Was Beta as good as or better than reel to reel?

How about VHS Hifi?

I have tapes I recorded back in the 80s also in that format. Haven't played them in awhile though.

It was definitely better than cassette in regards to noise levels and dynamic range. Not sure if it matched reel to reel or not.

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I had a vhs hifi machine back in the mid-80's. I used it to make audio recordings. It did an excellent job, but it sounded nowhere near as good as my Dokorder reel-to-reel machine. I'd heard so much about how good beta was supposed to be for audio back then. Admittedly, most of what I read was what was in the Sony advertisements.
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As Al's research references the carrier buzz was a problem. I recorded many a Beta HiFi tape at the fastest speed and all suffered from this buzz.

I'd have to say when it worked it worked well, but not as good as reel-to-reel or any high end cassette deck for that matter.

Now DAT is something else.

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Elcassette! How old are you anyway???
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