Skip to main content

Notice

Please note that most of the software linked on this forum is likely to be safe to use. If you are unsure, feel free to ask in the relevant topics, or send a private message to an administrator or moderator. To help curb the problems of false positives, or in the event that you do find actual malware, you can contribute through the article linked here.
Topic: Your vinyl was pre-digitized (Read 11950 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Your vinyl was pre-digitized

It seems that starting in the late 1970s and right on thru the 1980s, mastering/cutting lathes were using DDLs (digital delay lines) for purposeful reasons.
According to some in an ongoing discussion on the gearslutz.com forum, it is quite possible that the MAJORITY of vinyl releases (roughly in the 80s) were actually pre-digitized.
Majority because DDL was an economical and practical choice for major media companies. For the pro gear (the cutting/mastering lathes), the DDL modules may have been like a Dolby circuit.
I'm no expert on this issue. Go thru the gearslutz discussion (starting roughly here) if you're interested in the topic. (Note: it's quite a long and growing thread, not originally on the topic of DDL, but it morphed into that)

This is not really a new discussion topic. This 2009 thread, for example, on sh.tv is also topical and lists mastering houses that do not use DDLs.

Refs:
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/is-n...digital.273233/
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/when...roduced.266485/
https://www.google.com/patents/US4348754
(1980 patent filing by Ampex Corporation) Excellent tech info on bit depth and sampling rate here!

Your vinyl was pre-digitized

Reply #1
 That doesn't detract from the warm crackling sound of vinyl on a cold winter's night! 

Slightly off topic...  In the late 70's I was playing around with Bucket Brigade Chips.  I'm sure digital delays were available, but they were not economical to a student/hobbyist.      These things are digital in the time-domain (there is a sample rate), but analog in the amplitude domain (there is no bit depth).  You needed a clock and filters, but you didn't need A/D or D/A converters. 

Your vinyl was pre-digitized

Reply #2
From the patent page ... #22 is the disk lathe. Note only analog input. This probably changed a bit later when digital recordings became more popular. From the patent details, it's 16-bit/50khz device.  Seems like a lot of early digital recorders (Soundstream, Decca, etc. were 50khz.

Your vinyl was pre-digitized

Reply #3
It's really, really, really old news. I believe this information is written somewhere in Hydrogenaudio wiki, too.

This is the primary reason I'd rather buy/obtain vinyl-effect DSP plug-in rather than invest in those expensive vinyl equipments.

Your vinyl was pre-digitized

Reply #4
It's really, really, really old news.

Yeah, some people have known about it since that patent was filed in 1982! What, do you want a pat on the back for knowing it already? Are you suggesting it shouldn't have been posted?

Quote
I believe this information is written somewhere in Hydrogenaudio wiki, too.

Only since a few days ago when I first saw this thread.

Your vinyl was pre-digitized

Reply #5
Not only has a lot of vinyl been digitized, I read an interview with a recording engineer who admitted that there were even LPs which proudly wore a SPARS code of A,A,A, implying they were purely analog, and THEY had gone through digitization!

Your vinyl was pre-digitized

Reply #6
It seems that starting in the late 1970s and right on thru the 1980s, mastering/cutting lathes were using DDLs (digital delay lines) for purposeful reasons.


This is a report of an ABX test of one of them:

http://home.provide.net/~djcarlst/abx_digi.htm

So, I can confirm that they existed, were widely used, I heard one in a scientific test, and it performed well for the intended purposes.