dolby a unit tricks? (vocals)

beatzz · 13th August 2005

Hey all, I've read the odd post on here which talked about using an older dolby a unit as an effect on vocal tracks.

Eg: Aux send dolby unit to vocal tracks to "spice up" or "slightly distort" vox in a good way.

Any one care to elaborate on what the dolby a unit does on vocals. I googled dolby and all i could find were references to 5.1 channel mixing etc.

Also, anything similar in the plug-in world?

BrianK · 13th August 2005

Theoretically - you USED Dobbly A like this: You send a vocal into it - where it is encoded and recorded to tape. The encoding BOOSTED high end as the vocal got quieter.

(ALL this was un-done when decoding on playback. This made Playback tape hiss go down when the vocal was re-EQ'd back to normal.)

If you get a Dolby A unit now - feed any signal into it - the HF eq will get boosted as things get quieter, and the louder the sound is, it will get darker. This works GREAT on acoustic guitars or pianos at times (listen to Doobie Bros gtr tracks). It's cool on room mics sometimes, maybe a little on a lead vocal, but not much. You can use it as an effects Send or run the signal right through it. To taste...

Picture a sound with dynamic EQ - brighter on the quiet parts, darker on the loud parts. Useful?

13th August 2005	#1
beatzz Gear maniac Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Toronto Posts: 262 Thread Starter	dolby a unit tricks? (vocals) Hey all, I've read the odd post on here which talked about using an older dolby a unit as an effect on vocal tracks. Eg: Aux send dolby unit to vocal tracks to "spice up" or "slightly distort" vox in a good way. Any one care to elaborate on what the dolby a unit does on vocals. I googled dolby and all i could find were references to 5.1 channel mixing etc. Also, anything similar in the plug-in world?

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13th August 2005	#2
BrianK Gear addict Join Date: May 2003 Location: Hollywood Posts: 364	Theoretically - you USED Dobbly A like this: You send a vocal into it - where it is encoded and recorded to tape. The encoding BOOSTED high end as the vocal got quieter. (ALL this was un-done when decoding on playback. This made Playback tape hiss go down when the vocal was re-EQ'd back to normal.) If you get a Dolby A unit now - feed any signal into it - the HF eq will get boosted as things get quieter, and the louder the sound is, it will get darker. This works GREAT on acoustic guitars or pianos at times (listen to Doobie Bros gtr tracks). It's cool on room mics sometimes, maybe a little on a lead vocal, but not much. You can use it as an effects Send or run the signal right through it. To taste... Picture a sound with dynamic EQ - brighter on the quiet parts, darker on the loud parts. Useful?