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I just received the mastering of a project I recorded few months ago, there is Dolby S on my tape machine, it was OFF for the first song I recorded, then I turned it ON for the other songs cause it was quiet music and wanted to get rid of the noises...

Now, first thing I notice is that on all the songs recorded with Dolby S, the hi end (cymbals) sounds compressed, unnatural, harsh,
On the other end, the song I recorded without Dolby S, the cymbals sound natural, open, smooth.

Is this a normal effect of the dolby? I mean, it is really noticeable, unpleasant, but less overall noise

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Reggie Wed, 09/21/2005 - 10:15

When you encode a song with Dolby S, it is meant to be played back decoded. If you have some kind of Dolby S decoder, you might find that the songs with Dolby S sound about right. I don't think you technically have to, but it might sound better to you if it is decoded when you play it back.

This paper explains what the boost curve looks like for Dolby S : http://www.dolby.com/assets/pdf/tech_library/212_Dolby_B,_C_and_S_Noise_Reduction_Systems.pdf

Hawkeye Thu, 09/22/2005 - 08:04

Costy wrote: Yes, it should be be notisable. Think of dolby (S, B or whatever) as
a filter (even it's more complicated). Some frequencies got cut. Just
record all straight onto tape and let mastering engineer take care
of the noise.

I'm no uber tech expert, but I don't think you should think of Dolby as a filter at all. It is more like active EQ. Boosting the overall level of higher frequencies relative to the nosie floor (encode) and then reducing the level of those frequencies by an equal amount and thereby reducing the hiss of the noise floor corresponding to the amount of EQ cut in the decode cycle.

It's more like applied boost and cut to certain frequencies and different levels. A filter just reduces frequencies according to the slope of the filter.

If anything, a tape encoded with Dolby S and then played back withouth Dolby S being engaged could sound splashy with an exaggerated treble response.

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