Dbx (noise Reduction) - Lack of DBX Acceptance in Marketplace

Lack of DBX Acceptance in Marketplace

Although it brought extraordinary dynamic range to the lowly cassette tape, dbx noise reduction did not achieve widespread popularity in the consumer marketplace, as compressed recordings did not sound acceptable when played back on non-dbx equipment; Dolby B was already widely used when dbx was introduced. Although Dolby noise reduction also used some companding, the level of compression and expansion was very mild, so that the sound of Dolby-encoded tapes was acceptable to consumers when played back on non-Dolby equipment.

• dbx Type I was widely adopted in professional recording, and Tascam incorporated dbx Type II in their Portastudio four-track cassette recorders.
• Tascam's Portastudio family of 4 track cassette recorders became an industry standard for small recording studios before being replaced by digital audio tape many years later.
• An advantage of dbx Type I and Type II compared to Dolby noise reduction is that it did not require calibration with the output level of the tape deck, which could cause incorrect tracking with Dolby B and C, leading to muffled high tones.
• However, due to dbx's high compression and strong high-frequency preemphasis, dbx-encoded tapes were, unlike Dolby B, practically unplayable on non-dbx systems, sounding very harsh when played back undecoded. Undecoded dbx playback also exhibited large amounts of dynamic error, with audio levels going up and down constantly, making it a very fatiguing experience.

While dbx Type-II NR was eventually designed into a self-contained LSI chip, it was never cheap due to the extremely high precision required of the dbx VCAs and the RMS signal analysis, leading to further reluctance of manufacturers to use the dbx chips in their products.