JPH05250801A - Recording and reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the quality of recording signals by varying the amount of attenuation of microphone input voice signals and AGC characteristics in accordance with plural recording modes in a portable recording and reproducing device. CONSTITUTION:A recording processing section 14 consists of an attenuator 30, an AGC amplifier 31, a recording characteristics controlling circuit 32 which sets the attenuation level of the attenuator 31 and the recovery time in the AGC operations for the control and an AGC characteristics varying circuit 33 which sets an AGC operation recovery time based on the recovery time control information supplied by the circuit 32. The input signals from a microphone terminal 10 are attenuated to a prescribed level by the attenuator 30, amplified by the amplifier 31 and supplied to a recording head section 17. The amount of attenuation in the attenuator 30 and the recovery time in the amplifier 31 are controlled to the set values held in the circuit 32 in accordance with the speech or music modes which are set by a recording mode changeover switch. Thus, an optimum level sound signals are supplied to the section 17 based on the recording objects/conditions.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording / reproducing apparatus, and more particularly to a recording / reproducing apparatus designed to be portable and small in size and capable of recording with a microphone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus capable of recording / reproducing audio using a compact cassette tape, not only so-called deck type and radio-cassette type but also
Portable devices (so-called headphone stereos) have become popular along with the progress of miniaturization technology. Further, in such a small device such as a headphone stereo, not only a reproducing function but also a microphone voice input means, a recording processing circuit and a recording head are provided to have a recording function.

[0003]

By the way, when recording an input voice of a microphone, the input voice level is input in order to adjust the input voice level in accordance with a recording characteristic such as a dynamic range of a recording medium such as a magnetic tape. It is necessary to supply the audio signal to the recording head section after interposing an AGC circuit (auto gain control) and an attenuator (attenuator).

Further, it is desired that the attenuation amount and the AGC characteristics (attack time and recovery time) are not only uniquely set and adjusted, but also that these are variable according to the recording object.

For example, when recording the voice of a person at a meeting or the like, the recovery time (time from input detection to gain setting) in the AGC circuit is preferably about 1 second,
Thus, for example, good recording can be performed even when a person who is close to the recording device is distant from the recording device, or when a person who has a small voice and a person who speak loudly have a conversation. On the other hand, when recording a sound whose input level is relatively intensely changed, such as music, an unnatural sound is produced if the gain is changed rapidly, so the recovery time is preferably about 15 to 30 seconds. .. Furthermore, for example, when recording loud music at a live house,
It goes without saying that there are different suitable attenuation values for the attenuator in the case of conversation recording and the like.

However, in a small portable recording / reproducing apparatus, it is difficult to switch the attenuation amount and AGC characteristic of both the AGC circuit and the attenuator due to the limitation of the device size. For example, providing two additional changeover operation switches for adjusting the amount of attenuation and the AGC characteristic is a major obstacle to miniaturization.

For this reason, conventionally, either one of the attenuation amount and the recovery time can be switched, or neither of them can be switched, and a value that can correspond to any recording target to some extent is provided. The setting is only made (for example, the recovery time of the AGC circuit is set to 4 to 8 seconds and the attenuation amount of the attenuator is set to 0 dB, which is not always sufficient but can be dealt with for the time being).

That is, it is very difficult for the conventional small portable recording / reproducing apparatus to optimally adjust the microphone input voice signal according to various recording situations. In practice, when the recorded voice is reproduced. However, it was not possible to eliminate sound cracking in the case of voice recording at a high input level and unnaturalness due to AGC characteristics.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in a portable recording / reproducing apparatus capable of recording a microphone input voice on a recording medium, the microphone input voice is predetermined. It has a signal attenuating means for attenuating the level and an amplifier for a microphone input voice having an AGC means, and the attenuation level in the signal attenuating means and the AGC characteristic in the AGC means are respectively preset based on the input recording mode information. Recording mode control means for switching to a predetermined value, and one switching operation capable of operating the recording mode control means so that one of a plurality of set recording modes is selectively supplied. And means are provided.

[0010]

[Function] The optimum attenuation amount and recovery time of the microphone input audio signal are determined to some extent depending on various recording targets and situations, and recording targets and situations when recording using a portable recording / reproducing device. Also, 2
~ Broadly divided into several types. For example, conversations at meetings,
It is practically sufficient to consider only two types, one is when recording a speech or the like, and the other is when recording a large volume of live music.

Therefore, if a mode corresponding to two to several kinds of recording objects / situations is set, and the attenuation amount and the recovery time of the microphone input voice signal are set in each mode, the signal attenuation according to the recording object / situation will be performed. Means and AGC
Both controls of the means can be made possible by one switching operation means for switching the recording mode.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of a main part (recording processing system) of one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an external view of a recording / reproducing apparatus of this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a control configuration.

FIG. 2 shows a so-called headphone stereo type portable recording / reproducing apparatus, in which recording / reproducing operations can be performed on a compact cassette tape loaded inside the housing. Various operation buttons are prepared on the outer casing. 1 is a play (PLAY) and traveling direction switching (DIR) button, 2 and 3 are a fast forward (FF) / rewind (REW) button, and 4 is a stop ( S
The TOP button and 5 are recording (REC) buttons. Also, 6,
Reference numeral 7 is an LED display section for displaying the tape running direction.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a reproduced sound volume control unit, and 9 denotes a headphone terminal. At the time of reproduction, the headphone 22 is connected to the headphone terminal 9 by the pin jack 23 to listen to the reproduced sound. Reference numeral 10 denotes a microphone terminal, for example, by connecting a pin jack 21 of a microphone 20 formed separately, an audio signal collected by the microphone 20 is input. Reference numeral 11 denotes a recording mode changeover switch, which is formed so that a two-step changeover operation can be performed depending on the slide position.

The entire circuit configuration of this recording / reproducing apparatus is shown in FIG. 3, for example, and the buttons (1 to 5) for reproducing, fast-forwarding / rewinding, stopping and recording and the recording mode changeover switch described above. The operation information by the part (operation key) SK used for the operation of the user such as 11 is encoded by the encoder 12 and supplied to the system control unit 13 including a microcomputer. The system control unit 13 controls the operation of required parts of the recording processing unit 14, the reproduction processing unit 15, the motor drive and servo circuit 16, and the LED display units 6 and 7 based on the supplied operation information.

At the time of reproduction (PLAY), instruction information is sent to the motor drive and servo circuit 16, the motor 19 is operated to run the magnetic tape T at a constant speed in a predetermined direction, and a signal read by the reproduction head unit 18 is also sent. For the processing operation in the reproduction processing unit 15. For example, if there is an equalizing operation key, which is not shown in FIG. 2, the equalizing processing operation of the reproduction signal is controlled based on the operation information input. Further, one of the LED display sections 6 or 7 is caused to emit light based on the tape running direction.

The reproduced audio signal output from the reproduction processing section 15 is output to the headphone terminal 9. When the reproduction button 1 is operated again during the reproduction operation, the system controller 13 controls the motor drive and servo circuit 16 and other required parts so as to reverse the tape running direction. In addition, FF / REW operation input is also controlled so that high speed tape running is executed in the corresponding direction.

When the recording button 5 is operated and the operation information is supplied from the encoder 12, the system control unit 13 is input from the microphone terminal 10 and supplied to the recording head unit 17 via the recording processing unit 14. Control is performed so that the operation of recording the generated audio signal on the magnetic tape T is executed.

Here, in this embodiment, the recording processing unit 1
4 is an attenuator 30 and an AGC amplifier 31 as shown in FIG.
In addition, a recording characteristic control circuit 32 capable of setting and controlling an attenuation level in the attenuator 30 and a recovery time in the AGC operation, and an AG based on the recovery time control information supplied from the recording characteristic control circuit 32.
The AGC characteristic variable circuit 33 for setting the recovery time of the C operation is provided and configured.

The input signal from the microphone terminal 10 is attenuated to a predetermined level by the attenuator 30, and then the AGC amplifier 3
After being amplified by 1, it is supplied to the recording head unit 17.
The output signal of the AGC amplifier 31 as a monitor output is also supplied to the headphone terminal 9 via the reproduction processing unit 15.

Further, the recording characteristic control circuit 32 is supplied with operation information of the recording mode from the system control section 13. The operation information of the recording mode is a signal indicating a mode set by the user with the recording mode changeover switch 11, and in the case of the present embodiment, for example, a mode suitable for recording a conference or the like (hereinafter referred to as a speech mode). And the discrimination information of two types of modes (hereinafter referred to as music mode) suitable for recording a live performance or the like.

The recording characteristic control circuit 32 holds the control values of the attenuation amount and the recovery time in each recording mode. For example, in the speech mode, the attenuation amount is 0.
dB, recovery time 0.5 to 1 second, attenuation 12 dB, recovery time 1 in music mode
It is set as 2 to 15 seconds.

The amount of attenuation of the attenuator 30 depends on the recording characteristic control circuit 3
The AGC amplifier 3 is controlled by the set value held at 2.
Since the recovery time of the AGC operation in No. 1 is controlled to the set value held in the recording characteristic control circuit 32 via the AGC characteristic variable circuit 33, an audio signal of an optimum level is recorded according to the recording target / situation. 17 can be supplied.

For example, when recording a speech of a person, such as a conference, a lecture, a lecture, etc., if the recording mode changeover switch 11 is set to the speech mode side, the microphone input voice signal is transmitted by the attenuator 30. It is processed with an attenuation of 0 dB, and the AGC amplifier 31 has a recovery time of 0 dB.
Amplification processing with automatic gain control action for 5 to 1 second is performed and supplied to the recording head unit 17.

When a large-volume music performance is to be recorded at a live house or the like, the recording mode selector switch 11
, The microphone input audio signal is processed by the attenuator 30 with an attenuation amount of 12 dB, and the AGC amplifier 31 recovers the recovery time of 12 dB.
The amplification process accompanied by the automatic gain control action for ˜15 seconds is performed and supplied to the recording head unit 17.

That is, in any case, the recording process is performed with the optimum attenuation amount and AGC characteristic, and the reproduced voice becomes good. Since the switching of the attenuation amount and the AGC characteristic is performed by one operation means called the recording mode changeover switch 11, it is not necessary to open the operation keys, and it can be sufficiently adopted in a small recording / reproducing apparatus.

It should be noted that, in practical use, since the recording target of the small portable recording / reproducing apparatus is almost compatible with the above two types of recording modes, the number of recording modes is 2.
The kind and the small number do not matter so much. However,
Of course, the number of recording modes may be set to three or more, and the recording mode selector switch 11 may be configured to be switched in three or more steps at the same time, so that the signal processing characteristics can be finely adapted to various recording targets / situations. Good. Also, AG
Although the recovery time is controlled for the C characteristic, the attack time may be switched according to the recording mode.

The recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but various modifications can be made within the scope of the invention. Although the recording / reproducing apparatus compatible with the compact cassette tape has been described, other recording media, for example, a recording medium using a magnetic tape such as a DAT cassette tape, a microcassette tape, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk are recorded. The present invention can be effectively applied to a small-sized portable recording / reproducing device which is a medium.

[0029]

As described above, according to the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, the attenuation amount and A
By setting a plurality of recording modes in which GC characteristics are respectively set, only one switching operation means capable of performing recording mode setting operation is provided as an operation key for recording signal processing characteristics according to the recording target / situation. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide separate operation keys for switching the attenuation amount and switching the AGC characteristic. Therefore, even a small-sized portable recording / reproducing apparatus that does not have a large installation space can be preferably used. Therefore, as a small-sized portable recording / reproducing apparatus, it is possible to perform recording signal processing having characteristics sufficiently adapted to a recording target / situation. There is an effect that it can be realized and the quality of the recording signal can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a main part of an embodiment of a recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the recording / reproducing apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a control configuration of the recording / reproducing apparatus of the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Microphone Terminal 11 Recording Mode Selector Switch 14 Recording Processor 17 Recording Head 30 Attenuator 31 AGC Amplifier 32 Recording Characteristic Control Circuit 33 AGC Characteristic Variable Circuit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A portable recording / reproducing apparatus capable of recording a microphone input voice on a recording medium, comprising a signal attenuating means for attenuating the microphone input voice by a predetermined level and an amplifying section for the microphone input voice having an auto gain control means. A recording mode control means for switching the attenuation level in the signal attenuating means and the gain control characteristic in the automatic gain control means to predetermined preset values based on the input recording mode information, and the recording mode control The recording means, the switching operation means is operable to select and supply one of a plurality of set recording modes to the recording means. Playback device.