Great tech but now obsolete

[iMark]

I don't know about other forum members but in the 1980's and 1990's I was always looking for a recording device that I could use to record radio shows while I was out. I remember looking into cassette decks with timers etc until I got my first Hifi Stereo VCR (a Hitachi) that could do all sorts of clever things like simulcast recordings (it worked reasonably well for recording Live Aid with a stereo radio signal). It also was great for recording classical concerts. Just set the timer to record an external source, the tuner and remember to switch tuner and amp on (and set to right frequency). Recording of up to 8hrs on a VHS tape.

Later I had to buy new equipment (after a fire that destroyed my old equipment) and I settled on a JVC recorder (HR 6700) that also could record an external source. A couple of years later we got our DVD-HDD recorder that also could do timer recordings from an external source.

The sound quality of these recorders was incredible but a VHS tape wasn't the easiest to navigate. I was very happy with a Minidisc deck that I could use to transfer recordings and then edit and bookmark on minidiscs. Almost all of these transfers have now been transfered to the computer and are now in iTunes. The other day I listened to a radio show that I recorded in 2000 on my iPod.

I still listen to radio shows but I have stopped recording. Most stuff is now available online post broadcast and if the bitrate is high enough (like BBC Radio 3) the sound quality is even better than FM.

Even though the SQ of the Hifi Stereo VHS recorders was (and is) stunning, I can't remember anyone else using video tapes for audio recordings. Did other forum members also dabble with VHS recorders for audio recordings?

 

[Vladimir]

I grew up as a kid with stacks of VHS recorders since my mom owned a video store which also did duplicating services for weddings etc. I still own several VHS recorders and over 2000 tapes with movies and music.

I did not dabble with audio to replace my cassette deck but I was aware from magazines that the track width for audio on VHS tape was wider and thus higher resolution than typical cassette. But the incoveniece of using VHS recorder to a kid was not worth the bother, I just used my dual well cassette deck. I only listened to prerecorded concerts and music videos on my Sony video recorder, hooked up to my hi-fi on big floorstander speakers instead of the TV. Indeed the sound was impressive on these original music videos with my stereo hi-fi setup. Well, untill I got my first CDP (Yamaha).

My fav recorders were by NEC, Sony, Hitachi, Panasonic, Toshiba and Bang & Olufsen. The NEC and B&O were most impressive as a kit, as I remember them.

 

[MajorFubar]

Yeah i used to record a lot of audio to VHS tape. I had an Akai editing deck and you could set the record levels properly and record independently on the mono and stereo tracks.

 

[MeanandGreen]

Although I didn't use NICAM VCR's for recording just audio, I did record live performances from BBC TV broadcasts and then transfer the audio to CD-R or Cassette. I've still got Oasis MTV unplugged and latter with Jules Holand on TDK CD-Rs kicking about thanks to ripping the audio from the VHS recordings I made.

I also copied the audio from pre recorded live concerts on VHS to CD-R. I remember both the AKAI and Samsung NICAM VCR machines I had having very good sound quality, much less hiss than audio cassette and very good treble response. Bass sounded tighter than audio cassette too. My tape decks were a pair of single deck Aiwa ADF-450 & 460's. I've still got the Aiwa decks and Samsung VCR, but haven't had them hooked up for a good few years now.

Still got the Pioneer CD Recorder from back then as part of my system, although it doesn't really see much use now it can come in handy sometimes. Such a faithful copier from analogue and digital.

 

[andyjm]

Not quite the OP's point, but interesting none the less. In the early days of CD, using an analogue video tape recorder was the only practical way of recording the digital bitstream from an A2D converter prior to pressing a CD. Sony had a number of products where a 'PCM converter' would take a 16 bit 44.1KHz signal and make it look like a video signal that could then be recorded using existing analogue video tape recorders (the only devices available that had sufficient bandwidth). This explains the slightly odd choice of 44.1 KHz sample rate (44 or 48 would have been more obvious) as it was driven by a combination of the line and frame rate of the video recorder.

 

[chebby]

http://www.whathifi.com/comment/302580#comment-302580

 

[jamesrfisher]

Although I didn't use NICAM VCR's for recording just audio, I did record live performances from BBC TV broadcasts and then transfer the audio to CD-R or Cassette. I've still got Oasis MTV unplugged and latter with Jules Holand on TDK CD-Rs kicking about thanks to ripping the audio from the VHS recordings I made.

I also copied the audio from pre recorded live concerts on VHS to CD-R. I remember both the AKAI and Samsung NICAM VCR machines I had having very good sound quality, much less hiss than audio cassette and very good treble response. Bass sounded tighter than audio cassette too. My tape decks were a pair of single deck Aiwa ADF-450 & 460's. I've still got the Aiwa decks and Samsung VCR, but haven't had them hooked up for a good few years

likewise. I had a Sony Nicam VCR (I recall it costing £450!!!!), and would record off the tv live concerts, Later... And The White Room and would then hook the bar to my inputs on my Yamaha cassette deck and record some of the best parts onto tapes for later use in the hi-fi, car or Walkman. Still have some some very interesting prices eg Ray Davies and Damon Albarn duetting on The White Room - Waterloo Sunset which segues into Parklife.

of course now we have YouTube.

 

[jjbomber]

Sky+. Job done.