Bad sound quality for Japanese DB/DBZ

[AnimeMaakuo]

That was also kei17, and he only has Z.

I think Fulicer was referring to AnimeMaakuo who said that he had a friend that has all 153 episodes of DB recorded on betamax, now whether or not there's been any new developments on AnimeMaakuo's end is anybody's guess right now.

Unfortunately, he's working on a huge project in Russia. As soon as he gets back, I will receive the rest of his betamax tapes.

[Kojiro Sasaki]

I'm working on ridiculously big letter about audio quality (also about BGM, color issues and that Dragon Ball definitely needs to be released on Blu-ray) to Toei Animation/TAVAC. It will contain technical analysis, frequency characteristics, descriptions, dynamic range measurements and audio samples for comparison. I will put all my effort to make them not ignore it.

I'm a real music lover, "audio quality freak" and Dragon Ball fanatic - you can imagine how I feel about this issue. The fact that we will never hear 100% of the original quality is really depressing:

M706 - 1. Dragon Box
M706 - 2. BGM CD

M1404 - 1. Optical
M1404 - 2. BGM CD

Well, I think it's a bit much to say they didn't care about the audio. Why would they make a good quality version in the first place if they didn't care? I think they threw it away because it was practical. It took up too much space and storage space costs money. Look at it from their point of view. They are a business before anything.

I have a lot of 6mm tape reels, and somehow - they don't want any money from me

Digital? We're talking about the early 90s here. A time when all computers could do audio-wise was PC speaker sounds.

I don't think that was much of an option

First digital recording (for vinyl release) was done around '78-'79 (correct me if I'm wrong). CD Audio was introduced in 1982. It was definitely an option, back then.

Because they are dumb.

I think that this explanation about GT audio also fits to many other things that Toei did.

I've uploaded a raw PCM clip (24bit/96kHz) of that scene for the comparison sake: https://box.yahoo.co.jp/guest/viewer?si ... ype=detail

I think that using 44/16 format would be much easier and more universal: Less size, quality is much more than enough (for this source) and it is more compatible (for posting samples, of course).

This still is not the best source, though. TV recordings that were directly recorded off Fuji TV are in much higher quality than the Betamax recordings that I currently have, which were recorded off a local TV channel named Tokai TV that relays Fuji TV's shows in the Tokai region. To reduce noise, the high frequencies in the audio signal got cut through the relaying processes.

For example, here are two audio clips from the same scene: the recap on DBZ episode 5. You can hear some obvious differences between them.

Tokai TV
Fuji TV

Main differences:
1. Dragon Box - Dynamic range: 9dB Frequency range: up to ~7kHz with horrible degradation by every possible kind of distortions. (DBZ5 recap)
2. Tokai - Dynamic range: 10dB Frequency range: up to ~11kHz (Tokai.png)
3. Fuji - Dynamic range: 13dB Frequency range: up to ~13kHz (Fuji.png)

Similar signal to this around 16kHz is also present on some mono pieces from soundtrack releases, but it's placed around 19-21kHz - hell knows from where it came from (it looks like a pilot signal used in stereo transmission).
Only for people with strong nerves: M710 - BGM CD.png (Dynamic range: 15dB Frequency range: up to ~22kHz)

Overall: Original broadcast audio is definitely something worth fighting for. As a fan of the series, I feel obliged to do everything that is in my power to get official release with best possible quality.

[TheAldella]

I've done a full "remastered" colour corrected, subbed encode eps 1-291 of the R2 DBOX spliced together with the FUNimation Dub + 5.1 track + Japanese. The only thing its missing is the original broadcast quality audio

...I don't know if it breaks any rules, but I give some mean head, pal.