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The use of a scope in audio?


Jspeer

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Hello all,

 

I saw recently someone selling a scope on a facebook group, and I was wondering what kind of uses does a scope have in the audio field? I have very narrow knowledge fields of electronics, and I am new to the audio field when it comes to technicals.

 

Any input is appreciated.

 

Regards,

Jeremy

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Most of the music recording studios I worked in (70-80s), had oscilloscopes to monitor phase as well as test sets for  analog tape machine and console alignments. A scope It is really not very useful for PSMs and you can always sum tracks in mono on most recorders to check phase

Otherwise, many DAWs include scopes and such, or are available as a third-party plug-ins (free or otherwise).

OTOH, An RF scope like the hand held RF Explorer is.

 

FWIW, I do not miss calibrating analog tape machines.

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It's a fun thing to have in the shop if you figure out the basics of how to use it.  I liked being able to see audio waveforms back before it was easy to do so in computer apps--like to see the effect of EQ and compressors etc..   It was necessary for doing real alignments of pro analog recorders etc, and when timecode first came into location recording, on analog Nagras, it became VERY useful to be able to see the playback TC waveforms when trying to figure out why we were having syncing issues in post.  (Thanks, Dan Dugan!)   It was also useful on location to monitor the output of the field rate-to TC convertors we used to sync TC Nagras to "Barton Boxes" (film camera speed control units that allowed a film camera's transport to synchronize with a CRT computer monitor to avoid seeing the scan bar).  Obviously, all this usage is pretty quaint now, but a scope is still a good shop tool for the curious, even if you aren't planning on doing sophisticated equipment repairs etc.

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On 10/2/2020 at 5:42 PM, Philip Perkins said:

  It was also useful on location to monitor the output of the field rate-to TC convertors we used to sync TC Nagras to "Barton Boxes" (film camera speed control units that allowed a film camera's transport to synchronize with a CRT computer monitor to avoid seeing the scan bar).  Obviously, all this usage is pretty quaint now, but a scope is still a good shop tool for the curious, even if you aren't planning on doing sophisticated equipment repairs etc.

 

Oh wow! This is a very neat idea as a guy involved in arcade games.

 

Thanks you both for your detailed explinations. I have an Techtronix TDS 460A laying around I picked up out of the workplace. It is always interesting to find out what uses it has.

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