. You are flirting brought us marvelous equipment, but
free brochure,"How To with disaster by operating the ampli- we have also gotten some dis-
Get The Most Out Of Your fier as you described. advantages. One of them is that sensi-
Records:' After you com- Vacuum tube amplifiers are de- tive solid-state r.f. amplifiers will over-
signed so that if the operating volt- load much more quickly than their
pare our performance ages are 10 per cent low, they are still tube counterparts. The r.f. stages of
specifications we think considered within specifications. If the solid-state tuners are the most
you'll agree that, for the the voltage is substantially lower, then likely sources of the overload you de-
money, you can't do something is wrong. It may be that the scribed, which means that you hear
better than output stage is drawing too much cur- more than one station at a time and
Empire. rent, perhaps not enough to make the on a frequency not occupied by any
plates glow red, but still enough to of the received stations. Sometimes
cause the power supply to collapse these signals are so strong that by the
under the load. It may also be that the time they are attenuated sufficiently
capacitance of the filter capacitors is to do any good, other signals have all
low. There may be sufficient capaci- but disappeared. It might be worth-
tance to keep hum at a relatively low while writing to the equipment manu-
level, but not enough to keep the facturer to see if he has any modi-
voltage up to specs. fications to reduce the magnitude of
EIVPIFE It may also be that the rectifier tube this problem.
is low in cathode emission. When
Already your system sounds better. called upon to supply the full current, If you have a problem or question on audio, write to Mr.
the internal resistance of the rectifier Joseph Giovanelli, at AUDIO, 401 North Broad Street,
GarEdmenp iCreit yS, cNieenwti fYico rCk o1r1p5. 30 may be high enough to produce an Penhcillaodsee lpah siata, mPpa.e d1,9 1s0e8l.f -aAdlld rleesttseersd aernev ealonpswe.e red. Please
AUDIO April 1977
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Performance.
Scott Stacks Up.
Every serious listener knows that separate tuners and amplifiers offer greater system versatility and
flexibility than the all -in -one receiver. But Scott separates stack up where it really counts-
performance.
Every one of Scott's complete line of tuners and amplifiers is engineered and designed
to give you all the performance features you expect, at a price no higher than
many receivers currently on the market.
Scott's T 526 AM/FM Stereo Tuner and A 436 Integrated Power
Amplifier provide such important performance features as front
panel Dolby de -emphasis switching, a phase locked loop
multiplex section and linear motion calibrated controls.
And that's only part of the story. Compare these
important performance features with any
other medium-priced tuner and
amplifier on the market today.
The Scott T 526 Tuner
IHF sensitivity rated at 1.9 µV, S/N
ratio 68 dB and a capture ratio of
1.5 dB.
Signal strength and center channel
tuning meters.
Four gang tuning capacitor for better
image rejection.
AM section designed around a tuned
RF amplifier using J-FET for improved
signal-to-noise ratio.
AM noise suppression circuitry.
The Scott A 436 Amplifier
42 watts RMS per channel, driven
into 8 ohms from 20 Hz to 20 kHz with
no more than 0.3% THD.
True logarithmic meter amplifier
obviates the need for range switching.
Individual channel power level
meters calibrated in % of full power
output capability eliminates confus-
ing dB and VU readings.
Two completely independent tape
monitors allow two tape recorders
to be used simultaneously for direct
tape- to-tape copying.
Instantaneous electronic protection
circuit in the output stage.
IM distortion lower than 0.15% for a
cleaner sound without listening
fatigue.
High and Low filters, two auxiliary
outlets and mic inputs.
And the Scott T 526 and A 436 come complete with
professional rack -mount handles, and are backed by a three-year,
parts and labor limited warranty.
For specifications on Scott's complete line of audio components, write or call
H.H. Scott, Inc., 20 Commerce Way, Woburn, Mass. 01801. [phone]. In Canada: Paco
Electronics, Ltd., Quebec, Canada. In Europe: Syma International S.A., 419 Avenue Louise, Brussels, Belgium.
SCOTT
n
The Name to listen to.
Receivers / Tuners / Amplifiers / Turntables / Speakers
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INTRODUCING
Tape
ONE MORE
GREAT REASON ide
91i
TO OWN
Herman Burstein
SENNHEISER
HEADPHONES:
UNDER $35.
Our new HD -400's incor-
porate everything that's made Tape Deck Choice the erase head. Would it hurt to dis-
Sennheiser the premier head- Q. I am writing the type of letter connect the erase head and hook it to
phones in the ears of discrim- which you must dislike receiving. an external load via a switch? This
inating audiophiles: What brand of tape deck should 1 would still leave a load on the os-
buy? When I first began investigating cillator circuit without erasing the
Wide response. Unusual
smoothness. Superior tran- the decks available, I was thinking in tape.-Carl Ford, APO, N.Y.
the $500.00 range, but I don't want to A. If the external load presents the
sient ability. And extremely light- spend any more than necessary to same impedance as the erase head,
weight, rugged construction. meet my needs. I am looking for a there should be no problem. But if
They sound so good, deck to be used, primarily, for taping the impedance is different, then this
they've been compared with from a fairly extensive record library, will tend to change the amount of bias
the finest loudspeakers. and for playing these and pre- current that reaches the record head,
And deliver such a vastly recorded tapes, in addition to limited with consequent effects on the dis-
improved sound from most live recording. What would be your tortion and treble characteristics of
choice: Revox, TEAC (several models the tape recording.
amplifiers and receivers that
mentioned), or Tandberg (several
people are actually buying
models mentioned)? hope this letter
Sennheiser headphones 1 Demagnetization Frequency
doesn't ruin your whole day.-L.E.
6 instead of trading up to a Ray, Adrian, Mich. Q. I clean my heads after five hours
more expensive system. A. As have stated repeatedly, the of use, but how often should I de-
It's entirely practical, too. policy ofI Audio magazine forbids me magnetize them? The operating man-
Because their unique to recommend particular brands, or ual for my tape deck says that after
Open -Aire' design lets you models, of audio equipment, al- long periods of operation the mag-
ceonmjofyo ryto aunr dm luessisc liwstiethn emr ore tmhoeungdh a Ig owoodu lCd hibnee shea prepsyt atuor arnetc oomr a- ngreeteic hoef ardess iwduilal lb umiladg nuept ias mce. rtDaione sd eit-
fhaetiagdupe hthoanne .a..n iyn ofatchte, ri ts'st yelea soyf ywboohuoic kah r eo mnth erasontawst nisr etitcaoad yli nosgua r meoqpwulinnip grme. seoHnuetr ncrecees- hitfh uatrhtt eitfyo I ddtooeunmc'tah g htnhaevete iz heteo a tdhbsee ?wh ietI hawd stah,s e e tvodeeldn-
to forget you've got them on. views, talking to trusted friends, talk- magnetizer off. I could permanently
Your dealer has the new ing to trusted salesmen, and most im- magnetize them. Is this true?-
Model HD -400 now. But don't portant of all using the evidence of Thomas Sabol, Fullerton, Pa.
confuse it with imitations or your own ears and eyes. If the ma- A. Ordinarily manufacturers recom-
look -ali kes' chine appears to faithfully reproduce mend demagnetizing the heads after
They may have our great sound, comes at a price you can af- about eight hours of use, the same for
sounding new price tag, but ford, and stands up well in equipment cleaning. Sometimes the recommend-
not our great Sennheiser sound. reviews, it may well be a good bet. ed period is longer, although seldom
You can save a fair amount of money, more than 15 hours. To the best of my
SENNHEISER without giving up quality, by sacri- knowledge, no harm will come from
1M0a Wnuefsatc t3u7rinthg SPtlraenet tB. iNsseewnd Yoorfr/Hk a1n0n0o1v8e r(.2 1W2e) s2t 3G9e-r0m1a9n0y faictiionng, ssuocuhn df eoantu rseosu nasd , reavnedr ssei moupletar-- stou btjehect indge maa gnnoent i-zminagg npertoizceeds s.h eaOdf
neous record and playback. Don't be course, it is possible to scratch a head
afraid of one -motor recorders, since with the demagnetizer unless its tip is
with good engineering they can covered with a soft or plastic materi-
closely rival the performance of those als.
with two or three motors. Also, one The negative effects of a magne-
motor units are usually lighter and tized head are an increase in noise
more portable. No, you haven't and a reduction in the treble re-
ruined my whole day, just half of it. sponse, and both these effects are
permanently impressed on the
recorded tape.
Erase Eliminator
Q. I would like to make multiple If you have a problem or question on tape recording,
recordings on the same tape track write to Mr. Herman Burstein at AUDIO, 401 North Broad
and, therefore, would like to defeat SPtlreeaeste, ePnhcilloasdee lpa hsiata, mPpae. d1,9 1s0e8l.f -aAdlld rleetstseersd aernev ealnospwe.e red.
AUDIO April 1977
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