Those little records you had as a kid

Of course this only applies to a certain set of people to have had these things (records, that is).
But as kids we generally had some small dinky plastic record-player (NOT the same as a turntable, but it is) and we got all sorts of little records to play on them.  Children's stories music or in my case
the soundtrack to "Clockwork Orange" in addition to "Frog and Toad are Friends" or whatever!

A Disneyland 7" record on Technics SL-1200 MK2 Turntable

The General Electric Wildcat record player.  Mine was black.

I get a kick out of when I get these small records from client to be digitized.  As a rule, they are generally torn up as the balance of the tonearms
and condition of the needle was not a big scientific thing (especially with a penny taped on top to prevent skipping!) 

Then you put these little records on a professional device and it is just so much fun!  But even the most high-tech turntable in the world is dealing with this bizarre, yet charming technology (by today's standards)!

Now, back to my MP3s..... :-)

"My first Sony"

This is the Sony STR-6036 stereo FM/AM receiver (with SOLID STATE TECHNOLOGY!!)

This is the receiver that powered music all over the house as I was growing up via KLH Model Seventeen speakers.  Not very fancy.  It came out around 1972ish.  Phono, Aux, Tape input/loop.  That was all......

But it was my first Sony!  Everybody knows how big Sony is, and not just in consumer electronics, but broadcast TV.  It was not my last, as I have all sorts of Sony devices today!

You never forget your first, though......

Big tape and BIG machines to play them

In the good old days of analog videotape, starting in 1976 we had one-inch videotape "type-c"
This was the broadcast standard and here in this picture is depicted older model Sony 1" Machines from KPBS, San Diego.

These are Sony BVH-1100 model machines. Some similar machines were made under the RCA label. The took up an entire 19" wide rack, as depicted here. These particular machines took reels up to 90 minutes long. In the mid 80's there were "smaller models" that came out, including the BVH-2000 and BHV 3000/3100 series. These still took up a lot of rack space. They played 2 hour reels. The BVH-2180 played 3 hour reels. The tape cost $$$$$, as did the machines. Big $$$$.

To edit a show that anybody makes on a laptop in "broadcast quality" in 2010, you needed a room of these and switchers and audio mixers and.....well you get the idea.

I do not think I need to go through how computer technology has made this format wildly obsolete given the size of the machines and storage of videotape. But the WAS the STATE of the ART. If you put a Dolby (A or SR) box around it's audio ins and outs, you had really clean audio! KPBS did have this technology which helped make for clean audio playbacks in a lot of cases from these machines above their specs.

Circle Limit Digital has preserved 1" Type-C videotape for the 80's band 3 Hits as well as
Caption Perfect (http://www.captionperfect.com/). The machine we use is "smaller" but it was the state of the art....and it's Dolby SR/A capable.

But it's obsolete! And high tech at the same time. What can we preserve for you?

More on 8-track..and audio cart!

Left---an 8-track tape (facing "up"). On the right, an 'audio cart' for radio/TV stations, etc... facing down.

Carts (in stereo) had 3 tracks...left, right and cue. The cue track made the cart stop, or re-cue. 8-tracks are spliced with a magnetic strip that made the player change 'tracks'.

What are the 8 tracks? 4 stereo pairs. You play one of the 4, then move the heads down to the next pair as the tapes does another full pass.

Long and short 'audio carts' were available, some only 30 seconds. Most 8-tracks of course contained much more audio 'information' (a whole 35 minute album!)

8-Track LIVES ON!

This is my Grandfather Fred D. Parker's 8-track Player. It is a portable General Electric device that was around when I was 8 (I am 41 now).

(8-track tapes are VERY similar to "audio carts" or endless loop cartridges used for announcements, commercials and music in radio and TV stations before all this digital technology made tape obsolete in many places).

It could be powered via wall plug, 4 "D" batteries or car adapter. It has "external speaker outputs" which come in handy.
The speakers separate for maximum stereo effect.

Why is this special? Well 2 people have come to me this year, 2010 with old 8-track tapes to preserve/transfer onto CD. One set was old religious music that could be found nowhere else, and one more for a different client was a home-recorded (like the cassette decks!) 8-track with the voice of long-grown up children. Anything like that is a joy to help anybody hear again. The bottom line:
It still works! Thanks Grandfather. These transfers sounded unbelievable, for this wildly outdated technology.

What can Circle Limit Digital preserve for you??