Laserdisc-The godfather of ALL consumer optical disc media
Comments
-
mikejedi0619 wrote: »I thought I was the only nut with two working LD players — Yamaha CDV 870 that I bought brand new in 1995. And a McIntosh MLD 7020 that I bought in 2007 — it’s a rebadged CLD-97 Elite by Pioneer. (It might have a tiny audio tweak in the power supply I believe )
The Yamaha tray mech went out last year and I had it fixed by my trusty tech here in Las Vegas — Jim at Rocky Top. Wonderful dude !! Very reasonable cost. !
Everything still works perfect
The McIntosh had a belt replaced and the Auto Mechanism tweaked. That’s it. Thankfully working as great as well.
To me there is still something special about LD Especially the sound can be Blu Ray quality beleive it !! Or as good or better in certain cases fidelity wise.
My Top Gun THX AC3 disc .. imo the DVD can’t even match it and the Blu Ray while really great sound wise still I feel doesn’t have the same fidelity of the LD. Have yet to try my 4k Top Gun (yet) I’m sure the picture will be better. Hopefully the remastered track beats my LD
Still have love for amazing sounding 4k soundtracks however! — Saving Private Ryan has an awesomeness Atmos track !!!!!!!
Just my .02 ! have fun !
Oh and btw I saw a demo of Top Gun when it was first released on Laserdisc in Dolby AC-3 in New York City on a Polk SRT system with a Pioneer Elite Rear projection set. I can't recall the electronics, because it was back in the 90's, but it sounded effing awasome!Post edited by honestaquarian on -
skipshot12 wrote: »Want to hear what pcm can do, a really good disc is boom boom by John Lee hooker on dvd audio at 24/96.
The dynamics are sweet.
I have an modded Oppo UDP-205 4K Blu-ray combi player in addition to my Laserdisc Combi player. So I know how good PCM can sound with MLP. I also know how good MQA (yet ANOTHER invention by Meridian's Bob Stuart in addition to MLP on the DVD-A) can sound as well. Then there is DSD!
https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/185831/candy-store-for-oppo-owners/p2 -
honestaquarian wrote: »Once he got the transport mechanism on the other player cleaned up (the old lubricant that they used turns into gum when it gets old he said) He took another look at my original player and using the new player as a template, realized whet the issue was with the older player and fixed it! He changed out the power supply as well with the one I brought him a year ago. So the player you see in the pic is the one I’ve had for over a decade. The one I bought recently is still at the shop. I expect I’ll be hearing from him sometime next year.
The second player is STILL at the shop. Since I have a perfectly good and working player, I'm not pressed about it. I told him no rush when I call once every six months or so ;-) -
-
I’m taking my Phase linear preamp out of the system and putting the Krell Audio + Video Standard.
I’ve always wondered what ac-3 was, it shows up on the Krell screen ever time it’s turned on.
Maybe I should have read the owners manual?
Naaaaah…… -
@skipshot12 Does the Krell have a built in AC-3 RF demodulator?
-
AC-3 is nothing more than Dolby Digital. In the beginning it was known as Dolby AC-3.Dolby Digital, originally synonymous with Dolby AC-3 (see below), is the name for a family of audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. Called Dolby Stereo Digital until 1995, it is lossy compression (except for Dolby TrueHD). The first use of Dolby Digital was to provide digital sound in cinemas from 35 mm film prints. It has since also been used for TV broadcast, radio broadcast via satellite, digital video streaming, DVDs, Blu-ray discs and game consoles.
Dolby AC-3 was the original version of the Dolby Digital codec. The basis of the Dolby AC-3 multi-channel audio coding standard is the modified discrete cosine transform (MDCT), a lossy audio compression algorithm.[1] It is a modification of the discrete cosine transform (DCT) algorithm, which was proposed by Nasir Ahmed in 1972 for image compression.[2] The DCT was adapted into the MDCT by J.P. Princen, A.W. Johnson and Alan B. Bradley at the University of Surrey in 1987.[3]
Dolby Laboratories adapted the MDCT algorithm along with perceptual coding principles to develop the AC-3 audio format for cinema. The AC-3 format was released as the Dolby Digital standard in February 1991.[4][5] Dolby Digital was the earliest MDCT-based audio compression standard released, and was followed by others for home and portable usage, such as Sony's ATRAC (1992), the MP3 standard (1993) and AAC (1997).[6] -
Actually Dolby AC-2 was used in movie theaters.
The “AC” stands for Audio Codec.
Dolby AC-3 was for home theater.
AC-2 was 320 kbps (Kilobits Per Second)
AC-3 on Laserdisc was 384 kbps.
On DVD it was varying usually around 420 kbps.
640 Kbps was the highest, but DVD never saw a bit rate that high. It could be found in streaming services.
Dolby AC-1 (the original version of this Audio Codec) was used by cable companies for their old music streaming services that you had to pay extra for and get a separate box for back in the 90’s. -
honestaquarian wrote: »@skipshot12 Does the Krell have a built in AC-3 RF demodulator?
Have no idea what that is.
Only used this for 2-channel. -
honestaquarian wrote: »Actually Dolby AC-2 was used in movie theaters.
The “AC” stands for Audio Codec.
Dolby AC-3 was for home theater.
AC-2 was 320 kbps (Kilobits Per Second)
AC-3 on Laserdisc was 384 kbps.
On DVD it was varying usually around 420 kbps.
640 Kbps was the highest, but DVD never saw a bit rate that high. It could be found in streaming services.
Dolby AC-1 (the original version of this Audio Codec) was used by cable companies for their old music streaming services that you had to pay extra for and get a separate box for back in the 90’s.
I bet the Sony Superbit disc's were that high. Those DVD's were very high bit rate. All mine were toasted in my flood or I would check on the OPPO 205.
Post edited by pitdogg2 on -
Ivan I know what you’re talking about with the Superbit discs.
Howevah
It was the bit rate on the picture that gave you a sharper picture. I remember those discs as videophiles sought them out (at least until Blu-ray appeared making them obsolete)
But the audio was unaffected.
DTS was the better codec though.
It was 1.5 mbps [megabits per second versus Dolbys 420 KILOBITS per second (read one and a half MILLION bits per second versus four hundred and twenty THOUSAND bits per second)]
This was on the few DTS discs that they released early on in the DVD era. It was the Laserdisc unfortunately that was the cause of them putting both a Dolby Digital and DTS soundtrack on the same DVD.
Retailers complained LOUDLY about not wanting to have two different SKU’s for the same title anymore. So DTS was forced to cut their bit rate in half in order to be able to shoehorn both it and Dolby on the same disc.
The funny thing is that even if they managed to get a disc that contained the full 640 Kbps Dolby Digital bitrate, most players from that era wouldn’t be able to play it ironically!! -
Absolutely! Still is as far as I'm concerned.DTS was the better codec though. -
@skipshot12 In order to get Dolby AC-3 onto a Laserdisc, they put it on one of the analog soundtrack channels (I always forget if it was left or right channel)
Now since the analog channels were done using AFM (Audio Frequency Modulation) Drop the “A” in “AFM” and what’s left? “FM”
Look familiar?
That’s because it’s the exact same thing as what they broadcast over the air.
Beta and VHS HiFi tapes later used AFM to get their HiFi soundtracks.
YES ONCE AGAIN Laserdisc had it first!
Anyway in order to put the digital signal there they had to modulate it onto the FM carrier.
So in order to decode the signal you had to first send the FM modulated signal to an RF Demodulator. Which separated the digital signal out. Then on to the Digital to Analog converter.
This is why later Laserdisc players sprouted separate AC-3 RF outputs. Some receivers and surround sound preamps had them built in. Otherwise you would have to buy a separate RF Demodulator like the Meridian above 👆🏾 -
Appreciate the explanation:
-
AC-3 is nothing more than Dolby Digital. In the beginning it was known as Dolby AC-3.
I almost forgot.
About ten minutes before Dolby digital came to the theater. A lot of movie studios were using Dolby SR (which stood for “Spectral Recording”)on their masters. It was also being used in a lot of recording studios as well. THE GRATEFUL DEAD JUST LOVED IT. If you’re a geek like me and you payed attention to the credits at the end of the movie. You saw Dolby Spectral Recording in selected theaters at the very end of the credits.
Dolby SR was the basis from which they derived Dolby S noise reduction for cassette recorders.
Dolby SR was a combination of noise reduction and dynamic range enhancement. When using Dolby SR on a master tape, the dynamic range and Signal To Noise Ratio could actually slightly exceed that of a 16 bit digital recording. Unfortunately it was kinda too late in its development, because by that time Digital was taking over.
So when Dolby first introduced its first Digital surround 5.1 channel discreet format. It was initially called Dolby SR-D. Spectral Recording Digital.
Dolby Labs unfortunately has a bad track record of introducing new stuff and then changing the name (sometimes multiple times like in the case of what eventually became Dolby Digital) and then scratching their collective heads and wondering why consumers were so confused.
-
Plus there is an old feature that Blu-ray players adopted later in a slightly different form. You can hit last memory and stop the movie and go make dinner or something. When you are ready to start it back up where you left off, just hit last memory and it will go right back to that spot and start playing again. YES a Blu-ray player will remember it automatically now, but Laserdisc had it first![/quote]
Correction. You have to use the CHP/TIME button to do that. Write down whatever chapter or time index (or in the case of a CAV disc the frame number) where you stopped the movie. Then when you are ready to start the movie back up again where you left off, just hit that button and type in where you left off and the player will go right to that spot.
-
@jdjohn This is all your fault! You sent me that Eagles Hell Freezes over Laserdisc and that made me wanna get the DTS 5.1 version even more!!
-
It's all part of my master plan
"This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
"Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon -
Curious... what is the price one has to pay to purchase those discs?
And, is it hard to find them in excellent condition?
Yours look like new. -
skipshot12 wrote: »Curious... what is the price one has to pay to purchase those discs?
And, is it hard to find them in excellent condition?
Yours look like new.
There are several on eBay. 9.99 - 85.00
HT/2Channel: Emotiva MMC-1, Adcom GFA-555II, Polk SDA 3.1's, Teac TN-300 TT, Polk Center and Sub.
Bedroom system: Carver CT-24, Parasound HCA-800II, Monitor 10's
Additional projects: RTA 12c's -
Tanks
-
@skipshot12 Most of the ones for sale on eBay are not DTS though.
I am of course assuming you are talking about the Eagles hell Freezes over title. If you're talking about Laserdiscs in general. The pricing is all over the map. Anywhere from a few dollars to over a thousand dollars depending on the title and how rare it is. You can also look on lddb.com to find stuff for sale. -
https://www.ebay.com/itm/326416170446
A Meridian 519 AC-3 RF demodulator. I have it in my watch list on eBay and I got an offer from the seller for 60% off because I am watching it! -
MAN I had forgotten just how good that Eagles disc sounds with the DTS 5.1 mix!
This completely blows away the stereo Laserdisc.
They mixed the audience into the rear channels.
They also hadn’t begun mixing the vocals like it was a studio recording.
This is a thing that began shortly afterwards and when they do that it no longer sounds like a live concert.
This sounds live!
It’s the reason why I never got the Tina Turner live in Amsterdam DTS Laserdisc.
It sounds like they took some studio vocals and mixed them into a live concert and it’s very disconcerting.
-
Latest acquisitions. Don’t know why, but I’ve been waiting a l o n g time to get both.
The Lawnmower man is a THX disc and Dune is Dolby Digital.
There’s a lot of controversy about which version of Dune is the best (well a lot of opinions) I have always liked this one. I have only seen bits and pieces of the second version that came out on cable. I saw the current version part 1 at a drive in theater (remember THOSE?? Well they still exist in small numbers)
Which one do you think was the best version? -
Speaking of Dolby SR.
Found this at the end of the Lawnmower Man credits. -
[quote="honestaquarian;c-2784252"
I almost forgot.
About ten minutes before Dolby digital came to the theater. A lot of movie studios were using Dolby SR (which stood for “Spectral Recording”)on their masters. It was also being used in a lot of recording studios as well. THE GRATEFUL DEAD JUST LOVED IT. If you’re a geek like me and you payed attention to the credits at the end of the movie. You saw Dolby Spectral Recording in selected theaters at the very end of the credits.
Dolby SR was the basis from which they derived Dolby S noise reduction for cassette recorders.
Dolby SR was a combination of noise reduction and dynamic range enhancement. When using Dolby SR on a master tape, the dynamic range and Signal To Noise Ratio could actually slightly exceed that of a 16 bit digital recording. Unfortunately it was kinda too late in its development, because by that time Digital was taking over.
So when Dolby first introduced its first Digital surround 5.1 channel discreet format. It was initially called Dolby SR-D. Spectral Recording Digital.
Dolby Labs unfortunately has a bad track record of introducing new stuff and then changing the name (sometimes multiple times like in the case of what eventually became Dolby Digital) and then scratching their collective heads and wondering why consumers were so confused.
[/quote]
