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86-480: Early on, Westminster recordings were technically superior to most others available, and the label became popular among the growing community of audiophiles . In the late 1950s, the company began issuing stereophonic recordings, including a rare disc of the music of Swedish composer Hugo Alfvén (1872–1960), conducted by the composer. The "Westminster Laboratory" (W-Lab) series of classical recordings were technically superior to other brands and sold at higher price than

172-429: A binaural record out of it. This consisted of two separate channels cut into two separate groups of grooves running next to each other, one running from the edge of the disc to halfway through and the other starting at the halfway point and ending up towards the label. He used two lateral grooves with a 500 Hz crossover in the inner track to try and compensate for the lower fidelity and high-frequency distortion on

258-401: A decade, and broadcasters were looking for better materials from which to make phonograph records as well as a better format in which to record them to play over the narrow and thus inherently noisy radio channel. As radio had been playing the same shellac discs available to the public, it was found that, even though the playback system was now electric rather than acoustic, the surface noise on

344-465: A hill-and-dale (vertically modulated) format on his cylinders and discs since 1877, and Berliner had been recording in a side-to-side (lateral) format since shortly thereafter. Each format developed on its own trajectory until the late 1920s when electric recording on disc, utilizing a microphone, surpassed acoustic recording which required a loud performance into what amounted to a megaphone in reverse. At that time, AM radio had been around for roughly

430-441: A listening room to reduce the amplitude of early reflections, and to deal with resonance modes. Other treatments are designed to produce diffusion, reflection of sound in a scattered fashion. Room treatments can be expensive and difficult to optimize. Headphones are regularly used by audiophiles. These products can be remarkably expensive, some over $ 10,000, but in general are much cheaper than comparable speaker systems. They have

516-439: A monophonic system since a stereo system contains two preamplifiers, two amplifiers, and two speaker systems. In addition, the user would need an FM stereo tuner, to upgrade any tape recorder to a stereo model, and to have their phonograph fitted with a stereo cartridge. In the early days, it was not clear whether consumers would think the sound was so much better as to be worth twice the price. Thomas Edison had been recording in

602-447: A more modern 24 fps system with brand-new 65 mm self-blimped production cameras ( Mitchell BFC ... "Blimped Fox Camera") and brand-new 65 mm MOS cameras (Mitchell FC ... "Fox Camera") and brand-new Super Baltar lenses in a wide variety of focal lengths, first employed on South Pacific . Essentially, although Todd-AO was also available to others, the format became Fox's premier origination and presentation apparatus, replacing

688-466: A resurgence in high-res digital files. SACD can be stored as a DSD file, and DVD-Audio can be stored as an FLAC or ALAC file. FLAC is the most widely used digital format for high-res with up to 8 channels, a maximum depth of 32-bit, and 655,350 Hz sampling rate. Uncompressed formats such as WAV and AIFF files can store audio CDs without compression. A preamplifier selects among several audio inputs, amplifies source-level signals (such as those from

774-567: A separate listening room. Several stereophonic test recordings, using two microphones connected to two styli cutting two separate grooves on the same wax disc, were made with Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra at Philadelphia's Academy of Music in March 1932. The first (made on March 12, 1932), of Scriabin's Prometheus: Poem of Fire , is the earliest known surviving intentional stereo recording. The performance

860-602: A series of telephone transmitters connected from the stage of the Paris Opera to a suite of rooms at the Paris Electrical Exhibition, where listeners could hear a live transmission of performances through receivers for each ear. Scientific American reported: Every one who has been fortunate enough to hear the telephones at the Palais de l'Industrie has remarked that, in listening with both ears at

946-520: A somewhat artificial six-track panning method. A process known somewhat derogatorily as the Columbia Spread was often used to synthesize Left Center and Right Center from a combination of Left and Center and Right and Center, respectively, or, for effects, the effect could be "panned" anywhere across the five stage speakers using a one-in/five-out pan pot. Dolby, who did not approve of this practice, which results in loss of separation, instead used

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1032-443: A time before intentional stereophonic recording technology existed. Modern stereophonic technology was invented in the 1930s by British engineer Alan Blumlein at EMI , who patented stereo records, stereo films, and also surround sound. In early 1931, Blumlein and his wife were at a local cinema. The sound reproduction systems of the early talkies invariably only had a single set of speakers – which could lead to

1118-842: A turntable), and allows the listener to adjust the sound with volume and tone controls. Many audiophile-oriented preamplifiers lack tone controls. A power amplifier takes the "line-level" audio signal from the preamplifier and drives the loudspeakers . An integrated amplifier combines the functions of power amplification with input switching and volume and tone control. Both pre/power combinations and integrated amplifiers are widely used by audiophiles. Audiophile amplifiers are available based on solid-state ( semiconductor ) technology, vacuum-tube (valve) technology, or hybrid technology—semiconductors and vacuum tubes. Dedicated amplifiers are also commonly used by audiophiles to drive headphones, especially those with high impedance and/or low sensitivity, or electrostatic headphones . The loudspeaker's cabinet

1204-490: A variety of accessories, including equipment racks, power conditioners , devices to reduce or control vibration , record cleaners, anti-static devices, phonograph needle cleaners, reverberation reducing devices such as speaker pads and stands, sound absorbent foam, and soundproofing . The interaction between the loudspeakers and the room ( room acoustics ) plays an important part in sound quality. Sound vibrations are reflected from walls, floor and ceiling, and are affected by

1290-572: A vast array of sounds, ranging from railroad sounds to thunderstorms. By 1953, Cook had a catalog of about 25 stereo records for sale to audiophiles . The first stereo recordings using magnetic tape were made in Germany in the early 1940s using Magnetophon recorders. Around 300 recordings were made of various symphonies, most of which were seized by the Red Army at the end of World War II. The recordings were of relatively high fidelity , thanks to

1376-563: A vertical fashion to minimize rumble. The overhead in this scheme limited the playing time to slightly longer than a single even at 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 RPM on a 12-inch disc. Another failed experiment in the late 1920s and early '30s involved recording the left channel on one side of the disc and recording the right channel on the other side of the disc. These were manufactured on twin film-company recording lathes which ran in perfect sync with one another, and were capable of counter-clockwise as well as conventional clockwise recording. Each master

1462-476: Is Cinerama was still playing only in New York City, most moviegoing audiences heard stereophonic sound for the first time with House of Wax , an early 3-D film starring Vincent Price and produced by Warner Bros. Unlike the 4-track mag release-print stereo films of the period which featured four thin strips of magnetic material running down the length of the film, inside and outside the sprocket holes,

1548-412: Is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration of two loudspeakers (or stereo headphones ) in such a way as to create the impression of sound heard from various directions, as in natural hearing. Because the multi-dimensional perspective is the crucial aspect,

1634-631: Is also continuing debate about the proper use of negative feedback in amplifier design. The audiophile community is scattered across many different platforms and communication methods. In person, one can find audiophiles at audio-related events such as music festivals, theaters , and concerts . The online audiophile community is even more widespread, with users on web forums and apps such as Facebook , Reddit , and others. These groups are self-identified audiophiles and will often contribute to their communities by mentoring new audiophiles, posting their current audio configurations, and sharing news related to

1720-811: Is known as the enclosure . There are a variety of loudspeaker enclosure designs, including sealed cabinets ( acoustic suspension ), ported cabinets ( bass-reflex ), transmission line, infinite baffles, and horn-loaded. The enclosure plays a major role in the sound of the loudspeaker. Depending on the frequencies reproduced, the drivers that produce the sound are referred to as tweeters for high frequencies, midranges for middle frequencies, such as voice and lead instruments, and woofers for bass frequencies. Driver designs include dynamic , electrostatic , plasma , ribbon, planar, ionic, and servo-actuated. Drivers are made from various materials, including paper pulp, polypropylene, kevlar, aluminium, magnesium, beryllium, and vapour-deposited diamond. The direction and intensity of

1806-431: Is necessarily subjective, often with subtle differences, leading to some more controversial audiophile techniques being based on pseudoscientific principles. An audio system typically consists of one or more source components, one or more amplification components, and (for stereo ) two or more loudspeakers . Signal cables (analog audio, speaker, digital audio etc.) are used to link these components. There are also

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1892-424: Is then reproduced over multiple loudspeakers to recreate, as closely as possible, the live sound. Secondly artificial or pan stereo, in which a single-channel ( mono ) sound is reproduced over multiple loudspeakers. By varying the relative amplitude of the signal sent to each speaker, an artificial direction (relative to the listener) can be suggested. The control which is used to vary this relative amplitude of

1978-633: The Chicago World's Fair in 1933 using a dummy with microphones instead of ears . The two signals were sent out over separate AM station bands. Utilizing selections recorded by the Philadelphia Orchestra , under the direction of Leopold Stokowski , intended for but not used in Walt Disney's Fantasia , the Carnegie Hall demonstration by Bell Laboratories on April 9 and 10, 1940, used three huge speaker systems. Synchronization

2064-453: The Greek στερεός ( stereós , "firm, solid") + φωνή ( phōnḗ , "sound, tone, voice") and it was coined in 1927 by Western Electric , by analogy with the word stereoscopic . Stereo sound systems can be divided into two forms: the first is true or natural stereo in which a live sound is captured, with any natural reverberation present, by an array of microphones . The signal

2150-625: The Théâtrophone , and in England from 1895 to 1925 as the Electrophone . Both were services available by coin-operated receivers at hotels and cafés, or by subscription to private homes. There have been cases in which two recording lathes (for the sake of producing two simultaneous masters) were fed from two separate microphones; when both masters survive, modern engineers have been able to synchronize them to produce stereo recordings from

2236-520: The 3-D production of The Charge at Feather River , and Island in the Sky . Unfortunately, as of 2012, the stereo magnetic tracks to both these films are considered lost forever. In addition, a large percentage of 3-D films carried variations on three-track magnetic sound: It Came from Outer Space ; I, the Jury ; The Stranger Wore a Gun ; Inferno ; Kiss Me, Kate ; and many others. Inspired by Cinerama ,

2322-410: The 70 mm prints would be mixed for stereo, while the 35 mm reduction prints would be remixed for mono. Some films shot in 35 mm, such as Camelot , featured four-track stereophonic sound and were then blown up to 70 mm so that they could be shown on a giant screen with six-track stereophonic sound. Unfortunately however, many of these presentations were only pseudo stereo, utilizing

2408-562: The CinemaScope 55 mm system. Current DVDs of the two CinemaScope feature titles were transferred from the original 55 mm negatives, often including the separate 35 mm films as extras for comparison. Beginning in 1957, films recorded in stereo (except for those shown in Cinerama or Todd-AO) carried an alternate mono track for theatres not ready or willing to re-equip for stereo. From then until about 1975, when Dolby Stereo

2494-660: The King of Siam , The Day the Earth Stood Still and Sun Valley Serenade which, along with Orchestra Wives , feature the only stereophonic recordings of the Glenn Miller Orchestra as it was during its heyday of the Swing Era . Walt Disney began experimenting with multichannel sound in the early 1930s as noted above. The first commercial motion picture to be exhibited with stereophonic sound

2580-502: The Westminster catalog when it purchased ABC Records in 1979. While continuing to distribute ABC's catalogue of classical music LPs, MCA hired former ABC classical department head John Sievers to establish its own MCA classical music department. The next year, MCA reissued much of the classical music back catalogues of Command , Decca , and ABC/Westminster Records on the "MCA Westminster" label. The Westminster recordings, as well as

2666-536: The advantage of not requiring room treatment and being usable without requiring others to listen at the same time. However, many audiophiles still prefer speaker systems over headphones due to their ability to simulate an immersive, rounded sonic environment. Newer canalphones can be driven by the less powerful outputs found on portable music players. For music storage and playback, digital formats offer an absence of clicks, pops, wow , flutter , acoustic feedback , and rumble , compared to vinyl records. Depending on

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2752-458: The artistic adjustment of overall volume and the relative volume of each track in relation to the others. Stokowski, who was always interested in sound reproduction technology personally participated in the enhancement of the sound at the demonstration. The speakers produced sound levels of up to 100 decibels, and the demonstration held the audience "spellbound, and at times not a little terrified", according to one report. Sergei Rachmaninoff , who

2838-1262: The audio reproduction of recorded music, typically in a quiet listening space in a room with good acoustics . Audiophile values may be applied at all stages of music reproduction –the initial audio recording , the production process, the storage of sound data, and the playback (usually in a home setting). In general, the values of an audiophile are seen to be antithetical to the growing popularity of more convenient but lower-quality music, especially lossy digital file types like MP3 , lower-definition music streaming services , laptop or cell phone speakers, and low-cost headphones. The term high-end audio refers to playback equipment used by audiophiles, which may be bought at specialist shops and websites. High-end components include turntables , digital-to-analog converters , equalization devices, preamplifiers and amplifiers (both solid-state and vacuum tube ), loudspeakers (including horn , electrostatic and magnetostatic speakers), power conditioners , subwoofers , headphones , and acoustic room treatment in addition to room correction devices. Although many audiophile techniques are based on objective criteria that can be verified using techniques like ABX testing , perceived sound quality

2924-513: The audiophile community. Among the listeners themselves, audiophiles will commonly differentiate community members between "golden eared" and "wooden eared" individuals. Those who are deemed as having "golden ears" are people who can accurately express the description of a sound or sonic environment, whereas those with "wooden ears" are implied to be untrained in listening and needing more guidance or assistance. These labels are not permanent, however, and people within these two groups can move between

3010-518: The core source, amplification, and speaker products. Examples of these accessories include speaker cables, component interconnects, stones, cones, CD markers, and power cables or conditioners. One of the most notorious "tweakers" was Peter Belt , who introduced numerous eccentric innovations that included a £500 "quantum clip" that consisted of a crocodile clip with a short length of copper wire attached. Audio societies Stereophonic sound Stereophonic sound , or more commonly stereo ,

3096-457: The disc would mask the music after just a few plays. The development of acetate, bakelite, and vinyl, and the production of radio broadcast transcriptions helped to solve this. Once these considerably quieter compounds were developed, it was discovered that the rubber-idler-wheel-driven turntables of the period had a great deal of low-frequency rumble – but only in the lateral plane. So, even though with all other factors being equal,

3182-503: The discovery of AC bias . A 1944 recording of Anton Bruckner 's Symphony No. 8 directed by Herbert von Karajan and the Orchester der Berliner Staatsoper and a 1944 or 1945 recording of Walter Gieseking playing Beethoven 's Piano Concerto No. 5 (with anti-aircraft fire audible in the background) are the only recordings still known to exist. In the US, stereo magnetic tape recording

3268-787: The early 1990s, CDs were the most common source of high-quality music. Nevertheless, turntables , tonearms, and magnetic cartridges are still used, despite the difficulties of keeping records free from dust and the delicate set-up associated with turntables. The 44.1 kHz sampling rate of the CD format, in theory, restricts CD information losses to above the theoretical upper-frequency limit of human hearing – 20 kHz. Nonetheless, newer formats such as FLAC, ALAC, DVD-Audio and Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD) allow for sampling rates of 88.2 kHz, 96 kHz or even 192 kHz. Higher sample rates allow fewer restrictions on filter choices in playback components, and some audiophiles upsample from

3354-420: The format, digital can have a higher signal-to-noise ratio , a wider dynamic range , less total harmonic distortion , and a flatter and more extended frequency response . The digital recording and playback processes may include degradations not found in the analog processes, such as timing jitter and distortions associated with band limiting filter choices. Vinyl records remain popular and discussion about

3440-571: The groups interchangeably, often depending on the judgement of others within the community. There is substantial controversy on the subject of audiophile components; many have asserted that the occasionally high cost produces no measurable improvement in audio reproduction. For example, skeptic James Randi , through his foundation One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge , offered a prize of $ 1 million to anyone able to demonstrate that $ 7,250 audio cables "are any better than ordinary audio cables". In 2008, audio reviewer Michael Fremer attempted to claim

3526-498: The inner track. Each groove needed its own monophonic needle and cartridge on its own branch of the tonearm, and each needle was connected to a separate amplifier and speaker. This setup was intended to demonstrate Cook's cutter heads at a New York audio fair. It was not intended to promote the binaural process; but soon afterward, the demand for such recordings and the equipment to play them grew, and Cook's company, Cook Records, began to produce such records commercially. Cook recorded

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3612-401: The introduction of digital cinema , Dolby Surround 7.1 and Dolby Atmos in 2010 and 2012 respectively. The progress of stereophonic sound was paced by the technical difficulties of recording and reproducing two or more channels in synchronization with one another and by the economic and marketing issues of introducing new audio media and equipment. A stereo system cost up to twice as much as

3698-412: The latter of which used up to four separate magnetic soundtracks. VistaVision took a simplified, low-cost approach to stereophonic sound; its Perspecta system featured only a monaural track, but through subaudible tones, it could change the direction of the sound to come from the left, right or both directions at once. Because of the standard 35 mm-size film, CinemaScope and its stereophonic sound

3784-485: The left center and right center channels for LFE (low-frequency enhancement) utilizing the bass units of the otherwise redundant intermediate front speakers, and later the unused HF capacity of these channels to provide for stereo surround in place of the mono surround. Dolby Stereo was succeeded by Dolby Digital 5.1 in the cinema, which retained the Dolby Stereo 70 mm 5.1 channel layout, and more recently with

3870-400: The left channel was recorded laterally and the right channel was recorded vertically, still utilizing a standard 3-mil 78-RPM groove, over three times larger than the modern LP stylus of the late 20th Century. In this system all the low-frequency rumble was in the left channel and all the high-frequency distortion was in the right channel. Over a quarter of a century later, it was decided to tilt

3956-561: The movie industry moved quickly to create simpler and cheaper widescreen systems, the first of which, Todd-AO , was developed by Broadway promoter Michael Todd with financial backing from Rodgers and Hammerstein, to use a single 70 mm film running at 30 frames per second with 6 magnetic soundtracks, for their screen presentation of Oklahoma! . Major Hollywood studios immediately rushed to create their own unique formats, such as MGM 's Camera 65 , Paramount Pictures ' VistaVision and Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation 's CinemaScope ,

4042-480: The movies in 1927, the speed of radio program transcriptions was reduced to match, once again to inhibit playback of the discs on normal home consumer equipment. Even though the stylus size remained the same as consumer records at either 3 mils (76 μm) or 2.7 mils (69 μm), the disc size was increased from 12 inches (30 cm) to the same 16 inches (41 cm) as those used in early talking pictures in order to create further incompatibility. Now, not only could

4128-617: The orchestra's conductor, was present in Constitution Hall to control the sound mix. Five years later, the same system would be expanded onto multichannel film recording and used from the concert hall in Philadelphia to the recording labs at Bell Labs in New Jersey in order to record Walt Disney 's Fantasia (1940) in what Disney called Fantasound . Later that same year, Bell Labs also demonstrated binaural sound, at

4214-425: The other three. The film was not initially a financial success, however, after two months of road-show exhibition in selected cities, its soundtrack was remixed into mono sound for general release. It was not until its 1956 re-release that stereo sound was restored to the film. A Cinerama demonstration film by Lowell Thomas and Mike Todd titled This is Cinerama was released on September 30, 1952. The format

4300-415: The output of a loudspeaker, called dispersion or polar response, has a large effect on its sound. Various methods are employed to control the dispersion. These methods include monopolar, bipolar, dipolar, 360-degree, horn, waveguide, and line source. These terms refer to the configuration and arrangement of the various drivers in the enclosure. The positioning of loudspeakers in the room strongly influences

4386-521: The prize, and said that Randi declined the challenge. Randi said that the cable manufacturer Pear Cables was the one who withdrew. Another commonly referenced study done by Philip Greenspun and Leigh Klotz of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that although test subjects were able to distinguish between high fidelity, "expensive" cables versus common use cables, there was no statistically significant preference between

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4472-540: The process, Carousel and The King and I , were released in 35 mm CinemaScope reduction prints. To compensate, the premiere engagement of Carousel used a six-track magnetic full-coat in an interlock, and a 1961 re-release of The King and I , featured the film printed down to 70 mm with a six-channel soundtrack. Eventually, 50 complete sets of combination 55/35 mm projectors and penthouse reproducers were completed and delivered by Century and Ampex, respectively, and 55 mm release print sound equipment

4558-421: The recording head 45 degrees off to the right side so that both the low-frequency rumble and high-frequency distortion were shared equally by both channels, producing the 45/45 system we know today. In 1952, Emory Cook (1913–2002), who already had become famous by designing new feedback disk-cutter heads to improve sound from tape to vinyl, took the two-channel high-fidelity system described above and developed

4644-423: The records not be played on home equipment due to incompatible recording format and speed, they would not even fit on the player, which suited the copyright holders. An experimental format in the 1920s split the signal into two parts, bass and treble, and recording the treble on its own track near the edge of the disc in a lateral format minimizing high-frequency distortion, and recording the bass on its own track in

4730-551: The regular Westminster issues. The company was sold in the early 1960s to ABC-Paramount , which at first continued to issue new material (as well as reissuing old recordings on the "Westminster Gold" label). Westminster ceased issuing new (original) recordings in 1965. Beginning in 1970, ABC's "Westminster Gold" reissues, including a new "Best Of" composers series, sported new eye-catching sleeve designs that used whimsy and humor to garner lucrative sales from high school and college-age classical music aficionados. MCA Records acquired

4816-566: The relative merits of analog and digital sound continues (see Comparison of analog and digital recording ). Note that vinyl records may be mastered differently from their digital versions, and multiple digital remasters may exist. In the amplification stage, vacuum-tube electronics remain popular, despite most other applications having since abandoned tubes for solid state amplifiers. Vacuum-tube amplifiers often have higher total harmonic distortion , require rebiasing, are less reliable, generate more heat, are less powerful, and cost more. There

4902-471: The rest of the MCA classical music catalogue, are currently managed by Deutsche Grammophon . Audiophiles An audiophile (from Latin : audīre , lit.   'to hear' + Greek : φίλος , romanized :  philos , lit.   'loving') is a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction . The audiophile seeks to achieve high sound quality in

4988-720: The room's contents. Room dimensions can create standing waves at particular (usually low) frequencies. There are devices and materials for room treatment that affect sound quality. Soft materials, such as draperies and carpets, can absorb higher frequencies, whereas hard walls and floors can cause excess reverberation. Audiophiles play music from a variety of sources including phonograph records , compact discs (CDs), and digital audio files that are either uncompressed or are losslessly compressed , such as FLAC , DSD , Windows Media Audio 9 Lossless and Apple Lossless (ALAC), in contrast to lossy compression , such as in MP3 encoding. From

5074-583: The same left, center, right and surround sound of the original CinemaScope system of 1953 by using a single standard-width optical track. This important development, marketed as Dolby Stereo , finally brought stereo sound to so-called flat (non- anamorphic ) widescreen films, most commonly projected at aspect ratios of 1.75:1 or 1.85:1. Producers often took advantage of the six magnetic soundtracks available for 70 mm film release prints, and productions shot in either 65 mm or to save money, in 35 mm and then blown up to 70 mm. In these instances,

5160-692: The same year, twenty-five years before that method became the standard for stereo phonograph discs. These discs used the two walls of the groove at right angles in order to carry the two channels. In 1934, Blumlein recorded Mozart 's Jupiter Symphony conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham at Abbey Road Studios in London using his vertical-lateral technique. Much of the development work on this system for cinematic use did not reach completion until 1935. In Blumlein's short test films (most notably, "Trains at Hayes Station", which lasts 5 minutes 11 seconds, and, "The Walking & Talking Film"), his original intent of having

5246-635: The screen, two surround channels in the rear of the theater, plus a sync track to interlock the four machines, which were specially outfitted with aircraft servo-motors made by Ampex . The advent of multitrack magnetic tape and film recording of this nature made high-fidelity synchronized multichannel recording more technically straightforward, though costly. By the early 1950s, all of the major studios were recording on 35 mm magnetic film for mixing purposes, and many of these so-called individual angles still survive, allowing for soundtracks to be remixed into stereo or even surround. In April 1953, while This

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5332-486: The signal is known as a pan-pot (panoramic potentiometer). By combining multiple pan-potted mono signals together, a complete, yet entirely artificial, sound field can be created. In technical usage, true stereo means sound recording and sound reproduction that uses stereographic projection to encode the relative positions of objects and events recorded. During two-channel stereo recording, two microphones are placed in strategically chosen locations relative to

5418-430: The somewhat disconcerting effect of the actor being on one side of the screen whilst his voice appeared to come from the other. Blumlein declared to his wife that he had found a way to make the sound follow the actor across the screen. The genesis of these ideas is uncertain, but he explained them to Isaac Shoenberg in the late summer of 1931. His earliest notes on the subject are dated 25 September 1931, and his patent had

5504-690: The sound experience. Loudspeaker output is influenced by interaction with room boundaries, particularly bass response, and high-frequency transducers are directional, or "beaming". Audiophiles use a wide variety of accessories and fine-tuning techniques, sometimes referred to as "tweaks", to improve the sound of their systems. These include power conditioner filters to "clean" the electricity, equipment racks to isolate components from floor vibrations, specialty power and audio cables, loudspeaker stands (and footers to isolate speakers from stands), and room treatments. There are several types of room treatment. Sound-absorbing materials may be placed strategically within

5590-517: The sound follow the actor was fully realized. In the United States, Harvey Fletcher of Bell Laboratories was also investigating techniques for stereophonic recording and reproduction. One of the techniques investigated was the wall of sound , which used an enormous array of microphones hung in a line across the front of an orchestra. Up to 80 microphones were used, and each fed a corresponding loudspeaker, placed in an identical position, in

5676-405: The sound source, with both recording simultaneously. The two recorded channels will be similar, but each will have distinct time-of-arrival and sound-pressure-level information. During playback, the listener's brain uses those subtle differences in timing and sound level to triangulate the positions of the recorded objects. Since each microphone records each wavefront at a slightly different time,

5762-469: The sound system developed for House of Wax , dubbed WarnerPhonic, was a combination of a 35 mm fully coated magnetic film that contained the audio tracks for left, center and right speakers, interlocked with the two dual-strip Polaroid system projectors, one of which carried a mono optical surround track and one that carried a mono backup track use in the event anything should go wrong. Only two other films featured this unique hybrid WarnerPhonic sound:

5848-546: The source rate to higher rates to achieve different filter properties. CD audio signals are encoded in 16-bit values. Higher-definition consumer formats such as HDCD -encoded CDs, DVD-Audio, and SA-CD contain 20-bit, 24-bit and even 32-bit audio streams. With more bits, more dynamic range is possible; 20-bit dynamic range is theoretically 120 dB—the limit of most consumer electronic playback equipment. SACDs and DVD-Audio have up to 5.1 to 6.1 surround sound. Although both high-res optical formats have failed, there has been

5934-406: The term stereophonic also applies to systems with more than two channels or speakers such as quadraphonic and surround sound . Binaural sound systems are also stereophonic . Stereo sound has been in common use since the 1970s in entertainment media such as broadcast radio, recorded music, television, video cameras , cinema, computer audio, and internet. The word stereophonic derives from

6020-425: The title "Improvements in and relating to Sound-transmission, Sound-recording and Sound-reproducing Systems". The application was dated 14 December 1931, and was accepted on 14 June 1933 as UK patent number 394,325 . The patent covered many ideas in stereo, some of which are used today and some not. Some 70 claims include: Blumlein began binaural experiments as early as 1933, and the first stereo discs were cut later

6106-897: The two cables. Greenspun and Klotz expect that critics of the study will point to the fact that this experiment was not done as a double-blind test , but this critique has a counter in that the study participants felt as though the experiment solely isolated the subjects' opinions on sound quality and nothing more. There is disagreement on how equipment testing should be conducted and its utility. Audiophile publications frequently describe differences in quality which are not detected by standard audio system measurements and double blind testing , claiming that they perceive differences in audio quality which cannot be measured by current instrumentation, and cannot be detected by listeners if listening conditions are controlled , but without providing an explanation for those claims. Criticisms usually focus on claims around so-called "tweaks" and accessories beyond

6192-500: The two telephones, the sound takes a special character of relief and localization which a single receiver cannot produce... This phenomenon is very curious, it approximates to the theory of binauricular audition, and has never been applied, we believe, before to produce this remarkable illusion to which may almost be given the name of auditive perspective. This two-channel telephonic process was commercialized in France from 1890 to 1932 as

6278-464: The vertical plane of recording on disc had the higher fidelity, it was decided to record vertically to produce higher-fidelity recordings on these new materials, for two reasons, the increase in fidelity by avoiding the lateral rumble and to create incompatibility with home phonographs which, with their lateral-only playback systems, would only produce silence from a vertically modulated disc. After 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 RPM recording had been perfected for

6364-462: The wavefronts are out of phase ; as a result, constructive and destructive interference can occur if both tracks are played back on the same speaker. This phenomenon is known as phase cancellation . Coincident-pair microphone arrangements produce stereo recordings with minimal phase difference between channels. Clément Ader demonstrated the first two-channel audio system in Paris in 1881, with

6450-535: Was Walt Disney's Fantasia , released in November 1940, for which a specialized sound process ( Fantasound ) was developed. As in the Carnegie Hall demonstrations six months earlier, Fantasound used a separate film containing four optical soundtracks. Three of the tracks were used to carry left, center and right audio, while the fourth track carried three tones which individually controlled the volume level of

6536-616: Was a widescreen process featuring three separate 35 mm motion picture films plus a separate sound film running in synchronization with one another at 26 fps, adding one picture panel each to the viewer's left and right at 45-degree angles, in addition to the usual front and center panel, creating a truly immersive panoramic visual experience, comparable in some ways to today's curved screen IMAX OMNI . The Cinerama audio soundtrack technology, developed by Hazard E. Reeves , utilized seven discrete sound tracks on full-coat magnetic 35 mm film. The system featured five main channels behind

6622-420: Was achieved by making the recordings in the form of three motion picture soundtracks recorded on a single piece of film with a fourth track being used to regulate volume expansion. This was necessary due to the limitations of dynamic range on optical motion picture film of the period, however, the volume compression and expansion were not fully automatic, but were designed to allow manual studio enhancement ; i.e.,

6708-456: Was also reserved for dramas with a strong reliance on sound effects or music, such as The Graduate . The Westrex Stereo Variable-Area system was developed in 1977 for Star Wars , and was no more expensive to manufacture in stereo than it was for mono. The format employs the same Western Electric/Westrex/Nuoptix RA-1231 recorder, and coupled with QS quadraphonic matrixing technology licensed to Dolby Labs from Sansui, this system can produce

6794-417: Was capable of being retrofitted into existing theaters. CinemaScope 55 was created by the same company in order to use a larger form of the system (55 mm instead of 35 mm) to allow for greater image clarity onscreen, and was supposed to have had 6-track stereo instead of four. However, because the film needed a new, specially designed projector, the system proved impractical, and the two films made in

6880-677: Was delivered by Western Electric. Several samples of 55 mm sound prints can be found in the Sponable Collection at the Film and Television Archives at Columbia University . The subsequently abandoned 55/35 mm Century projector eventually became the Century JJ 70/35MM projector. After this disappointing experience with their proprietary CinemaScope 55 mm system, Fox purchased the Todd-AO system and re-engineered it into

6966-532: Was on hand to try out the new technology, recording onto a special proprietary nine-track sound system at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, during the making of the movie One Hundred Men and a Girl for Universal Pictures in 1937, after which the tracks were mixed down to one for the final soundtrack. A year later, MGM started using three tracks instead of one to record the musical selections of movie soundtracks, and very quickly upgraded to four. One track

7052-559: Was part of an all-Russian program including Mussorgsky 's Pictures at an Exhibition in the Ravel orchestration, excerpts of which were also recorded in stereo. Bell Laboratories gave a demonstration of three-channel stereophonic sound on April 27, 1933, with a live transmission of the Philadelphia Orchestra from Philadelphia to Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. over multiple Class A telephone lines. Leopold Stokowski, normally

7138-493: Was present at the demonstration, commented that it was "marvellous" but "somehow unmusical because of the loudness." "Take that Pictures at an Exhibition ", he said. "I didn't know what it was until they got well into the piece. Too much 'enhancing', too much Stokowski." In 1937, Bell Laboratories in New York City gave a demonstration of two-channel stereophonic motion pictures, developed by Bell Labs and Electrical Research Products, Inc. Once again, conductor Leopold Stokowski

7224-431: Was run separately through the plating process, lined up to match, and subsequently mounted in a press. The dual-sided stereo disc was then played vertically, first in a system that featured two tonearms on the same post facing one another. The system had trouble keeping the two tonearms in their respective synchronous revolutions. Five years later, Bell Labs was experimenting with a two-channel lateral-vertical system, where

7310-597: Was used for dialogue, two for music, and one for sound effects. The very first two-track recording MGM made (although released in mono) was "It Never Rains But What It Pours" by Judy Garland , recorded on June 21, 1938, for the movie Love Finds Andy Hardy . In the early 1940s, composer-conductor Alfred Newman directed the construction of a sound stage equipped for multichannel recording for 20th Century Fox studios. Several soundtracks from this era still exist in their multichannel elements, some of which have been released on DVD, including How Green Was My Valley , Anna and

7396-428: Was used for the first time in films, most motion pictures – even some from which stereophonic soundtrack albums were made, such as Zeffirelli 's Romeo and Juliet  – were still released in monaural sound, stereo being reserved almost exclusively for expensive musicals such as West Side Story , My Fair Lady and Camelot , or epics such as Ben-Hur and Cleopatra . Stereo

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