Strange Formats and their Various Connections

Turntables, tonearms, preamps, amps, cables, monitor speakers. What do you use to play back your one-off dubplates or pressed records? (related topics, too.)

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diamone
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Strange Formats and their Various Connections

Post: # 44645Unread post diamone
Sat Nov 05, 2016 4:59 pm

As requested - the various references to all these strange audio and video formats from here: http://www.lathetrolls.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=6720 have been moved to this thread in the Playback department.

Maybe become a Sticky sometime.

For the unfamiliar -

We left off over there talking about trying to play the recorded coatings off of old acetates after stripping them away to use the aluminum base plates over again in order to make new lacquers.

This is done by cleaning off the residue from the plates after stripping the coating away (often in one piece like a flexidisc) and applying new liquid nitrocellulose.

Some guys were trying to play the coatings like a flexidisc and were having more than a few problems - so I suggested they be played with one of those microfiber 50 milligram optical tonearms mounted above e.g. an SP 10 platter seen here:

The first video shows the basic principle - the second shows the fascinating engineering behind it

Cliff's Notes version: (look up ``optical turntable pickup'')
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnGh7FADitg

Engineers and fanboys version:
https://youtu.be/7Efvh6dwFlc

Another version:
http://www.christerhamp.se/phono/poliak.html

Corollary of many related topics:
http://www.fonoteca.ch/visualAudio/publications/IASA_TechnicalCommiteeRiga.pdf

Then I got asked to describe each link in the previous thread in case of future link rot.

Ooh-Ooh Child things ain't gonna get no easier cuz then you get into trying to play paper records printed in a book with no grooves to follow

https://mediapreservation.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/extracting-audio-from-pictures (look up ``early gramophone disc “Der Handschuh” pictured in a book)

and ending up involving angular to linear calculations and the miniscule difference in linear speed from each revolution and trying to correct for it and all kinds of crazy crap.

When they could have just as easily made a photo-negative of it and treated it like an Optigan disc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BVKkg7N1_g (look up Optigan)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmP-BKYvPzg (look up ``DIY Optigan / Orchestron Disc Player'') -

who got the idea from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqzihgR_-SI ( look up ``The Making of the 1983 HBO City Promotional Campaign'') (slide over to 6:40)

and then guys with even MORE time than THAT on their hands ends up with https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOMX3deeW6Q (look up ``Music Made from Floppy Disc Drives'' this example is Tainted Love by Soft Cell)

After which another guy gets a hair up his ass and dominates the world with https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psuRGfAaju4 (look up Owl City - Fireflies original video)

Who got followed by https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UVNT4wvIGY (look up ``Gotye - Somebody that I used to Know'')

and since everybody on this board is a dork of one degree or the next otherwise we'd all grow up and get a life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUX7MFgT9wc (look up ``The Star Wars that I Used to Know'') - which just proves that the stupid can also get their ten minutes of fame if they want.

And then you get to asking crazy questions like What would happen if an LP and an 8 track had a baby? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWI4RwSt-BU (slide over to 1:50) (look up Tefifon)

or a VHS and an 8 track http://videopreservation.conservation-us.org/vid_id/vcord.html look up ``V-Cord'')

or an LP and a floppy disc http://www.recordist.com/ampex/ag100.html (;ook up ``Ampex Cue-Matic'')

or an LP and a wire recorder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6TbxT2uTS0 (look up ``Assmann Magnetic Disc Recorder'')

or a record player and a reel to reel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd2_CrPYEY0 (look up ``Timex Magnetic Disc Recorder''

or the GE version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47r2K1V4fpg (look up ``G.E. Play Talk'')

or another version back on our own board here http://www.lathetrolls.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=496 (look up ''GGS/Frank Bieber linear disc recorder -

or https://www.archives.gov/files/preservation/formats/pdf/format-guide-to-sound-recordings.pdf (look up ``National Archives Format Guide to Vintage Sound Recordings''

or individually under ``Memovox'', ``Soundscriber'' ``Edison Voicewriter [50's version]'' and ``Cousino Sonocart (runs backwards - predates the Muntz and 8 track tapes - and used in a lot of museum and fair dioramas in the 50s and early 60's

like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64wwZ_KN9g0 (look up ``Mystery of 1963 Optical Tape 1964 World's Fair'')

Edison Flexidiscs from back on our own forum
http://www.lathetrolls.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=4443

or an LP and a rim drive tape deck (too many to link to - (look up ``Grey Audograph'')

And then don't forget how desperate people can get trying for a hit record that they have to steal off the BBC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6RjuRvmass (slide over to 4:54) (look up ``Syd Dale `Walk and Talk'''

like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFfy0dMKIi8 (look up ``Meryn Cadell - `The Sweater' ''

as well as a certain X rated rapper who died of AIDS in 1995 who used the same song for HIS record (that you'll have to figure out for yourself).

or a 78 and a VCR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2mb4R9W9TI (look up ``Baird Phonovision'')

or an LP and a VCR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL8z1G9jEqg (look up ``RCA SelectaVision CED VideoDisc'').....and on and on and on.

Anybody else finds any crazy formats not already described - feel free to add the link and descriptions.
2 Kinds of Men/Records: Low Noise & Wide Range. LN is mod. fidelity, cheap, & easy. WR is High Fidelity & Abrasive to its' Environment. Remember that when you encounter a Grumpy Engineer. (:-D)

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