HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: pmfisher@milton.u.washington.edu (Patrick Fisher)
Newsgroups: rec.audio,rec.video
Subject: Simplifying the argument.  Was/is aRe: Selecting an LD Player
Date: 5 Jan 1993 02:56:17 GMT
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: milton.u.washington.edu

	I am going to buy an LD player soon.  I plan to spent from 3-600
dollars on a player, although I would like to keep the price down around
4-500.
	Why is there such a big difference in the price of LD players,
say from 3-1100+ dollars, or so?  I've been to electronics stores, but
the sales people may as well try to sell my a used car, as they did
not know much about the specs on LD players.

	It seems that a big difference in price has to do with whether
or not the players can play both sides of a disk without the aid of
the viewer turning the disk over.  How big is this difference in price.

	I would prefer a no-frills model that plays both sides withou
my help.  
	Thanks, Pat
Newsgroups: rec.audio

In rec.audio, graeme@labtam.labtam.oz.au (Graeme Gill) writes:

>       Can anyone list exactly what the 5 holes in the bottom of
> a DAT tape cassette are for ? - Yes I know one of them is the record
> prohibit hole, and I suspect that one is to indicate a data cassette,
> but does anyone a definitive list of functions ? Thanks.
>
>       Graeme Gill

>From the dat-heads FAQ:

{73}    What are the holes on the edge of a DAT for?

bottom view of tape

===============================
O O O   O              O    O O
===============================
^ ^ ^   ^              ^    ^ ^
| | |   |              |    | |
| | |   |              |    | --(4)-> blank/pre-recorded
| | |   |              |    --------> write protect on/off
| | |   -----D a t u m  h o l e s---> for mechanical alignment
| | ----------------------------(3)-> Track pitch 13.591um/20.41um
| ------------------------------(2)-> tape thickness 13um / thin (9um)
================================(1)=> RESERVED

* hole (1), (2), (3). (4) are called Recognition holes

=======================================================
"1"     open hole       Wide track pitch  =  20.41 um
"0"     close hole      normal track pitch = 13.591 um
=======================================================

hole 1  hole 2  hole 3              remarks
=========================================================
0       0       0       Metal powder tape or equivalent 13um  thickness
0       1       0       Metal powder tape or equivalent  9um  thickness
0       0       1       Wide track / 13 um thickness
0       1       1       Wide track / 9 um thickness
1       x       x       Reserved

hole 4
==========================================================
"1"     open hole       pre-recorded tape
"0"     close hole      blank tape

(above info attributed as from torii@aedd.sony.co.jp (Ken Torii))


Complete FAQ can be FTP'd from wombat.gnu.ai.mit.edu in "~ftp/dat-heads".

Join the dat-heads mailing list by sending a request to:
    Internet: DAT-Heads-Request@fuggles.acc.Virginia.EDU
              DAT-Heads-Request@uvaarpa.Virginia.EDU
    BITNET:   DATH-Req@Virginia
    UUCP:     ...!uunet!virginia!dat-heads-request

- Matt Nieberger

------------------------------------------------
mattn@FC.HP.COM

The opinions expressed are mine alone and do not
necessarily reflect those of my employer.
------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: polarity inversion
From: deanaj@elec.canterbury.ac.nz (A. J. Dean)
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 03:59:13 GMT
Organization: Electrical Engineering, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]

Dave Wright (daw@cray.com) wrote:
: Now for the effects. Several in the group have described some of the
: effects that polarity can have. Recording Engineers have known for a long
: time that polarity can have positive and negative effects. I for one was
: mixing a song where the vocals completely dropped out by a polarity problem
: that caused the sound to completely cancel. Making sure all your audio
: equipment is properly polarized is critical. The description about vocals
: is very true. Speech is a asymetrical sound with most of it's energy in the
: positive domain if looked at on an oscilloscope. I have listened to
: polarity switches from a single speaker source and can hear a tonal change.
: That does not mean that I know which is positive or negative, just that
: there was a difference.

Very interesting, this absolute polarity stuff - could it be because of
nonlinearities in the speaker (ie cone push <> cone pull...)? The subject
came up recently when I was helping my brother plug his 2 bass amps into his
stereo for that 'bit of extra bass' (ie let's see what happens if the bass
is 40dB above everything else). I made a simple R-C crossover and :. could
not switch the polarity of the bass amp 'subwoofers', so I eventually came
up with the obvious idea of switching the polarity of his stereo's speakers.
To which he replied "won't the speakers then pull instead of push?" and I
was stumped. And I always have been - I mean I have never (until) now heard
(by word or literally) of any effect, good or bad, of switching a sound's
polarity (other than that a speaker cone will go out further than it will go
in). But it's such an obvious thing to do to a transient that I wonder why
my ears and me have never noticed. Actually I do know a bit more about the
ear, and that may be a good way of proving something about the time domain
vs frequency domain response argument.  

Is it important and how do we know things have been recorded (well,
reproduced) with the correct phase/polarity? (if it matters). Probably one
of those important things that I just never heard about. How it could alter
the standing wave pattern of a room escapes me for the moment.

Antony. (deanaj@elec.canterbury.ac.nz
From: Matt.Ion@p106.f7040.n153.z1.ship.wimsey.bc.ca (Matt Ion)
Sender: UUCP@ship.wimsey.bc.ca
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: A receiver as a wake-up alarm?
Date: Sat, 09 Jan 1993 09:03:18 -0800

>>Is it possible to use a stereo receiver as a wake-up alarm?

 SH>     Yup, and as source material may I recommend "TIME" by Pink Floyd?
 SH>     That ought to do the job......

[chuckle!]

Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: kong@leland.Stanford.EDU (Kong Kritayakirana)
Subject: Re: speakers for classical music
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 93 14:44:41 GMT

Try out Apogees or Carvers if you like ribbon.
B&W, Monitor Audio, and Avalon if you like dynamic speakers.
Acoustat for ES (haven't heard STAX)

Just my $.02

Kong
Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: garyp@rmtc.unisys.com (Gary Palangian [RMTC/ISP])
Subject: Re: Surround speakers--Out of phase vs. tradit
Organization: Paramax Systems
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 18:07:42 GMT

In article <lkmhgeINN8i5@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM>, klein@napali.Eng.Sun.COM (Mike Klein) writes:
|> (Regarding stop gap surround speaker experimentation...)
|> 
|> Placing the two speakers back-to-back at the center rear of the
|> listening area, pointing one right and one left, and wiring them out of
|> phase with each other results in an amazingly good "diffuse sound
|> field" (the ear can't locate the source).  This *is* the desired effect
|> and sounds great on well-mixed movies.
|> 

Wiring one of a pair of direct radiating speakers out-of-phase for
use as a surround channel seems to be a rather common practice.  I 
assume this is done by reversing the connection polarity at the 
amplifier?  If this is the case, I am curious about the resulting
sound quality.  With main speakers, there is quite a discernable (sp?)
difference when one or both speakers are wired 'wrong' at the amp.
I don't pretend to understand why this happens, but the difference
is quite dramatic and, IMO, a lot worse.  Don't you get the same
poorly reproduced sound from wiring surround speakers out of phase?

The questions are particularly intriguing for those of us
 who own dipole radiator surround speakers.  All of these
have two drivers facing away from each other with one of the
drivers wired 'out of phase'.  So does this mean they simply swapped
a parallel set of wires from the speaker connection plate within
the enclosure?  Or is there some additional work (like within some
passive electronics) to augment the speakers?

|> 
|> Mike Klein		{wherever}!sun!klein || mike.klein@Eng.Sun.COM
|> Sun Microsystems, Inc.	Mountain View, CA
|> 

Gary P.
From: tboyle@servv.enet.dec.com (My name is...)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: EMERGENCY STOP and other MD problems.
Date: 5 Jan 93 10:33:36 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation


In playing with the SONY MD recorder I have noticed that some recordings
hang at a specific spot. I'm assuming its having trouble reading the
cylinder on the disk. After a while it continues or you push the forward
controls to get it to move.

However on recording, running into these "bad spots" seems to cause the
unit to crash and there is no way to get beyond it, because you aren't
given control on where it records and you can't position to unused
space to my knowledge.

Anyone have this problem?
Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: shen@ee.ualberta.ca (Bing Shen)
Subject: Info needed for DENON, NIKKO, ONKYO, SANSUI, TEAC, YAMAHA decks
Reply-To: shen@ee.ualberta.ca (Bing Shen)
Organization: University of Alberta Electrical Engineering
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 05:45:28 GMT

Could any kind souls with experience of following cass decks send me 
your comments please.

DENON DRM-510
NIKKO ND150W
ONKYO TA-201
ONKYO TA-W202
SANSUI D-X117HX
TEAC V-510
TEAC V-370
TEAC W-410
VECTOR RESEARCH VCX-255
YAMAHA KX-260

Many thanks in advance. I will post a summary.
From: kirk@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Kirk Lindstrom)
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 16:42:38 GMT
Subject: Re: How can different digital cables sound different?
Organization: Shredding the water of SF Bay, HP-OCD
Newsgroups: rec.audio

]> DPierce@world.std.com (Richard D Pierce) writes:
]pascal>>If you stay within the specs of the respective lan's topology, you
]>>should be getting error-free transmissions 99.99999% of the time. Collisions
]>>are another story, and aren't effected by cabling (I have installed my
]>>fair share of LANs). 
]>>
]>
]>Take it from someone who is heavily involved in the design of a
]>professional digital audio editing workstation. An error-free rate of
]>99.99999% implies a sample error once every 10 million samples which, at
]>44.1 kHz sample rate stereo implies a wrong sample once every 113 seconds.
]>If we delivered our product with that kind of error rate, the customers
]>would have every right to reject the product. Say the one sample you got
]>wrong has the most significant bit flipped, the means you'll get a one
]>sample polarity reversal. That will manifest itself as quite and audible
]>click.
]>
]    Not only that but that's a truly horrid error rate for a LAN.
]    T/R typically has a MINIMUM bit error rate 3 orders of magnitude
]    better than that figure....
----------
Optical systems I design are designed to meet LAN standards and, for example,
our 125 MB/s FDDI transmitters and receivers are designed to work with 2km
of 62.5/125um fibers and we spec. a Bit-Error-Rate (BER) of less than
10^-12 over a sampling window of 4.6 ns (8ns bit width).  Closer to the
center of the eye, the BER is much, much less.  For our cheaper and much
simpler fiber links (like the ones we sell to Sony for CDs), we spec a
BER of 10^-9 which is something like one error every 10 minutes and is
supposidly a piece of cake to fix with CD error correction.

Now if you talk about the jitter induced by the cable, transmitters and
receivers, then I believe there MIGHT be something you can hear.

Funny, TOSLINKs (I prefer HP VERSATILE LINKS, but Toshiba engineers
drink sake better with Sony people) were designed to reduce the cost of
systems.  The ST links are better since they have less jitter, not lower
BERs.

Kirk out
=> "We are what we pretend to be."  -  Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Kirk Lindstrom - OCD Product R & D | Hewlett-Packard Co.  M/S: 91UA |
|   Engineer/Scientist, Hardware     |                                |
|------------------------------------| Optical Communication Division |
|     kirk_lindstrom@sj.hp.com       |                                |
|    Kirk Lindstrom / HP0100/UX      | 370 W. Trimble Rd.             |
| ph 408 435 6404 | fax 408 435 6286 | San Jose, CA  95131-1096       |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
From: rsud@sw.stratus.com (Rajiv Sud)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: polarity inversion
Date: 6 Jan 1993 16:18:25 GMT
Organization: Stratus Computer, Inc.
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: ernie.cac.stratus.com


Trygve,
	Any lp with with decent sonics is usable for listening to phase.
I find it much harder and often not possible to hear correct phase on
digital sources whether it be a cd or digital-analogue lp (I haven't
listened to the latest generation of cd players) because the sound is
so screwed up.

	Best I can do is to try to describe what to listen for. The
basic effect I notice is that with incorrect phase I hear two disjoint
speakers whereas if phase is correct the two speakers blend to produce
a soundfield. Positioning the speaker correctly is important and is a
task in itself. You will have to experiment with positioning the speakers
so that the sound of instruments is focused (which you won't be able to
attain if the phase is incorrect). So, if you are up for it, play around
with positioning the spearkers and playing with phase. I can not tell
you what the correct phase is for any given recording because often
components are phase inverting. I do notice that british lps are usually
consitent as far as phase goes.


Kerry,
 	As far as your saying that hearing phase is in my head my retort
would be where else would it be? The way people acquire any skill,
whether it be basketball, painting, etc., is to practice. I suppose you
will tell me its impossible to throw a three pointer because the brain
can never accurately control your muscles because the forces that need
to be applied are subjective. pure and utter bullshit. What is missing
from your post as is missing with all other posts who disbelive that
components, wires, etc sound different is that you have never actually
experimented and tried to learn to use your sense of hearing.

..Rajiv
(rajiv_sud@sw.stratus.com)
From: cj164@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Jeff Ryan Glover)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: Sony STR-790 *problems*
Date: 6 Jan 1993 04:12:13 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: cj164@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Jeff Ryan Glover)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, adamg@lemming.csd.sgi.com (Adam Ginsberg) says:

>In article <C03Ew6.6zJ@cda.mrs.umn.edu>, winchebs@cda.mrs.umn.edu (Benjamin
>S Winchester 1429580) writes:
>>
>>  I own a STR-790 Sony surround sound receiver with the following
>>problem.  When the system is in somtheing other than surround mode (just
>>using the front and back speakers) and the music is turned up *kinda*
>>loud, the PROTECTOR jumps on and the system no longer functions.  The
>>idea of the protector is to keep the system from shorting out, due to a
>>short somewhere.  However, when it is in full surround mode (center
>>speaker included) it does get quite a bit louder, but the protector
>>still comes on.  I know, 1: there are no shorts in the system and 2: the
>>speakers are nowhere close to reaching maximum capacity.  This is my
>>second one (the first one had a constant hum until the system was warmed
>>up) and the problem persists.  My speakers are : Front) Scott (rated to
>>180 watts) and Back) Infinity 112's rated to 120 watts.  I even switched
>>them around and it still did it.  Is there something wrong with the
>>impedance needed for the system and the speakers I have?
>>
>>Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
>
>According to the salesman at a local Mid-Fi store, the standard
>SONY line is supposed to shut down whenever the speaker impedance
>drops down below 8 ohms.  If you wanted a SONY that could handle
>lower impedance, then you'd have to spring for the SONY ES line.
>
>The SONY STR790 (~$330) would be comparable to the SONY STX59ES (~$600)
>as far as Wattage, however the ES line is supposed to work fine 
>down to 4 ohms.  When you attach more than two speakers, the 
>impedance ratings become even more of a problem.  If you
>look at the fine print for many receivers, you'll see that 
>they may be rated to 4 ohms minimum for 2 speakers, 
>but 8 ohms minimum with 4 speakers (or 5 for Dolby ProLogic)
> 
>The SONY ES line is supposedly better made than the standard SONYs.
>
>
>-- 
>Adam Ginsberg	internet: adamg@csd.sgi.com    phone:415/390-5228
>MTS, CSD Technical Education	Silicon Graphics Computer Systems
>2011 North Shoreline Blvd, 12L-170, Mountain View, CA  94039-7311
>


I have an STR-AV970 connected to an old pair of AR speakers (originally 8 ohms),
but I swapped out the woofers (the originals were shot) for some 4 ohm Rockford
Fosgate woofers.  I've never had any problems with the receiver (I've had it 
over a year now), besides the fact that the rear channels hiss a bit.  But for
what I paid, I still think it was a deal.

-- 
----------------------
Jeff Glover					ME?
cj164@cleveland.freenet.edu                  	 P.C.?
eaeu188@orion.oac.uci.edu			    NNNOOOTTTT!!!!	
Xref: sparky rec.audio:17950 rec.video:15518
From: andrew@alice.att.com (Andrew Hume)
Newsgroups: rec.audio,rec.video
Subject: Re: Selecting an LD Player
Date: 6 Jan 93 19:27:40 GMT
Article-I.D.: alice.24562
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill NJ

In article <1993Jan5.213214.22575@lsican.uucp>, michael@Canada.lsil.com (Michael Smith) writes:
> Has anyone on the net actually taken the digital output from a CD player and
> pumped into a home PC and compared the output with and without the "green pen",
> the "CD rings", and all of the other "send-your-money-now" add-ons that have
> appeared for CDs?  A bit-by-bit comparison would rule out any differences in the
> bit-stream using these gadgets, and leave transport related issues adding to
> the room noise.


	not as far as i know, and it would be almost pointless.
egil rognvik posted a summary of the effects of green pens etc
but he measured the numbers of errors at various stages of
the cd error correction/interpolation circuitry.

	i think it has been made clear on rec.audio before,
but let me say it again. we know digital communication either
works or it doesn't; but almost all such devices ONLY have to
recover the bits. DACs need to also recover an accurate clock,
and that is something very few computer interfaces do.
(i know some networking interfaces need to get the clock
but they only do it for a packet which is a relatively short time.)

	if you want to prove that all transports are the same,
or at least measure how different they are, you have to describe
the exact pulse train (timestamps for up and down transitions).
This will allow you to quantify the long term clock accuracy,
the spectrum of the jitter, and yes, even if the bits actually
are the same.

	this, of course, ignores other stuff which may have an effect,
such as RFI or other spuria, but it gets much closer to the question
you think you are asking.

		andrew hume
From: jeh@cmkrnl.com
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Used bass subharmonic synth's available
Date: 6 Jan 93 20:28:13 GMT
Organization: Kernel Mode Consulting, San Diego, CA

Last December, someone posted a note here looking for either a dbx "Boom Box"
or an Audio Control subharmonic synthesizer.  

There is a used equipment dealer here (San Diego) who has one of the dbx units
and (last time I was there) several of the Audio Control units.  They're a 
little over $100.  He will do mail (phone) order.  

	Ross Audio-Video Exchange
	(619) 560-5500

I have no connection with him other than as a VERY satisfied customer.  

I spotted another of the dbx units at Stereo Unlimited.  I don't know if they
will do mail/phone order or not.  

	--- Jamie Hanrahan, Kernel Mode Consulting, San Diego CA
Internet:  jeh@cmkrnl.com, hanrahan@eisner.decus.org, or jeh@crash.cts.com
Uucp:  ...{crash,eisner,uunet}!cmkrnl!jeh
Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: dondon@athena.mit.edu (The Don)
Subject: Bose Speakers
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 20:16:47 GMT

Hello, out there!  I am new to this group but I am wondering if you could offer
some advice to a novice to the world of audio.

I have a few questions here.  First, I am trying to decide whether to buy the
Bose AM-VIIs or the 901s.  I will be living in a dorm for the next three years,
probably and 901s might be overkill.  Also, what are major differences between
the Bose 901 series IV, V, and VI?  Would a used pair of IV's or V's be a good
investment?  Finally, can anyone offer advice as to an integrated amp/tuner, or
preamp-power amp combo for either or both of these speakers?

Thanks very much in advance.

Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: jim@stargate.helios.nd.edu (Jim McCusker)
Subject: KEF KUBE 100 Question
Organization: OUC, University of Notre Dame
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1993 22:32:53 GMT

Has anyone out there ever used this active EQ with a pair of KEF 104.2's??

Yesterday I purchased it (7 day trial) and first hooked it up through my
Tape Out/In jacks.  Then I hooked it up directly between the PreAmp and
then Amp.  In both cases I noticed a marginal improvement in the base
response.  Overall tonal balance seemed to remain the same though, which
I like to start with.  Anyway is this all that the Kube does?  Just extend
the base response?  I've noticed that not much of my recordings require this
extended range so I'm considering returning it.  I did try adjusting the
knob on the box, but I couldn't notice a thing.

                          -- Jim

--

                                     Jim McCusker
                                     jim@stargate.ece.nd.edu

Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: bbs.playboy@tsoft.net (Tony Yin)
Subject: Volume Controller
Organization: The TSoft BBS and Public Access Unix, +1 415 969 8238
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 08:52:15 GMT

IS there a way to construct something that can control the volume output?
Something that you can buy the parts from like radio shack or somewhere.


--
Tony Yin (bbs.playboy@tsoft.net)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: rg@futserv.austin.ibm.com (R.G. Keen)
Subject: Amplifier schematic
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 19:08:58 GMT
Reply-To: rg@futserv.austin.ibm.com
Organization: IBM Coporation - Advanced Workstations Division.

Through the auspices of this group, I have acquired a dead
Kenwood power amplifier. Is there an effective source of 
schematics? This is a Kenwood M2 basic power amplifier.

R.G.
From: lancer@wpi.WPI.EDU (Stephe Lewis Foskett)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: What the heck is a Scoopman?
Date: 5 Jan 1993 22:06:17 GMT
Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: wpi.wpi.edu

I've got an ad in front of me from a place called "The Dat Store" (in
the back of a summer issue of Stereo Review).  It lists a device
called a "Scoopman" recorder as being in stock.  All it says is:
* Ultra small stamp size casette
* Long battery life w/ a single AA battery
* Digital stereo recording

So what the heck IS this thing and how come I've never heard a peep
about it?

Just curious...
.s.
-- 
- so spake lancer@wpi.wpi.edu -       - The Fuses Have Been Lit: -
-          I've got a little blue tube to give my views          -
-            Of a world in dischord, my life's unmoved           -
Newsgroups: rec.audio