VHS HiFi sound, how good is it really. Using a VCR as a Audio Recorder in 2021 

I used to be A/V engineer in a duplication plant. We experimented with thicker micron tape, trying to improve picture quality. Obviously this limited the length of the film, Lawrence of Arabia wouldn’t fit lol.. Anyway, another experiment was recording audio into S-VHS Panasonic recorders, some of those recordings were epic.

Vhs hi fi. Better than reel to reel just a hair under CD. Perfect format for cheap. Cheers from Arizona USA 🇺🇸

Vinyl recorded to VHS at high speed is a profoundly great analog replica. From there, you can go straight to DSD losing nothing at all and maintaining an outstanding noise floor.

I used to record nightly radioshows from digital satellite ono hifi VHS. It sounded more than excellent, better than the majority of cassettedecks out at the time and even longplay mode didn't seem to affect the quality. Ideal way to get 8hours or even more of recording time in excellent quality.

I have a Nokia VHS that has separate audio inputs and switching to record & play audio only ( also has level controls etc,). Great fun. Great video by the way.

Great video, many thanks.

Il suono del VHS e' PERFETTO!,videoregistratore molto buono

This takes me back, back in the 90s i bought my first ever highend hifi vcr, Panasonic NVHS900 super vhs and i use to use it more as an audio player than anything, the sound was so superior to audio cassettes, you could fit tons of music on it i used to spend hours making mixed tapes and track finding was easy enough if remembered to press index before you started recording that way you pressed you rewind or fast forward index buttons to find you tracks, my vcr had manual left and right record levels dials and vu meters, a headphone jack as well, it was a great way of getting high def audio, at that time there wasn't a lot around then that could give you good sound other than minidisc or dat but they were expensive in the old days

Sounded good , thanx

Used to record Laserdisc audio/video, to VHS HiFi. It transferred quite well.

The stereo in the recording sounds good

Hi Michael, great video. I'm about to add my old vhs stereo recorder to my own analogue recording studio. Kind regards. Paul.

Have you not got the remote? Every time you press record it puts a signal on the tape, so when you have it set to search it will stop and play at the appropriate number of track you want. Excellent machine, Panasonic was best VHS recorders in there day 👍

hi betacam digi sp with walk over VHS hi-fi i have the decks 4 channel and alot of gain and meters on the front panel

My PANASONIC NV-HD660 sounds amazing / as a cassette fun i'm i have to say that the VHS format is superior .

Forgot to ask, what Panasonic model is it Mike? Need one with both input and outputs to record, same like a cassette deck

How do I make a good recording onto vhs hifi without input volume controls or VU meters? Recordings are either to quiet or to loud/ saturated. Without something visual it’s guess work. All reel to reel’s have them. All cassette have them. Why not Hi fi VCR’s? Great sounding, but how do you record without them?

i will say the first lot of vhs hi-fi you have the low speed play back was for liner stereo when playing a vhs there was a mix of hi-fi play back for mats it was along time ago betamax hi-fi had a button that made the video black and sound only it was some time ago i had 9 hi-fi betamax the head were to soft why i went over to betacam sp no more drop outs more channels

Tape speed makes no difference when recording in Hi-Fi, SP or the slowest EP/SLP the result is the same.

i can't get mine to record in stereo. The recording always comes out mono, although it says clearly on the door of the VCR 4 head HI FI stereo on the door of the VCR. I selected the line one input of the VCR which has two stereo RCA inputs and outputs

is Hi Fi stereo the same as NICAM stereo? I ask as I have a NICAM VHS recorder

hi sony pcm 701es on top of any video i have one on a eu video v2000 with the A/V din sockets

I thought I would try it, then saw the cost of VHS players online! I thought VHS players would be going for £10-20 as no one wants them anymore. Seems not, some going for well over £100. I saw one going for £220, a Panasonic one. Only thing that is going cheap now still is CDs but I can't see that last longer. Why does greed have to ruin everything. I bet even 5 years ago you could buy an old VHS player for £10.

How would you say it compares to HQ reel-to-reel?

What model cd player is that

What speakers are they?

I Record constantly onto VHS I have 3 Panasonic's NV- V8000 I have to admit they do sound better than Nakimichi 680Zx .. But you need to use the best VHS tapes available preferably super VHS 1s

Hi. what want for 1 to 1 quality on VHS ! 1. Need PAL or NTSC This is the Best Choice with 4.43 because on NTSC recording take more tape space for audio recording and Les for Video signal Then on Pal ,Left channel is 1.3Mhz Right Channel 1.7Mhz! 2. Need VHS with Long play (LP On PAL OR on NTSC Extended Play EP or (SLP)) Because on this mode lowered video quality but again take more space for AUDIO on tape ! 3.HI-FI NICAM because minimum need on drum 2 Long play Head ,2 Standard Quality play Head ! 4.Black signal generator on VHS calling this button (SIMUL) Or ( Test signal) on BACK This generate Black video signal ,need for tracking stable simulation because VHS tracking system looking this information for synchronization ! When not synchronize tracking system non stop looking and make on recording noises clicking like scratching noises ! ON VHS Without Black Screen Generation Need give in black screen video signal from another device get same results ! 5.For best result need check some VHS Without Recording Level adjustment gives the best recordings when input 5 volts but on 0.5-0.7V results poor ! 6. Example devices Panasonic NV-F125( NV-HD100AM) ,NV-F75,NV-F65,NV-FS 200 HQ, The best Choice NV-W1! 7. At last For the BEST QUALITY HI-FI Audio on VHS Need Recording ON NTSC ,4.43 ,EP or SLP ON PAL, LP , Black screen Video input or Black screen Generation, Don't forget about input Voltage! When doo like that on the result getting Quality best then any professional Reel To Reel And DAT is well plenty models not giving that results ! Analog sound is the best ! :-)

Cd is obsolete low res digital, vhs Hifi sound much better, record something that worth it on vhs Hifi, like dsd or other analog support!

This should have been a 2 minute video

Damage vhs proven they continue playing yet damage blue Ray's proven they don't play at all I have 3 blue Ray's doesn't play their are scratch up yet damage vhs proven they continue playing all time when they are damage some my vhs is older then me yet they are 35 years old yet they still continue playing yet my damage blue Ray's that are 4 years old that are damage doesn't play at all just like my internet on my blue Ray player it's only 4 years old yet my internet has loading problems now update every 4 years is to much specially back in the old days everything was kept for 35 years now days only 5 years them vhs tapes still better then internet specially in time inernet proven it locks up in time yet vhs proven they never lock up in time plus vhs proven they are fixable with scotch tape it starts playing again

I disagree with the almost as good as CD part. Personally I think VHS is vastly superior, even better than 24/96 high res. Use vinyl as the source then compare the VHS recording to a Digital recording. Digital strips the life out of the sound

Nowhere near as good as a CD unfortunately, much less dynamic range

Hard to understand this guy.

lol no bass in vcr