from Hacker News

The Lofi Magic of VHS Audio [video]

by rhema on 5/4/23, 9:28 PM with 61 comments

• by mortenjorck on 5/5/23, 7:46 PM

  The video makes a good comparison in the frequency domain between the original and processed audio, but the high and low frequency attenuation is only half the story.

  The other key part of the VHS sound is the pitch modulation caused by slight inconsistencies in the speed of the tape going past the heads. In a synthesizer, this can be mimicked (and often is, in "lo-fi" presets) with a sine wave modulating the oscillator frequencies.

  Still, if you want to get that full, dreamy VHS shimmer, you don't necessarily have to dub your audio onto an actual machine. There are software emulations out there, my favorite of which is a user-created Reaktor effect called VHS Audio Degradation Suite: https://www.native-instruments.com/en/reaktor-community/reak... It gives you full control over an exhaustive set of VHS attributes, from flutter and wow to distortion and noise.

• by ofalkaed on 5/5/23, 9:02 PM

  Back in the previous century I used three VCRs as a multitrack audio recorder, I kept spending more money on synths instead getting a proper multitrack and mixer. It started out as a 6 track setup but mixdown was troublesome to say the least so I switched to a 4 track setup with bounce down. Two VCRs were recorded on and their outputs ran to a tuner which had two record ins that could be used at the same time and each even had a volume and balance control. So I would start my cheap electronic metronome, hit record on the first, hit record on the second on 16, start playing on 32. Then stick one of those tapes in the third VCR for play along and two blanks in the others, hit play and record 4 more tracks, repeat. Eventually bounce/mix them down in what could be a very long process since after the first go I could only add two tracks to the mix but the whole setup gave me a fair amount of room to play and infinite tracks as long as you did not mind the cumulative noise of all those tracks, which I did not.

  The other thing which I always failed to buy was a sequencer or midi to CV interface, synths and effects were just so much more fun than recording gear. Since I could not effectively play 4 tracks worth of synth and twiddle the knobs by myself I would make control tracks on the computer, ~15khz sine wave whose level I would control for the desired pitch/effect, stick a rudimentary envelope follower on the computers output and I now had sequencing for my synths. I would make 4 of these tracks, two would be dumped onto a cassette tape which gave me 4 tracks of sequencing and essentially 4 extra hands. The envelope followers each had an LED since I could not hear the click track on them and needed a way to sync them still.

  It was not great sound, snr was poor with all the bouncing down, nothing was ever quite in sync (but at least I did not have to deal with midi jitter and lag with thru's!), the tapes all wore differently and it was labor intensive but it was fun and the end result certainly had a rather characteristic sound.

• by WirelessGigabit on 5/5/23, 4:39 PM

  This was the first reason I got hooked on Stranger Things.

  The music. It reminds me of a time and space I've actually never lived in. And it probably never existed like that. Yet growing up it is very much how I believed North America looked like.

• by cschneid on 5/5/23, 4:42 PM

  Fun video. I enjoy this angle of hacker news - where it really is somebody going unnecessarily deep into some tech. Not for practical use, but just because it's there.

• by thinkingkong on 5/5/23, 5:23 PM

  If anyone was into the band Boards of Canada, this is how they created a lot of their sounds.

• by evan_ on 5/5/23, 5:17 PM

  Techmoan did a video on a format that used VHS tapes to store digital audio:

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVDCxTtn4OQ

• by eljimmy on 5/5/23, 7:46 PM

  This was great, thanks for sharing. I really do love the "warmth" provided by VHS, but I often wonder if that is just nostalgia from using a technology we grew up with?

  I've been getting into old technology the past few years and a Panasonic AG-170 VHS Reporter camera was one item I had picked up. I've recorded a few social gatherings and trips with friends so far and plan to edit them into a 80s/90s styled montage. However, my camera recently stopped recording any video or audio with the viewfinder showing a black/blank image, which is a real bummer. I imagine there is an electronic component inside that may have failed.

  Does anyone know of any forums where VHS enthusiasts gather? I'd love to dig around to see if I can find any resources for diagnosing and repairing this camera on my own. Unfortunately VHS repair shops are quite rare, if not nearly extinct in 2023.

• by prpl on 5/5/23, 10:53 PM

  I remember hearing people (DIY) were mastering to HiFi VHS or SVHS in the 90s because the quality was pretty good and tape was cheap. That’s not the same thing we are talking about here

• by rhema on 5/5/23, 4:38 PM

  FYI, I posted this mainly for its description and illustration of the VHS format. The author of the video has very high quality explanations of technical and cultural details of instruments.

• by thomasreggi on 5/5/23, 8:01 PM

  Ugh this is so in the zeitgeist I made this a couple weeks back: https://lofi.supply/

• by Aloha on 5/5/23, 5:44 PM

  Mono only VHS decks were not uncommon (and I wouldnt be surprised to hear that the last VHS decks made were only mono) because mono only pre-produced content - even with NTSC MTS TV Audio, mono only broadcast originated programming was not unusual.

  I'd love to see him doing this with the VHS HiFi signals, which were.. IIRC, significantly better than MTS Stereo/FM Stereo (particularly in L/R channel separation) - so basically near CD Audio.

• by _kblcuk_ on 5/5/23, 5:01 PM

  Chase Bliss did a whole guitar effects pedal based on that concept (Generation Loss): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pq7g_fZWw8

  Funnily enough the same channel that made OP video also made a review on that pedal 6 weeks ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaX6WwV_d_s

• by Ambix on 5/6/23, 1:08 PM

  And many professional studios still using tape machines and emulations over the final songs to produce that fat, warm sound of analog era.

  Like this Ampex recreation I love to use with my Apollo and Luna:

  https://www.uaudio.com/uad-plugins/luna-custom/ampex-atr-102...

• by waihtis on 5/6/23, 4:29 AM

  Somewhat related - if you like the soundscape of "old VHS" you should check out the artist VHS Head, he samples music from old videotape cassettes. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiPGoIicGrAU32LR987iD9g

• by unixhero on 5/5/23, 9:06 PM

  Strangely the guy used a VHS playbacj device which gave output in mono.