Sound Reasoning: Audio Tracks and Editing

All but a very few camcorders and VCRs can record audio signals along with video; that's pretty common knowledge. But do all camcorders record audio in the same place and in the same way on every tape? Well, not quite.

Knowing where and how your audio tracks record will help you get the best sound quality and flexibility. This knowledge can also help when it's time to buy new gear. To learn more about audio tracks, we'll consider the problems with editing in both the 8mm and VHS formats; better yet, we'll cover ways to sidestep these problems, giving you more control over your audio.

VHS Tracks
VHS camcorders and VCRs began life with a single linear audio track. Linear means that the track runs in a straight line along one edge of the tape (see figure 1a). The sound quality of this single mono track has never been great--only slightly better than a standard cassette deck. For those who like to know, the frequency response at the fastest speed (SP) doesn't get much beyond 50Hz to 11KHz at best. Still, it gets the …

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Doug Polk | May 1995

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