"High Fidelity"

[PauldeH]

Hello all

Does anyone know when the term "High Fidelity" first came into use? I recently bought Snow White on Blu Ray (the film was released in 1938), and was surprised to see 'RCA High-Fidelity sound recording' in the opening credits.

[dave walsh]

Interesting Paul. The Wikki Sound Recording and Reproduction Page [Stereo and HiFi] suggests Listen Darling [J Garland also 1938] as the first film with a high quality stereo sound track but generally, mention of "Hi Fi" seems to be circa 1951 onwards? There was a classical lp release in 46 that is claimed to have brought greater awareness of better sound but that's eight years after your film. Maybe there is a difference between the film and audio industries, mono/stereo etc. Will have a look in a few mags I think. Good point you make about Snow White of course, the quality of the sound and images was probaly a major feature of it's release. Fantasia [1940] apparently had "Fantasound" Dave W

Looking at "High Fidelity" itself in Wikki it does, perhaps, suggest that RCA might have used the term in the thirties re it's superior film sound but then it wasn't until the post war period [when consumers could achieve this at home] the term came into more general use. i'll wait to be corrected on this in due course!

[BrianMcAllister]

I have a "Pocket Radio Guide" published in 1936 by Gernsback Publications, that includes an article entitled "How to Make a 12-Tube High-Fidelity Broadcast Set". There is another article entitled "Metal Tubes in a High-Fidelity Amplifier", so the term seems to have been in vogue at that time.

[Sideband]

It might go back as far as Disneys 'Fantasia'. I think this was released in the late 30's but the soundtrack was recorded in stereo...probably one of the first.


Rich.

[ppppenguin]

The sound for Fantasia was recorded in a special process call Fantasound which had 3 tracks on the release prints. So it was really an early surround sound system.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasound

It's not clear if it was used for any other films though the Wikipedia article refers to some other multichannel film recordings in the 1930s. It's worth noting that before mutlitrack magnetic tape, film was the only practical way to record more than 2 channels on a single medium.

Blumlein also used film to record stereo in the 1930s and, as is well known, patented many techniques for stereo recording. I'm not sure if he used the term "High Fidelity". Stereophany seems to have a very long history, right back to 1881:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereophonic_sound#History

[Big Band Heaven]

Blumlein also used film to record stereo in the 1930s and, as is well known, patented many techniques for stereo recording.

I remember in the mid / late 1980's there was an excellent radio programme about Blumlein and they played several of his stereo recordings. Some were just the walking of feet going from one speaker to another, others a voice. There were however some big band recordings and these really did sound very good. A good wide frequency response and very impressive stereo even by the standards of the 80's! I did record the programme on cassette at the time however I haven't been able to find it for ages so assume i've lost it.

Richard

[KeithsTV]

Is this the programme that was broadcast in Radio 4 Archive hour in 2008 (I think) The Man Who Invented Stereo. If so I recorded it and could put it on a CD for you.

Keith

[Big Band Heaven]

I'm not sure. It was originally broadcast in about 1986 / 87 ish but can't remember what it was called only how good stereo could be even in its infancy.

[dave walsh]

I might have that eighties program on an elderly cassette. Brian in Florida seems to have dug out the only other [pre 40's] references to High Fidelity so far! Staying in the USA, I noticed a copy of a Life Magazine article on the new audio trend [1953] very interesting and readable but no help with the thread question of course. Dave W Dave W

[GrimJosef]

Originally Posted by dave walsh

Looking at "High Fidelity" itself in Wikki it does, perhaps, suggest that RCA might have used the term in the thirties re it's superior film sound but then it wasn't until the post war period [when consumers could achieve this at home] the term came into more general use. I'll wait to be corrected on this in due course!

Actually I'll support you rather than correct you Dave. In his excellent book "Firsts In High Fidelity", which is a history of H J Leak & Co, Stephen Spicer begins his Foreword thus:

"Conceived in the 1920's and born in the 1950's - 'hi-fi' was initially an obsession for technically aware music-lovers, but later spread to consumers world-wide."

He goes on (Chap 4) to claim that:

"The term "high fidelity" was coined by H A Hartley (of Hartley-Turner Radio Ltd) in 1927. During the 1930's the phrase was frequently used by other manufacturers to describe their products but at this time the term was mainly used in the context of radio reception - the notion of "high fidelity audio" (abbreviated to "hi-fi") as a hobby in its own right, or as a separate market segment had not matured."

This is supported by a quick look through my earliest mag (a tatty issue of "Wireless Constructor" from Feb 1928) which failed to find any use of "high-fidelity" - this despite the fact that there is quite a long article on moving-coil loudspeakers which were then starting to become popular. There's also a full page ad for the Ormond "Ideal" speaker with the phrase FIDELITY IN TONE in large block capitals across the top, but no mention of high-fidelity.

However by 1940 Leak were using the phrase on their headed notepaper !

Cheers,

GJ

[dave walsh]

Well maybe I got something right? Thanks for that GJ-very helpfull.
Dave W

[PauldeH]

Hi all

Thanks for all the answers - fascinating.

Paul

[dseymo1]

As a footnote, Flanders and Swann's 'Song of Reproduction' (1958?), with its repeated mention of 'high fidelity' highlights the rise in popularity of the hobby in the fifties.

[geofy]

Originally Posted by KeithsTV

Is this the programme that was broadcast in Radio 4 Archive hour in 2008 (I think) The Man Who Invented Stereo. If so I recorded it and could put it on a CD for you.

I have a Radio 4 recording 'A Memoir of Uncle Fred' about Fred Guisburgh and the story of HMV from his first meeting with Emil Berliner making a flat disc record in 1898. This recording has many historic musical pieces by artists such as Curuzo, Otto Shnarble (probably spelt wrong!). And Fred Guisburgh's pursuit of new technology such as stereo.

Geof

[barretter]

More probably : Caruso, Artur Schnabel and Fred Gaisberg.

[geofy]

Well I got the Fred part right at least, thanks for the corrections. I knew they where wrong

[fidobsa]

I hope I will be excused for digging up an old thread but I was wondering when the term high fidelity was first quantified? I now have the Collaro tape recorder purchased from another forum member a few months ago. Collaro in the mid '50s described the deck as "high fidelity" but I don't suppose it would qualify as HiFi these days. I know manufacturers back then could make outrageous claims with impunity but did they tend to use the term only for equipment with genuinely above-average sound quality?

[ppppenguin]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fidelity suggests 1950s but I have a suspicion it's pre-war.

Gilbert Briggs, that great pioneer or high quality sound may be a good place to start research on the subject.
http://www.wharfedale.co.uk/About/Hi...6/Default.aspx
http://www.wharfedalepro.com/Company...8/Default.aspx

Decca FFRR may be another fruitful area. The wikipedia entry uses High Fidelity as if the term existed in 1946 but this need not be true.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decca_Records

[fidobsa]

What I meant was not the use of the term High Fidelity but when did it first actually mean something? For example, as I understand it, a hifi record cartridge will give a frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz within a given Db limit (when used with an RIAA pre-amp) but when was this first considered to be a requirement to justify the hifi label?

[ppppenguin]

Apart from the DIN definition (early 1960s?) which was widely sneered at by enthusiasts I don't think there has ever been a formal definition of hifi.