Topic: EQ-ing a Type II master cassette recorded on normal bias deck

[popskull]

Back in the early 80's, I had a sony walkabout that was designed to record only normal bias tapes.

I ended up using Maxell UDXL II's most of the time

When I play the tapes back, there is a noticable shrill harshness in the upper frequencies.

Any thoughts about how to restore a more natual sound?

Ive been playing them back with the Type II eq setting on my Yamaha

I thought I would ask the community before experimenting with eq settings in wavelab/cooledit

I cant be the only one out there that did this

thanks- Mike

[Roving Sign]

Are you using any hiss reduction on your DAW?

Cant really recommend anything specific to your editor - but I might attack the tape noise first...and see what you have left and go from there...

Audacity has a pretty good tape noise reduction effect - takes a bit to learn to use it right  - but it's not too bad.

[popskull]

I have not been using any NR, just becouse the tapes dont really seem to warrant it, and I have been on the recieving end of some badly NR'ed tapes

The shows where I used normal bias turned out well, but the type II masters have an unnatual harshness to them, esp in the mids and highs

I will play with some eq settings until I get it right, and report back if I find a general formula that produces a more natual result

thanks!

[live2496]

A normal tape deck would under bias the tape because greater bias levels are applied to type II tapes when recording. Normal bias tapes require less bias signal. So I would expect the tape to sound a bit duller.

So, I am thinking that the brightness you are hearing is from the playback eq of the tape deck you are using.

You might be able to fake it out by covering up the holes at the top of the tape shell.
(see the picture here under the section called tape types)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tape_cassette

Another way to try to compensate for this is to try some playback eq with software. According to this link, dolby NR works by compressing the region above 1kHz (this is a generalization) and expanding it upon playback.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_NR

You might get some fairly good results by applying a hi-shelving eq to 1khz and above. You want to apply a broadband drop of that entire region. A good tool for this would be the Har-Bal mastering eq from here: http://www.har-bal.com
You can use it to design a filter that can be reused. Think of it as an equalizer with 4096 bands. As frequencies are dropped in level it applies makeup gain to keep the level about the same. You could experiment with the demo to see what kind of result you will get.

I can't tell you specifically how to do this in Wavelab or Cooledit. But if they have a hi-shelving tool that would be all you would need.

[sunjan]

Back in the early 80's, I had a sony walkabout that was designed to record only normal bias tapes.

I ended up using Maxell UDXL II's most of the time

When I play the tapes back, there is a noticable shrill harshness in the upper frequencies.

Any thoughts about how to restore a more natual sound?

Ive been playing them back with the Type II eq setting on my Yamaha

If you don't mind transferring the tapes again, you could shop for a cassette deck with "Play Trim". It's a feature on some Yamaha and NAD decks that can cut (or boost) the high frequencies. Not to be confused with azimuth alignment, this is something else.

Read more about it here:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/archive/index.php/t-42558.html
http://www.audioreview.com/mfr/nad/tape-decks/613/PRD_122180_1595crx.aspx
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=63914&st=0&p=570648&#entry570648