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Have you found an eight track quarter inch player machine with all eight tracks on one head? Steve Smolian ========================= Steven Smolian 301-694-5134 Smolian Sound Studios --------------------------------------------------- CDs made from old recordings, Five or one or lifetime hoardings, Made at home or concert hall, Text and pics explain it all. at www.soundsaver.com ========================= ----- Original Message ----- From: "Copeland, Peter" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2003 12:07 PM Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Copyright and hard drives > Dear Mike, > (1) Well, the CD format *is* well-documented, but a further consideration is > that there are more than a billion "Red Book" players out there, whereas > Edison made only about a million cylinder players. Yet it is simple to watch > an Edison machine at work, and either create a new machine to do the same > job, or modify a vintage machine to transfer the information electronically. > This is only ordinary analogue engineering skill (although I agree the > weakness could be in that last sentence!) The *documentation* survives. > (2) Yes, this is beginning to happen, but the original patents (which > expired here in the year 2000) mean the vast majority of CDs should indeed > play, while the user-base of machinery means that the vast majority of audio > CDs still need to be compatible with older players. Again, it's "software" > which is the problem, mainly recipes for "surround-sound" encoding. > (3) I'm afraid I don't know Sanyo's "V-cord" format, but the Elcassette > contains quarter-inch tape which can be extracted from the cassette and > wound onto a spool. It can then be played on any 4-track quarter-inch > open-reel tape player. Likewise, another correspondent was bewailing the > fate of "eight-track" cartridges. Personally, I have been studying these, > because they often bear UNencoded quadraphonic recordings! They are not > common on this side of the Atlantic, but I have now found twenty-one, and > plan to move the tape from the cartridges onto open reels, and play them on > an eight-track quarter-inch machine. From this, it should then be possible > to fine-tune the SQ and QS encoding systems used for vinyl discs. > Much of the above comes down to the fact that, for analogue recordings, > there is much to be gained from having the same sound on two different > formats. This is especially true if you accept the idea of getting back to > what the original recording engineers would have wished. > Peter Copeland > > -----Original Message----- > From: Mike Richter [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: 18 March 2003 16:14 > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Copyright and hard drives > > At 02:04 PM 3/18/2003 +0000, Copeland, Peter wrote: > >Dear Joel, > > Thanks for your posting. I've retired now, so I cannot speak for my > >successor, but I see little need for an "open source" software decoder for > >CDs. Any CD player with an SP-DIF output is capable of replaying everything > >(including the track flags) complete with error-correction, so the audio > and > >the flags may be moved to any other audio hardware capable of the necessary > >sampling-frequency and bit-resolution. (The AES digital connection-standard > >will copy the audio, if necessary for very long physical distances; but it > >does not include track flags. Our experiences with Betamax videotapes with > >digital audio also showed it was relatively simple to retro-fit the > machines > >with SP-DIF outputs). > > I am out of my base of knowledge here, but would like to offer some > questions with implied answers. > > 1. Is not the need for "open source" more for documentation so that the > format can be reconstructed even after it has been abandoned by its owner? > > 2. As the patents on CD format expire, liberties are being taken with the > color book standards. Is there not the risk that some 'protected' discs > will deviate far enough to preclude easy movement to another medium or > format? > > 3. The Betamax example is perhaps too weak since the hardware was well > developed and in use for an extended period. Would the result have been > similar for Sanyo's V-Cord video format or Sony's El-Cassette for audio? > > Mike > [log in to unmask] > http://www.mrichter.com/ > > > ************************************************************************** > > Free exhibition at the British Library Galleries : > > Magic Pencil : Children's Book Illustration Today (to 31 March) original > graphic work of 13 contemporary artists > > ************************************************************************* > > The information contained in this e-mail is confidential and may be legally > privileged. It is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the > intended recipient, please delete this e-mail and notify the > [log in to unmask] : The contents of this e-mail must not be disclosed or > copied without the sender's consent. > > The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the > author and do not necessarily reflect those of the British Library. The > British Library does not take any responsibility for the views of the > author. > > *************************************************************************