This is somewhat related. The World Wide Web was apparently born 21 years
ago today, and this is said to have been the first webpage:
http://www.w3.org/History/19921103-hypertext/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html
Dave Lewis
Lebanon, OH
On Wed, Aug 8, 2012 at 4:03 PM, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
> This was all covered in my ARSCJ article, linked earlier but here again:
> http://www.aes.org/aeshc/pdf/**fine_dawn-of-digital.pdf<http://www.aes.org/aeshc/pdf/fine_dawn-of-digital.pdf>
>
> Denon also experimented with DSP very early, recording orchestras in an
> anecholic chamber and then introducing electronically created "space"
> around the 100% dry close-mic'd music tracks. Denon made the first
> commercially-released digital recording, the first digital recording in
> Europe and the first digital jazz recording in the US (see the sidebar to
> my article).
>
> Also, at the end of the article is a list of sources. One of the sources
> was Sony's book on the history of digital recording, which cites and
> credits Denon's work. Indeed, the only photo I have of the NHK mono
> recorder came out of the Sony book.
>
> Just to make sure to give Sony due credit (although their own
> self-promotion machine does the job just fine), they are responsible for
> the following major and widely used innovations in the early years of
> digital becoming the widely used standard for audio production:
>
> 1. the PCM-F1, which was the first digital recording/playback interface
> within monetary reach of the "masses." It interfaced with a Betamax if you
> went all-Sony, but the interface works fine with a VHS machine too, and
> many professional audio people used a U-Matic recorder.
>
> 2. the 1600, 1630 and later U-Matic based CD mastering systems, which
> adopted video insert-editing to audio and used a common/relatively cheap
> video format as the storage medium.
>
> 3. Sony's partnership with Philips which led to the Compact Disc, by far
> the widest-used digital commercial mass medium (and I mean INCLUDING
> downloads, so far).
>
> 4. Sony's work in the DASH format, which was a widely-used pre-DAW digital
> multitrack recording system.
>
> 5. the Minidisc, which didn't really catch on as a mass medium but did
> replace cassettes in some broadcast situations.
>
> 6. Sony and Philips again partnered on the SACD/DSD formats and systems.
>
> There are other major innovations and products I'm forgetting to mention.
>
> -- Tom Fine
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Shai Drori" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2012 3:44 PM
>
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Digital History Query
>
>
> Need to make a clarification. In the early 70's Denon (NHK) showed and
>> used a 4 track digital recorder based on a Quad VTR. It was the size of a
>> Sub Zero. I think I have a picture of it somewhere in my computer.
>> Shai
>> בתאריך 08/08/12 6:20 PM, ציטוט Tom Fine:
>>
>>> Sony's digital efforts were years after the NHK, first alone and then
>>> working with Denon, had developed PCM audio recording. NHK had a working
>>> mono PCM recorder that used videotape as its storage medium before 1970. By
>>> 1972, Denon was releasing commercial LPs made with its stereo PCM-to-video
>>> recorder. By 1974, they had dozens of LPs in the can. As I wrote in my
>>> ARSCJ article linked in a previous post, PCM concepts and technology were
>>> developed for telephony and dated from the 1940's (and earlier, actually
>>> the 1920's). But, the first use for professional audio recording was the
>>> NHK in Japan, and Denon quickly latched onto their developments and
>>> research. Sony was not a "digital first" by any means, but their R&D
>>> probably did as much or more than anyone in making digital audio (and
>>> video) recording and playback ubiquitous.
>>>
>>> I didn't get into Sony very much in my ARSCJ article because the scope
>>> of it was to deal with "digital firsts" i.e. the dawn of things digital.
>>> Sony would be a lead subject in an article about "the day of digital" or
>>> "the digital takeover of mass media." I don't mean any of that in a
>>> pejorative sense, just stating facts.
>>>
>>> -- Tom Fine
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lou Judson" <[log in to unmask]>
>>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>> Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2012 8:15 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Digital History Query
>>>
>>>
>>> Just to save others time researching; The article says this:
>>>
>>> "Nevertheless, Takayama and Suzukawa toiled to build Sony's first PCM
>>> digital audio recording machine, the X-12DTC, was announced in 1974. It
>>> used 2-inch wide tape and a fixed head with 56 channels. Although it
>>> reproduced sound, the X-12DTC recorder was roughly the size of a
>>> refrigerator. The transport unit alone weighed approximately 250 kilograms.
>>> Although overly bulky, the creation of the first machine marked the
>>> beginning of Sony's history in digital sound recording. The machine was
>>> transported to and from various venues to make test recordings of
>>> orchestral music. The recorder was also exhibited at the 1974 Audio Fair in
>>> Japan. Some audio specialists remarked on the clarity of the machine's
>>> sound. In the end, however, the recorder was not marketed, even though
>>> producing digital sound through a PCM system with fixed heads represented a
>>> revolution in recording technology."
>>>
>>> and Betamax is not describer further in the article. So there was a 2"
>>> digital recorder prototype, but it was not a Betamax... was it? Kind of
>>> like having an 18 wheeler Chevy; I never saw one!
>>>
>>> If one were looking for that specific CD how would one ID it - does it
>>> have a label number? Sounds interesting.
>>> <L>
>>> Lou Judson
>>> Intuitive Audio
>>> 415-883-2689
>>>
>>> On Aug 7, 2012, at 2:03 PM, David Lewis wrote:
>>>
>>> Is it possible that digital was somewhere in the chain of "Cheap Trick
>>>> at
>>>> Budokan." Historically it is possible:
>>>>
>>>> http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/**CorporateInfo/History/**
>>>> SonyHistory/2-07.html<http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/SonyHistory/2-07.html>
>>>>
>>>> The PCM-1 was in use and already being marketed by April of 1978 when
>>>> the Budokan concerts were recorded. At that time, Sony was using 2"
>>>> Betamax
>>>> tapes;
>>>> the disc was being developed, but was not putting out acceptable results
>>>> yet as either a recording or playback format. However, April 1978 is a
>>>> bit
>>>> before the
>>>> fateful meeting with Karajan mentioned in this corporate history.
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>> --
>> בברכה,
>> שי דרורי
>> מומחה לשימור והמרה של אודיו וידאו וסרטים 8-35 ממ.
>>
>>
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