[QuadList] PCM video recorder, Sony F1

[Dennis Degan]

		On Jan 11, 2012, at 11:04 AM, C. Park Seward wrote

 > I have been contacted by a woman who need some VHS PCM tapes  
transferred. Sony had a model "F1" that used a video transport to  
record a video signal of the audio. It was very high quality at the  
time, almost as good as CD.

		I added:

 > As I recall it was 14-bit, so yes it was ALMOST as good as CD.

		On Jan 11, 2012, at 8:37 PM, Sammy Jones wrote:

 > A good friend of mine is the recording engineer is the recording  
engineer for the School of Music at the University of Georgia.  He  
used a Sony PCM recorder for years in the '80s to make masters of  
concerts at the school. His model will record in either 14 bit or 16  
bit.  Excellent sound, as I recall.  He generally mastered to Betamax,  
but sometimes VHS.
 > In fact, he has two of the things.  One that will only output  
unbalanced analog audio, and one that will output PCM over an RCA  
connection.

 > Sammy Jones
 > Producer
 > Georgia Public Broadcasting

		I explain:

	The early units such as the F1 recorded a 16-bit data stream but only  
used 14 bits for audio.  The two extra bits were reserved for error  
correction.  Later units used all 16 bits for audio but to maintain  
compatibility, they could be switched to 14-bit as well.
		<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pcm_adapter>

			Dennis Degan, Video Editor-Consultant-Knowledge Bank
					     NBC Today Show, New York