VHS HiFi sound, how good is it really. Using a VCR as a Audio Recorder in 2021
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- čas přidán 20. 08. 2024
- Here I listen to a HiFi VHS VCR to see how good it really is as a HiFi audio recorder and could it still be used today in 2021
These units can be bought cheap from car boots, charity shops and even eBay
But make sure it has HiFi Stereo written on the front, otherwise you will be disappointed sound wise.
Tape IN/OUT same as Play Back(PB) / RECORD(REC) is the best option for wiring the VCR in to your HiFi set up.
I used to be A/V engineer in a duplication plant.
We experimented with thicker micron tape, trying to improve picture quality. Obviously this limited the length of the film, Lawrence of Arabia wouldn’t fit lol..
Anyway, another experiment was recording audio into S-VHS Panasonic recorders, some of those recordings were epic.
Vhs hi fi. Better than reel to reel just a hair under CD. Perfect format for cheap. Cheers from Arizona USA 🇺🇸
Vinyl recorded to VHS at high speed is a profoundly great analog replica. From there, you can go straight to DSD losing nothing at all and maintaining an outstanding noise floor.
I used to record nightly radioshows from digital satellite ono hifi VHS. It sounded more than excellent, better than the majority of cassettedecks out at the time and even longplay mode didn't seem to affect the quality. Ideal way to get 8hours or even more of recording time in excellent quality.
I have a Nokia VHS that has separate audio inputs and switching to record & play audio only ( also has level controls etc,). Great fun. Great video by the way.
This takes me back, back in the 90s i bought my first ever highend hifi vcr, Panasonic NVHS900 super vhs and i use to use it more as an audio player than anything, the sound was so superior to audio cassettes, you could fit tons of music on it i used to spend hours making mixed tapes and track finding was easy enough if remembered to press index before you started recording that way you pressed you rewind or fast forward index buttons to find you tracks, my vcr had manual left and right record levels dials and vu meters, a headphone jack as well, it was a great way of getting high def audio, at that time there wasn't a lot around then that could give you good sound other than minidisc or dat but they were expensive in the old days
The ones with vu's, manual recording left and right controls are very nice units indeed, I have also been pointed in the direction of Betamax HiFi recorders which also sounds interesting. I just loved the way you can leave 4 or 8 hours of good quality music playing.
Great video, many thanks.
The stereo in the recording sounds good
Il suono del VHS e' PERFETTO!,videoregistratore molto buono
Grazie per il commento. Sì, l'audio di questi videoregistratori può suonare molto bene
Have you not got the remote? Every time you press record it puts a signal on the tape, so when you have it set to search it will stop and play at the appropriate number of track you want. Excellent machine, Panasonic was best VHS recorders in there day 👍
Thanks Gary, yes I did have get the remote as well, but no instructions. Did not realise it had this function, which of course will make it a lot easier to pick certain tracks.
Used to record Laserdisc audio/video, to VHS HiFi. It transferred quite well.
My PANASONIC NV-HD660 sounds amazing / as a cassette fun i'm i have to say that the VHS format is superior .
Sounded good , thanx
Tape speed makes no difference when recording in Hi-Fi, SP or the slowest EP/SLP the result is the same.
Thanks for the information Gordon. Re thinking now I do not know why I did not try it myself.
this must be down to the width of the tape and recording head, kinda like a bigger dat drive, which works in the same way.
Hi Michael, great video. I'm about to add my old vhs stereo recorder to my own analogue recording studio. Kind regards. Paul.
when I have the space I will be pretty much will be doing the same to my HiFi setup
Superb Michael, I've noticed a revival of the analogue recording media in recent years. I have my own all analogue recording studio at home and I just love it. I use the Tascam 488mk1 8 track portastudio and a couple of other machines. The only thing is that I have to obviously mix my records to a digital platform called Audacity that allows me to upload it to my CZcams channel. I just prefer tape because I grew up with it with cassettes and reel to reel recorders, but for pure nostalgia reasons. Kind regards. Paul.
I thought I would try it, then saw the cost of VHS players online! I thought VHS players would be going for £10-20 as no one wants them anymore. Seems not, some going for well over £100. I saw one going for £220, a Panasonic one.
Only thing that is going cheap now still is CDs but I can't see that last longer. Why does greed have to ruin everything. I bet even 5 years ago you could buy an old VHS player for £10.
Can get lucky with a HiFi one if the seller is just advertising a VHS Recorder for sale and no mention of HiFi or Nicam in the title of add. But the ones that have the record meters on can be more expensive. Charity shops is a good place and most selling wont know about HiFi and Nicam. Must be a million thrown away at the skip over the years.
@MichaelYates that's it Mike, some sellers gave cottoned on to the "you can use these to record audio" and are selling at premium prices. You couldn't have given away a VHS player 20 years ago!
Charity shops near me are plenty but usually just sell tat and clothes, cds and dvds. Occasionally they sell a TV or games console.
I will actually ask at work on the forum, it's a massive organisation so there might be someone in the forum who sees it and has one they want to sell or is sat gathering dust.
hi betacam digi sp with walk over VHS hi-fi i have the decks 4 channel and alot of gain
and meters on the front panel
Forgot to ask, what Panasonic model is it Mike? Need one with both input and outputs to record, same like a cassette deck
This is the Panasonic NV-HS830B
@@MichaelYates thanks Mike
i will say the first lot of vhs hi-fi you have the low speed play
back was for liner stereo when playing a vhs there was a mix of hi-fi play back for
mats it was along time ago betamax hi-fi had a button that made the video black
and sound only it was some time ago i had 9 hi-fi betamax the head were to soft
why i went over to betacam sp no more drop outs more channels
i can't get mine to record in stereo. The recording always comes out mono, although it says clearly on the door of the VCR 4 head HI FI stereo on the door of the VCR. I selected the line one input of the VCR which has two stereo RCA inputs and outputs
Only thing I cam think of if there is a mono stereo options in the menu of vcr
@@MichaelYates
Hell, it doesn't even playback the audio in stereo on prerecorded movies, although the movies says right on the tape itself, "hi fi stereo and I've been through all the settings on the remote and I could find anything that would change it...what a jip
I Record constantly onto VHS I have 3 Panasonic's NV- V8000 I have to admit they do sound better than Nakimichi 680Zx .. But you need to use the best VHS tapes available preferably super VHS 1s
Your comparing two different systems 🤔
@@sumonmiah1902 yeah, isn't that the point?
Cd is obsolete low res digital, vhs Hifi sound much better, record something that worth it on vhs Hifi, like dsd or other analog support!
hi sony pcm 701es on top of any video i have one on a eu video v2000 with the A/V din sockets
hi jut got over red tape to stop me having the same as you the job is in the way i hope to get
over it very soon i have alot of format
i can out do techmoen been picking up from 17
i am in my 50's bob
How do I make a good recording onto vhs hifi without input volume controls or VU meters? Recordings are either to quiet or to loud/ saturated. Without something visual it’s guess work. All reel to reel’s have them. All cassette have them. Why not Hi fi VCR’s? Great sounding, but how do you record without them?
Hi, most the top of the range VHS HiFi recorders do have VU meters, but ones like the one I have here have a automatic level control ALC, but you could use a little pre amp with volume control in between your souce and the video recorder, though this would still involve some guess work, but you should be how to increase the quiter input signal and decrease the saturated signal input both to levels that are more listenable.
@@MichaelYates will the AlC change the dynamics of a recorded track, ie, increasing the volume of a quiter section? That would be a deal-breaker if trying to faithfully record any audio.
@@jezgomez Yes it would, you would need a recorder that has a manual recording level function, they can be a little more expensive , but will get the dynamics you are looking for
Hi. what want for 1 to 1 quality on VHS !
1. Need PAL or NTSC This is the Best Choice with 4.43 because on NTSC recording take more tape space for audio recording and Les for Video signal Then on Pal ,Left channel is 1.3Mhz Right Channel 1.7Mhz!
2. Need VHS with Long play (LP On PAL OR on NTSC Extended Play EP or (SLP)) Because on this mode lowered video quality but again take more space for AUDIO on tape !
3.HI-FI NICAM because minimum need on drum 2 Long play Head ,2 Standard Quality play Head !
4.Black signal generator on VHS calling this button (SIMUL) Or ( Test signal) on BACK This generate Black video signal ,need for tracking stable simulation because VHS tracking system looking this information for synchronization ! When not synchronize tracking system non stop looking and make on recording noises clicking like scratching noises !
ON VHS Without Black Screen Generation Need give in black screen video signal from another device get same results !
5.For best result need check some VHS Without Recording Level adjustment gives the best recordings when input 5 volts but on 0.5-0.7V results poor !
6. Example devices Panasonic NV-F125( NV-HD100AM) ,NV-F75,NV-F65,NV-FS 200 HQ, The best Choice NV-W1!
7. At last For the BEST QUALITY HI-FI Audio on VHS Need Recording ON NTSC ,4.43 ,EP or SLP ON PAL, LP , Black screen Video input or Black screen Generation, Don't forget about input Voltage!
When doo like that on the result getting Quality best then any professional Reel To Reel And DAT is well plenty models not giving that results !
Analog sound is the best ! :-)
I disagree with the almost as good as CD part. Personally I think VHS is vastly superior, even better than 24/96 high res.
Use vinyl as the source then compare the VHS recording to a Digital recording.
Digital strips the life out of the sound
What speakers are they?
They are Lee Electronics, Goodmans a link here to my video on them czcams.com/video/SiOQgCgiVwc/video.html
What model cd player is that
Hi its a car boot pickup at a fiver a Sansui CD-E570 part on a rack system I think
is Hi Fi stereo the same as NICAM stereo? I ask as I have a NICAM VHS recorder
Nicam was the way that the sound was transmitted, and VHS HiFi is the way that the video recorder records the sound on the tape. So they are both different. Though most Nicam Video Recorders should have the HiFi sound recording method. You should se a HiFi logo on the recorder
How would you say it compares to HQ reel-to-reel?
Hi, the reel to reels I have need a little work to get them perfect sounding, so I can not give a true answer. Though a nice little test on a HiFi VCR and a Standard Sony reel 2 reel can be found here czcams.com/video/ptFCrcFS-Gs/video.html
@@MichaelYates hey, thanks for your reply. I actually follow WeHappyFew, great channel. Cheers!
Damage vhs proven they continue playing yet damage blue Ray's proven they don't play at all I have 3 blue Ray's doesn't play their are scratch up yet damage vhs proven they continue playing all time when they are damage some my vhs is older then me yet they are 35 years old yet they still continue playing yet my damage blue Ray's that are 4 years old that are damage doesn't play at all just like my internet on my blue Ray player it's only 4 years old yet my internet has loading problems now update every 4 years is to much specially back in the old days everything was kept for 35 years now days only 5 years them vhs tapes still better then internet specially in time inernet proven it locks up in time yet vhs proven they never lock up in time plus vhs proven they are fixable with scotch tape it starts playing again
This should have been a 2 minute video
Sorry I can waffle on till the cows come home
Hard to understand this guy.
Sorry I speak a hundred miles a hour, I try not to but as soon as I turn the camera on that goes out the window, but thats for watching.
I can understand every word.
Nowhere near as good as a CD unfortunately, much less dynamic range
lol no bass in vcr
My Panasonic VCR is more bass heavy than my Nakamichi 680 ZX to get adequate sound quality you need to spend probably £600 on a top of the range VCR ....
Thats rubbish, i used to record drum and bass and rave tracks on a hifi vcr and the bass line was always great.
@@Megalocade You are right, the reason why the playback seems lack of bass is, that speaker is just a shelf one, shelf speaker always lies the bass around 50-60Hz, which of course not good as it sounds. But when you place a speaker like jbl 4344, C56 etc, it will be outstanding as what you say. VHS is simply the mother of DAT, the drum was larger, and seperated circuit for audio and picture. There's no reason for sounds bad in any perspective, and most importantly, it records like DAT, which means it actually lossless. And the density is awesome as well.