17. WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH DOLBY 8-TRACK DECKS AND TAPES?
Description
This article is from the 8-track Tapes FAQ, by Malcolm Riviera malco@interpath.com with numerous contributions by others.
17. WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH DOLBY 8-TRACK DECKS AND TAPES?
(Note: "Dolby" and the "double-D" symbol are trademarks of Dolby
Laboratories Ltd.).
During the mid-1960s, audio engineer Ray Dolby developed the Dolby
Type-A noise-reduction system, which has been utilized extensively
in professional recording studios ever since (although for it is
becoming superceded by the improved Dolby Type SR system and, sigh,
various digital recording systems).
In 1969, Ray Dolby responded to inquiries from various audio experts
to develop a simpler, cost-effective, but high-quality noise reduction
system for consumer tape decks. This system, known as Dolby Type B,
was designed to provide relatively dependable record/playback
performance from tape decks running at the slow tape speeds (1 7/8 ips
and 3 3/4 ips) of cassette and 8-track tapes, respectively. Dolby-B
dramatically reduces high-frequency "tape hiss", providing a
relatively quiet tape background.
The first Dolby-equipped consumer 8-track decks appeared in late 1971
from Akai and Wollensak. Other makers offering Dolby-equipped decks
included Pioneer, Realistic, and Technics. A small number of compact
combo stereos (combining 8-track deck, stereo receiver, and turntable
with matched speakers) included Dolby.
Of the major tape duplicators, only Columbia had a really
strong commitment to encoding 8-tracks with Dolby. Columbia began
Dolby-encoding of cassettes in 1971 and Dolby-encoding of 8-tracks in
1973. As a result, hundreds of the most common 8-track titles (from the
various CBS labels) feature Dolby-B encoding.
Other 8-track tape manufacturers (Ampex, GRT, Capitol Records,
RCA, MCA, Warner) neglected to offer the benefits of Dolby encoding
to their customers. Curiously, some Canadian RCA 8s are Dolby-encoded
while their US counterparts are not. Had Dolby-encoding become more
widespread on 8-tracks, it's likely that the format's "planned
obsolesence" would have been postponed several years.
By Ron Bensley, RBensley@gnn.com
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