VHS Tapes: Analog Music's Hidden Gem!

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  • Опубликовано: 2 дек 2024

Комментарии • 92

  • @bobskie321
    @bobskie321 Год назад +4

    In the early 1990s, I acquired a LaserDisc player and I sometimes rented music videos or live concerts from a LaserDisc and recorded them to our Hi-Fi VHS and the result was very good. The Hi-Fi sound quality even on EP speed was still comparable to CD. LaserDisc doesn't have Macrovision so I don't have a problem with copying a LaserDisc to VCR.

  • @just_passing_through
    @just_passing_through 4 месяца назад +1

    HiFi VHS and MiniDisc still take pride of place in my stereo system. VHS is a great way to listen to full vinyl albums without having to flip the record. And keeps the record in pristine condition too.

  • @mikecampbell5856
    @mikecampbell5856 Год назад +4

    I bought my first VHS VCR in 1983. A top loading Sears. It had a remote pause button with a 10 foot cord. I still have three VCRs now. Before video rental stores we used to go to the library to check out movies. If the tape we wanted was checked out to somebody else, we would give the librarian a quarter and they would send us a postcard to tell us when the tape was in stock. Sometimes we would have to wait for weeks to see a movie. Our neighbor bought a VCR and we would copy everything. And yes, I used to record music when I got my first HI Fi VCR and it worked great. We had a local independent radio station that used to play entire albums and I would record them. Thanks for the memories!

    • @audioarkitekts
      @audioarkitekts  Год назад +1

      I remember we had only a couple growing up. My parents were strong believers of not upgrading unless it breaks type of people. I never knew about this hidden secret, though. 😳

  • @nelsonnichols922
    @nelsonnichols922 Год назад +9

    My hobby has always been writing and recording music. before computers were available for multitrack I saved up money and acquired a 4 track reel to reel to record my music on, and I needed something to mix down to stereo for my final master and I didn’t wanna do it on cassettes so I ended up using a high fi VCR and it worked very well then I could record from my master to my cassette tapes for general listening

    • @audioarkitekts
      @audioarkitekts  Год назад

      That's awesome, I'm glad they had many types of use case scenarios.

  • @jblackjack
    @jblackjack Год назад +1

    I never stopped using my vcrs for audio the best thing about this tape format is not only its quality but it’s capability to place and erase index marks . This enables ff or rewind to beginning of tracks.

  • @Hugh_Hunt
    @Hugh_Hunt 9 месяцев назад +1

    The sound quality is mind-blowing. Not only is it good but it's actually really good!
    Even if you subtract the novelty that you are listening to music on a VHS tape, its genuinely good and really is "the poor man's reel to reel".
    I don't think there is a difference in audio quality on SVHS vs VHS, but the unit i picked up can record on regular VHS tapes at SVHS quality (SVHS ET), so I record using that feature.

  • @jamesbarry6248
    @jamesbarry6248 Год назад +4

    i have been aware of hifi vhs for music recording for decades , its right up there to reel to reel i am also a fan of the MD format

    • @audioarkitekts
      @audioarkitekts  Год назад +1

      That's awesome, I didn't know how great the quality would be. I was pleasantly surprised.

  • @angelfire2023
    @angelfire2023 Год назад +1

    To anyone watching this vid, make sure to look out for players that only have 2 component jacks on them. Those are most likely mono units, and there's a good chance they don't actually have the equipment in them to decode or record HiFi signals (however, they're excellent if you enjoy LoFi audio).
    Side note: I was already convinced VHS HiFi was pretty based from a couple other videos before going into this, but I'm happy that you actually covered the potential social aspect behind it. Let's just be real hear, audio tape isn't nearly as cheap to record on. The demand for it is somewhat high right now, and good quality audio cassettes don't come cheap. At least, as far as DIY goes. VHS tapes are just simply easier for the average joeshmo to do at their home with cheap equipment (tapes are cheap, and players are even cheaper), and it boasts a lot more room all around. More playback time, more room to deck out a tape with album art (especially if you go outside the middle label section).
    My friend actually convinced me to put our soundcloud playlist on tape, and the results were pretty dope. Actually am going to make multiple copies of it and me and him gonna hand it out alongside CD copies to people at colossalcon next year.

  • @jessejohanni
    @jessejohanni Год назад +1

    I recall my brother using VHS for music in the beginning of the 90s, using some kinda SLP. One evening he went to sleep with the music on at quite a high volume. Problem was that he had only recorded one album on the tape, and after a few hours of silence the tape ended. And when it ended, the audio setup automatically switched to another input (probably the tv, I can't rememeber) and he woke up in the middle of the night, shocked by the sudden strange noise blasting.

  • @thundercy
    @thundercy Год назад +2

    Tried this a few years ago on a HIFI HITACHI VCR . It sounds great .

  • @Grampa-el3kz
    @Grampa-el3kz 10 месяцев назад +1

    Many years ago (36 years or so) I recorded music to a standard VHS VCR and I enjoyed it. Thanks for bringing back that nice memory. Also I am surprised to learn of anyone who had done this and would talk about it today considering how old (and mostly defunct) the format is.

    • @audioarkitekts
      @audioarkitekts  10 месяцев назад

      Thanks for reaching out. I was surprised at the quality of the recording. I really enjoyed the process!

  • @daniannaci3258
    @daniannaci3258 Год назад

    Folks don’t seem to know how VHS Hi-Fi actually works. It’s doesn’t record audio signals to the VHS tape in the same way that cassette and reel to reel decks do. The deck uses a frequency modulator, FM for short, that basically works on the exact same principle as an FM stereo radio transmitter. The audio encoder frequency modulates the audio input signal at a very high frequency and takes advantage of the wide bandwidth of VHS recorders to record it. On playback, the signal is extracted by a phase-locked loop detector and fed to the output. Like 5:13 FM broadcast, this principle can filter out all the noise and wow and flutter of the machine and sound even better than FM broadcast by not having to deal with sending the signal over the airwaves. Which explains the wide frequency response, very low noise, and virtually no wow or flutter. There is no tape saturation in a VHS Hi-Fi stereo system. You can overload the input of the FM modulator, though, for some nasty distortion… BTW, if your deck is stable, the slowest SLP speed should sound identical to the fastest SP speed being that the FM audio modulated frequency being recorded is a piece of cake compared to the video signals it was originally designed for. Non-VHS Hi-Fi decks - the mono ones - have their soundtrack recorded the traditional way on the edge of the tape like a really cheap tape recorder and sound pretty bad.

  • @patbarr1351
    @patbarr1351 Год назад +2

    I recorded a youth orchestra performance on my SuperBeta Hifi in the '90's. The sound was stereo from 2 mics about 10 feet apart and 100 feet away. It sounded quite good. On rare occasions, tape defects would produce "whizzies" (short duration buzzes) which could be annoying. I wouldn't go back to Beta Hifi ("warm sound?" shrug) , but I've transferred my old music & concert videotapes to DVD with good results.

    • @audioarkitekts
      @audioarkitekts  Год назад

      I'm glad you were able to capture some great moments on the format

  • @joelcarson4602
    @joelcarson4602 Год назад +1

    For a more genuine analog grunge sound in your audio recording, use two inexpensive standard mono VHS VCRs and record using the EP tape speeds using the RF antenna inputs and outputs and bounce between the decks a couple of times for genuine tape degradation grunge. Yes, I have several VHS decks both standard and HiFi for noodling about with audio.
    Pro Tip: Some older and cheaper decks that don't have On-Screen displays for setting channel and time may require a composite video input signal when you first record from your audio source. An old DVD player with composite video out can supply that for you, usually without even using a disc or just by pausing a disc and letting the bouncing DVD emblem of the screen saver do it for you.

    • @audioarkitekts
      @audioarkitekts  Год назад

      Thanks for the awesome tip, Joel. I'll have to try it.

  • @davidmiller-w6l
    @davidmiller-w6l 5 месяцев назад

    good job on this informative. recorded my LP's on my giant cassettes along time ago

  • @RobertCole-q1m
    @RobertCole-q1m 7 месяцев назад +1

    Better than CD Got good Ears and HiFi Stereo Is Better than Dolby Digital And there's Quadrophonic

  • @themobsprinter
    @themobsprinter Год назад +2

    How would you record a CD or streaming to a VHS tape? I've collected tapes for years and am really curious to give this a try

    • @audioarkitekts
      @audioarkitekts  Год назад +2

      Well, you would connect your CD player yo your Integrated amp or pre amp, then from there, using the Tape Out or Rec Out you would connect that to the VCR. Then from the VCRs line Out that goes back to tape in. Then you press record on the VCR and play on the CD and it's recording. Very similar to recording on a tape deck. Not sure your age but if you remember that, it's the same principles. Let me know if you need further help.

    • @themobsprinter
      @themobsprinter Год назад +1

      @@audioarkitektsToo young for cassettes but not too young for VHS. So I would plug my CD player and VCR into the same preamp? Using my CD coax and my VCR's RCA into the same preamp? My CD player is a transport going into a preamp with an internal DAC. Would that cause issues? Thanks for the reply

    • @joelcarson4602
      @joelcarson4602 Год назад

      You can connect the audio outputs of a CD or DVD player ( you can get perfectly good older DVD players with RCA audio outputs at thrift stores or FB Marketplace for 10 to 20 dollars) directly into the RCA audio inputs of the HiFi VCR. Those are all line level inputs and outputs. Or, from the RCA outs on a standalone DAC or streamer. The only thing you need to avoid would be like the preamp outputs that you control the volume level with a volume control, depending on the volume control setting, it could be too low or way too high a setting to get a good recording. You could experiment with recording and seeing what volume control setting would give the best result.

  • @BETAMAX19732
    @BETAMAX19732 Месяц назад +1

    Thanks good video

  • @hethaerto1
    @hethaerto1 Год назад +1

    I tried out recording music to VHS back in 2000. The VHS copy sounded very clean and correct. But I wanted to be able to crank the gain during the recording process because the tape seemed to have so much headroom that was being wasted. Being able to push the levels is a trick I've not seen anyone figure out yet.

    • @audioarkitekts
      @audioarkitekts  Год назад +1

      It's old tech so it's hard to source the gear to make it happen. I did enjoy the process.

    • @anonymex22
      @anonymex22 Год назад

      Just buy a vcr with audio gain, however remember the vhs is analog sound, pushing it after 0db will result in tape compression!

    • @NICKYCOUSIN
      @NICKYCOUSIN Год назад

      search out akai vhs they have dials to set recording levels and was designed for hi fi

    • @NICKYCOUSIN
      @NICKYCOUSIN Год назад

      example a Akai VS-G855

    • @anonymex22
      @anonymex22 Год назад

      most hi end vcr does volume control, even latest good mid end! again that's not a mandatory feature, the ones without it dies have automatic gain

  • @craigquinney8063
    @craigquinney8063 Год назад +1

    I have even gone to the SLP 6 hour mode and was shocked at how good the sound is. SLP mode makes it more sensitive to proper tracking when playing back in another machine though…

    • @audioarkitekts
      @audioarkitekts  Год назад +1

      I couldn't believe how good the quality was. Definitely something I didn't experience in the 80s

  • @birgerolovsson5203
    @birgerolovsson5203 Год назад +1

    I still have a stereo VHS-player and perhaps 10-15 cassettes filled with music from LPs and CDs. There is room for much music on just 1 cassette. Minimum 6 hours if you use longplay.

    • @audioarkitekts
      @audioarkitekts  Год назад +1

      Very nice! I use SP because I heard the quality would be better that way. However, 2 hours is a long time as well. But yeah, 6 hours that's alot of music.

    • @birgerolovsson5203
      @birgerolovsson5203 Год назад

      @@audioarkitekts And 8 hours if you use a 4 hour cassette.
      The music never stops. *LOL*

    • @birgerolovsson5203
      @birgerolovsson5203 Год назад

      Fun with the Kappa 8 in the background also. I have a pair of Kappa 8 in my storage room.

  • @jamesdemuro5923
    @jamesdemuro5923 11 месяцев назад

    I always used vhs for music since the 80s and 90s up till recently i bought a hi fi vcr and started listening to my old hi fi music videos 👍really nice feeling 😂

  • @eubikedude
    @eubikedude Год назад +1

    What would be nice is an interface that uses the full bandwidth of the tape (i.e. including the video portion) to store the music. You'd get a huge number of hours of music. If done digitally, likely a massive number.

    • @audioarkitekts
      @audioarkitekts  Год назад +1

      That would be an incredible idea. We need innovators to try new things like that and let the public decide if it's viable.

    • @patbarr1351
      @patbarr1351 Год назад +1

      There was a way of doing that, at least on a Betamax (the other 1/2" tape format). Sony made a PCM converter & added a switch to their recorders to defeat some video-only processing that would have interfered with the recording.

    • @purpleghost4083
      @purpleghost4083 Год назад +1

      @@patbarr1351 Sony wasn't the only one to have a digital audio recording adapter/processor for VCRs. There was several others and they weren't limited to only using them with the Beta format.

    • @eubikedude
      @eubikedude Год назад

      @@purpleghost4083 Indeed, we need a "modern" stand-alone box that does all the conversion to analogue video internally and has Wi-Fi, BT, USB, DAC/ADC etc. etc. and a nice interface and/or app. An IR blaster that could tell the tape to go to a certain minutes in (FF for x amount of time) reliably and then "over-read" date into an internal cache could make it really interesting. Albeit with potentially long seek-times. :)

    • @JogadordeNES
      @JogadordeNES Год назад

      But that's what VHS Hi-Fi does. The audio is stored in the same track as the video, but between video signals (luminance and chroma) and deeper on the tape.

  • @peterlundskow4061
    @peterlundskow4061 Год назад +1

    How does this compare to a very good NOS Cassette Recorder like Nakamichi, with high bias or metal tapes?

    • @audioarkitekts
      @audioarkitekts  Год назад +2

      Destroys it. I have heard the best tapes have to offer and they don't come close.

    • @peterlundskow4061
      @peterlundskow4061 Год назад

      @@audioarkitekts As you can see from my comments I just discovered your channel. So much great info. Still going back looking at your older videos. You mentioned the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. I take it you are from greater Denver area, I am as well. I see there is a Rocky Mountain Audio Video Expo coming up in October. Do you think it might rival the previous Audio Fest.?

  • @j.t.cooper2963
    @j.t.cooper2963 Год назад +1

    VHS HiFi has always had a nice, warm sound. I have a nice high end Quasar (made by Panasonic) VHS HiFi VCR from 1987 that still works great. I like to hook it up once in a while and watch movies on that have a great soundtrack.

  • @lizichell2
    @lizichell2 Год назад +2

    I love vhs hi fi

  • @sietchtabr5120
    @sietchtabr5120 Год назад

    Hi Mike,
    I did it some 20 years ago😃
    With a 4hrs tape, I could double the lenght, so I had 8hrs of music.
    Fun as hell, although not so known at this time.
    Home pc changed this...
    🖖

  • @thehistoryofchingfordwater8933

    My views entirely. I've got 11 on them. My top 40 uk chart position was mastered on VHS super drive before going to dat.

  • @MyDenney
    @MyDenney 7 месяцев назад

    It’s a shame vhs player recorders don’t come with audio in controls VU meters and aheadphoe jack. Even the cheapest Cassatt decks have them.

  • @Badassvidsz
    @Badassvidsz Год назад +1

    Agreed 1000% dear Mike cause i did it somewhere back in 1997 when i bought my 1st VCR a PANASONIC HD-NV660 . I've recorded music from my tt Technivs SL-BD22 not super tt but very good and also from my CDp MARANTZ CD-63 MKII KIS { KEN ISHIWATA SIGNATURE } the results where unbelievable anazing .
    In a fewer words with a good 6 head hi-fi stereo VCR we can make AMAZING YES AMAZING recordings .

    • @audioarkitekts
      @audioarkitekts  Год назад

      I would love to own a KI Marantz someday!

    • @Badassvidsz
      @Badassvidsz Год назад

      @@audioarkitekts Hey Mike it's GREAT CDp trust me this particular one is fantastic and i wsh you to be lucky and find one in ebay as used of course it's an old model but it's way better than some new ones of today

  • @jimsregaturntableshifijukebox
    @jimsregaturntableshifijukebox Год назад +1

    Wow! Thanks for posting this and jogging my memory 👌
    I found my old Nicam stereo player in my attic last year and thought about exploring its possibilities, I just never got around to it due to lots of other changes to my system.
    Happy listening to all 🎵🎶.
    Jim😊🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

  • @johnm893
    @johnm893 Год назад

    all i want is someone slowly how to hook up vcr i have hi fi stereo vcr with r and l tecording levels i would li would like to record youtube music and various other things

  • @thehistoryofchingfordwater8933

    That chart is incorrect. Panasonic super drive actually 92 dB!

  • @kronik73
    @kronik73 5 месяцев назад

    Hifi VHS has a vastly superior audio quality compared to CD, even better than 24bit/96khz High Res audio. If you want to see how good it really is, use vinyl as the source, then compare it to a digital recording. Digital seems to strip the life out of the sound.

  • @samankumara7461
    @samankumara7461 11 месяцев назад

    VHS❤

  • @joshuapowell1868
    @joshuapowell1868 Год назад

    People like myself are cleaning out mode switches in VCR players everything proven people keep there mode switch clean out like they should people will never have playing problem's at all

  • @joshuapowell1868
    @joshuapowell1868 10 месяцев назад

    People are more healthy with vhs tapes than Disney plus y vhs tapes keeps you moving more like getting up and down not bad for your health

  • @bobsbits5357
    @bobsbits5357 4 месяца назад

    you have a very good point my mate lee was doing the same record records to vhs yes he was doing this
    note keep away from 1/4 inch reel to reel new tape the price are silly
    you lot out there there was a.lot of zonal 1 inch out there that was used for the taking books i had 200 of them used once
    note they are very good WOW they are better than ampex 456 i have some
    the zonal is better alot of power out put i can tell you did not have to pay around with the setting on my soundcraft 381-8 brenel mini decks
    456 can be a right pain to deal with uk deck are better easy to work on

  • @joshuapowell1868
    @joshuapowell1868 Год назад

    Vhs movies more popular on eBay for 10 dollars

  • @funnybone66
    @funnybone66 Год назад +1

    I’m pretty sure if you are trying to put more than two hours on a standard VHS tape you will be degrading the quality.

    • @audioarkitekts
      @audioarkitekts  Год назад

      That's what I was told yes.

    • @purpleghost4083
      @purpleghost4083 Год назад +1

      There should be very little difference, if any, in audio quality between the rec speeds.

  • @joshuapowell1868
    @joshuapowell1868 Год назад

    Damage blue ray disc movies doesn't play at all everything proven

  • @eddietours3728
    @eddietours3728 Год назад +3

    Lol

  • @bobsbits5357
    @bobsbits5357 4 месяца назад

    hi vhs are bad news my mate has some decks i had of him to service
    note to all the decks later one's have a level thing to stop the decks over the recording my mate lee recorded audio on the the vhs
    i play it back the sound was ok
    the levels are bad new i record in wavelab the deck was over recording alot of the level are over the top
    i have to say better way to use vhs adat or vhs deck was vu meter s i got back in to betacam sp sony 75p decks they are very hard to find in the up now
    4o min of great audio i quad audio and the vhs decks are wearing out i can service all my decks vhs decks are ok in the usa there's alot more fixing them

  • @joshuapowell1868
    @joshuapowell1868 Год назад

    People like myself are buying VCR players cleaning tapes vhs movies VCR belts offline now days everything proven there everywhere online now days everything proven people don't have to get out of the house now days for them things

  • @joshuapowell1868
    @joshuapowell1868 Год назад

    Everything is proven people like myself are buying VCR players cleaning tapes vhs movies offline now days everything proven don't have to get out of my house for them now days everything is so easy to get offline

  • @philipcollier7805
    @philipcollier7805 Год назад +1

    A lot of us live music traders used to favor VHS Hi Fi format, as it was superior to cassettes and digital audio tech was neither mature nor easy to use back then.

    • @philipcollier7805
      @philipcollier7805 Год назад +1

      The value of VHS today is debatable, as 24 bit 94 khz audio is commonly available in consumer sound cards and we surely have enough RAM, CPU, and storage to deal with it.

    • @audioarkitekts
      @audioarkitekts  Год назад

      Agreed, I think this is more of a fun project than an everyday use case.

  • @anonymex22
    @anonymex22 Год назад +2

    Vhs is not as good as cd, it's way better, it's full analog, don't pay too much attention to the characteristic, that's don't really important on analog gears! Beside it's a shame recording obsolete cd on vhs, better use dsd, or even better other analog support! Remember cd quality was subjectively founded, today it's well known as low res digital than something else!

  • @MyDenney
    @MyDenney 7 месяцев назад

    A

  • @joshuapowell1868
    @joshuapowell1868 Год назад

    Vhs tapes don't stop playing at all everything proven people like myself are fixing a break vhs movies with Scotch tape it starts playing again with out no problem's everything proven people keep there mode switch clean out in there VCR player people will never have playing problem's at all everything proven damage blue ray disc movies doesn't play at all like a vhs tape itself does

  • @montana01971
    @montana01971 3 месяца назад

    Don't agree at all with what is said at around 4 minutes, that you should look for one with a remote control. Totally unnecessary for audio recordings and playback. I have a portable Panasonic unit with no remote but it does have 2 vu meters, and it is fantastic for music

    • @audioarkitekts
      @audioarkitekts  3 месяца назад

      Yours might work well without a remote. The majority don’t.

    • @montana01971
      @montana01971 3 месяца назад

      @@audioarkitekts I think there is a misunderstanding.
      Maybe you did mean that if the model came standard with remote control, it should be complete with that remote when bought, or otherwise some functions could be missing. Am I correct? In that case you are absolutely right.
      Mine came standard without remote and there are buttons in the front for each function, so remote is absolutely not required, only out of laziness ;)

  • @deathmetalhell
    @deathmetalhell 11 месяцев назад

    bro CHILL