Hi everyone. I have a Hitachi VCR. I did not use it for few years. First i used cleaning tape just in case. After i tried few tapes i see a strange VCR problem, video is great but audio volume is too low, very very low. I do not know what is going on and asking if somebody have seen the same problem. Thnx
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Head (audio) dirty or damaged. Use isopropanol and printer paper, not cleaning tape.
https://youtu.be/UcIlIJiZD5k?t=220
Is your VCR HiFi? -
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You'll see the linear audio/control track head next to the capstan/pinch roller
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It might help if can take and upload a photo of the transport section of your Hitachi VCR with the camera looking directly down at it. We can probably attach an arrow to the photo pointing out the audio/control head.
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99.9% isopropyl alcohol or denatured alcohol are usually recommended
https://homerecording.com/bbs/threads/best-alcohol-for-cleaning-tape-heads.386310/
For the stationary head, q-tips or similar is OK -
Do not use cotton sticks. Only white paper. Although you can try cotton sticks on the audio head. In an audio head it is important to clean the edges, and cotton sticks may not reach there due to their shape.
Use Isopropanol 99% (few dollars).
https://youtu.be/e_VpX7aeTBA?t=86Last edited by rgr; 18th Oct 2024 at 16:19.
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[Attachment 82928 - Click to enlarge] I did the photos -
And remove the whole lever. That green cleaner definitely doesn't clean the head anymore.
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Here's a marked photo of an audio/control head out of the VCR. The audio erase head is the dark coloured one on the left. The entire faces should be cleaned but the actual operative sections are circled. The red area at the top is for audio, the green for the control track. (The audio head in this photo happens to be stereo while your is probably mono. So they look a little different but the cleaning is the same). They need to be spotlessly clean. It's good to see the face clearly enough to see when it's dirty and when it's clean. If yours has failed because of dirt, you should be able to see that dirt on the head face. That probably requires viewing with a small inspection mirror in a good light. Some inspection mirrors are magnified which also helps. Some heads like this one pictured have a metal overhang at the top making it harder to see. Again the inspection mirror allows us to see under that overhang.
Be gentle though. The metal is quite soft and can be easily scratched. Dont use anything abrasive or harsh solvents. If it means using less pressure against the head but taking longer to remove the dirt, so be it. Obviously as mentioned, the green tyre should be removed to avoid it depositing more muck. Be patient. Take your time.Last edited by timtape; 18th Oct 2024 at 22:51.
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I found that tapes recorded in Super Long Play (other names were available) the sound was often low and lower quality. I actually used a phono (record) player pre-amp to boost the sound once all mechanical problems were ruled out.
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Yes at slower tape speeds it's always of lower quality. It's there in the specifications. But boosting its level downstream of the VCR doesnt usually improve things. It often just boosts the underlying noise as well. It still sounds muffled and noisy, just muffled and noisy but louder. Try it. If possible we optimise the audio signal capture before it exits the VCR.
Also a phono preamp wouldnt be the best way even if amplification was the solution. A phono preamp boosts the bass and reduces the treble to correct the recorded RIAA curve. With audio out of a VCR there is no curve to correct. RIAA "correction" would mess up the tonal balance, making it sound more muffled than it already is.Last edited by timtape; 22nd Oct 2024 at 21:10.
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Yes, Phono Pre-amps work under the RIAA equalization curve not suitable for non phonographic sources, So basically it boosts low frequencies and lowers the high ones to correct for the limitation of the mechanical recording of vinyl records as timtape mentioned, Use the audio gain control in the OS or the capture driver, if not enough use a line booster or a mini amp.
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I should have stated I ran the sound through the pre amp then through an equalizer with a Dolby Noise reduction before capturing.....
Not using the pre amp never seemed to get the richness I wanted. Granted, these tapes were mostly dialog (South Park episodes) so I never noticed a boosted bass.... -
As with the picture so with the audio. It can really help when members upload audio samples of what they are talking about so we can make our own judgements as to any improvement in sound quality.
As with the picture I'm a firm believer in having an audio reference or standard so we know roughly what to expect of a format at its best, and can compare our own digitising efforts with that standard.
I specialise in audio capture, especially the tricky slow speed formats such as VHS, Betamax, audio cassette, mini and micro cassette, slow speed open reel. Here's an example of speech captured as well as I could from a VHS tape, linear audio track, PAL LP speed. No processing, no filtering, nothing.
The VHS (audio only) tape is from around 1990 when some radio stations used VHS VCR's to internally audio record longish radio broadcasts.
This E 180 tape runs for over 6 hours.
PAL had somewhat slower linear tape speed than NTSC. So for those familiar with NTSC linear audio quality, this would represent a little worse sounding than NTSC LP, but not as bad as NTSC EP/SLP.
PAL, having slower tape speeds than NTSC never had EP/SLP because both picture and sound would have been even worse than NTSC EP/SLP.
A similar NTSC LP linear audio track, captured at its best should sound better than this due to NTSC's 20% higher linear tape speed.Last edited by timtape; 25th Oct 2024 at 07:17.
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