Better Sound Quality on Original Run of DBZ in Japan

kei17 · Post by **kei17** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 11:54 am

Hi, I just came back from the vacation and found a great DB-related thing. My family and I visited my uncle's family for the Bon festival (well, if there are those who don't know the Bon festival, google it). Then I found a VHS that includes some episodes of DBZ, from the original run in Kanto region. I came back to my home with the full excitement and inserted the VHS into my VCR.

Actually, I was shocked to death. The audio on episodes was as good as it on the DB movies. I mean, the sounds on that VHS are much better than DBOX releases. The audio was not from films but magnetic sound recording tapes unlike DBOXes.

Here is an example.

Audio Ripped from the VHS
http://www.4shared.com/file/125424967/7 ... audio.html
(additional direct-link from administrator)

Audio Ripped from Japanese Single Release
http://www.4shared.com/file/125424989/3 ... audio.html
(additional direct-link from administrator)

The same problem happened on GT and Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star) releases as well. I asked about it to Toei but they never answered. Now I seriously mistrust Toei Animation.

JulieYBM · Post by **JulieYBM** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 12:50 pm

Huh...what do you know. There is a difference.

I can only assume Toei didn't have such a high level of audio on hand as it was outright lost or misplaced, or that they're holding out for a Blu-Ray rerelease of the entire series. Who knows?

mysteriousdbzgt · Post by **mysteriousdbzgt** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 1:16 pm

Wow, the quality of the VHS sounds so much clearer compared to the Japanese Single releases. You can definitely tell the difference between the two. Very interesting stuff.

kei17 · Post by **kei17** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 1:23 pm

JulieYBM wrote:Huh...what do you know. There is a difference.

I can only assume Toei didn't have such a high level of audio on hand as it was outright lost or misplaced, or that they're holding out for a Blu-Ray rerelease of the entire series. Who knows?

Generally, the audio on animes which were released on VHS or LD right after or during the original run tends to be kept in good quality still now. They sometimes discarded the audio tapes of animes which were not to be released on home-videos immediately and only rasping-sounds on films now remain. This kind of storing issue happens on many occasions in Japanese broadcasting scenes because of the narrow country and high property prices. I mean, the original tapes of DBZ could have been lost. But at least on GT, they still exist.

ssgOverlord · Post by **ssgOverlord** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 1:55 pm

Wow, there is quite a big difference! It makes the already really good Dbox audio sound like the Orange Brick's Japanese track.

I wonder if Toei is holding off on using the audio, or if they simply don't care about it. It could also be damage. While this is indeed interesting, I'm not sure if there will be an answer.

Metalwario64 · Post by **Metalwario64** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 2:27 pm

The Dragon Box one sounds like its wavering a bit, and the original broadcast had none of that!

Puto · Post by **Puto** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 3:02 pm

How's the audio quality in the animax reruns of DBZ?

Rory · Post by **Rory** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 3:10 pm

Well the quality of audio tapes are sure to degrade over time. I'm sure by the time the audio was to be transferred to a digital output, those tapes wern't as crisp as they were 10/15 years ago.

fps_anth · Post by **fps_anth** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 3:13 pm

...

How is this possible? The VHS audio quality takes a dump on the Dragon Box!

kei17 · Post by **kei17** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 3:25 pm

Puto wrote:How's the audio quality in the animax reruns of DBZ?

On all reruns after the original broadcast, it sounds almost same as on DBOX. Only original run has the superior sound quality.

Rory wrote:Well the quality of audio tapes are sure to degrade over time. I'm sure by the time the audio was to be transferred to a digital output, those tapes wern't as crisp as they were 10/15 years ago.

fps_anth wrote:...

How is this possible? The VHS audio quality takes a dump on the Dragon Box!

Well, the very difference is the media. Toei used the audio of optical sound recording track on the master films for DBOXes. Audio on films sounds worse than it on audio tapes.

Tweaker · Post by **Tweaker** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 3:58 pm

Wow, the difference between those two is pretty staggering! It's crazy to think that the sound quality for the DVD releases would be better if they just ripped the audio tracks from hand-recorded VHS tapes and put them on DVD.

EricM · Post by **EricM** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 4:25 pm

Maybe they used the audio equivalent of DVNR on the audio tracks to cleanup pops and hisses which in turn reduced the fidelity.

SSj_Rambo · Post by **SSj_Rambo** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 4:49 pm

Wow, awesome find!! Exactly what episodes are on these tapes that you found?

Chuquita · Post by **Chuquita** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 5:59 pm

Holy cow!

Someone told me once about the audio quality of magnetic tape vs digital, but I didn't know it was this great of a difference.

The original run VHS sounds so crisp and clear.

Sin · Post by **Sin** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 6:21 pm

Wow, it'd be awesome if someone got all the tapes and placed the original Audio over the new season sets.

Nice find.

MajinVejitaXV · Post by **MajinVejitaXV** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 8:50 pm

Pretty sure I can explain this. First though, what mode were these episodes recorded in (EP, LP or SP)? Also, what is the episode you sampled from above? Thanks!

-Corey

Post by **Herms** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 10:16 pm

The clip sounds like Piccolo vs. Cell, so I'm guessing it's from episode 142.

kei17 · Post by **kei17** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 1:29 am

SSj_Rambo wrote:Wow, awesome find!! Exactly what episodes are on these tapes that you found?

Since I do not have the VHS now and my brother is ripping it with the better VCR, I do not know exatly.. but I guess it includes episode 142 to 150. It also contains some rare DB commercials.

MajinVejitaXV wrote:Pretty sure I can explain this. First though, what mode were these episodes recorded in (EP, LP or SP)? Also, what is the episode you sampled from above? Thanks!

-Corey

I do not know such US names of recording mode but calling it in our way, it is 3x mode with Hi-Fi sound so I guess it's EP? I think the mode does not matter at all in this case. Fuji TV used the master audio tape on the original run that Toei did not use for DBOXes. As I said in the first post here, the exactly same issue happened on GT and Hokuto no Ken releases as well so I am pretty sure that I'm right. This is not "VHS vs DVD" again. And, well, the episode is 142.

Edit*

kei17 · Post by **kei17** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 3:28 am

I also noticed that the audio is out of synchronization on the episode 142 on DBOX.

Original Run
http://www.4shared.com/file/125580665/91836940/VHS.html

Japanese Single Release
http://www.4shared.com/file/125580357/5 ... /DBOX.html

Smooth Criminal · Post by **Smooth Criminal** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 4:02 am

I love how the majority of in-house DBOX enthusiasts are basically avoiding this thread like the plague. The fact that you have irrefutable evidence of the original airing's superior audio must make them cry inside. In this instance, it is IMPOSSIBLE for the damage control police to come flooding in.

Regardless, this is just another piece of evidence (along with the colors fiasco) that solidifies the fact that the DBOX is far from being the "perfect" release.

Kanzenshuu

Better Sound Quality on Original Run of DBZ in Japan

Better Sound Quality on Original Run of DBZ in Japan

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