Hi, Rob,
It's almost always the case that the recordings are higher fidelity than the
equipment available to play them at any given time.
Some fidelity is lost when going from master through the mother, stamper and
pressing process. Many early recordings sound far better as infrequently
played test pressings (not those that have endured the wear test) made from
masters than their later commercially issued counterparts, though the
material into which they were pressed did not stand up well to time- they
often have more surface noise today.
Certainly commercial pressings of Mengelberg's Telefunkens of the mid 1930s
should be considered higher fidelity as compared with their predecessors. I
assume this is true of other recordings issued in that catalog at the same
time.
A test of a group of 78 records of various manufacturers from various times
of a segment of the same selection, properly equalized, viewed on a spectrum
analyzer on a big screen, would make an interesting ARSC presentation.
Maybe "Les Preludes" for classical (which could also include various
transcription service products and radio theme recordings), an early and
perpetual standard for pops, a similar, often recorded selection for jazz,
and "Stars and Stripes" or another band standard less U.S. centric for
brass. It could include a test-pressing vs commercial issue comparison as
well.
Steve Smolian
-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Rob DeLand
Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2011 10:31 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [ARSCLIST] First high-fidelity recordings released in 1944?
I was browsing the National Geographic Eyewitness to the 20th Century (1999)
and found the statement that the "First high-fidelity recordings [were]
released" in 1944.
What exactly are they referring to? At what point (and with what
technological improvement) do we deem a recording hi-fi? Certainly
electrical recording would be necessary, but those began to be issued in
1925 (earlier?). Might London FFRR, or perhaps the use of magnetic tape
might be involved? I flipped through Roland Gelatt; in 1944 he mentions the
end of the recording ban on Armistice Day, and the story (pg. 282) of Decca
chief engineer Arthur Haddy and recording improvements made to detect the
different sounds of German and British submarines, leading to "ffrr" records
hitting the English market in December 1944. So I suppose that's my answer.
Were these really that much better than anything else that anyone else was
doing at the time?
Thanks for sharing any thoughts on this.
-Rob DeLand
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