Dolby NR encoding - did it ever work

I stand corrected. Early on I didn't use the units dolby but rather used metal tapes and saturated the tape for low noise. Later I used Dolby because it worked for me. It was in an article where I read the multiplex issue........around 1989 or so....by that time I had gone digital.

I still remember being at a party and seeing a guys Nak 550, you want to talk about droop inspiring! And thank God for digital in terms of convenience, sound quality, and depth of catalog available.

Boy, I never dreamed I would be discussing Dolby B again. It sucked on cassettes. Yes, it took the tape hiss out along with the highs. In fact, I used to record with Dolby and play back without it for increased high-frequency response. Dolby A, used on studio recorders, didn't seem to have as drastic an effect. Buying a collectible cassette player? That's a new one. Well, to each his own.

Let me tell you something about well-executed dolbyB. It is great. My perfectly aligned and calibrated Nak 682ZX sounds incredible for a cassette deck, especially with Maxell Vertex tape. Forget those TDK, Sony , Denon etc. tapes. I tried everything. And my Nak is not even specifically calibrated for the Vertex. There is no roll-off, nothing that matters is lost. In most cases I do record with dolbyB. No live recording, only from records and cds. DolbyC sucks, I never use it.

Only a select few ever had access to a cassette deck of that quality. I'm sure the Naks can extract some excellent sound from a cassette, with or without dolby. Frankly, I never found tape hiss that offensive. Listen to Brubeck's Time Out. Loaded with hiss, but it doesn't distract from the music IMO.