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  • Andy2Andy2 Posts: 11,942
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    I've just read this. Certainly a clever chap - his Dolby sytems A and B brought meaningful noise reduction to the world of analogue tape and of course his name lives on in the various surround/cinema systems.
    RIP and thanks.
    BTW, was it 'Dark Side of the Moon' that was the first commercial release to use Dolby A?
  • Deacon1972Deacon1972 Posts: 8,171
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    Andy2 wrote: »
    I've just read this. Certainly a clever chap - his Dolby sytems A and B brought meaningful noise reduction to the world of analogue tape and of course his name lives on in the various surround/cinema systems.
    RIP and thanks.
    BTW, was it 'Dark Side of the Moon' that was the first commercial release to use Dolby A?

    Pretty sure Dolby A was the professional version, Dolby B was for the consumer market and released in 1968.

    Wasn't DSOTM one of the first commercial releases with quadraphonic sound?
  • Andy2Andy2 Posts: 11,942
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    Deacon1972 wrote: »
    Pretty sure Dolby A was the professional version, Dolby B was for the consumer market and released in 1968.

    Wasn't DSOTM one of the first commercial releases with quadraphonic sound?

    Sorry, I didn't make it clear. I was asking whether the album was recorded in the studio using Dolby A noise reduction. I know the consumer market was B only.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 8,916
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    To all those who have commiserated and sent their sympathies, the family of the late Ray Dolby would like to say: THX.
  • Simon RodgersSimon Rodgers Posts: 4,693
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    That's very sad to hear. He will indeed live on through his work and future technologies which would most likely not exist if it wasn't for him.
  • gomezzgomezz Posts: 44,507
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    If anyone deserves a minute's silence then surely it is Ray? :)
  • Kenny MacleanKenny Maclean Posts: 1,318
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    gomezz wrote: »
    If anyone deserves a minute's silence then surely it is Ray? :)

    To quote a friend of mine...

    Shouldn't that be a minutes noise reduction!
  • witham1witham1 Posts: 291
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    I went to a lecture given by him in London in 1975 on early video recording.
    He worked for the Ampex Corporation during the 50’s and helped develop the first video recorders.
    I thought he was a very clever guy and he gave an interesting and stimulating lecture.
  • spiney2spiney2 Posts: 27,058
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    amazed to find my account still active .......


    for information only, as previously mentioed in several threads, Ray Dolby invented neither surround sound nor noise reduction. His particular contributions were optimising noise reduction circuitry for "reliable" results on tape - especially with multichannel analogue systems using ever narrower track widths with increasing hiss - and optimising for cinema use with combined A/B noise reduction and SQ system with Haas Effect.

    http://www.sptimes.com/2003/11/02/Floridian/Sound_recognition.shtml
  • spiney2spiney2 Posts: 27,058
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    high freq preemphasis for noise reduction has been used on gramophone records since electric recording began, roughly 1925!

    same principle is "built into" analogue tape recording, since replay head o/p rises with increasing frequency, and the replay amplifier o/p therefore has inverse characteristic and correspondingly falls.

    Pre-emphaisis has always been used on fm broadcasts, for noise reduction.

    Companding was used on faxes from 1925 onwards, and later in telephoney. I accept that ray dolby was the 1st to apply this particular method of noise reduction to audio recording. Note that dbx is a more effective system ......

    the dolby matrix system is essentially same as sq quadrophonics (slighlty altered, to avoid the actual sq patent, the principle itself was NOT patented and could be freely used, eg the ultra stereo cinema system ........). dolby stereo combined optical soundtrack noise reduction with matrixed surround sound, but arguably the main innovation was use of the Haas effect, which reliably gives a surround effect in most of a large room, which ordinary stereo cannot.

    Interestingly, quadruplex video recording - dolby was the 3rd junior member of the development team - uses both companding and pre-emphasis, maybe that's what started him off ?



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  • spiney2spiney2 Posts: 27,058
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    here is link - ok i hope - to full manual for "2nd generation" dolby A 361 processor. An interesting read ! The background philosophy is explained, with full circuit diagrams and descriptions.

    Interestingly, the companding is done using fets. These were "only just" available in time for the original 301 processor in '65 .....

    http://uebergabe-daten.hifi-classic.at/httpdocs/BDA_SM_Archiv/Dolby/Dolby_361_NR_BDA.pdf
  • Peter_KelamisPeter_Kelamis Posts: 18
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    Whenever I read anything about Dolby sound technology, I am always reminded of a substitute teacher I had at school at one point known as Ms Dolby! :D
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