PHILIPS' FOLLY
Much has been written about the record industry's efforts to inhibit DAT recorders from making "perfect clones" of prerecorded music. But while the CBS Copy Code "notch" system was getting most of the ink, I had been hearing rumors about an anti-copying system for DAT that, unlike the Copy-Code system, would not alter or affect the audio content of recordings. The giant Philips organization of Europe, which has an interest in both the hardware and the software side of audio (it is the parent organization of Magnavox and Polygram Records), was said to have developed a system known as Solo. I have since learned from reliable sources based in Japan that there are two Philips anti-copying schemes, dubbed Solo and Solo Plus. Both were developed as alternatives to the Copy Code proposal that, as of this writing, is still being evaluated by the National Bureau of Standards.
Various speculations as to what Solo and Solo Plus would do to inhibit the copying of program material have appeared in print over the last several months. Until recently, however, Philips has refused to confirm or deny anything. Here are the facts, as told to me by industry sources.
Solo, if implemented, would permit users to make only one DAT copy of a CD. During the making of that copy, the DAT recorder would add a copy inhibit digital bit flag to the subcode of the tape recording. While this bit flag would in no way affect audio quality, it would prevent one from making subsequent direct digital copies from that DAT recording. Additionally, since every CD has an identifying digital code (and, presumably, every prerecorded digital tape will as well), each DAT recorder could be programmed to "memorize" the IDs of those CDs or digital tapes that had been copied on it once. Any attempt to make additional copies from the same source on the same DAT machine could thus be thwarted.
The RIAA and the major record companies that it represents immediately rejected this proposal because it would still permit users to make multiple analog copies of copyrighted material something that the Copy-Code system would prevent. Furthermore, additional digital copies of the CD (or of a prerecorded DAT) could indeed be made, if the player's digital output were connected to the digital input of a second DAT recorder-and a third, and a fourth, etc.
Solo Plus, the other Philips proposal, was instantly deemed acceptable by the RIAA and its major record-company members. Unfortunately, it is totally unacceptable to the hardware manufacturers (and ought to be equally unacceptable to audio enthusiasts). Like Solo, Solo Plus would permit users to make one digital copy of a CD or a prerecorded DAT. However, machines complying with Solo Plus would have no analog inputs! This would mean that a DAT recorder could not be used to record FM radio programs, LP records, prerecorded analog audio cassettes, or any other analog program source.
(Editor's Note: Unless, that is, you used a preamp with its own A/D converter--and such preamps are now appearing.- I.B.) Perhaps in an attempt to justify this incredible scheme, Philips points out that the dedicated audiophile who would be interested in DAT probably owns a CD player that has a digital output jack. Further, in Japan and other parts of the world, digital audio broadcasting is already a reality, so a whole new crop of tuners with digital outputs is likely to be available soon.
Many DAT hardware manufacturers think Philips is offering these two extreme solutions simply to stall the proliferation of DAT machines in Europe and the U.S. Three possible reasons have been suggested for this maneuver: First, delaying DAT will permit CD to gain an even stronger foothold before DAT becomes a major format. Second, further delay of DAT will permit Philips' DAT research and development to catch up with the Japanese. Finally, delaying DAT might provide Philips with the time needed to come up with an acceptable standard for recordable CDs. Philips has been dedicated to optical/digital formats ever since the laser videodisc was developed, and if practical recordable CDs become a reality, DAT may never see the light of day here at all.
Given no compromise solutions between Solo and Solo Plus, the hardware and software groups have made little or no progress during joint meetings they have held in Europe. Despite the impasse, the feeling in Japan is that, by the time you read this, DAT will have broken loose in major markets, including the U.S. Let's see if this crystal-ball gazing proves to be correct!
(adapted from Audio magazine, Apr. 1988)
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