Evening star., 1934-04-08
BY THE RADIO EDITOR.
OLLOWING the footsteps of the
more mature automotive in
d1,etrv radjo is preDarinp to

OLLOWING the footsteps of the
more mature automotive in
dustry, radio is preparing to
i graduate from the "filvver"
age in radio receivers to the
Rolls Royce" era, and to provide
listeners with ultra modern sets which
will reproduce music in the home just
as it sounds in the studio or audito-
rum.
High fidelity" the engineers call
It. Prices, of course, will be SubStan-
TALLY higher. Listeners, they contend,
have been living in an era OF tin
horn radio-cigar box and midget
sets which do not reflect the true
tonal quality of music, speech or song
as it is performed. But the high
fidelity receiver of the future, it is
promised, will transform the rich,
resonant music into the loud speaker.
What is high fidelity radio? Re
duced to lay language, it means that
both the radio station ard the radio
receiver will be perfected into pre-
cision instruments, capable OF trans
mitting and receiving practically
every note in the musical spectrum
from the deep looming tones of the
bull fiddle or tuba to the trills and
high "c's'' of the piccolo or flute.
Cheap sets cut off these low and high
notes; they pick up only the conven-
tional scales, with the result that the
public has not learned to appreciate
the finer points of musical rendition.
Next Development.
To bring about the introduction of
high fidelity radio requires a series
of involved technical developments,
all of which, however, are entirely
feasible. Andrew D. Ring, broadcast
engineer of the Federal Radio Com
mission and a recognized leader in his
profession, predicts that high fidelity
radio will be radios next important
advance in technique.
How and when to introduce this
high quality radio is the question
currently debated by broadcasters,
engineers and set manufacturers. They
apparently are shooting for full de-
velopment by this Fall so that the
1885 model receivers will incorporate
these new engineering designs. But
the technical job is big one which
will require alterations on both the
transmitting and receiving ends, and
a battle against a new type OF inter-
ference which engineers have dubbed
monkey chatter"
To Mr.. and Mrs. John j. Dial
twister high fidelity radio should mean
much, the industry contends. Many
musical connoisseurs and authorities
view radio as canned music" Its
outpourings, they have said, fire.
quently clashed with their esthetlc
sense. The average listener, unlearned
in the musical art-and that includes
the vast majority of the populace-
has not learned to distinguish between
excellent and Indifferent reception.
But it is felt that even the unframed
listener would pay the difference for
the set after he listened to demon
stration of a high fidelity receiver
alongside the ordinary radio music
box.
More Diais Probable.
The new high fidelity set, it is
pointed out, may contain one or two
more knobs than the present receiver
to enable the listener to adjust his
set precisely and cut out the monkey
chatter" ripple hum, hiss, tube noises
and other eXtraneous sounds which
would be picked up by the highly
sensitive set. The present set does
not reproduce these noises because it
it is not sufficiently sensitive.
Then, there would have to be i'm
provements in the dio-telephone
lines used to link network stations.
in microphones, transmitters and
other instruments used at the trans
mitting end. Perhaps a number of
stations would have to be accorded
different ALLEGATIONS to preclude inter-
channel interference, but Engineer
Ring holds that it would not be nee
essary to bring about sweeping re-
ALLEGATION of stations in the broad
casting spectrum to make way for
high fidelity service. The biggest
job, he believes, is on the receiving
end. He foresees some short cuts"
in the introduction of the program,
however, on the basis of new develop
ments now in process.
Tackling this problem jointly are
the Radio Manufacturers Association,
Institute of Radio Engineers and Ma
tional Association of Broadcasters.
Expert committees of each group have