Ambiophony and Rendezvous on SR2 with Roger Moore

Ambiophony was once called an analog solution for quadraphonic playback of music from stereo recordings. Wikipedia says: Derived (2–2–4) formats are simple and inexpensive electronic solutions that add or extract rear "ambience" or "reverberation" sound channels from stereo records i.e., studio reverb, audience applause, etc. There is also: Adiophonics is a public domain method that uses digital signal processing (DSP) and two speakers directly in front of the listener to improve stereo sound reproduction and 5.1 surround sound for music, movies and games in home theaters, gaming computers, workstations or studio monitoring applications.

A good place to present this topic using various devices may once have been Stockholm's most popular department store, On the top floor there was a stand with electronics and TV equipment, where a lot of people always came in November and December, because that's when there is the greatest interest in new solutions for listening to music. It started with a month-long Sony Festival exhibition event. Sennheiser also had a special headphone bar there. However, the business profile in this building has changed and stands are rented here as in a bazaar. Electronics cannot compete with other goods for space here because trading them online has become more convenient for customers.

At home an interesting acoustic test for amphibious sound can be done with earphones and a TV soundbar. Tests with music from a Swedish radio stream were done with a laptop with the free AIMP program installed. The headphones and soundbar were connected with a simple adapter doubling the 3.5 mm mini jack output. The distance between the headphones and the loudspeaker was determined by the cables, so you only had to adjust the volume of music playback with the soundbar to obtain the proper ambiophonic effect, not its caricature.

 

The music for the test was provided by a Swedish Radio stream with 320 kbps AAC encoding and 48 kHz sampling, which the BBC calls HD Sound. There is more on this topic in the text entitled BBC Sound HD free from Swedish Radio 2

Windows Audio Session Application Programming Interface in AIMP provided 32bit/192kHz oversampling. In the transformation settings, only the use of system decoders was allowed and it was the stable version of LAV Filres 0.78.0. Sampling changes have been set for maximum quality. 

All options with additional processing are disabled

• Ramping:Off
• Surround:Off
• Playback Mode:Normal
• Interpolation:No

On a Swedish radio show it was interesting to hear a recording by The Saint (theme) (Astley) Orkester, dir. Edwin Astley (insp. 1965) CD: “The Thriller Memorandum” RPM RPM 173. It is from the TV series The Saint (1962–1969) in which Roger Moore played the main role.

The next one was The Persuaders (tema) (Barry) John Barry & His Orchestra (insp. 1971)CD: “This Is Cult Fiction” Virgin 7243 8 42122 2 3 (1996) from the TV series (1971–1972), in which he also had a leading role.

There was also Bond Meets Solitaire (Martin) Orkester, dir. George Martin (insp. 1973) CD: “Live And Let Die – Soundtrack” Manhattan 7 90629 2 (1988) from one of films with him in the main role (1973–1985).

Soundtracks for cinematography are recorded differently than for music distribution in stores

A small ambiophonic trick with headphones allowed us to better hear the changes in music trends over the years with film music. Similarly, these films also show changes with hairstyles, outfits and cars, although the same actor plays and his characters are relatively similar.

Music in these films had special importance.

The producers of the series Saint consciously took advantage of the popularity of the young actor, who had already become a celebrity. Roger Moore had a wife who was a star before him, but in the music industry. A sample of her work was also elegantly presented in the broadcast: I’m In The Mood For Love (McHugh – Fields) Dorothy Squires med orkester, Billy Reid (insp. 1947) CD: “Here Comes Me” Wyastone Estate A RETROSPECTIVE DOROTHY SQUIRES 1997

In The Persuaders!, he was joined by Tony Curtis, who was widely associated with his role in the film with Marilyn Monroe. He starred with her in Some Like It Hot , which is about saxophonist Joe and bassist Jerry. Joe (Tony Curtis) falls in love with singer Sugar (Marilyn Monroe).

The importance of music in Bond films is no secret to every music lover.  Wikipedia even has an entry on the subject. Famous stars from Moore's time are: Paul McCartney, Shirley Bassey, Sheena Easton. Previously, it was Tom Jones and Nancy Sinatra. Later, the music became even more popular thanks to such stars as: Tina Turner, Madonna, Adele. In the last Bond with Moore, Grace Jones also appeared

Such tests can also be performed from FM broadcasts, but the quality will not be the same. DAB+ may be better, but it is very important to ensure the maximum signal from the antenna. WASAPI oversampling in AIMP is also not possible with an FM/DAB+ tuner. It's easier to use wi-fi and stream.

 Computer speakers may be sufficient for testing an acoustic solution for ambiophony, but a TV Soundbar is much more practical.

Even a radio cassette player will suffice if it has enough power reserve to avoid distortion. Its sole purpose is to add wider acoustics and headphones to ensure that the recording is faithfully reproduced. In a similar test, but with a USB DAB+ tuner and a Swedish 192kbps/48kHz transmission, the Hitachi TRK 8081 proved that it has good electronics, which is even for a preamplifier with RIAA correction.

Another interesting model is the JVC RC-M70 Boombox, but even more interesting was its earlier version with Biphonic, which was created with the idea of using speakers for special recordings to be played with headphones - binaural.

Separate units for Biphonic were also sold and this was the BN-5. Now there are many such digital solutions in computers, but without any specific indication of what was once offered by Japan Victor Company.

Maybe this will be offered as a Virtual Studio Technology plugin? The tests used the beta version 5.30 of AIMP, which supports VST plug-ins. This may be the case for digital ambiophonic solutions. However, this was not the point, although the tests were with a stream, i.e. the source was with digital technology. The JVC radio only creates reverberation and the Biphonic function does not change the signal to the headphones

Film music is often available in 5.1 format. It can also be played with a computer. This topic is discussed under the title:5.1 reference in optimal PC4uMusic configurations

 

 

It is very interesting to play music with 4 speakers in the latest configuration of Microsoft and Tannoy has an exceptionally attractive offer. More - British proposals for new 4 ch surround in Windows. 4 APS Coax in a closed-box, which received a positive review in SoS tests, will provide even better music playback quality, but the price is not fully rational.

 

Tannoy, which has been operating since 1926, has a better balanced offer for Microsoft surround sound. It's strange that SoS didn't test Tannoy Gold.

 

 

Cambridge-based SoS has been operating since 1985 and publishes a high-quality monthly print magazine - The current website houses our continually-expanding archive of authoritative and highly-respected articles, news and up to the minute in-depth reviews (16,646 so far) that chart the impact of technology on the music production and recording processes.Their tests are focused on the music industry, but it's worth checking out.

 

In the world of musicians, the Mac still has a very strong position and interesting programs using VST are being created. This can also be observed in SoS. Maybe there will be something interesting for PC and ambifoni that can be used with AIMP.

 

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