Tuesday, October 25, 2011

The Sound of Change

Looking at Richard's jukebox brought back memories of the change change in sound over the years from what we first thought was pretty hot stuff, High Fidelity, to the modern Dolby Digital and surround sound.  THX is the quality assurance program that brought us this fabulous sound:


Rule of thumb with that playback is that it's not at the proper volume if something doesn't fall off a shelf.

Consider THX "progress".  I wound up with an old Edison phonograph that had been in my family, with the quarter-inch thick wax records that were the precursor to the LP.  My recollection is that the monaural quality went to High Fidelity, then stereo, and ultimately the surround sound that I love today, even though my hearing is impaired.  And that may be part of the reason my hearing is impaired but it is always great to "feel" the sound, isn't it?  Watching "Saving Private Ryan" and the D-Day invasion makes one uncomfortably involved in the movie when the fragments are whizzing over your head, "plinking" into imaginary metal barricades behind you.

Somewhere about our junior high years KGLO brought stereo to our home when they did a simulcast on radio and television.  One channel of this separated sound was on the radio, the other on the TV, and my Dad was pretty excited about setting it up to listen to it though at the time I couldn't really figure out what the big deal was.  Today, of course, you've already read above my total commitment to amplified sound.

God bless Surround Sound!

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