Editor's Review (May 1970)

Readers will notice a significant increase in the number of technical papers to be presented at the West Coast AES Show (see pages 42-45). Actually, there are 89 compared with 65 last year and the total number of exhibitors is also higher--65 against last year's 45. Another indication of the healthy state of the industry is the fact that the AES journal is published six times a year instead of four, and a quarterly supplement devoted to medical electronics will appear later this year (more work for Jacqueline Harvey!). Many quadraphonic demonstrations have been given up and down the country during the past month--including the long-awaited première of the Scheiber disc. This event was held under the auspices of the AES and speakers included John Eargle, Len Feldman, Jerry Minter, as well as Peter Scheiber himself. Several hundred people were present, in fact the large room was filled to capacity. What was the sound like, was there really four channels on the records? Well, the room was extremely reverberant and the sound from the four loudspeakers echoed around--to quote Ed Canby "like an Electronic Circus." The loudspeakers were very boomy and what with the aforesaid reverberation piled on reverberation it was impossible to make a valid judgment. No doubt about it, quadraphonic sound is at its best in small rooms: it is intimate, immediate, and often exciting. In a large hall--at least with present recording techniques-much of the recorded ambience disappears, overshadowed by the room acoustics. A few days later, another demonstration was given in a small room and here the sound was quite impressive.

Program material was far from ideal--Simon and Garfunkel in 4-channel did not really offer a dramatic improvement, but I must admit many of the listeners liked the experience of being surrounded by S, G, and Mrs. Robinson.... But was there really four channels? The answer is a qualified 'yes'. The Scheiber system depends on phase and precedence effects to create four separate channels but I do not know how the final result compares with the original sound. I am glad to report that Peter Scheiber has promised to write an article describing his system as soon as the patent situation is finally resolved.

Len Feldman gave a quadraphonic demonstration in Philadelphia recently using Vanguard tapes played on a Crown recorder and a modified cassette machine.

Although the room was fairly large, the results were most convincing and reaction was very favorable. The Berlioz Requiem in particular was extremely impressive-probably because of its highly dramatic nature and the fact that it was composed for four brass bands, a full orchestra, ( not to mention ten pairs of cymbals) plus several ensembles. Berlioz was no skinflint! Len will be giving another demonstration on June 3, and this one will be at the Dragon Seed restaurant, 37th St., Jackson Heights, New York. Time: 8 p.m. It is sponsored by the New York Audio Society and Len tells me that he may use closed-circuit FM transmission with the Halstead-Feldman system.

--Many enthusiasts are familiar with those special demonstration records that promise so much but often have a harsh, clinical sound. Here is one that can be recommended. Entitled "Lincoln Mayorga and Distinguished Colleagues" it is made by direct transfer to disc method (no tapes are used) by the Mastering Lab, 6033 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, Cal., 90028. The performers are a group of West Coast musicians and the sound is clean and spacious with a good dynamic range and hardly a trace of 'chromium plating'.

--The letter from Dave Hafler ( page 14) mentions the effect of high-resistance speaker wires on an amplifier's damping factor. A chart giving wire gauges and resistance was printed in our February issue. Unfortunately, the author, Osamu Goda did not emphasize that the d.c. resistance of the voice coil itself has to be considered in calculating the effective damping.

--I must say I find the FM Guide a great help in allowing me to pick my programs from the enormous amount of music on the air these days. It is well written and the station listings are easy to follow. In the April issue, Allen Shaw writes about the generation gap in music and I was disconcerted to read "... just because an 18-year-old looks the part, don't assume he's an FM listener and draft resistor." Times have indeed changed!

-G. W. T.

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(Source: Audio magazine.)

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