Using Hifi Stereo VHS machine to record Audio only (2024)

I've got an old Hifi Stereo VHS machine, and always thought the Stereo Audio track (not the linear Mono one) sounded pretty good when playing back pre-recorded movies or music videos.

Has anyone used one as an audio recorder, I wonder if my Toshiba will quiet happily record audio without a video input using a Phono to Scart lead. The idea of 3hours continuous playback on an E180 sounds interesting, but how would the audio quality compare to say Compact Cassette or Reel/Reel.

The quality easily exceeds Cassette and R2R in terms of SNR (>75 dB), dynamic range (>90 dB) while frequency response is more CD-like, flat in the 20-20 kHz region. The main quality limiting factor is that most machines don't offer a user-adjustable volume control so you might be stuck with a dumb AGC circuit, and compatibility/tracking issues with Hi-Fi recordings made on other machines. Poorly tuned machines and/or tapes may cause switching head noise, too.

The inability to record audio without a video signal may affect some older VCRs (particularly 80s or early 90s models). Later models produce a dummy video signal internally, so that's not an issue.

Also, in order to achieve good quality in LP or ELP/SLP modes (if your machine has them), you'll need good quality tape, too.

the previous, original owner of my 1988 TOTL MITSUBISHI HS-U80 S-VHS had bought it back in it's day with the intention of utilizing it as an Audio recorder.

when i bought it from him, he sent along the 40/50-odd higher-end VHS and S-VHS cassettes he had recorded to through the years, about half with video programming committed to them.

tried them out back when i first got it all, -back around late 2014- the recordings were all of high quality, but all with this distinct bassiness about them.

i proceeded to make my own reference video recordings with the deck, -from MACROVISION-less Anime DVDs-
and, indeed, high quality recordings all, but with that bassy bias all present, definitely a distinct characteristic of the VCR's Hi-Fi audio processing.

it's too bad; the deck is a (subjectively) gorgeous-looking meisterwork for the eyes, also very well suited in it's design for the tertiary use as a high-fidelity audio recorder,
but alas, that bass-heavy coloration is quite present, -at least in my personal copy- and is just too prominent for personal comfort.

oh well, at least the deck does look damned formidable on the shelf, well worth the money paid for the appearance alone.
for better or worse, they just don't make A/V gear like this anymore;

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/...TSUBISHI/HS-U80JOHNs11-12-147_zps4a978991.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/...TSUBISHI/HS-U80JOHNs11-12-146_zps497de347.jpg

mannyo1221 said:

... I wonder if my Toshiba will quiet happily record audio without a video input using a Phono to Scart lead. The idea of 3hours continuous playback on an E180 sounds interesting, but how would the audio quality compare to say Compact Cassette or Reel/Reel.

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So, you're basically asking us to give you informations about an experiment you could do it yourself without too much troubles? *hypnot* *eyepop*

Pacific Stereo said:

VHS Hi-Fi audio is virtually flat in terms of frequency response across the audio bandwidth. If it's "bassy," then there's something wrong with it.

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yeah, i suppose so. my JVC HR-S8000U S-VHS, of the same 1988 vintage, has as sweet and balanced a VHS Hi-Fi sound as i figure i could ever hope for.
JVC HR-S8000U truly is one mean machine, -the James Bond of VHS VCRs- and an example in well-cared-for operational condition is strongly recommended for anyone interested in the format.

still, i recall my Mitsu HS-U70 S-VHS, -immediate step-down model from the U80- having a similarly "chesty" character to it's sound,
so is it possible that this was normal for these late-80's MITSUBISHI models... or, perhaps aging components in the audio processing circuitry of these models that just so happens to lead to such an aberration?

(peeking around inside both of these decks, i do see that they share many of the same parts, entire PCBs, even, including the audio processing boards...)

mannyo1221 said:

Has anyone used one as an audio recorder

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Yes, see here: https://www.google.com/#q=vhs+audio+site:tapeheads.net

Short story is that VHS HiFi audio is along the lines of a good FM stereo radio signal. Provided you have little or no switching noise, and can turn off any auto record level (and set your own), you can get great recordings. Some machines also require a video signal to record at all, so keep that in mind in your experiments.

novabit said:

Short story is that VHS HiFi audio is along the lines of a good FM stereo radio signal.

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Not really. FM radio frequency response tops out at 15 kHz while HiFi goes to 20 kHz. FM stereo signal-to-noise ratio is about 55 dB while HiFi has a ratio of 70 dB. Of course, cheap electronics in many VCRs can degrade the output performance of VHS HiFi to FM quality or worse.

mannyo1221 said:

I've got an old Hifi Stereo VHS machine, and always thought the Stereo Audio track (not the linear Mono one) sounded pretty good when playing back pre-recorded movies or music videos.

Has anyone used one as an audio recorder, I wonder if my Toshiba will quiet happily record audio without a video input using a Phono to Scart lead. The idea of 3hours continuous playback on an E180 sounds interesting, but how would the audio quality compare to say Compact Cassette or Reel/Reel.

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I did record to HiFi track on a VHS tape and I actually compared it to another odd recording on a VHS tape that I'm doing (See this thread) and I'm having a blast doing it, It's called PCM recording, A special PCM adapter is required for this purpose. PCM sounded way better than HiFi, see for yourself here.

Whether recording HiFi or PCM it is a good reason to re-purpose VHS tapes that otherwise end up in the recycling centers as there is no other good reason that I can see to use a VHS tape for once the movie in it has been watched, At least myself. Could be some are still using VHS as PVR ? Who knows.

JVRaines said:

cheap electronics in many VCRs can degrade the output performance of VHS HiFi to FM quality or worse.

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Precisely

If you keep your eye open at Thrift stores you'll often see concert videos which were sometimes popular in their day. They can be fun to watch if you find groups/artists you like. Most popular artists seemed to release a video at some time it seems.

There's also Ebay and often you can find tapes for just a couple bucks. I recently bought a couple Paul McCartney 1980's and 90's concert VHS tapes and a Queen tape. Of course there's U2 Rattle N Hum which is great on a VCR and was fairly popular back in the day. I remember recording U2 R/H songs off the VCR back in the day (to my cassette deck) as some of the songs weren't available on any of their other CDs or tapes.

Here's some VCR audio test samples: http://www.tapeheads.net/showthread.php?t=51978#14

The late 80s-early 90s Panasonics give a very good account of themselves . I have an NV-D80 , NV-H70, NV-H65. All have proper rec level meters and controls, and a switch which produces a black raster and hence sync when in audio mode.

An alternative could be to stick a load of artist info, jpegs or whatever on a DVD-R, connected to the video line in, and record that at the same time.

After about 1994, hifi stereo appeared on even budget decks, but without manual level controls or often a dedicated audio mode. These decks aren't really suitable for audio recording use.

eclectiktronik said:

An alternative could be to stick a load of artist info, jpegs or whatever on a DVD-R, connected to the video line in, and record that at the same time.

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I did that once, but with a twist: I set my first Windows XP laptop, back in 2003, to show a slideshow of my p*rn/gifs library (heh *embarrased* *flame* *devil*) while Winamp was looping through my MOD/S3M folder, and recorded that on a 4h tape *grin*

I guess more expensive VCRs may tape steps to mask/filter out that noise somehow, or that it requires spot-on calibration and constant maintenance. But yeah, since the sound is "sliced" temporarily with the same rate as the video fields, and that starts already during recording, there's no escaping.

In the analog domain it's very difficult to fix such a problem: it would require sensitive delay lines, filter networks etc. With digital data which can instead be buffered, it's much less of a problem to handle discontinuities.