Episode 08
“The Audiosode”
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iTunes/Miro links are available in the Show Stuff section near the top of the page!
Show Notes
Segments:
8-Track Tapes
Book Review
Flexies
“8-Track Tapes”
Shows the basics of 8-track tapes. Uses a Sears player/recorder. Music was recorded on to tape with an iPod connected to the input jacks on the tape deck.
“Book Reviews”
Kingpin - Kevin Poulsen
Ghost in the Wires - Kevin Mitnick
“Flexies”
Shows two flexi discs compared to a standard vinyl record. Flexi discs are than demo’d on a Technics turntable.
Episode 07
“The Digisode”
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Download XviD from Archive.org
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iTunes/Miro links are available in the Show Stuff section near the top of the page!
Show Notes
Segments:
Minidiscs
‘Secrets of a Super Hacker’ Review
Digitizing VHS
“Minidiscs”
Shows the basics of Minidisc Net-MD players, transferring to Minidsic from the computer, and playback on a Minidisc deck.
Players used were: MZ-NE410, MZ-N510, MDS-JE500 (deck)
The SonicStage software can be found here, forums.sonyinsider.com/files/file/95-sonicstage-43-ultimate-edition/
NOTE: Registration is required for download, but is free and takes no time at all.
“’Secrets of a Super Hacker’ Review”
ISBN-10: 1559501065
ISBN-13: 978-1559501064
“Digitizing VHS”
Gives a little discussion of methods for transferring VHS.
Shows off the PolyTron Digital Video Stabilizer, Vidicraft Detailer II, Vidicraft Proc Amp, Archer Super Video Processor, Archer Video Enhancer/Stabilizer, Archer Video Color Processor, Archer Video Sound Processor, Ambico Video Enhancer/Audio Mixer, Sima SED-CM Video CopyMaster.
This is followed by a demonstration chaining the VCR —> Stabilizer —> Vidicraft Proc Amp —> Vidicraft Detailer II —> DVD Recorder.
Episode 03
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Show Notes
Segments:
Betamax Basics
Vocoding with the Stylophone
Reel-to-Reel Players
“Betamax Basics” used a Sanyo Betacord VCR 4400, and a broken Sony Betamax SL-HF550. The blank tapes were Kodak and Sony brands with the number L-750. This segment focused on using the Betamax player while providing a brief history.
“Vocoding with the Stylophone” used a Stylophone available from Thinkgeek, http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/musical-instruments/aa64/ . The Stylophone was hooked through the computer using the headphone jack on the stylophone and the line-in jack on my computer’s sound card. Programs featured in the segment were Audacity via http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ , Zerius Vocoder via http://www.epiphyte.ca/code/vocoder.html , and Spectro via http://spectro.enpts.com/ . The segment talked briefly about the Stylophone’s use as an instrument and then demonstrated the ability to use it as a post-recording vocoder tool in the style of bands such as Daft Punk and Electric Light Orchestra.
“Reel-to-Reel Players” used a Concord Tape Recorder, a Tandberg 3300X, and an Akai GX-2300. This segment also made use of a Helix HX-4635 Boombox which is also known in other markets as a Conion C-100F and a Claritone 7980. An iPod Video was used briefly to show the recording capabilities. The segment mainly focused on showcasing the players as well as showing record and playback abilities.
This is not an episode, it is more of an experiment and a product of boredom. Thought I’d share it with the world instead of keep it to myself.
You can also download this (ridiculously large) video in XviD from Archive.org.
I decided I wanted to see how VHS degraded through the process of copying. Some people may be experienced with “workprint” cuts of movies. A workprint is simply an unfinished movie cut of a film meant for inner circulation by film personnel. Workprints can often contain unfinished effects, alternate takes, different endings, etc. This causes them to be highly prized by collectors.
So how does this fit in? Most workprints were dumped to VHS for circulation, and every once in a while these tapes would get taken off the movie set. People would copy a tape, give it to a friend, and continue this process. Most of these workprints have awful wear because of this.
I decided to run episode one of Obsoleet through some VCRs. The episode was streamed to a VCR via a modified Xbox running XBMC. I then copied the tape back and forth through two VCRs about seven times to get this result.
I dumped the tape to DVD via a DVD recorder, which actually tried to correct the tape and made it look even worse. The recorder might have corrected some of the color, but made the video shaky and more distorted.
I ripped the DVD and cut out a segment that I think best shows the degradation of the video.
