The "HiFi" audio in consumer grade HiFi VHS is recorded in Audio Frequency
Modulation (AFM).
Digital audio PCM is only available on high end S-VHS machines.

"Mahmoud Ahmadinejad"
VCR Hi-Fi records/reads audio two ways:

The old analog way with the linear audio track on the long side of the
tape.
This mode is FM and is backward compatable with non-HiFi recorded tapes.

The HiFi audio mode is Pulse Code Modulation. PCM is used to record audio
with the video head but separate from the video. The video head takes a
swipe across the tape. When it reaches near the bottom, it stops recording
video and starts recording DIGITAL audio using the same head.

During playback, the head listens for video sending it to the screen and
when it reaches the end of a swipe, shifts its attention to audio sending
the digits to a circuit that converts the signal back into stereo sound.

If the DIGITAL audio is not present on the tape the HiFi VCR will use the
old analog FM linear audio track instead.

In the 1980s and 1990s, some people used the Hi-Fi tracks on VHS and
BetaMax
VCRs to record audio. This was a stopgap measure while affordable digital
audio was being developed and sounded far better than audio cassettes.

On Thu, 27 Jul 2006 14:52:50 -0500, "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad"
wrote:

VCR Hi-Fi records/reads audio two ways:

The old analog way with the linear audio track on the long side of the tape.
This mode is FM and is backward compatable with non-HiFi recorded tapes.

The HiFi audio mode is Pulse Code Modulation. PCM is used to record audio
with the video head but separate from the video. The video head takes a
swipe across the tape. When it reaches near the bottom, it stops recording
video and starts recording DIGITAL audio using the same head.

During playback, the head listens for video sending it to the screen and
when it reaches the end of a swipe, shifts its attention to audio sending
the digits to a circuit that converts the signal back into stereo sound.

If the DIGITAL audio is not present on the tape the HiFi VCR will use the
old analog FM linear audio track instead.

In the 1980s and 1990s, some people used the Hi-Fi tracks on VHS and BetaMax
VCRs to record audio. This was a stopgap measure while affordable digital
audio was being developed and sounded far better than audio cassettes.

"David" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 27 Jul 2006 11:18:21 -0500, "SeeingEyeDog"
wrote:

If the VCR is of a stereo Hi-Fi vintage than the audio is recorded
digitally. It is fairly close to CD quality. Few people are aware of
this
fact.

FM, not digital.



Thanks.

SeeingEyeDog wrote:
The "HiFi" audio in consumer grade HiFi VHS is recorded in Audio Frequency
Modulation (AFM).
Digital audio PCM is only available on high end S-VHS machines.


And some of the early 8MM....





"Mahmoud Ahmadinejad"
VCR Hi-Fi records/reads audio two ways:

The old analog way with the linear audio track on the long side of the
tape.
This mode is FM and is backward compatable with non-HiFi recorded tapes.

The HiFi audio mode is Pulse Code Modulation. PCM is used to record audio
with the video head but separate from the video. The video head takes a
swipe across the tape. When it reaches near the bottom, it stops recording
video and starts recording DIGITAL audio using the same head.

During playback, the head listens for video sending it to the screen and
when it reaches the end of a swipe, shifts its attention to audio sending
the digits to a circuit that converts the signal back into stereo sound.

If the DIGITAL audio is not present on the tape the HiFi VCR will use the
old analog FM linear audio track instead.

In the 1980s and 1990s, some people used the Hi-Fi tracks on VHS and
BetaMax
VCRs to record audio. This was a stopgap measure while affordable digital
audio was being developed and sounded far better than audio cassettes.

I used to do this all the time. I would record the video of the local
preview channel along with the audio. The preview channel had the time
displayed constantly.

Scott

David wrote:
On Thu, 27 Jul 2006 05:04:48 GMT, m II wrote:

I remember someone using a VCR tape for audio recording from the radio.
He set the record time to six hours and when recording, would write down
the time in order to locate a desired segment at a later date.

How is the sound quality at such a slow tape speed? Speech may be
acceptable, but would music still be of good enough quality?


Use VHS HiFi. It records with an FM carrier. Excellent quality. Use
a cheap video camera to record a clock.


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In article ,
SeeingEyeDog wrote:
If the VCR is of a stereo Hi-Fi vintage than the audio is recorded
digitally. It is fairly close to CD quality. Few people are aware of this
fact.

No, it's wideband FM on the same track as the video using some tricks:
head gap angled opposite the video, wider gap, and low frequency carriers
so that the sound signal is "under" the video signal in the oxide.
Seperate carriers per side, too, I think.

Mark Zenier
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)