14th December 1999 - Is Hi-Fi Dead?

Steve Harris, the editor of Hi-Fi News and Record Review, presented an interesting lecture answering the question: Is Hi-Fi Dead? Let me jump to his answer: it's still alive but not out of danger. Why? Read on: Steve began the evening by defining what is meant by Hi-Fi. Definitions include: "Sound as natural as possible at the present time" and "the closest approach to the original sound". With today's synthesised sounds, perhaps a new definition is needed. Any audio storage and reproduction system consists of a source of sound, a transfer system and a listener. Steve stated that the combination of microphones, amplifiers and loudspeakers could never replace having your own ears in front of a live performance.

Next, we reviewed the major technical developments in Hi-Fi, starting with the first format war: cylinder versus flat disc. The cylinder and the disc were both invented in the late 1800's, early 1900's. The cylinder was developed by Edison Bell and had the technical benefit of constant velocity. The disc was invented by Berliner in 1888, and was zinc with a wax surface. After recording the exposed zinc was etched away. Ultimately, the disc won because of the ease of stamping many duplicate copies.

Next came electrical recording, followed by electrical gramophones, which really mark the start of Hi-Fi. Also, sound was added to movies, making talkies. For movies the sound was recorded as an optical region on the film, rather than a separate disc. Radio helped boost record sales by playing the favourite tunes, mostly dance band material.

The next challenge was to achieve a longer playing time. Early attempts at a 78rpm disc autochanger were very damaging to the discs. In 1948, Columbia produced the vinyl LP, 10" and 12", playing at 33 1/3rpm. RCA also produced the 7", 45rpm disk. The next transition was from mono to stereo, in 1965. It was the arrival of the stereo LP which really fuelled the Hi-Fi boom in the 1970's, and marked the birth of several UK Hi-Fi companies, including Naim, Arcam and Meridian.

Next, we discussed the history of tape recorders. Early versions used metal tape at the BBC in the 1940's. BASF developed a paper-backed tape that was the origin of today's plastic tape. Tape recording was good for hobbyists and also quickly moved to stereo. However, messing with the spools was regarded as a drawback, and various attempts at a cartridge preceded the now ubiquitous Philips cassette. Reel-to-reel tape decks stayed as Hi-Fi components (e.g. Revox) but with the use of Dolby noise reduction, the analogue cassette soon took over. DAT was launched the late 1980's, but only caught on for radio station and professional use. In 1991 Digital Compact Cassette, DCC, was launched, but failed because nobody wanted it.

The first attempts at surround sound were a dismal marketing failure. There were 3 systems, Sansui QS, CBS SQ and JVC CD4. CD4 needed a LP pick up with a frequency response out to 40kHz, which led to a significant improvement in pick-up technology. This was epitomised with the Linn Sondek/Grace arm/Supex cartridge combination.

In the mid 1970's, the Japanese equipment invasion started with packaged systems outselling the component-based UK equipment. Then in 1978, the VHS video tape arrived, starting an explosion in home video recording and playback, which ate into the time and money available for Hi-Fi audio-only listening.

In the 1980's, early personal computers started to appear, constituting another threat to Hi-Fi by competing for the consumer's disposable income and time. Fortunately, the CD arrived in the early 1980's. There were 43 models of CD player available 2 years after the launch, 124 models 4 years after launch.

Steve then discussed some lessons from history:

• The industry has always been in turmoil, although things seem to be changing faster now.
• Technology leads typically come from the vision or movie side of the business.
• Technology limitations are always overcome, but not necessarily at the right time.
• Copy protection and encryption get more important over time.

Today, people are used to recording TV programmes and audio tapes. Recordable MiniDisc is becoming a big success because of the ease of use and recordability. Home theatre systems are now driving up sales of audio equipment. This is fuelled by DVD technology. The DVD Audio/Super Audio CD battle is not as serious as the VHS/Betamax war, because the physical disc is the same. Universal players are already designed and soon to be available.

Many people now use their computers to play music and the Internet is used to download music into PC's and MP3 players. This will cause a major change in the music industry.

A lively discussion continued for 30 minutes after the end of the presentation, with audience members bringing up related topics such as the impact of very expensive cables, the importance of loudspeaker development and the impact of multi-channel audio.

Steve Harris