Autumn in New York, and the 67th Convention of the Audio Engineering Society
opened on October 31st and concluded on November 3rd, the day before the Presidential
elections. Per haps the imminence of the election and the anticipation of a
change in the political climate had some influence on the convention. While
attendance was down somewhat, there were a record number of exhibits and al
though quite a few companies admitted to slow summer sales, there seemed to
be a pervasive "bullish" enthusiasm for their business prospects
in the coming months.
On the other hand, it must be noted there were quite a few comments that there , "wasn't much that was really new." Of course, this expression is heard at every convention, but it did appear that quite a few companies are waiting until the May AES Convention in Los Angeles to showcase their new developments.
Needless to say, at any recent AES Convention, digital re cording occupies center stage. Mitsubishi, which heretofore had shown a quarter-inch fixed-head recorder, sort of surprised everyone by showing an operational model of a 32-channel digital tape recorder. Using one-inch tape at a speed of 30 ips, the unit features a transport that does not use a pinch roller. Not much detail on the system other than it is a 16-bit, linear encoding format with sampling rates of 44.056 and 50.1 k. This fixed-head recorder is said to employ a new en coding format, and a paper describing the system was presented at the convention.
3M continues to make progress with their pioneering 32-channel digital tape recorder. Thirty-nine recorders are now installed worldwide, with twenty-two available in the U.S. Quite a number of pop albums have been recorded with the 3M system, as well as a growing number of classical productions. CBS Records has recorded the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, and, in an unusual alignment, Isaac Stern and the Boston Symphony. RCA has recorded Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, while Polygram has recorded Herbert von Karajan in a complete version of Parsifal.
JVC was showing their DAS Series 90 Digital Audio Mastering System. An upgraded editing system is featured which has a claimed accuracy of 180 microseconds, time address codes, and cross-fade capability. A large control knob on the editing console permits location of an edit point by the rocking motion so familiar in analog tape editing. This 16-bit, linear quantization system is now being used in a number of record productions, among them RCA's new musical, " 42nd Street," a recording of the Pittsburgh Symphony, and a number of European symphonic recordings.
Speaking of editing units, Sony was showing its DAE-1100 digital audio editor, which after a long period of gestation is said to be "immediately avail able." This unit features cross-fade capability, SMPTE time-code generation, edit preview, and a large search knob for edit-point trial, and an accuracy of 362 microseconds is claimed. The DAE-1100 digital editor can be yours for a somewhat breathtaking $45,000! Sony also introduced the DRE-2000 Digital Reverberator.
To my way of thinking, the appearance of this kind of equipment is vitally important to the whole concept of digital recording.
After all, what is the point of having digital recorders with 90-dB signal-to noise ratios and dynamic range and ultra-low distortion, and then having to interface them with analog mixing con soles, delay and reverberation units, and other items in the recording chain which will consider ably degrade the dig ital signal with noise and distortion? This Sony reverberator has a 10-program memory-variable, multi-mode delay and reverberation and, with its built-in A/D and D/A converters, will interface directly with 16-bit digital recorders as well as analog tape recorders. The unit also has hand-held controls and features a nonvolatile memory, in which stored programs are not erased in the event of an accidental power failure. Among other digital news, Sony and Studer revealed more details on their proposed joint format, which among other things specifies up to 48 channels on one-inch tape! Strong rumors were circulating that the long-awaited Ampex digital tape recorder might de but at the May AES Convention in Los Angeles.
In the area of the digital audio disc, JVC presented its AHD (audio high density) digital disc in one of the most fascinating demonstrations in years. Using a 12-inch disc, which was played on their VHD (video high density) video disc machine plus a PCM converter, they demonstrated their contention that the one playback machine can handle both video discs and digital audio discs. The mind-blowing part is that their AHD disc featured four channels of information, three of which were genuine, honest-to-God, frontal-array, three-channel stereo phonic sound, with the fourth channel operating as a "picture" channel! There it was--left, center and right loudspeakers arrayed in front of your listening position, with a TV monitor mounted above the center speaker.
The music, some pop and classical works, had been specifically recorded in the three-channel format. What a sonic thrill it is to hear music in this manner. The AHD recording was pristine clean, with super wide dynamics, and was utterly noiseless. Best of all-the absolute integrity of the stereo presentation. No imaging ambiguities here! The whole ensemble is presented in a panoramic array with the rock-solid stable discrete center-channel sound, making possible exact localization of all instruments across the sound stage. The picture channel presents a series of still photos and, while it can have some relevance to the mu sic program, has some other uses. In my opinion this fourth channel would be far better utilized as an ambience channel. My preferred format would be to keep the ambience channel within the 35 millisecond "fusion" limit of the brain and feed this channel to two loudspeakers to the side or slightly to the rear of the listening position.
As I pointed out to JVC, the validity and desirability of the up-front three-channel stereo presentation was proven in the historic Bell Telephone Stokowski experiments in 1933. (As an aside, one of the most heavily attended sessions at the AES was Arthur Keller's; he was present on that 1933 occasion and conducted many other early stereo experiments with Stokowski.) Readers who have followed my writings over the years may remember my championing of three-channel stereo.
I actually had Mercury Records agree to issue three-channel stereo programs on quarter-inch tape with a playback machine to be made by the old Viking Company in Minneapolis, but the deal fell through. Again in 1960, Harry Belock agreed to let me issue three-channel stereo on quarter-inch tapes on our own Everest label, but the company was sold before we could get this project underway. Once you've heard real three-channel stereophonic sound, you'll never want to return to the two-channel stereo format with its often vague phantom center channel.
Even the best of coincident-mike two-channel stereo just can't compete with the realism afforded by true three-channel stereo. JVC is to be highly commended for its attempt to resurrect this great sonic format. There is little doubt that presentation of three-channel stereo via the digital disc is the best of all possible worlds--but consider, if you will, how well three-channel stereo would work on analog cassette or open-reel formats. With Dolby or dbx encoding, this would be an attractive long-term alternative to the gradual decline of the two-channel stereo analog tape formats. In any case, JVC has my fervent best wishes as well as my full support for their three-channel stereo activities.
Lest we forget that analog tape recorders are still very much with us, Ampex tells me they are enjoying great success with their big, new 24-channel ATR 124 recorder. The well-known Record Plant studios on the West Coast have ordered a dozen of these elaborate units. The Lyrec Company of Denmark, a long-time manufacturer of tape machines, introduced the new TR 532, a 24-channel analog tape recorder. The unit features a very complete remote control with 32-position memory which weighs only seven pounds.
The transport has variable-wind, 7 to 60 ips, and spot erasing is possible.
Panasonic has a new Recording and Broadcast-Professional Audio Division.
Their products cover a wide range. At the convention they were showing such items as their EPA-500 tonearm featuring interchangeable arm tubes to cover a wide range of cartridge masses and compliances, new mixing consoles from their "Ramsa" company, a new 120-watt/channel "New Class A" amplifier and companion preamplifier, and an updated and refined version of the isolated-loop 1520 open-reel recorder, the RS 10A02. This last unit has new SX (Sendust Extra) heads for ex tended response. A most intriguing device was the Ramsa Localization Processor. This system can be applied to eight tracks of a master, and four tracks are controlled by a four-pot "joystick" for continuous mixing. The remaining four tracks are preset and remain fixed during the mix-down. To control such factors as sound distance and spaciousness, the system allows as many as six early reflections and latter reverberations to be controlled separately. The direction and sound pres sure level of the sound reflections are also pre-adjustable. In the hands of a creative producer and engineer, this system can generate some interesting effects indeed. In the normal two-speaker stereo listening situation, you can be quite startled by hearing music apparently emanating from "phantom" speakers located at the side or even slightly to the rear of your listening position. Remember . . . this is without the use of any "black box" de coding device. The phantom sounds are created in the mix by the Localization Processor.
It goes without saying that there were many fine and interesting papers presented at this 67th AES Convention, along with enough new products to keep attendees from yawning!
Obituary
Alexander M. Poniatoff
The founder of Ampex Corp., Alexander M. Poniatoff, died on October 24, 1980 at the age of 88. He was born in Kazan, Russia and obtained degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering from the University of Kazan, the Imperial College in Moscow, and the Technical College in Karlsruhe, Ger many before emigrating to this country in 1927.
Poniatoff founded Ampex in 1944; the company's name is from his initials plus "ex" for excellence. He served as the firm's President until 1955 and then was elected Chairman of the Board. He resigned this position in 1970 and was named Chairman Emeritus. In the last few years, Poniatoff participated in the affairs of several foundations devoted to research in health and preventive medicine.
The two major developments for which Ampex became known were the introductions of the first practical magnetic audio recorder to America in 1947 and the first practical video-tape recorder in 1956.
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(Source: Audio magazine, Feb. 1981; Bert Whyte )
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