A brief history of surround sound.
Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 11:24 am
A brief history of surround sound.
- The first attempt at real surround sound was Walt Disney's Fantasia, with a 4-track soundtrack.
- The sound from Cinerama was not true surround sound, It used control tracks to change which speakers played.
- The first surround sound recordings of music for home use were made in 1969. They used 4 tracks on reel-to-reel tape. At the time, it was called quadrasonic, quadraphonic, and other variations on those words. (They could not call it "quad" because a speaker company already had a trademark on that name.)
- The first system for use with phonograph records or radio (in addition to tape) was the Scheiber system. It was a matrix system, invented by Peter Scheiber in 1969. It was never used by any manufacturer, but his patents covered all matrixed recordings.
After reading about the Scheiber system in Radio Electronics magazine, I sat down to try to figure it out. Within half an hour (and without any actual info on the system), I had diagrammed (in this order), the CD-4 system, the CBS SQ system, and the Scheiber system. I decided that the diagram for the Scheiber system was the most logical (and found out I was right 6 months later).
- Dynaco produced a system using only two amplifiers in 1971. It used lateral recording for front sounds, diagonal recording for left and right sounds, and vertical recording for back sounds. I then used math to show that the Scheiber system used the same stylus modulations. What was unusual about the Dynaco system was the speaker arrangement: One speaker in center front, one on each side, and one at the center back.
- Also in 1971, Electro-Voice produced the Stereo-4 system. It proved to be a variation on the Scheiber system, adjusted to give more front separation and less back separation.
- JVC in 1971 introduced the CD-4 system. It used radio-frequency carrier waves recorded in the 30KHz region to record the front-to-back separation information. But the records did not stand up to repeated play very well.
In 1971, I made what I believe was the first surround sound soundtrack for a stage play, using the Dynaco system.
- Sansui released the QS system in 1971. It is almost identical to the Scheiber system, except that it removes some of the phase problems in the Scheiber system.
- CBS, Columbia Records, and Sony released the CBS SQ system in 1972. It used the normal stylus motions to record the front sounds, and circular stylus motions in opposite directions to record the back sounds.
- Denon released the UMX system in 1972. It used clockwise stylus motion for front direction, and counterclockwise motion for back sounds. It is not compatible with other systems.
- TEAC, Sony, Dokorder, and Akai released 4-track recorders for recording surround sound. The high volume of sales of these indicated to marketing people that there was an intense interest in surround sound. This proved to be false, because other surround components were not selling as well. It turned out that rock bands were buying them to make multitrack recordings to mix down into albums.
- RCA and Atlantic records adopted and improved the CD-4 system in 1973.
- Electro-Voice produced a decoder in 1973 that could play EV, Sansui, and CBS recordings without the user having to change switch positions.
- Sensurround, introduced for the 1973 movie "Earthquake." was NOT a surround sound system. It was a control track system with subwoofers added.
- The BBC came up with its own matrix system, called Matrix H, in 1974.
- The recession, combined with the lack of a standard, killed off sales of surround sound in 1974. Recording companies continued to record in surround for several years.
- In 1976, Dolby Laboratories produced Dolby Stereo for motion pictures. It is essentially a combination of the Scheiber and Dynaco systems, with some Dolby B noise reduction mixed in.
- By 1983, Dolby Surround (the consumer version of Dolby Stereo) became the de-facto surround sound standard. Once there was a standard, sales picked up again. Dolby Surround recordings could be made on phonograph records, CDs, tape, and any other stereo medium, and played on stereo radio.
- By 1993, digital recording was producing surround methods other than Dolby Surround. Again, there was no standard, and again, consumers balked while they waited for it to be sorted out. It is still not sorted out.
- The first attempt at real surround sound was Walt Disney's Fantasia, with a 4-track soundtrack.
- The sound from Cinerama was not true surround sound, It used control tracks to change which speakers played.
- The first surround sound recordings of music for home use were made in 1969. They used 4 tracks on reel-to-reel tape. At the time, it was called quadrasonic, quadraphonic, and other variations on those words. (They could not call it "quad" because a speaker company already had a trademark on that name.)
- The first system for use with phonograph records or radio (in addition to tape) was the Scheiber system. It was a matrix system, invented by Peter Scheiber in 1969. It was never used by any manufacturer, but his patents covered all matrixed recordings.
After reading about the Scheiber system in Radio Electronics magazine, I sat down to try to figure it out. Within half an hour (and without any actual info on the system), I had diagrammed (in this order), the CD-4 system, the CBS SQ system, and the Scheiber system. I decided that the diagram for the Scheiber system was the most logical (and found out I was right 6 months later).
- Dynaco produced a system using only two amplifiers in 1971. It used lateral recording for front sounds, diagonal recording for left and right sounds, and vertical recording for back sounds. I then used math to show that the Scheiber system used the same stylus modulations. What was unusual about the Dynaco system was the speaker arrangement: One speaker in center front, one on each side, and one at the center back.
- Also in 1971, Electro-Voice produced the Stereo-4 system. It proved to be a variation on the Scheiber system, adjusted to give more front separation and less back separation.
- JVC in 1971 introduced the CD-4 system. It used radio-frequency carrier waves recorded in the 30KHz region to record the front-to-back separation information. But the records did not stand up to repeated play very well.
In 1971, I made what I believe was the first surround sound soundtrack for a stage play, using the Dynaco system.
- Sansui released the QS system in 1971. It is almost identical to the Scheiber system, except that it removes some of the phase problems in the Scheiber system.
- CBS, Columbia Records, and Sony released the CBS SQ system in 1972. It used the normal stylus motions to record the front sounds, and circular stylus motions in opposite directions to record the back sounds.
- Denon released the UMX system in 1972. It used clockwise stylus motion for front direction, and counterclockwise motion for back sounds. It is not compatible with other systems.
- TEAC, Sony, Dokorder, and Akai released 4-track recorders for recording surround sound. The high volume of sales of these indicated to marketing people that there was an intense interest in surround sound. This proved to be false, because other surround components were not selling as well. It turned out that rock bands were buying them to make multitrack recordings to mix down into albums.
- RCA and Atlantic records adopted and improved the CD-4 system in 1973.
- Electro-Voice produced a decoder in 1973 that could play EV, Sansui, and CBS recordings without the user having to change switch positions.
- Sensurround, introduced for the 1973 movie "Earthquake." was NOT a surround sound system. It was a control track system with subwoofers added.
- The BBC came up with its own matrix system, called Matrix H, in 1974.
- The recession, combined with the lack of a standard, killed off sales of surround sound in 1974. Recording companies continued to record in surround for several years.
- In 1976, Dolby Laboratories produced Dolby Stereo for motion pictures. It is essentially a combination of the Scheiber and Dynaco systems, with some Dolby B noise reduction mixed in.
- By 1983, Dolby Surround (the consumer version of Dolby Stereo) became the de-facto surround sound standard. Once there was a standard, sales picked up again. Dolby Surround recordings could be made on phonograph records, CDs, tape, and any other stereo medium, and played on stereo radio.
- By 1993, digital recording was producing surround methods other than Dolby Surround. Again, there was no standard, and again, consumers balked while they waited for it to be sorted out. It is still not sorted out.