Dolby B

Dolby B

Dolby B-type noise reduction was developed after Dolby A, and was introduced in 1968. It consisted of a single sliding band system providing about 9 dB of noise reduction (A-weighted), primarily for use with cassette tapes. It was much simpler than Dolby A and therefore much less expensive to implement in consumer products. Dolby B recordings are acceptable when played back on equipment that does not possess a Dolby B decoder, such as inexpensive portable and car cassette players. Without the de-emphasis effect of the decoder, the sound will be perceived as brighter as high frequencies are emphasized, which can be used to offset "dull" high-frequency response in inexpensive equipment. However, Dolby B provides less effective noise reduction than Dolby A, generally by an amount of more than 3 dB.