I've got a Sony Digital8 camcorder, there are a couple of mode
settings on this cam that are unclear to me. In VCR mode there are 3
settings - Stereo, 1, 2.

There's also an "Audio Mix" setting with a graduated setting between
"ST1" and "ST2".

To me the manual is cryptic regarding these topics.

Per the manual:

"When you playback a dual sound track tape. (never defines what
exactly "dual sound" is).

When you use tapes recorded in the Digital8 system - When you play
back a Digital8 system tape which is dubbed from a dual sound track
tape recorded in the DV system, set HiFi SOUND to the desired mode in
the menu settings."

Followed by a chart that apparently differentiates between a "stereo"
tape and a "dual sound track" tape. On the dual sound track tape it
refers to Main Sound and Sub Sound without defining what these are.


"When you use a tape recorded in the Hi8/standard 8 system. (okay, I
get this is referring to analog 8/Hi8 tapes) recorded in the AFM HiFi
stereo system, set HiFi SOUND to the desired mode in the menu
settings."

Here under "playing back a stereo tape" it references Stereo, 1 as
monaural, and 2 as "unnatural" (?) sound. Then it references playing
back a Dual Sound track tape with Stereo as being Main Sound and sub-
sound, 1 being Main Sound, 2 being Sub sound.

Can anyone clarify any of this? It further confuses the issue by
specifying that you can't record dual sound programs on the
camcorder. Is there some kind of pre-made "dual sound track" tape
that I've just never seen?

Thanks.

"Doc" wrote ...
It sounds like they are talking about the alternate audio
mode for DV where you can record four channels of 12-bit
sound (vs. the "normal" mode of two channels of 16-bit).

Be thankful that you cannot record "dual sound" on your
camcorder. The 12-bit limit causes the sound to be quite
sub-standard in quality and everyone who has accidentally
used that mode has been sorry.

Some camcorders would allow you to record 12-bit sound
on channels 1&2 or 3&4. But I never saw any equipment
of any price that would let you record all four channels at
once. For playback since most equipment has only two
channels output, they had a way of letting you "mix" the
1&2 with the 3&4 tracks.

On Oct 25, 11:52 pm, "Richard Crowley" <rcrow...@xp7rt.net> wrote:
I believe the ST1, ST2 & Mix settings only apply the 12 bit, 4 channel
recordings. No D8 camcorder could ever record 4 channels at one
time so there was no point in ever using the 12 bit setting.

The only way you could ever create a 4 channel D8 recording was to
firewire dub it from a Canon XL1 which had already created the 4
channel recording. There may have been one or two other MiniDV
camcorders that could dub audio to the ST2 channels but I think the
XL1 was the only one that could record 4 audio channels at one time?

There probably isn't 1 person in a million that needs to concern
himself with all that nonsense. Just set your D8 camcorder to 16
bit, the day you buy it and leave it there. Unfortunately Sony made
the 12 bit mode the de facto standard when they shipped all D8
camcorders from the factory. So a lot of people used the 12 bit
setting on all of their recordings. What a waste of space on the
tape because you could never come back and add audio to those 2 unused
12 bit audio tracks. Everyone should only use the 2 channel, 16 bit
setting, for everything.

Dave