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  1. My PAL VHS has two audio tracks on it, one is Russian and the other is English. However,as my VHS player is a newer model it will play both languages at once, I have read through many threads on this matter however I do not know the precise type of VHS player required to play the tape.
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  2. aBigMeanie aedipuss's Avatar
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    try unplugging either the white or red audio jack.
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  3. I'm a Super Moderator johns0's Avatar
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    Sounds like both languages are on the same audio track,i haven't heard of any vhs player with selectable audio other than hifi to linear.
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  4. Capturing Memories dellsam34's Avatar
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    Basically VHS has 3 physical audio tracks, HiFi left, HiFi right (these are recorded with the audio heads on the video drum) and a linear mono track (this is recorded on the top edge of the tape with a stationary audio head). Some VCR's in the early stages of VHS had linear stereo so Linear left and Linear right, I'm not aware of a VCR that has both HiFi and Linear in stereo.

    Without knowing the model number of your VCR no one can help you, But most VCR's should have the option to listen to each track individually. If your VCR allows you to only select between the HiFi and linear do the cable unplug trick mentioned above.
    Last edited by dellsam34; 24th Nov 2019 at 14:40.
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    Most likely is what johns0 stated, a Russian voiceover on the original soundtrack. Even on VCDs which allowed two separate tracks (Cantonese on one track, Mandarin on the other was common on Chinese discs), those with Russian voiceover were on both tracks. No English on one track, Russian o the other.

    If it's a linear stereo track, a linear stereo VCR (rare) is needed as both tracks are read at once by a mono playback head and is mixed as mono on both the left and right outputs.
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  6. Capturing Memories dellsam34's Avatar
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    True, I've seen movies with a voice over mainly used in the eastern Europe, mostly Russia and the parts of the former soviet union territory.
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  7. Member DB83's Avatar
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    One thing that no one has picked up upon is that Russia was not a PAL country.

    I assume that this tape is not an original so has been copied from a SECAM variant. Even if the original had two selectable tracks, which also doubt since most video is over-dubbed, this copy is even less likely to have them.
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  8. From what I've seen it was very common in Russia for a stereo track to encode two languages, one in phase the other out of phase. Downmix the stereo track to mono and you get one language. Invert one of the channels before downmixing to get the other language.
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    @Dave3301

    Please clarify how you know there's two language tracks? Is it because you hear Russian one (either left or right) and English on the other? Or is it you hear both languages on both channels?

    If it's the former, it's a simple matter as stated to only save the channel with English only. You can use a Y-splitter to get the signal back to stereo (actually dual mono).

    If it's the latter (which is the most likely scenario), and the Russian is over the English soundtrack, it's possible that the fix jababo talks about may work, but if the tracks aren't VHS Hi-FI, you'll need a linear stereo VCR to play/record each track separately.
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  10. I have tried changing the channels and also the red and white cables, I also tried changing the cables and red and white cables in different manners together, this did not work.
    The language has no difference on the channels , they play simultaneously together , I think I do not have the right player for it at all.

    I know it has two tracks on it as I have witnessed it in English before.

    I do not have the remote for my video player, the model is : VHS Player Recorder BUSH Model - VCR905SIL/A.

    I will try using a y splitter.

    thankyou guys
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  11. Capturing Memories dellsam34's Avatar
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    The splitter is not going to do anything in this case since you have confirmed that both languages exist on both left and right channels, The last thing left to do when you get the remote is to try selecting HiFi instead of linear mono, once you are in HiFi Stereo then do the cable unplug again or select left or right from the menu but I doubt a low budget VCR like that will have such function. Also to physically separate channels out of a SCART connector you would need a SCART to RCA adapter.
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    Looking up the VCR, it's mono only, so both tracks are combined and played together. At the risk of destroying the tape and VCR, you could try masking off half of the audio playback head with a thin material attached only on the sides of head so it reads only one track. REALLY NOT RECOMMENDED, but a last resort.

    The only [other] options are a VHS Hi-Fi (if it's a commercial tape, it will state VHS Hi-Fi on the label) or linear stereo VCR. As stated above, linear stereo VHS VCRs are rare, being produced for a few years only before VHS Hi-FI was introduced in 1984 (linear stereo on prerecorded tapes were introduced in 1982). So your search for a linear stereo VCR is limited to ~1982-1984 (35+ years old). VCRs with both Hi-Fi and linear stereo are extremely rare.
    Last edited by lingyi; 29th Nov 2019 at 15:16.
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    @Dave3301

    I'm responding to your PM here because it could be of help to others.

    jagabo stated in a 2017 thread https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/385066-vhs-two-audio-languages: "Many Russian releases have two languages -- one with left and right channels in phase, the other with the left and right channels out of phase. To hear only the in phase language you add the two channels. To hear only the out of phase language you subtract the two channels. Russian players/TVs apparently have a switch for this." Which is what you asked about. Not only are these extremely rare outside Russia, but as DB83 stated, Russia used SECAM, so even if you did find a player, it wouldn't play your tape.

    On another thread, it was stated that some pro VHS machines had linear stereo because it allowed editing/overdubbing the audio without affecting the video. I think they continued to be produced after the introduction of VHS Hi-Fi because I believe VHS Hi-Fi can't be edited without re-recording the video portion. Again, pro machines in good working order (because of high use) with linear audio are rare.

    Searching eBay UK brings up a number of NICAM stereo machines, so beware. From what's I'm able to gather, NICAM is a digital stereo signal included in some TV broadcasts. As far as I can tell, it's incompatible with linear stereo.

    I feel bad throwing people at him, but your best bet (though it's still a long shot) at finding a good working linear stereo machine is to contact lordsmurf. He has contacts for PAL machines that may suit your need. Other than that, just haunt the thrift stores and hope you find a machine. Keep in mind that anything that says VHS Hi-Fi or just Hi-Fi is extremely unlikely to have linear stereo. Also, play a test tape first as any machine with unknown origins can easily destroy your tape.
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