Akai VS-565U (1987)
Little is documented about the Akai VS-565U. Nearly everything known comes from one period test report. Julian Hirsch of Hirsch-Houck Laboratories reviewed it as a VHS Hi-Fi videocassette recorder, and HiFI-Stereo (April 1987, p.29) ran the results.
Like other VHS Hi-Fi decks, the 565U recorded its audio with the rotating video heads. For compatibility with ordinary non-hi-fi VCRs, it also laid down a standard longitudinal mono soundtrack from a non-rotating fixed head at the same time. Hirsch's measurements (p.34) found A-weighted noise of -53.3 dB at SP and -45.2 dB at SLP, referenced to the 3% distortion signal level. Flutter was ±0.17 and ±0.25 percent at those speeds. He judged the hi-fi audio remarkably close to digital media of the era, with wide, flat response, low noise and negligible flutter.
Beyond that review, surviving documentation is thin.
- VHS Hi-Fi videocassette recorder, on the market by 1987
- Simultaneous fixed-head longitudinal mono track for non-hi-fi VCR compatibility
- Measured noise: −53.3 dB (SP), −45.2 dB (SLP), A-weighted, ref. 3% distortion
- Measured flutter: ±0.17% and ±0.25%
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