Hey y'all! I'm first and foremost a musician, but I try to present technical information as accurately as possible without over-extending my knowledge. In other words, I don't like bulls**ting. If you're interested in the technical aspects of VHS audio, this article clears up older versions of VHS vs. Hi-Fi stereo VHS (my machine): www.broadcaststore.com/pdf/model/793700/TT190%20-%204626.pdf ✌️📼🎼

it still surprises me of the production quality of this channel even with only 500 subscribers. I look forward to watching every episode that comes out. Keep it up mate.

What he forgot to mention was the COST. Not only are VCR dirt cheap (especially compared to a good reel-to-reel) but the tape cost is miniscule. And, because of the helical recording system, the VCR tape speed has no bearing on sound quality. Meaning for about $20 you can get 6-8 HOURS of recording tape. Try that with reel to reel.

Many times when using these vcrs to record it's good to have the video hooked up to something like a small tv. This may help reduce hum and noise by not leaving that jack open. Also, yes, you need to pump the levels. VCRs have awesome compression and can handle a lot of gain. This is important when recording with vcr.

The VHS has a surprisingly tasteful low end bump.

Oh my gosh I just found my favourite KZfaq channel in the WORLD

I think the VCR sounded best - no question about it to my ears. The flattest (lifeless - not frequency response) was direct into the computer. The reel-to-reel came in at a close second. Great video! Subbed your channel. 😎👍

This is unbelievable content…searching for the tape answers and came across it…thank you… …BTW…um, am I the only one that thought the VCR sounded the best?…

Back in the early 90s, in what I now call "The Dark Years". I used to work at Radio Shack. And back then they still sold RtR, DAT, and DCC. But by far, the most popular recording media for garage bands and hobbyist musicians, was Hi-Fi Stereo VHS. You did have to have a pure audio source though. The recording quality was so good, that there was no noise reduction built in.

When we played live, I would record all the audio off the board into a VHS tape. 2 hours of audio on one tape! The frequency response of a HiFi VCR, is really good!

Just found your channel, great stuff, I’m sure you’ll be growing quickly. One suggestion I’d make on A/B’ing sources for comparison - don’t make the cuts on beat, make them at completely random intervals. I find the differences are easier to hear that way on videos like this, maybe that’s just me though.. I realize it’s more of a pain when lining up different mixdowns coming from a cassette deck, but I think it’s worth it.

Different VCR’s can give you different results, but one thing to look for when doing this is changing from SP to EP tape speeds. It’s a little counter-intuitive, but most folks find that recording at the slower speed results in the same audio quality (and also may remove the hiss 🤓). Awesome video - maybe do a follow-up at some point! I’ve done stereo mixes with almost no audible hiss from a DAW. Cheers!

i guessed that 2 and 3 were the VCR and tape respectively, they sound so close i couldn't tell, but i could tell the TASCAM instantly

Enjoyed your vid, and thought I would share my experiences with this largely unknown VCR "Hi-Fi" audio capability. I used HI-FI vcr's for video dj work back in the 80's. At that time, Music video audio was terrible, so I would put together versions with decent audio quality myself. After capturing a good quality video source, I would use this to record a 2nd generation video source syncing it alongside audio sourced from a CD or Vinyl and record it onto a Hi-Fi VCR. I would then have a CD quality music vid to use on a pretty serious dj set up, video projector and big screen. This was hard or very exspensive to achieve in the 80's and even into the late 90's. A few have made comments around the audio being linear and not helical scan. While its true there has always been a linear audio path and some even marketed a "Stereo VCR" which in reality just split the mono linear portion of the tape and used half the track for left and half for right, the sound might be stereo, but still garbage. These are NOT the Hi-Fi vcr's which this youTube vid is refering to, and yeah, they probably do belong in a recycle bin. For it to be useful at recording and playing back decent quality audio, there needs to be the words or a symbol "Hi-Fi" printed on the facia or tape loading flap or somewhere on the front. "Hi-Fi" identifies it as having the helical scan audio function and from my experience, if you want to get the best out of one of these, choose one with audio record level controls. The short falls as already commented on by others are real, being head switching distortion and pumping. Some manufacturers offered better quality more expensive machines, or specifically targeted the audio function rather than just improved sound for a video soundtrack. They spent more time and R&D minimising or working around these issues. Most people wont notice or care, but if your a critical audio listner and / or have a decent sound system, you will. That said, they were and are a very cheap method of bulk recording at great quality. (outside the digital realm) The first hifi vcr's were quite a bit more exspensive than a standard vcr with the pick of the domestic units being the JVC HR-D725. Very well built unit with excellent picture quality, minimal head switching distortion, manual level controls and great functionality. While I lusted after one of these, at the time it was just too exspensive, but I found the NEC 895 to be a badge job copy of the JVC for a lot less $ so ended up with the same that I could afford. I bought or hired quite a few makes and models over the years using a number of them for DJ work and music for parties etc. The other quality machine of mention would be most of the Panasonic models and a couple of the high end Mitsubishi's... If its an SVHS and a high end model even better. A lot of the cheaper units I trialled did have the head switching distortion issues, and definately the pumping issue were there was an auto gain control (AGC) used instead of Level control. One other comment I'd make, being as the helical scanned Hi-Fi audio layer is below the helical scanned video layer, better quality tape will allow the recording to last better as far as dropp outs. It's true you can use any tape and get similar results if the tape is sound, but being a magnetic tape it will suffer degradation over time and more so with el-cheapo formulas Hope someone finds this interesting or useful. Cheers !

I've gotten excellent results from a Panasonic Omnivision Hi-Fi VCR.

VHS HiFi was very good for stereo and you can make a 6 hour party tape. Some JVC models had an improved system to get rid of head switching noise and those are the best ones for music. If there had been more development it could have been developed into the best analog recorder ever. I wish someone had done a format where all the heads were used for audio with no video track to maximize audio quality.

I honestly wasn't paying attention to this week's listening quiz, just digging the music. The VCR did, though, have a bit more top end to my ears.

I recorded the a hip hop album on a HiFi JVC vcr back in 1998. That vcr had an independent audio recording function that allowed you to adjust the input recording gain. IMO nothing sounded better than the warmth of that vcr analog tape. Was able to reduce the hiss because of the independent audio gain function that vcr unit had. At the time my four track unit had stopped working and we did live takes of all the songs for the album. A Shure sm-58 through outboard compressor and slight reverb and the tracks straight through an Ensoniq ASR-10. All ran through a Yamaha 12 channel board right into the vcr. When you're a broke producer/engineer you get creative. Came out great.

Great point. I'm an Xer that has to work at a PC most of the day. Love my DAW but am very interested in getting "off the grid" and using a VHS would make perfect sense in conjunction with an analog 4-track recorder. I want to get back to pure creativity that doesn't involve a mouse or keyboard. Thanks for the idea and inspiration! Keep up the great videos.

When CDs first came out in the 80’s i did some work for the Hard Rock Cafe and they opted to use HiFI VHS for their house music instead of a mega CD changer. The sound quality was superior to CDs and rivaled 15ips Reel to Reel audio quality. We used them to mix on.

Hey, man. This is a great channel!

Suddenly, goodwill/salvation army stores and pawn shops, across the globe, are being emptied of VHS technology. Great video, man! Thank you for what you do. Stay analog AND analogical, my friend...

Well done. During 1978, I bought a TEAC 3440 and was appalled at the signal to noise ratio. Using a test instrument set, it barely managed 50db, so I bought a dbx II 4 channel unit and that solved the problem. I was impressed with the sound quality of the VHS HiFi PCM system. All that good sound from a tape barely moving compared to the TEAC at 15 ips. That's my 10c worth.

Holy crap this video is straight out of the 80's man... and provides useful info with style?! Subscribed! I'm actually about to demagnetize my Akai X-165D's heads in preparation to make a mixtape from my Technics SL-1200 MK6 (Japanese model).

I was born in 2000. I just plugged our VHS player into a TV because my grandma wanted to rewatch my parents' wedding. The sorry zoomers part hurts so bad:"D (btw I think you got a new sub)

I have so much love for this channel! I'm gonna dig out the vhs tomorrow haha

Here you are a fellow believer of tapes and new subscriber from the super developed country of Mexico.

Many years ago I hooked up my VCR to my stereo system. The sound that it produced was outstanding. People were amazed how I was able to connect it to sound system. However eventually I disconnected it. But recently I purchased a Super VHS VCR machine off of Ebay. It was not that costly. It is a Toshiba with the VU metters. The unit feels like tank. I mean this unit has some weight. The sound that this thing produces is amazing. It blows away the sound of my old VCR. It rivals if not surpasses my Grundig TS 1000 10.5 reel to reel. If you are into music and stereo HI-FI, equipment, maybe you should consider purchasing one. VHS tapes can still be purchased from Ebay. I have purchased many. Again the sound is awesome. And it adds flavor to the sound system.

Great stuff, man. My band back in the early 90's would "master" our 8-track recordings onto HiFi VHS. CD burning wasn't common place yet so we made due. Interesting fact about a feature that rose out of a need for backward compatibility, non-HiFi VCR's recorded their audio linearly along the top of the tape. The HiFi models would lay down their helical audio using one amount of current, and then the video would be laid down right on top of it at a slightly different angle and current, but ALSO create the low fi linear track for compatibility. When playing back, generally due to lower quality tapes, there could be drop outs in the HiFi audio. The VCR would detect this by monitoring an FM carrier, and if it dropped out the machine would instantly switch over to the low fi audio, then back to HiFi when the carrier signal returned. Sort of like an automatic audio backup system. It was probably not noticeable to the untrained ear. The engineers of the day who figured that out were just phenomenal.

Mastering engineer here (25 years of work). My guess was: 1 Computer, 2 VHS, 3 Reel to Reel. 1 was very clear as it has the sharpest transients and less bass/sub-bass, VHS and Reel to Reel had a bass-bump and both have somewhat smeary transients. But I could clearly not tell the difference between VHS and Reel to Reel. Actually, VHS (3) sounded a bit clearer to me overall than the Reel to Reel. Shows how good VHS HiFi was / is as a Reel to Reel alternative.

Billy Joe; a 4 track Teac R2R deck canNOT compete with a hifi VCR (with higher/wider frequency response). Only a 2-track professional r2r machine can. Audiophile.

I've just discovered your channel over the last few weeks - amazing videos and good tunes too! 🙏

Me and the guitarist in my band always used a VHS hifi - VCR in the 90´s for recording masters of our 4 track demo-mixes. Still sounds fine today.

The VCR most likely has auto gain control (AGC) which is why you hear more hiss, since it’s pumping up the gain on the lower levels. If you added more gain ahead of the VCR, like you suggested in the video, that would just effectively compress your recording.

I recorded a band on a Mitsubishi Hifi Vcr. Cd sold well, sounded great

I STILL have the same setup, Porta-One and VHS Hi-Fi in my stable, occasionally use for grins instead of my HD24 and Audacity for mixdown. Since 1990.

i enjoyed the video, back in the day i used to record my band rehearsals straight from the sounddesk on vhs tape, it sounded way better than recording onto cassette tape

they used to master CDs using a VCR with a Pulse Code Modulator. This was before DAT.

Man! The last video I commented on hooked me with that same tape deck I have, but serendipity lead me to this one after I just sorted through tons of older high end VCR recording and mixing equipment I almost just got rid of. Thanks for the new inspiration.

"I don't want to get into the physics of this. I'm not a physician..." Oh god, I'm stealing this.

lovely irony that yr VHS deck is badged 'sony'.... this technique of recording stereo FM audio in the vertical guard-band was also used in betacam SP decks from around 1989 to 1993, when digibeta first came along.

Excellent video! I'm really impressed by the quality of the production! Just one thing, though. VHS was always called "Video Home System," even as far back as its invention in 1976. The "Vertical Helical Scan" connotation is somewhat false. VHS home recording wasn't exactly vertical (the heads of a VHS VCR run at an angle, and as a result isn't vertical), and while VHS VCR's did record video helically, the patents of this form of tape recording belong to Ampex (back in 1961). JVC would have had to pay Ampex royalties to use that name as a result. There are articles from Popular Science in November of 1977 that debunks the use of the "Vertical Helical Scan" name. That's just me being an OCD internet pedant though. This video was really good and informative otherwise. Keep up the excellent work!

My old band back in the day we recorded all the live tracks on a fostex lr 16 16 track digital recorder using a biamp advantage one for preamps, mixed on reaper and the master 2 track sent to a JVC super vhs recorder. It was considered high end with the +4 dbu inputs. Interesting combo. Sounded good. Kinda added some warmth and certainly set the sound apart from a straight digital master. It still maintained a 20hz to 20kz response which was shocking

I could hear the hiss on the R2R, VHS had some rf noise because of the (not recorded) Picture, but it did sound as good as your R2R.

I came from Facebook, your sister posted this, so I gotta leave a view cause she cool af. My name is spook DeVille on Facebook🖤✨

my guess was: 1 - reel2reel, 2 - cassette, 3 - vhs i wasn't expecting cassette to be noisier than reel2reel, that surprised me though haha on hifi vhs, the audio quality is great i think the bitrate is a bit lower than 44.1khz but pretty close to near-cd quality (for me anyways) but on 2 head vcrs, the audio quality is about half that (which sounds about right since on hifi vcrs, there are usually 4 or more heads on the drum)

I saved so many songs VHS HiFi. It rivals digital. Sounds absolutely Awesome!

That song is a bop. The claps go a little off beat thoughout but I thought it was groovy!

My "Gut" reaction was that they were all the same - direct recording to computer.

I've heard tons of audio comparisons between VHS, multitrack cassettes, USB interfaces, reel-to-reel machines, and so on and I literally can never tell the difference between any of them. Maybe it's just because KZfaq audio is downgraded to 128 kbps, but in my humble opinion it doesn't really matter what medium you record to because they all sound the same. So, do which ever one is more fun or more practical for you!

Alesis ADAT machines also used VHS tapes, and they can be had for very little 💰 these days. Cool video! I really enjoyed the comparison between all 3. 👍🎶👂🙂

I had a JVC HiFi VHS machine back in the day and I used it often to record during the night from digital satellite radio. I was very much into trance music then and there was this particular radio show at Saturday evening followed by a six-hours of nonstop livesets from various DJ's. The trusty JVC recorded many of those sets in the middle of the night and always in magnificent quality. I then transferred the best sets to MiniDisc. I still have all those MD's, I also still have the JVC although the latter hasn't been used in years and sits in the attic - the last time I tried it worked perfectly fine though. And 20 years later I also find myself still listening to those MD recordings, some sourced from a HiFi stereo VHS tape, itself recording from a satellite receiver that got it's signal from a satellite 25,000 miles away in space. And it just works and it sounds excellent. And the music is terrific.

This is awesome . I have been walking by one of these everyday at my parents place and just stumbled across your video. Love your channel

this video was more so a demonstration of why you should mixdown from your recorder onto a good tape machine instead of feeding into the computer directly cause both the VCR and the R2R sounded better to me

I didn’t hear THAT much hiss with the vcr, though. And I already knew that vcr’s could be used for music: Radio Shack used to put some music CD’s on vhs tapes at one of the stores here in Houston in the 80’s (before Stereo VCR’s were available) just to have music in the store.

Yes, the SVHS Hifi machines work great for audio! Love them.

VHS, Beta, 8-tracks, and reel to reels make excellent recording devices - and sound better than early CDs. I just inherited several DVD/VHS combo sets from my Uncle who recently passed and the family gifted me my pick of the electronics because I'm a stereo buff. I also inherited a vintage Pioneer SA-9100 integrated amp (60W, ~30lbs with wood side cabinetry!!!), a TX-6200 tuner (same wood panels), and a Garrard turntable (I gave that to my cousin). These vintage pieces still fetch a few hundred dollars apiece today.....

I use JVC S-VHS to transfer old HI-FI tapes I made when I DJed back in the 1990s on HI-FI RCA decks. JVCs tend to have great sound and PICTURE as well. I started doing mixdowns HI-FI VHS From my TEAC 3340 tracks I was updating from 1978-1983. Then Computers hit in the 2000s and the better sound cards were hard to get and pricey. But the demos got did. HI-FI VHS was great except if you get the annoying HEAD SWITCHING NOISE. Around 100hz it's a low buzz. I'm sure there's a video somewhere on how to deal with it. Glad you see you caught on.

Actually the VCR has better sound than the computer, because the VCR is an analog recorder. Also, it has a higher effective tape speed than the reel-to-reel recorder. I was recording on a VCR back in the 80s. As a test, I recorded a CD to videotape. I played both back and switched between the two. I couldn't hear the difference. Even recording on the VCR at the slowest speed is still better than the reel-to-reel.

And labels still release stuff on VHS, like me. You may want to use a VCR with a manual volume control, like the Panasonic NV-F65HQ, that was literally made for audio, it doesn't even do video in LP mode.

i have a couple of that model vcr, they have great sound

This is great! I was just about to throw out an old vcr. Glad I saw this

Very cool video. I would be really interested to see a mix done all in the box that is clean and digital and then sent through the VCR to see if it gives it any of that nice tape warmth.

Use to use a PcM converter into VHS tape for earlier than DAT digital masters.

The drum spins at 1800 rpm. Add that to the speed of the tape you get Hi-Fi Stereo.

Very cool and informative vid as always. What immediately comes to mind are successfully transferring any recordings done on blank VHS tapes to digital ( for combining tracks, etc.) , the hiss and how to eliminate it without the classic noise reduction, and how to actually check recording levels while recording onto VHS.

If you're looking to use a VCR for audio purposes, sure get a "HiFi" deck, but if you want higher "quality" audio, try to find an earlier deck that doesn't have the "HiFi" designation. The "HiFi" logo is actually a technical/legal mark which denotes a technological package of capabilities within the VCR deck, producing a required standard of dynamic range, noise floor, output etc. Thing is, part of the HiFi requirement is the inclusion of a compressor within the VCR to reduce the dynamic range of recorded and reproduced audio which can then be further amplified beyond the VHS tape's and VCR's noise floor. This isn't like a vibey studio compressor, or a vibey lofi compressor imparting a desirable sound. Again, not saying don't use a HiFi deck, it is an analog tape deck, and it'll give you a bit of analog vibe, and is surprisingly hifi, lowercase, not the technical demarcation. While you're using your "HiFi" VCR, keep looking for an earlier VCR without the "HiFi" designation. This type of earlier deck will not have the tech package that prevents you from hitting the tape as hard as you like. See, the HiFi mark requires that compressor/limiter which will prevent your audio levels from going above a certain level, so you'll never be able to push into the tape with higher levels and get that really desirable tape saturation/compression, even what we'd call chunky tape distortion. You'll get a "clean" degree of analogness off the HiFi deck, but an earlier non-HiFi deck will give you the full package, fully "analog" sounding, meaning you can hit the tape harder and get that really analog tape compression (as audio peaks are smushed down because the tape literally cannot take any higher level, the magnetic particles on the tape are fully saturated), so when high audio level peaks hit the tape and compress, they'll turn that extra energy into (technically) distortion, or what we'd qualitatively call "saturation" at lower levels of overloading the tape, "overdrive" at medium levels of overloading, and "distortion" at truly high levels of overloading the tape. Of course, there aren't just 3 levels of overloaded distortion, there's a full spectrum of distortion from light saturation to full on chunky munkey distortion, all of which is valid and usable in the right context, according to your aesthetic and technical desires. Some OLD school wisdom for ye.

Some Hi-Fi VHS models had a digital display that would show the line inputs audio levels while also allowing user adjustment.

I liked the vcr honestly

Great video plus I still record with vhs tapes every day specially I get movies from Netflix and KZfaq Putting all that on my vhs tapes

That's what I wanted to know. Thank you very much!

I agree with you about the quality of Hi-Fi VHS sound. I used to use it for audio recording way back in the 90's when DAT was still a bit out of reach for the casual home studio and recording straight to PC wasn't practical since a "top of the line" PC back then only had 8megs (not gigs) of ram and a "huge" harddrive couldn't even hold an hour of PCM before it was full. But this "test" is kinda bullshit. On KZfaq nobody is going to be able to hear any differences in quality when all we get on this end (the viewer's end) is 128k compressed audio. We can't hear a difference because there is no difference. All three were 128k compressed on the viewer's end. A trained ear can hear the FM used in VHS audio. But not when it's compressed to 128k.

Cool video. FYI, the helical scan only applies to video. The audio track is recorded / played back linearly with different heads.

Yes!!! I picked Computer, reel to reel, VCR. I based it on the hiss. Zero hiss on computer, some on VCR, and more on reel to reel. It seemed to me anyways

This is so cool…I have never even thought about recording sound into a VCR…I am in my mid 50’s,so I remember VCR’s very well…I had a HiFi VCR that sounded amazing back in the 80’s…but that was pre digital anything…except watches and calculators….I didn’t know you could just send audio into it….I may dig mine out and give it a shot….Absolutely great video..just found your channel by accident..I am subscribed now..I gotta see more..

I used to mix down to my stereo VCR in the late 80’s with my Tascam Porta One…… then play that mix to a new tape on the four track (Tracks 1 & 2 for stereo) so I would two more tracks…… I would do it one more time so I would be able to record eight tracks…..

Cool channel man and thanks for all your vids!! I can hear a difference on reel to reel PAN. It is not centered, has more sound on right side

I used to use a hifi VCR alongside 4 and 2 channel tape recorders in the 80s. My VCR was relatively rare in having manual record level and metering. Some VCRs were not hifi, because they used a low speed linear track. Mine offered a spec of 20 -20K and 90dB s/n.

My guess was right. The VCR has more clarity of sound.

youre a fuckin rockstar bro i never even thought of using it.. the sound quality must be great.. still havent finished the video.. but i had to give my praise to your genius im definitely tyring this.. in this city most people sell them to second hand shops where they restore old machines all day

i moved in next door to a physics professor once and said "oh that's great that you're a physician." it just fell out of my mouth. anyway i never really felt i got his respect after that lol i guess it's like someone saying to me "oh youre a magician!"

I thought 2 was the VCR and the R2R was 3

i was sitting here hoping the VCR was number 2 because the way its effecting the kick drum sounds really nice compared to 1.

"That thing has value to weird musicians!" ROFL!!!

I'm interested to try this at heavily levels, saturated, as I know how reel to reel behaves with the levels cranked but haven't tried with hi-fi VCR.

3 had the best low end and even sound 2 had a louder mid bump

Hai fatto un bel video.il VHS e' famoso per avere una qualità audio perfetta,su questo non ci sono dubbi,infatti spesso e' stato usato dagli studi di registrazione per le registrazioni di prova,con una qualità del suono paragonabile al master.

I also use VHS to for mixing or backups.

yo signed in just to comment, anyhow here's my 2 cents, cause I guessed them all correctly. keep in mind it could be lucky guess but here are the things that tipped me off: 1 / The computer: All around highest clarity and less artifacts , the swells on the right channel gave it away 2 / The Reel 2 Reel: The innate EQ curves due to the nature of the tape composition and recording/playback standarts cause it to have a shelf around mids/mid-highs (by todays standarts I assume [as in with the luxury of our contemporary technology as Hi-freqs would be more diffucult in the yesteryear to produce and distrubute] ) and their own characteristic saturation and compresssion. 3/ The VCR: Well kind of like the reel to reel with these differences, Higher speed = More high frequency content and the characteristic saturation / compression is different than that of the R2R. Let me know what you think!

Got it right, I worked with Reel-to-reel, the punch is recognisable. Computer sounded clean, VCR sounded weak.

I freaked out when I heard them all

Number 2 sounded best to me, glad I found it was reel tape. Back then they used really high end reel to reel recorders like Ampex 24 track.

Wow. Mind...Blown! And it makes so much sense. I've currently been recording everything from 4 track cassette through a compressor pedal then to my audio interface and into a DAW strictly for uploading. No tweaking takes place in the Daw. And of course I've been G.A.S.ing for a reel to reel or a DAT recorder and this might be just what I'm looking for.

but VHS players use a separate head for reading audio. Audio is printed to VHS as a separate track along the edges of the tape and is picked up by a separate stationary head after the video head., the reason video signal is on a spinning head is because of the amount of signal needed to produce video per cm is much more than what is required for audio.

I knew 3 was the VCR, it has that old school tape sound. 1 sounded flat and dry to me.

That's all small time bands/musicians used for decades until PCs/interfaces got good enough. Really want the experience? Four track with gain fairly cranked -> BBE -> VCR for mixdown (have to play with levels of course). That's like all early-mid 90's electronic/dance/indie anything.

One feature that I always wished VHS HiFi recorders had was variable pitch control. I couldn’t count how many songs sound so much better to my ears with the pitch somewhat reduced. Of course, the VCR’s HiFi recording method pretty much makes adding this functionality impossible:

Avid listener. I have an AKAI 747 R TO R. Then recently been seeing all the good things on the analog HiFi of the helical scan tape. I'm sold. My AKAI does not have this range especially at the VHS tape running at 6hr mode!!!! It is more compact so the Akai now is in the closet:( I'm listening to a playback of a Vollenweider album from days in grad school, recorded on Maxell XL. I'll miss my big old reel to reel for the visual but not for the sound of the hifi vcr!!:)

HiFi VCR uses companding circuitry to get that crazy high S/N ratio. So depending on the material you will hear the difference as there is a slight delay expanding the compressed audio on playback.

The spinning drum head is only for the video NOT the audio. To the far left you will see the erase head and to the right of the spinning drum is the linear audio head. No sound is picked up from that video drum head. The VCR is great for audio recording Just make sure it has "HiFi" written on it else not so great.