Post B7Zfb1bt5QCDrjzoB6 by themaritimegirl@tech.lgbt
 (DIR) More posts by themaritimegirl@tech.lgbt
 (DIR) Post #B7Zfb1bt5QCDrjzoB6 by themaritimegirl@tech.lgbt
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       I spent the evening working on the Sony WM-68. As I predicted, bad belts. After changing those, adjusting the speed and azimuth, and cleaning the head, capstan, and pinch roller, it's working pretty well, I think!The biggest issue I'm having with it is that the Dolby decoding is way too aggressive. Using Dolby on pre-recorded tapes make them severely muddy. Recordings made from the Aiwa AD-F770 come out better, but still a bit muddy. There are "Dolby Level" trimmers that are supposed to be adjusted with a test tape, but I have no idea if they have anything to do with the Noise Reduction. Maybe it's as simple as bad capacitors, but I don't know if I want to try tearing this down that far.This is a TDK SA tape recorded without Dolby. I also feel like it also has more flutter than it should, but maybe it's within spec? I had to replace one of the belts with a round belt because I didn't have a square of the right size, so maybe that's part of it too.
       
 (DIR) Post #B7Zfb1sC6nEwgJcpay by vwestlife@mastodon.social
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @themaritimegirl Dolby NR decoding is very much level-sensitive. Too low of an output level will make it sound muffled. Since this is just a player, not a recorder, there is no harm in simply adjusting the level until the Dolby decoding sounds good on most tapes. Also, Sony used super-thin belts, too thin for any of the common replacements to be a match. A few vendors like DeckTech custom-make belts to the original Sony specs, but they're rather expensive, especially with international shipping.