Are we Bringing Radio Down to a Price?

Radio Record, Volume V, Issue 13, 9 October 1931, Unnumbered Page

Are we Bringing Radio Down to a Price?

-_---_ Danger of Sacrificing Tone -_---

DPCRING the last three years the great broadcasting stations of the world have spent tremendous sums ta install transmitting equipment ‘which Will send out the complete range of the sound waves produced in the studios by vocal and instrumental artists. It is this widening of the sound-wave range which makes for fidelity of broadcast-ing-in other words, "makes the brouicasting sound real!" From the lowest bass note of the viot or drum (about 16 vibrations per seeond) up to the high notes of the piccor: or organ, and overtones of other imstruments (some 7500 vibrations per -se«.ond), all of the complex musical oscit lations are now faithfully reproduced by the electro-magnetic vibrations in theether, But how much of this wonderful tone quality that is now "in the air" can the listener get? oo The answer is: Exactly as mucn «ts can be received by the radio set he is using-and ‘no more! In other words no matter how perfect the music may pe in the form of radio vibrations, his set Will allow him to listen oniy to tnose vibrations which filter through ifs audio circuits and be reproduced by its Joudspeaker. All the lattereday miracles of tone fidelity in the broadcasting transmitters are therefore Wasted, unless his receiver is capable of tone re-, production throughout the full range of the scale, from 40 cycles per second to at least 5000 cycles per second. A lisfener who has a radio set which fur. nishes less than full-tone acotstic reception is like a man viewing a beuntiful sunshiny woodland scene through amber-coloured glaxses. He gets the outlines-but he misses most of the tone and colour beauties of the picture, and envisions only a narrow bund of distorted colour effects, To tune-in an inferior set on the riches of radio-signal vibratiaus corning in over the air these nights is like seating a great master musician befor2 an undersized piano and expecting him to produce music other than the tinny tones of the toy instrument. Kyeu the Inavestro can get no other tones than those from an undersized piano, On the other hand, if his set is a modern, well-engineered receiver, he Will receive, in his own living room, the music exactly as it is being played in the distant broadcasting studio. But if his set is one in which "corners have been cut" and fidelity skimped, the listener will be listening only to musi¢al distortion. -. + woge "7

Broadeasting Under Test. ‘AMERICAN broadeasting is under test because of too large an admixture of advertising, "tind the remark is not infrequent, "I don’t listen to the radio any more, because it’s all advertising." Especially -.does this criticism come from discriminating folk who ought to be among radio’s staunchest supporters. vow nen these Unless a high value of ‘tone vaftie in reception apparatus can be maintgined, the same class of listeners will become further alienated because of lack of tone fidelity. To highly organised and telmperumental people, tonal inaccur-

acy becomes a form of torture and ‘sharp discomfort. It is for the radio trade, both distributors and dealers, to see that the public is supplied with receiving sets which are faithful and correct in their reproduction. During the past year, owing to comparative efforts at price reduetion, tone quality bas in places been sacrificed, and, as the result, many sets are slipping back in tone quality to the place where the radio ind found itself in 1926 and 1927. ae tendency is unsound, and mark trend which, if allowed to run on for a year or more, will do incalculable harm to radio. On the one hand it-will bring in a false standard of sound ‘reproduction, which will disgust the public with radio as an artistic and emotional medium. And the broadcasters who have thus far invested millions in ripping out old equipment and installing new "full-runge"’ transmitters, will shortly become discouraged and relax their efforts ut first-quality tone transniission, if snch transmission is to fall largely on acoustically deaf ears. Meanwhile popular interest will diminish, "‘listening time" will be reduced, and graduly reduction in the number of fe euture eyents and artists will take place. ‘ On the other hand, increased natural ness of reproduction has always br ought wealth to the industry achieving it. tudio prospered proportionately as its improved during the years trom 1927 to 1929. Aguin, the moving-picture industry doubled its box office receipts ‘by the introduction of the "talkies," which brought greater realism and natnralness to the screen. New realisms will always bring new floods of the publics money. But te part deliberately from present high s*andards of realism is eventually to invited financial disaster to radio. The standards of tone must be kept rising. Future of Radio.

"THe future of radio and the future of : radio business itself is thus largety in the bands of the radio distributors and radio dealers during the Wnerxs twelve months. It rests with tig as to whether they elect to distribut#qual- | ity sets which will ensure tone satisfaction anc a permanent investment for the public. Or whether they will be satisfied to sell merely a few pounds of wite and metal pared down to 4 price, and so "get away with it" for the time being. The latter course wil mean trouble ahead for everybody. It will result in the collapse of radio and radio broadcasting into a miyor business of negligible prestige and volume, instead of fulfilling its present destiny as a dominant art. "Lowering of tonal standards b alienate the discriminating public,’ re--aucing our audience; relax broadcasters’ present efforts at tone perfection: reduce number of present feature programmes and artists; result in collapse of radio into a minor business, instend of fulfilling its detiny as a dominant entertainment art.