RCA Introduces Something New--"Living Stereo"

[denali99755]

@boo66 additionally, the outer structure of the ear, head and chest all combine to produce a pattern of sound filtration and micro-reflection that's unique to each listener and changes with directionality of the sound source. So even people with hearing loss in one ear are able to perceive some directionality of sound. Likewise, fitting molds of someone else's outer ear onto your own would be highly disorienting for a couple days (they've tried this!). Cool stuff!

[Pappas3278]

Thankfully LSD was let out the bag and shook things up....

[Gaygarious]

I had this album and played the thing to death.... I loved when stereo came in on top of mono! Those were the days!!! Man that was progress....! LOL

[JeffHallPlaysFenders]

"predominating" ?

"like playing two different tunes on the same violin at the same time."

[SweetJaneofGoth]

Living (pause) Stereo. This guy is a turd. Is this an example of superior communications skills? After watching this kiss ass to anyone who thinks I have poor communication skills I can only respond one way: Fuck You!

[EarlyLAPunk]

I love "dramatically new." What does that mean? He drips with charisma.

[radiotubes]

Fad ? ok but i like some fads LOL Did you ever check out Elvis Stereo 57? This is so much cleaner than the usual recordings.Tapes were to be erased but never were.Recorded as a backup in the classical studio .Crisp and one of my favorites.

[jcrobso]

It was a RCA marketing gimmick back in the late 1950s.

[davolente]

Wow! What will they think of next?

[tomflinn456]

"We stiil can't sync sound and picture,but some day soon".

[peugteobike]

You don't see these nowdays

[ventilize]

the way i understad this is living stereo works kind of like sex the more in tune it is the etter it sounds the better it sounds the better itll be.

[burtoncharlessmith]

Stereo is a fad...mark my words.

Don't waste your money on stereo equipment. Mono is far superior.

[forthorton]

I think this is my new favorite comment!

[mastertung7]

how so? we dont hear in mono,that is why we have two ears

[45triode]

a perfect stereoimage is difficult to achieve within restraints of living room architecture and speaker placement. thus listening to stereo can be tiring to the ear due to uncontrolled sound reflections that confuse the mind. mono is much easier to control and still gives a spatial effect of depth. nevertheless with stereo the illusion of listening into a different acoustic space is stronger. btw: you still hear mono with your two ears. never saw a stereo piano...

[mastertung7]

hello friend, good info, they do have stereo pianos of course, but i think what u are saying is when u see a piano u are seeing one,of course that depends on where u are, i,ve never seeing a human with one ear either, mono came first because of technology at the time, i still say stereo is more natural than mono, mono is one,and we have two ears for a reason,..shalom

[solou4]

shalom aleichem, speaking of natural within the realm of reproduction ;) what i mean is that a piano is a one point sound source, so essentially mono. besides that i believe in the power of stereo, but it can be a tiring listening experience when not properly set up. anyways, music rules.

[boo66]

A piano isn't a point sound source.. it produces slightly different sound from different places (the bass strings are always on the left for example) so your ears will always receive slightly different signals.

Another aspect of how stero hearing works, is the time delay between the left and right ear's signals whaich makes us able to pinpoint the source in space.. So even point sound sources we hear in true stereo!

[TwinMillMC]

@burtoncharlessmith - You wait.... Quadraphonic will outperform both. Soon Quadraphonic High Fidelity Victrola's will be the standard at RCA.

[librarybob1958]

@TwinMillMC For a time, in the mid-70's, it seemed that way, until recording companies came to the surprising realization that the average listener only has two ears, not four!

Considerable as RCA's technological achievements were during the late 50's and 60's, let's don't forget that they also pioneered what became one of the naughtiest words in the serious audiophile's vocabulary: DynaGroove, an audio abomination that had been quietly phased out by the late 70's.

[Blasingame0]

What is the name of the song in the beginning at :22?

[kbc3000]

a absolute highlight in music playback history! only colour tv was nearly radical new! Beside living stereo recordings still are one of the best ever and were repressed with new technique! only with

this invention Hi Fidelity is that what we

call it today!

[ttoupal]

is anyone breathing heavy yet? or just laughing your ass off . . . .

[Plan9wood]

16 1/3 ?

[bigred46224]

Short lived. I think they were developing it for record players in cars. From what I recall, the records were odd sized, between that of a 33 and a 78. The quality wasn't the greatest, but it would play quite a bit longer than a 33.

[Plan9wood]

Thanks for the info. Record players in cars, interesting I always wondered if they ever tried that.

[thekidrocks72]

The record player for auto use was designed back in the 1950s, and never really worked well. They were special records that could not be played on a home system. Ultimately 8 track tape took over.

BTW the 16 2/3 RPM record was for voice recordings where fidelity wasn't a concern.

[Plan9wood]

Thanks for the information. That is interesting stuff. Years ago when I was younger I told an older guy that I'm surprised they never made a record player for in cars, and he said "What do you think CD players are?" I know it's not the same thing but I still thought that was an interesting answer.

[Partier29]

Lol I wondered about that fact too when I was younger! I could understand why that idea never flew.

[fromthesidelines]

Les Paul created what's known as "multi-track" recording today, 'Ed'. I'm quite sure he experimented with earlier forms of "binaural" recording (in the context of his own sessions), but didn't actively pursue that...

[fromthesidelines]

Audio Fidelity always claimed THEY were the first company to regularly produce and market Stereo LP's in November 1957; then the other major labels followed by early '58, including RCA, who launched an extensive marketing campaign, including this "demonstration film"...David Sarnoff, RCA's "General", was determined to keep his company as a leader in recorded sound.

[RockinEd]

who actually invented stereo sound??--I've heard it was Les Paul.

[weenielongus]

The 1940 Walt Disney movie "Fantasia" was recorded in Stereo, and I have the old soundtrack album which is in a strange type of stereo. With headphones, you get a feeling that you are sitting on a slow moving turntable, with the orchestra in a circle around you playing music...

[champcar4ever]

Some of the best sounding records I own.

As for a little history on Living Stereo, the first recording was done on Oct. 6, 1953. RCA released the first stereo reel-to-reel tapes in 1955. In 1958 the first Living Stereo records were finally released.

[renofirvine]

amongst my many lp's(which is another trademark used generically,like kleenex,band aid,etc)my Audio Fidelity records always mention that they introduced the world's first stereodisk in october 1957...discuss..

[fromthesidelines]

"Living Stereo" was first introduced in early 1958...

[sowhatdude1]

My question for anyone who might know is- what model RCA stereo unit is that shown in the first part of the video. The modern look of it is beautiful.

[diofan28]

RCA wasn't the first to use stereo.The budget label Remington recorded the Cininnati Symphony in stereo in 1953! But had to put it out in mono.

[jerone2003]

Interesting clip. Amazing what they could do back then without today's technology.

[andybowe]

when did living stero come out?

[VideyoJunkei]

rca was first with stereo records? how/when did other companies follow? did rca sue for patent infringement for the design?

[ToastmachineIdiot]

Gotta love them records!

[turntablesrock]

The Ferde Grofe LP, I believe, is a Columbia green label pressing. I have it, and it's from the late forties. MONO. lol, nice going, RCA.

The sound is MUCH better than the video.

[mellotrongirl]

I bet the gentleman hosting the presentation just couldn't wait to get his hands on a copy of Hendrix' "Electric Ladyland"...

[qwhg]

excellent video very interesting

i dont think cd's or ipods will ever be this exciting!! vinyl rocks!!

[ron101346]

Great little artifact. Ironically, I think they were using MONO records (the RCA maroon label) for the demo! I guess the stereo versions weren't ready when they produced the promo film. (Can anyone confirm my assumption?)

RonLev

Philly

[champcar4ever]

I noticed the same thing. I'm thinking "Aren't those mono records they're showing?". No shaded dogs to be seen.

[PINOTEA64]

Tanks, Very interesting